I had some early birthday messages from friends in Australia, including one from Matthew. Audrey also sent a nice message. We went for our quirky breakfast which was slightly different today. Then we set off to drive to
Pamplona, the capital of Navarra. We found a parking space in an underground car park and headed for the town centre, where there was a political rally taking place in Plaza San Francesco. The mood seemed to be celebratory. We found the tourist office and picked up a map, before heading to the Cathedral.
Inside it was very ornate with tall pillars down the nave and the side aisles, and there was a lot of gold. After exploring the main building we went to discover the cloisters, but they were partly blocked by building work. In the Barbazona Chapel we saw a beautiful stained glass window; we also entered the refectory, and the museum of archaeology.
After seeing the cathedral, we walked up to the old city walls. The streets were crowded with revellers. Maybe they were celebrating the ousting of their Prime Minister two days ago. We managed eventually to find seats in a bar where we had a cold beer and tortilla de bacalao, which was very tasty.
On our way back to the car we saw the famous bullring from the outside, close to the streets where the Running of the Bulls is held in July. We saw a statue dedicated to Hemingway, author of Death in the Afternoon.
Our tasting meal at Marquez de Riscal, 2 June 2018
Back at the hotel we rested and got changed before our
special dinner with a tasting menu of 14 courses plus wines. Our host Javier checked any allergies and I mentioned I preferred to avoid prawns and lobster, so he passed the word onto the kitchen.
We started with a glass of
Cava and went into the kitchen to try black 'olives' made from cheese, a
glass of berry juice, a tiny sandwich and some 'churros' with paprika, plus croquetas with green meadow 'flowers', a leaf foam, cones and dry ice with mushroom and apple - all very tiny tastes.
Then at our table we were served with a glass of
Finca Montico white Rueda and I had a carpaccio made from tomato with cream and pink caviar. The wine was very dry and mineraly. Then onto the green asparagus with mayonnaise and imperial caviar. The next course was a piece of courgette with a trout and almond sauce and orange caviar.
Then another white wine, this time a
Marques de Riscal Limousin 2016 Rueda, which was slightly darker and more bland than the previous wine. It accompanied a pork ear with artichoke (or lobster for Richard) with a green sauce with coriander. This was followed by oyster with almond sauce.
We moved onto red wine with a
Finca Torrea 2015 local Tempranillo, still rather young.We had hake throat with foam which was spicy. This was followed by roasted hake with brown pepper soup. The fish was slightly undercooked, I thought.
Another red wine then, a
Baron de Chirel 2014 Tempranillo/ Cabernet Sauvignon blend, 12 months in the barrel with more tannin. Following this, we had a sweet pork ravioli with squid balls which wasn't as nice as some other courses. We moved onto a roasted squab with Grand Reserva wine tastes which was quite nice.
Then the cheese trolley came out and Javier described all the cheeses, too many to remember. We chose five between us, with quince cubes that I wasn't keen on. Then we were served a pre-dessert of peach ice cream with cinnamon and red wine. We also tasted a
Moscatel sweet wine from eastern Rioja, which was served chilled.
After that, we enjoyed a white chocolate and goats cheese dessert, and then a dark chocolate and crunchy pepper (a bit too much pepper) and a salty wafer. Our waitress Christine was very attentive.
Unfortunately I had an upset stomach during the night! Probably served me right.
Our two-hour drive took two hours with only a few mistakes, thanks to my increased familiarity with Google Maps. Would still have preferred a paper map though. We drove into the small town of Mundaka and were lucky to find a short-term parking space near our hotel, the Hotel el Puerto. We checked in and found they understood Spanish in the Basque town. Thank goodness! Our hotel room had a sea view and was clean but with no frills.
We checked in for our next day's flight which leaves Bilbao at 14.35. I slept well as it was so quiet.
We had a nice breakfast again at our hotel. But it would be good to have a choice sometimes. Our plan today was to head first to the wine museum at Briones, and then visit Baigorro and La Guardia. However we didn't manage to achieve everything.
Then we stopped for a light lunch with beer in the cafe before exploring the extensive vine collection outside and heading off. Everything seemed to be closed on Sunday afternoon though. We drove to Bodegas Baigorri, which looked impressive but was closed. Then we headed to Ysios winery at La Guardia but it was also closed. So we returned to the hotel through the wonderful scenery, and rested for a while.
I had some early birthday messages from friends in Australia, including one from Matthew. Audrey also sent a nice message. We went for our quirky breakfast which was slightly different today. Then we set off to drive to Pamplona, the capital of Navarra. We found a parking space in an underground car park and headed for the town centre, where there was a political rally taking place in Plaza San Francesco. The mood seemed to be celebratory. We found the tourist office and picked up a map, before heading to the Cathedral.
We had our first breakfast at the hotel. There was no buffet but they had a list of daily dishes whose details changed from day to day. Today we got coffee, orange juice, a small dish of yogurt and one of fruit, and two small boxes of muesli in the standard table setting. It would have been nice to have a bigger bowl! After mixing the fruit and yogurt, we next got a platter of meats and cheese which Richard enjoyed. Then we got some egg - I think we had scrambled today. It was tricky to catch the waitress's eye for more coffee, and we didn't seem to get any of the promised pastries. I had a small piece of toast with the jam of the day.
After lunch we went to see the old city walls, and I bought some stamps at the post office - fairly painless. We found our way back to the car and drove back to the hotel. We went through a very heavy shower on the way back.
After the wine-making lesson we had a tasting of one white and one red wine: a white Rueda Verdejo 2017 - fresh, appley, pale, young with a fruity nose - a good apero wine; then a red Reserva 2014 blend of tempranillo, graciano and mazuelo, 15 months in the bottle. It had a vanilla nose and was very dry.
All set to get to the airport for our 11.55 flight to Bilbao. We checked in and had a long hike to Gate A86. There was a long queue at the bar. I treated myself to a red wine, but not a Rioja. Our seats have been changed since we first booked. As usual there were numerous people (mostly men) waiting to board with their massive hand luggage bags. Some of them needed to be stowed, free of charge of course.
We arrived at the hotel with its impressive roof, set in the grounds of its own vineyard. They offered us a free wine tour the following afternoon. After settling into our room, we found the terrace bar and ordered a glass of the local wine each: I had a white Finca Montico Verdejo and Richard went for a Sauvignon Blanc. My wine was very fresh with an earthy, mineral taste. Then we plumped for a bottle of Marques de Riscal Reserva 2014 DOC Rioja, a blend of Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuela grapes. We ordered a beef tenderloin with Camembert and rocket and enjoyed our meal in the sun, overlooking the local church of St. Andrew's. I also had a creme brulee for dessert.