In praise of wine bars

It was 1974. We were well into the second year of our PE Teacher training course at Chester Uni. The college bar was doing a roaring trade every Wednesday and Saturday after matches. In truth, it was busy every night – for most of us post 21.00, as that was our curfew for study!

Sunday was a quiet day, relatively. Evenings were often taken up with doing the study work we should have done in the week, but once, and often thereafter, my old mate the Lion and I went off to a wine bar that we’d heard had just opened in the centre of the city. Now, we are going back over 40 years here, so it’s difficult to imagine but this was an entirely new phenomenon for those days, well, certainly in the north of England.

Intrigued, hungry ( we always were) and starting to take a little interest in wine for a change from the PE student de rigueur beer, we went to investigate. I’ve been hooked on the concept ever since. Dimmed lights, lots of wood, blackboards offering various foods and wines and good service – it was just right.

Well, I say just right, but in truth, and considering my current involvement in the wine world and past experience in the restaurant scene, it was a bit limited. I distinctly remember a wine, I think it was Hungarian, called Bulls Blood – and may well have been, for all we knew at the time.

There was probably a white too, I don’t remember but this is perhaps because my brain has deliberately blocked it out as it was likely to be Liebfraumilch, I guess. I think there were some French classics available as well, but as students, they were out of our price league.

To eat we went for the chunks of Granary bread with butter and a plate of probably not that imaginative cheese. There may also have been some pate? But hey, at the time, all the above was fine, and the whole Wine Bar idea became a part of my hard drive. It still is today.

So I was delighted to find ourselves in Jávea Puerto recently where I remembered there is a very good wine bar, just opposite the Cinema, where we’ve enjoyed both pre and postfilm drinks before now. Andares Ibéricos looks the part for a start. Outside and in the small covered terrace there are wine barrels made into tables, the wooded floor takes you into the similarly adorned bar where there are also a number of blackboards listing the various tapas and ‘ raciones’ that can be ordered, as well, of course, as the list of wines!

There were 11 white wines available by the glass and 16 reds, plus perhaps 4 rosados – an impressive choice for all. The whites included local Alicante and Valencia wines, along with the famous areas of Rioja, Rías Baixas and Jerez. Plus, I was very pleased to see wines from comparatively more remote and obscure regions such as Monterrei and Montilla Moriles.

Reds included Rioja, of course, and Ribera del Duero as we’d expect, but also local wines and again a good selection of the less wellknown areas such as Bierzo and Ribera Sacra. It was clearly going to be a good night, albeit that such a wide choice makes selection difficult. However, as the Premier League managers say when all their top strikers are fit and ready for action – it’s a nice problem to have.

Perhaps readers are like myself, perhaps not? If in the latter group, I’d gently suggest that you join us and walk on the wild side sometimes! I like to try new wines all the time – it’s part of my job, but it’s also my great interest. So, I often discount those areas that I know well ( a shame, as I obviously haven’t tried all the wines from, say Rioja), and look for the ‘ underdogs’.

I went for a white from Monterrei, made from the Godello variety that is quickly becoming a goto grape to match Albariño. It was a good choice – good fruit, a touch of grapefruit freshness balanced with wet stone minerality and some crushed white flower notes on the nose. The Toro red we had was full and rounded as you’d expect from a wine made there and with their darling variety Tinta de Toro, with the added pleasure of a little mountain herbs on the nose.

Bobal is of course a variety I’ve mentioned in Cork Talk many times, but I’ve rarely had one from DOP Alicante, so this had to be ordered too. Black cherries and some wet autumn leaves and earthiness with acidity and tannin in balance.

The final wine, of this particular visit ( there will be more!) was interesting, and I think may have been the best on the night! Finca 992 from Bodegas Finca Río Negro is a blended wine made with Tempranillo,

Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon harvested from vines growing at 992 metres above sea level.

Bright in the glass, yet dark in colour it had a nose of black fruits, a little spice from its months in new American and French oak barricas and a pleasing freshness. Ripe tannin means the wine is drinking very well now and has some ageing potential still. Initially light on the palate, when it warms a little in the mouth it opens out more giving a rich blackberry, blackcurrant and plum fruit presence that stays on the medium length finish.

Of course – here I mention but one Wine Bar, There are quite a few, though I’d certainly like to see more. So my advice is to seek out such establishments, and enjoy!