Try Some Wine! Win A Contest! Tapena Is Here To Help.
by Arianna Armstrong
"Love is like red, red wine..." (photo courtesy blog.craftzine.com)
“Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me.” – Sarah Bernhardt
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought I’d talk to you a little about love. …And the Spanish company, Freixenet (known for it’s world-famous black-bottled Cava, Cordon Negro). Love is what built Freixenet. In the late 1800s, Pedro Ferrer Bosch, whose family owned La Freixeneda – a farming estate dating back to the 12th Century – and had been making wine since the 1500s; married Dolores Sala Vivé, whose family owned the wine export company Casa Salas, and had been making wine since the 1830s.
The Phylloxera epidemic hit hard around that time, wiping out vineyards across Europe. But the family stuck together and their love of working in wine persevered. Instead of continuing to export wines from Europe – which had become a daunting endeavor, since many of Europe’s vineyards were now gone – Pedro and Dolores joined forces with her father and changed the direction of Casa Salas; while once they shipped vino, from then on, they made it.
With France’s venerable Champagne region as their guide, the family decided to make traditional sparkling wines, and planted all white grapes – Macabeo, Xarelo and Parellada, to be precise – and dug cellars at their home in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Spain. In 1915, under the name Freixenet (a nickname the locals gave to Pedro), the family began selling their own wines made in the Méthode Champenoise style. By the end of World War I, they were already shipping internationally.
Today, the Freixenet Group has distributors in 150 countries, and they rank number one in the world in production of sparkling wines made in the traditional method.
And they continue to look for ways to share the family’s love of wine.
To this end, the company is launching a value brand called Tapeña – a combination of the words tapas (“the American equivalent of bar hopping with an epicurean twist”) and peña (“slang for a group of close friends”) – the idea being that this wine is ideal to share over good times with the people you care about. What’s more, they offer a rewards program for fans to earn all kinds of cool stuff – just for drinking wine! – and at around $9.99/bottle, what’s not to love?
The Tapeña wines are made from primarily Spanish varieties, and there are four in all: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Verdejo, and Rosé (a blend of Garnacha, Monastrell and Shiraz). To introduce wine lovers near and far to these value vinos, the Freixenet Group is running a promotion, and winners will receive one bottle of each of the four wines, as well as nifty gifts like wine charms, a Spanish foods cookbook and a few other items, thrown in for fun (party pack is valued at over $100!).
How do you enter? Easy. In the comments section below, simply give us your favorite tapas recipe! That’s it! A winner will be selected at random on Friday, February 10, at 10am PST.
And if that doesn’t warm your heart, might I suggest picking up a bottle of Cordon Negro, to share in the rest of the world’s love of this classic Cava. After all, what Valentine’s Day isn’t made better by an intoxicating kiss of something sparkling?
Happy Valentine’s Day!
#Winning (photo courtesy beausbarrelroom.blogspot.com)Love Tapeña wines?
Love Tapeña wines?
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- Must be 21 years or older to enter. By entering the contest, you verify you are over 21.
Category: Great Wines Under $20, Wines from the Grocery Store | Tags: Cordon Negro Cava, Freixenet, Spanish wines, tapas recipes, Tapena wines, wine and tapas, wine contest One comment »
February 10th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Shrimp and Chorizo Tapas – Emeril Lagasse
Ingredients
1 tablespoon, plus 1/4 cup Spanish olive oil
1 pound chorizo, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch slices
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dry (fino) sherry
1 tablespoon Spanish paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined raw medium shrimp
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
Crusty bread, for serving
Directions
In a large skillet or cazuela, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and saute the sliced chorizo until it begins to brown around the edges, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelized around the edges and softened somewhat, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup of the sherry and cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sherry and 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and remainder of the salt and pepper; stir to combine and remove from the heat. Serve immediately, on small plates with any accumulated cooking juices spooned over the top. Pass the bread at the table.