Text: Mara de Miguel @by_marademiguel | Cover illustration: Javier Real @javierrealcom
Reading time: 8 minutes
We know that in Montilla-Moriles we are special. That we have traditions that surprise the traveler or foreigner, too. These are part of the idiosyncrasy of our way of understanding life in taverns and on the street. Therefore, here is a small guide to drinking wines like a Cordovan.
Today it’s time to talk about those details that make drinking and feeling the wines of central Andalusia different. Without complex. It is something unique that is only done here and that is why we are proud to propose a small guide, so that when you come to Córdoba, you blend in with the aborigines.
“Glass of wine versus Medium of wine.” Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
1. How to order: A Half of Wine or a Glass of Wine?
Come on, the fact that the ONCE Foundation is in the Cordoba neighborhood of Vistalegre; the fire station in the Polígono de las Quemadas, or that the Association of Alcoholics Anonymous is in the neighborhood of Los Olivos Borrachos… it is something that those of us here (we are talking about Córdoba capital) take as something natural, although the paradox is served.
Following this same line, and as could not be less, the world of wine in taverns also has its own contradictions. So when in Córdoba you order a glass of Fino, they will serve you half a glass (or half a glass of wine) and when you order a Medio de Fino, they will fill your glass to the top. It may seem like a truism, but the glass has always been the standard and the Medio de Vino refers to half a quart of a liter, which implies that in a catavino glass the measurement is all the way to the top and if it can overflow, all the better.
If you have never tried a “Fifty”, Pilycrim is a good reference . Illustration: Courtesy of Bodegas Navarro
2. How to get started in fortified wines through Fifty Fifty
If there’s one cocktail that was invented before any other in the area, it’s the Fifty. It is the quintessential wine blend or the so-called Fity Fity, or Fity, for friends. It is a drink made with 50% fine wine and 50% sweet Pedro Ximénez. Although, let’s face it, it’s never 50-50, and it depends on the bartender or waiter behind the bar, who serves you 70-30 or 60-40.
This recipe makes those who do not tolerate too much the little residual sugar of the fines, head towards the wonderful world of the generous ones, which we would technically call Cream and which, little by little, thanks to the elaboration hand, the user, can go taking the taste of taking them increasingly drier. If you want to try something very similar, you can buy Pilycrim in our store.
“Venice.” Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
3. How to reach an agreement and come to terms with a medium of wine
Venencia is to Montilla Moriles what water is to plants. This instrument, so present in the winery’s trades, as it is used to remove the wine from the barrels and be able to taste it, also has a symbolic character in the business world.
Traditionally, in the area, when a deal was going to be closed, before signing, it was sealed with a glass of wine. When the parties came to reason, and a common point was reached, the wine broker, the estate broker, or the intermediary between the parties, would take out a venencia and pour the liquid into two wine glasses, as a symbol, for the rest, that they had reached a point that was convenient for both of them. That was the time to compromise and when someone made the compromise, the transaction was sealed, with the wine of the land.
«Catavinos versus Glass of wine». Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
4. How to place yourself on one side or the other: Are you a Catavino fan or are you a Copa de vino?
In recent times there are two clear movements, two groups facing each other in the bars of the most traditional taverns: those who are for or against the traditional catavinos. The catavino is a tool for tasting and a cultural sign in Montilla Moriles for drinking fine wine. But, in my opinion, we must move to the glass when we talk about Amontillados, Palos Cortados and Olorosos and let the wines have more space to speak for themselves and express themselves because the wider the glass, the better they bring out their virtues.
In recent years there has been an open debate about the use of appropriate glassware for the consumption of Montilla Moriles fortified wines. Of course, there are many detractors from both sides. One represents modernity and the other represents tradition. In Córdoba and the province, for all of God’s life, fine wine has been drunk in catavinos. It was the tool that winemakers used to remove wine from barrels, and almost all taverns had barrels, which is why it served that way. It was also useful because since it had a narrow mouth and was a small glass, a lid (bread with sausage, or whatever) was placed on top so that the mosquito on duty would not end its days inside the glass.
Of course, in the past it was mainly used to drink fine wines, which were those ordered as an aperitif, or dessert wines, the legendary Pedro Ximénez, which due to their high sugar content were best taken in small doses. What were the consequences? Well, the tasting wine was not included on the table, because it was only for an aperitif, so the subsequent consumption of that wine during the meal was excluded, when we know that it pairs phenomenally with many main dishes. So, whatever wine you order, choose your format. And you, which side are you on?
«Wine skins». Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
5. How to call barrels wine butts
Another singularity of our wine-growing area, or rather of its wineries (and others in the South of Spain) is the use of a very particular type of barrel. Here we are not talking about barrels or barrels (traditionally 225, 250 or 300 liters), here we are talking about Bocoyes (600 liters) or casks, which some still sarcastically call bottles of 40 or 44 arrobas of wine (704 liters).
Wine butts have an average of between 33 and 36 arrobas of wine. Traditionally, bocoyes (a word that comes from the French, boucaut, and which in turn is a Germanic term) were those barrels with a lot of capacity that were used for aging the musts until they fermented or were left for the year’s wine.
“Take a grape.” Illustration: Javier Real @javierrealcom
6. How to order a drink: “Let’s have a drink”
If there is something typical when going to the countryside to pick olives or grapes, it is the traditional way of drinking “una uvita”. The process is very simple. The foreman on duty carries a bottle of wine and a single glass, so, mid-morning, to encourage the workers, he decides to give them “a glass of wine.” He then pours the desired liquid into the glass and gives it to each of the attendees. As there is only one glass, the premise is the following: the drinker’s lips can never touch the glass of the glass (for hygienic reasons that would be pursued today, given the current health situation).
In this way, the amount of liquid in the glass to drink is explained as the result of what a grape could give, or what is a sip of wine. And although this is the origin of the expression, in the area it is still used when the time comes to share a glass of wine with friends at home or in a tavern.
“Arrobas of wine.” Illustration: Javier Real @javierrealcom
7. How to measure the lists: Arrobas older than those in the email
Another of the great classics of the Córdoba area in terms of aging wines in wineries is to talk about @. It’s not like we’re going to type in an email address. This is an old measurement: 1 arroba contains 16 liters, and it is the way to identify the size of the barrels. These can be half an arroba (8 liters) , 1 arroba (16), 2 arrobas (32) and so on up to 4 arrobas… which they give us to write to all our contacts on Instagram and Twitter.
When we have finished the harvest in the region, there are other areas that have not even started yet. Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
8. How the earliest harvesting in the Northern Hemisphere is carried out here
In Montila Moriles one of the first harvests of each vintage is made and due to its characteristic terroir and specific environmental conditions, we are the first in the Northern Hemisphere to start each harvest.
Depending on the years, some areas of Lanzarote are ahead of us, but we must remember that they are islands – on some occasions the Sierra de Málaga area has been almost on par with us. But most years it is in Montilla Moriles where the advance grapes begin to be cut, in the month of July, while in other areas such as Bordeaux, Burgundy or England, at that time, veraison has not even begun. And what does that imply? Well, among other things, a way of doing and feeling. It is a responsibility and a pride to be able to open the harvest of the vintage, where the destiny of those wines can be mythical, if things are done well.
Illustration: Blanca Gan @GansnRoses
9. How not to drink bad wines and be bullied by telling you that they are unfiltered wines or raw wines
If there is a trending topic at the moment in the gossip of the Cordoban taverns, and in those of the 17 municipalities of the Montilla Moriles area, it is something that has to do with how wine is presented to us.
Many opinions for or against are making more than one person upset, both winemakers and hoteliers. The topic to be debated is the sometimes non-existent quality of certain wines in Rama. To define Vinos en Rama we refer to the description of Bodegas Robles: “En Rama is the wine that we extract in the winery, directly from the butt, which has not been subjected to the usual clarification or filtration processes. It is the wine in its most delicate state, with all the color, body and aromas that the flower veil provides.”
Real raw wines are very clear and crystalline wines, the only thing they have are small particles of yeast in suspension.
It is also interesting what the Cooperativa de La Aurora publishes regarding the wines in Rama: “The big difference that it makes with all the other wines is that, being in Rama, it preserves all its most natural properties, since it does not go through clarification, stabilization, or filtering processes. These are applied to prevent the appearance of suspended substances that can, in some cases, cause turbidity in the wine, although, on the other hand, they provide aromas and flavors typical of the grapes that have been used to make it. To prevent the appearance of these substances to a greater extent, it is advisable to do a good job of clearing them.”
Thus, in recent years, cloudy and sick wines, with aromas of… have been seen in bars and taverns, especially in the capital of Córdoba . Wow! These are not the aromatic descriptors that a good Fino should have. And the fact is that some winemakers have succumbed to bad practice where a fine wine that is unfiltered and that may present some type of sediment is confused with wines that are cloudy because they have not been properly decanted, or de-lied, and that give defects to the wine. tasting time.
Thanks to the ignorance of the consumer (so stay alert) they continue to be consumed to such an extent that they are trying to become fashionable because it is thought that this is authentic, doing a disservice to lovers of fine wine and above all, generating a terrible image of the quality of our wines in the Cordoba taverns where an audience, sometimes international, passes by, eager to discover our premium products.