What better way to welcome someone to Cortijo El Carligto than with a sophisticated wine tasting and lengthy gourmet meal? To make a good first impression for our visiting Sunday Times journalist and her partner last month that's exactly how we welcomed them. And not with just any wine but with the exquisite Ariyanas wines from Bodegas Bentomiz presented by the owners and winemakers, Clara and Andre, themselves. Paired perfectly with delicious tapas from our friend and private Carligto chef David Palacios, it was definitely a savory event.
Bodegas Bentomiz started as a pet project for Clara and Andre, who only began commercial output less than ten years ago after eight years of living in the Axarquian wine region developing their knowledge and love of wine making through personal production. Today their wines are sold in many of Europe's top restaurants, including El Celler de Can Roca, recently voted world's best restaurant.
We've been to the bodega for tastings a couple of times already, they're practically neighbors after all, and such fine local wine could never escape our radar. They now produce six quality wines, having just added a rosé to their output. Even their sweet wines buck tradition however, being unfortified (no added alcohol). One oaked, one unoaked, they both bring a crispness to the sweet Moscatel that is often difficult to find in the region.
Breaking further from tradition, they offer a dry Moscatel and a sweet red. Yet for us the best of their collection is their sole dry red wine, also a rarity in this region of sweet white Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez varieties. A blend of Tempranillo, Petit Verdot and Romé grapes aged in French and American oak barrels, the “Tinto de Ensamblaje” achieves the well-roundedness of a Bordeaux blend.
Full credit to chef David Palacios as well for pairing some delicious and beautiful tapas to go with each wine. Along with the staple cured ham and manchego cheese, David brought us such treats as morcilla (black pudding) with caramalized pear, quince paste with queso fresco, and sweets such as mango parfait and a red berry milkshake with meringue, all perfectly matched to each individual wine.
After all of this we needed a bit of time to digest and relax before the massive gourmet meal ahead, delighting us with an orange and fennel salad with goat's cheese, walnuts and edible flowers; plus pan fried quail with asparagus, braised cabbage and cauliflower puree, followed by rice pudding made with sweetened goat's milk.