Gourmet Safari Exclusive Wine Offer.

Receive a selection of 6 premium Spanish wines to savour at home after spending a week at our Catalan Cooking Holiday.

We just cooked up this hot new offer! Receive an impressive hand-picked selection of Spanish wines to take home with you after experiencing a week in food heaven.  The Catalonia area of Northern Spain is one of the most inventive areas of the world in terms of cuisine and the wine deserves top marks too.  Experience the Catalan Cooking Holiday, featuring an incredible culinary adventure and take a ‘delicious piece’ of Spain back home with you.  The local Priorat region wines are out of this world. Since the area has undergone an incredible transformation, emerging during the 1990s from obscurity to worldwide success, it is now very well known for its wines.  And your hosts know the owners of the area wine estates, so the visits are personalized and interactive. 

Bring a delicious ‘taste’ of Catalonia home with you in 3 simple steps.
STEP 1:
Gather a small intimate group of your closest wine-loving friends together (max 6) to take in our Catalan Cooking Holiday culinary vacation – spend a week cooking, eating and savouring incredible wines and cuisine.

STEP 2:
Take home your 3 bottles of premium hand-picked Priorat Spanish wines (6 per couple).  Simply slip them into a cardboard handheld box that is oh so easy to carry on-board a plane.

STEP 3:
The easy part…sip and savour your gifts of the earth from Spain and travel back in time.

Bonus Behind the Scenes Wine Experience.
Personalized vineyard visits and wine tastings (your hosts know the wines and wine makers personally).

Wine tasting with one of the key winemarkers of the area from the famous La Conreria de Scala Dei winery –  Jordi Vidal, one of the most modest and talented enologists in the area,

Enjoy the fully-stocked wine cellar at your 4th generation stone-built home away from home…wine heaven.  Any bottle you drink there is included.

 

The Price Tag. 

6-Nights From $3,755

Double Occupancy per person. Prices in CAD. 

 

With this exclusive Special Offer each couple will receive.
3 reds: Clos de l'Obac, El Bugader, Clos Fontá
3 whites: Kyrie, Odyseus, Nona

Uncorked! 

Meet the wine region…the Priorat!

Although the Priorat wines have been produced for centuries, it is only recently, in the past decade or so, that they have taken a quantitative leap in quality that now puts them in the forefront of Spanish wines. Catalonia is probably best known for its white wines and cava (champagne method), but the constant increase in production quality from D.O.C. Priorat wines and DO Montsant denomination wines has put these in the spotlight of wine connoisseurs worldwide. This is what makes this area so interesting for a wine tour in Spain.  Now’s the time…

One of the advantages of the Priorat region is its temperate and dry climate with hardly any rain whatsoever during the summer months. The geographical factor which affects both the price and taste of these wines is the fact that most vines are on steep slopes of slate of volcanic origin, thus making picking a very manual affair. The most interesting wines of the area are the dry reds. These are very concentrated, very high in color and alcohol content (14 to 15%), with great tanins, and are ready to drink at even a young age. The grape varietals used for most wine production are:

Reds: Garnacha, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot.

Whites: Macabeo, Garnacha Blanca, Pedro Ximenez.

Meet the wines.
Tasting Notes to introduce you to the 6 very special wines you'll take home!

The Reds (el vino tinto).

Clos de l'Obac 2000 produced by Costers del Siurana.
The slatey soil brings the wine its fine balance and its unique personality.   Power, structure and complexity are the three characteristics of this wine. The "coupage" is of five grape varieties; Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cariñena are very important. 

El Bugader 2000 produced by Joan D'Anguera Wine Estate.
The family-run estate dates back 200 years and the 80 acres of vineyards produce incredibly low yields.  Very Special.  On the palate the wine is rich and very flavourful showing excellent purity and a long lingering finish, with a vibrant nose of minerals and ripe syrah (pepper notes).

Clos Fontá 2001 produced by Viticultors Mas Den Gil Wine Estate.
By selecting plots of old vines up to 50 years-old, the wines offer power and concentration, complexity and a broad range of aromas, though nothing too over-bearing, with sweet tannins perfectly melded with the wood. 

The Whites (el Vino Blanco).

Kyrie 2001 produced by Costers del Siurana.
Four varieties of white grapes make up the structure of Kyrie white: White Garnacha, Macabeo, Cartoixà and Alexandria Muscatel. The optimum maturing of the four varieties gives Kyrie a great structure and complexity. Aged for six months in new barrels of French oak, it reaches excellent expectations for a long life and good development in the bottle for years.

Odysseus produced by Viñedos de Ithaca Wine Estate.
Odysseus has become a darling of the wine press for their white 100% Garnacha Blanca wine. The wine is literally the color of gold, tops about 13% alcohol, and even needs to be decanted. 

Nona 2002 produced by La Conreria de Scala Dei Wine Estate.
La Conreria de Scala Dei has to be one of the most beautifully located wineries in Spain. Nestled in the ancient village of Scala Dei and just next to the 12th century Cartoixa d' Scala-Dei, a stunning monastery in ruins. This top end winery is particularly well-known for making exciting white wines with the native Garnacha Blanca grape.

Take a gift from the earth home!

Travel Tip of the Month.

I thought that it would be a great addition to the newsletter to add a short ‘n sweet Travel Tip column.  After many years of working in the travel industry and travelling around the globe to over 40 countries, I thought I had enough good solid travel tips to share with you…and here is the 1st tip, ta da!

Carry-on Gets On.
Ensure that you remove items from your carry-on bag that may not be permitted onboard aircraft due to heightened airport security. Items such as corkscrews, Swiss Army knives, scissors, even nail files should be packed in your checked baggage.  I thought I’d mention this one because we’re focusing on wine this month and a corkscrew is always a good idea to carry when ‘on the road’.

Buen Viaje y Buen Apetito!

To find out more about this exclusive offer or any of our culinary vacations please feel free to call me at 416.238.9987 (Toronto) or 1.800.839.5795 (in North America).  Email works well too at jackie@gourmetsafari.com.

Gastronomically, Jackie

 

Gourmet Safari supports BREAKFAST FOR LEARNING – proceeds from every culinary vacation go to this special charity.

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