This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
A few weeks ago, we had very special visitors at Arzuaga. Jonatan Armengol and his entire
team came to see us, in the heart of Ribera del Duero, as one of the rooms in our Taller
Arzuaga restaurant turned into the setting to record his radio programme Comer a Ciegas
(‘Blind dining’). ‘I’m surrounded by good people, amazing vineyards and barrels of wine’,
remarked Armengol at the beginning of his programme.
‘I have one of my muses sitting to my left’, he said, as he introduced Amaya Arzuaga. At the
table, he was also accompanied by Ignacio Arzuaga, the managing director of Bodegas
Arzuaga; Adolfo González, the winery’s winemaker; and Sara Martín, the head chef at Taller
Arzuaga.
Regarding the wines made at Arzuaga, Armengol highlighted the quality of the traditional
wines and how much he had been surprised by one of the winery’s latest offerings, Arzuaga
Rosae: ‘you’re making one of the world’s best rosés’, he remarked. According to our
winemaker, ‘For a few years now, we’ve been trying to get the vines, the vineyard and the
setting we’re in to take centre stage in the wines’, he explained as he pointed out one of the
most notable characteristics of Arzuaga’s wines.
The pairings and cuisine at Taller, the grape selection process and the production of the wines,
the winery’s history and Florentino’s commitment to Ribera del Duero… These are all topics
that were covered and discussed during the programme by Armengol and his together with
the various members of the Arzuaga team who accompanied them at the table.
‘How does one go from being one of Spain’s top fashion designers to managing a project like
Taller?’ asked Armengol. ‘There came a time when fashion was going down paths that I didn’t
share. I’ve always liked gastronomy and wine and when the winery expanded, I saw there was
a gap and we suggested creating a restaurant focused on haute cuisine’, explained Amaya.
Meanwhile, Ignacio Arzuaga shared the characteristics that make our red wine Pago Florentino
so special with the Comer a Ciegas listeners. ‘The conditions we have in Malagón make a big
difference; the grapes ripen differently as we have double the hours of sun. It’s a wine that
reminds you of Holy Week, that incense smell’, he explained.
We invite you to listen to the podcast of this programme, an entertaining and fun way to
discover the world of Arzuaga.