Dictador

Dictador - name of the not very well known, Columbian Rum Distillery. Why I came across this product at all? Hmmm... interesting story, I got a bottle of it as a Christmas gift and started to trace its story, because I'm interested in everything connected to Latin America. Why it is available in Poland? Because Polish guy is president of European Board of the company. His business partners altogether with him invested in not well prospering Colombian Rum distillery, they changed the bottle, invest in marketing and started to sell the product on new markets like Europe and Asia. It seems that they won the battle and not only this rum is better and better known and becoming more popular, but also it's getting famous of it's luxury. It's not cheap. For a bottle of 20 years old liquid you've to pay about 180 pln in Poland! But it seems to be worth of it or at least it's sold like that. It has a smell of Caribbean islands in it, but one can also find taste of coffee, vanilla, caramel, cacao and chocolate. It's due to cane molasses and barrels used for bourbon and sherry before. My bottle is still closed, but after running all that investigation and reading all the marketing materials available on the internet it's getting more and more tempting...one day I'll open it. The only problem is that to get such a bottle you must wait 20 years, so it's a little pity to just open it on a regular day... must wait for some occasion.

Wines #11: Morgado De Sta Catherina Reserva 2009

My readers know for sure that my another hobby (beyond travels and photography) are alcoholic beverages :)
What I want to present you today is my recent discovery - great white portugal wine - Morgado De Sta Catherina Reserva 2009. Usually I'm not a big fan of white wines. However when I've visited my favorite wine shop last time, very nice and smart lady offered me this wine to taste. I trust her, because usually her recommendations were great, so decided to buy a bottle. And suddenly I wish I had bought at least six of them.
But let's write few words about wine itself. It comes from Bucelas in Estremadura, Portugal. Made from Arinto grape and the bottle I had was produced from 2009 harvest. Nose has something to do with limes, pineapple and tropical fruits, but is very delicate. Probably because it was kept in wood, you can find oak here - you can also feel some vanilla and wood itself taste, so for me the balance is perfect. It's probably third or fourth white wine that has place in my memory and I will get back to it. Moreover not only me highly appreciate this wine - it has got a gold medal in International Wine Challenge! Strictly recommended!

Sicilian Restaurant in Milan

Just few days after I came back from Italy, I had to get back to Milan. This time it was business reason. Weather was awful, very rainy and cold, but fortunately our Italian friends have taken us to great Sicilian restaurant in Milan. It's name was Ristorante Al Merluzzo Felice (located at Via Lazzaro Papi 6, 20135 Milano, Italy, tel. 02 5454711) and to get inside you have to book it in advance. Place is very small - max. 20 people can be there at once, because it has only 5 or 6 tables. Just typical small family place. But everything I got there was very tasty and original.
Especially the wine our buddies recommended was perfect! It was called Leone D'Almerita (label below) and came from Sicilly. Definitely recommended to get there, have dinner and this great wine!
Sorry for pictures quality, but I hadn't my camera with me, so had to use iPhone :(

Jerez de la Frontera

Hotel El Horcajo was a bit surprise - situated in the green valley among high mountains and fields reminded some kind of ranch. Rooms looked like horse corrals adapted from the old stable. You could feel very nice atmosphere of the old village. And chirping sparrows didn't stop even for a small moment. Luckily that was only the atmosphere - room was quite comfortable and adequate to 3-star rating of the hotel. Had classic bathroom, big bed and tv.

Hotel is located literally in the middle of nowhere, but it's what makes that atmosphere! And what seemed to be worse, we had to eat dinner in the hotel's restaurant. They had not so rich menu - only two positions to choose from, so decisions were quick. Happily food was fresh and very good. They even had their own wine! Really good!

In the morning we had a chance to try some andalusian specialties like cheese and cured meat. It was also very good. Only taste of coffee damaged rather positive image of our breakfast.

Next day we had to get to Jerez de la Frontera to visit some Bodegas and Flamenco Show. Although while driving to Jerez, we changed our plans and went to Cadiz. Sunday morning in Cadiz was a very interesting experience. You could see a lot of people selling different things on the streets and walking around the city. We visited very funny park (picture on the left) and passed Gran Teatro Falla (picture on the right).
Cadiz has some kind of Arabian influence you can feel in the air. I can't perfectly name it, but it reminds me what I've seen in the movies shot in the north Africa.
After spending few hours and walking few kilometers around Cadiz, we finally headed to Jerez.
It's not far away and roads are really good, so it took us about 40 minutes. This time my Garmin helped me to find Hotel Guadalete really fast. After arriving to destination, we quickly unpacked our luggage and headed to the nearest Bodega - Tio Pepe. On the way we started to feel some hunger so stopped by for small tapas. Finally we reached Tio Pepe front door about 16:00 and read that on Sundays they work only till 15:00! Damn it! All other bodegas had similar opening hours, so we gave up and started to admire the city itself. It's quite interesting city, but you can see it in maximum 2 hours or so - later you can only drink sherry or watch flamenco. Although not always...

Before leaving the hotel I asked lady at the desk where we can go to Flamenco show and if we should make any reservations? Response was simple - you can just go and it's 15 minutes away from the hotel. Great. We had no problems to find the recommended flamenco place - at the door it was a message that they open at 22:30 for the show. Ok. We get back to hotel for a glass of sherry and some rest. In the evening we headed to flamenco place, but it was closed even at 22:45. So we decided to get back to the hotel - streets were empty and Jerez was like dead city.
Summarizing I don't recommend going there for more than few hours and not planning ahead your visits to flamenco or bodegas.