This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
Jonatan Armengol is a blind journalist who, thanks to his work and dedication, has become one of Spain’s most famous gastronomy professionals. In addition to sharing his passion for food and wine on social media and his YouTube channel, Armengol runs the programme Comer a Ciegas (‘Eating Blind’) on Radio Interconomía. On 9 January, Arzuaga’s Global Brand Ambassador Jesús Bernad was a guest on the programme to share some interesting facts about our wines and what Arzuaga represents with the listeners.
First, Bernad told Armengol and the rest of the team about some of the characteristics of one of our most unique wines: Fan D. Oro. ‘I can attest to how good this amazing wine is,’ asserted Armengol, while Bernad explained that ‘It’s a Chardonnay grown on moorland at 900 metres above sea level, from 20-year-old vines’. Regarding its production process, he specified that ‘after the fermentation, it spends nine months in French oak barrels, so it’s not your typical young, fresh Chardonnay, but rather it has more on the palate, it’s more unctuous, meaty, complex, with body’. On that note, Bernad also pointed out that Fan D. Oro is ‘a gastronomic wine’, very much in line with the ones we make at Arzuaga.
Another of the wines they talked about during this radio tasting was Arzuaga Crianza, the one that is probably one of our most representative red wines. So much so that Armengol himself said, ‘This does remind me of Arzuaga; this is heaven’.
In terms of the vintage of this Crianza, 2018, Bernad noted that ‘the fundamental thing is that it’s an excellent year, the wine is balanced, flavourful, it has the personality of Arzuaga, but it’s increasingly fine, with more delicateness’.
Arzuaga’s wine tourism offering was also highlighted during the programme. ‘I’m going to give you a tip: if you can go to any shop or any restaurant, ask for an Arzuaga wine, but there’s a better option, which is to go do some wine tourism at the winery,’ affirmed Armengol, who went on to say, ‘they have an amazing hotel that’s just incredible, they have a Michelin-starred restaurant managed by Amaya Arzuaga where you eat some of the best food in Valladolid. It’s fantastic. Imagine the design touch from Amaya, the culinary touch from Víctor Gutiérrez, the wines, the setting, the deer, a spa with wine, a night at the hotel…’ A great summary of what wine tourism at Arzuaga means, which was rounded off by Bernad with some key tips: ‘go up to the moor and see the deer, the wild boar, the mouflons. And there’s Taller Arzuaga, but also the traditional restaurant, with Castilian cuisine. And the spa has something lovely: if you’re there in the evening and you’re watching the sunset with the sun going down over the vineyards, it’s a magical moment’.
You can listen to the full programme here.