Thursday 26th September 2024 - Lunch
This was a huge day. Up at 6.30 am for a quick breakfast and a walk to the Hotel to catch the coaches on a 250 km round trip, visiting four bodegas, lunch at a restaurant; a masterclass in Madrid wines; and a stunning dinner – arriving home at 12.15 am Friday morning.
First
stop was a tiny, family run Bodegas Brujidero, where we were treated to a white
and red wine bottled exclusively for the OMGD. 100 bottles only. The white, an
Airen grape from around Toledo and the red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and
Syrah, also from around Toledo, were made with minimal interference – manual milled
grind and no yeast starter. They were OK. Cheese and cured meats as well were
offered. We then walked the 600 metres down the road to Bodegas Alcardet. This
the other end of the spectrum, with a massive industrial wine making operation,
on a huge footprint. Here we sampled their red, white and sparkling wines; more
cheese and jamon and they gave us a bottle of their pink sparkling as a gift.
Wines were pretty good.
As
we approached hills of Ciudad Real and our lunch stop of la Musas Restaurant,
the old windmills on the hill – the classic image of Don Quixote were right
there. Photo opportunity!
Lunch
was well planned, as the menu reflected the simple fare of the area. A blood
pudding on flaky pastry with a Vermout Baldor was first, followed by a very
traditional Migas Tipicas de Pastor con uvas. This is a fry up of garlic,
breadcrumbs and jamon, with green grapes as decoration. Very traditional of the
area and sometimes served as tapa. The Simbolo Airen wine was nice. The segundo
plato was a very good, slow cooked lamb stew with a Dehesa del Carrizal Crianza Cabernet Sauvignon. The
postre (dessert) was a flower shaped, very fine fried pastry with sugar,
cinnamon and ice cream, served with a Mistela – a poor man’s Pineau. All in all
a really good, small portions, traditional meal. We were happy but pretty full
and a bit tired. “We” being most of the crowd, not just Flashy!
Blood pudding on pastry
Fried bread crumbs.
Dessert
Masterclass
I might try fried bread crumbs at home one day, I could probably even get them out of the crumb tray in the bottom of the toaster......the Major
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