My Top 5 Montsant wines (red)

Do you like wine? If you like it and think of Spanish red wine you probably think of Rioja and Ribera del Duero and maybe you are also aware of Priorat. But, have you heard of Montsant wines? Less known abroad than Priorat but grown in a neighbouring area, Montsant wines have been a local success in the recent years. In the Montsant area wine has been grown over the centuries but it was recently that a younger, more ambitious generation took over the old wineries and developed a more sophisticated product using the traditional grapes (carinyena and garnatxa mainly) but not excluding more posh grapes such as cabernet sauvignon. If you have to buy wine or you must choose a bottle in a restaurant, have a look at Montsant red wines and their excellent quality-price relation.

My Top 5 Montsant wines

 

• MAS COLLET NEGRE, a red-wine made of grape varieties:  cabernet sauvignon, carignan, grenache, and tempranillo in Celler de Capçanes (95/100 for 2010)
• DIDO, a red-wine made of cabernet sauvignon, and grenache, merlot by Venus La Universal (92/100 for 2009)
• VENUS, this red-wine is made with carignan, grenache, syrah by Venus La Universal (94/100 for 2009)
• PERLAT is a red-wine made of grape varieties: carignan, grenache, and syrah in Cellers Unió (87/100 for 2009)
• ETIM NEGRE, red-wine made of carignan, grenache, and syrah by  Cooperativa Falset Marçà (91/100 for 2009)

 In this website, you will find more information on Montsant wines: http://www.domontsant.com/en/page/wines

 

 

Japanese Restaurant near Sagrada Familia: Can Kenji

Japanese restaurant, on the way to Sagrada Familia

Rosselló 325

Tel. 93 476 18 23

http://cankenji.com/cankenji/?page_id=27

If you like Japanese food and you are on your way from/to Sagrada Familia, Can Kenji is worth the visit. It is located in a quite hidden place, in the ground floor an apartment building in the corner Bailèn / Rosselló streets. The restaurant is small and decoration simple, but food is really excellent and prices kept low. Can Kenji has more than sashimi or sushi in the menu: noodles are excellent and also tataki. As said, if you are visiting Sagrada Familia and you don’t feel like eating at one of the fast-food dens L that are just opposite to the temple, remember Can Kenji is just a few blocks away, very near Passeig de Sant Joan.

Eduardo Mendoza (writer)

Check his entry at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Mendoza_Ceballos

And official website (Spanish): http://www.clubcultura.com/clubliteratura/clubescritores/mendoza/home.htm

If you are visiting Barcelona or coming to live here, you may be interested to know a little more about it. Eduardo Mendoza work, sometimes hilarious, may help you. His works El misterio de la cripta embrujada and El laberinto de las aceitunas will introduce you to the Barcelona of the late 80’ through a character – half nuts, half marginal – that you will love. In Sin noticias de Gurb the main character is an alien landing in pre-Olimpics Barcelona. Also, absolute fun. Finally, I will recommend La ciudad de los prodigios for a look to an older Barcelona (beginning of the 20^th century). He has written many other novels – inferior to the ones mentioned, in my opinion. Many (if not all) of his work has been translated into English.

Films: REC and REC2

To see some of the film: http://movies.filmax.com/rec/

To read about the building (Spanish): http://www.bdebarna.net/v2/mapa.php?mapa_id=109&historia=1832

If you like scary movies, try to see REC and REC2. Both are Spanish movies, recorded in Barcelona with a short budget but solid ideas. I especially like the first REC for its first minutes, introducing what would be a typical “escala de veins”. The real site where REC was filmed is in Rambla Catalunya 34, near Passeig de Gràcia. It is a complete building in the city center but no one lives or works there. The owner rents it for films or advertisement recordings. Curious, isn’t it? Since REC it has become one of the most popular sites in Barcelona for terror movies lovers.

BAR JOAN (MERCAT DE SANTA CATERINA)

Eat on a budget, Born

Avinguda de Francesc Cambó, 16

www.mercatsantacaterina.net

opens at market hours (Tuesday to Friday morning and evening, Saturday morning until lunch time)

Mercat de Santa Caterina is not popular among tourist. Here you will not find the stalls selling cut fruit or the tourist crowds you will find in La Boqueria. Although it has been completely renewed (including the roof, inspired in Gaudi), Santa Caterina is still a neighbourghood market – that alone would be enough reason to visit it. But Santa Caterina has more than that: it is very near the cathedral – just cross Via Laietana -, it has a moderately priced restaurant with Catalan and international specialities and it has Bar Joan. To find Bar Joan you have to enter Santa Caterina and go to the opposite end of the market. Bar Joan is a plain bar crowded with locals. Tortillas and bocadillos are excellent while prices are low. They have also a choice of traditional tapas. And here, “you will do as romans do” ;-P

LA BOTIFARRERIA

Shopping, Born

Santa Maria 4 (next to the Església de Santa Maria del Mar and Fossar de les Moreres)

Opens Monday to Friday form 8.30 to 14.30 and 17 to 20.30 and Saturday morning

La Botifarreria is a small, normally fully booked shop just next to Santa Maria del Mar. Their speciality is the most typical food in Catalonias: “botifarra”, a pork sausage that is cooked in a hot pan. In La Botifarreria they have developed botifarres and have a wide choice of them. From botifarra dolça (sweet) to botifarres with “alls tendres” or different kinds of mushrooms. My suggestion would be buying different kinds of them and sharing – so you can try a bit of (almost) everything. La Botifarreria counts also with other catalan specialities such as Catalan cheeses and “botifarra d’ou” or “fuet” which doesn’t need cooking.

FLORISTERIAS NAVARRO

Flowers, plants

València 324 (between Roger de Llúria and Girona Streets)

Always open

www.floristeriasnavarro.es

If you feel like buying some flowers or a plant, or you just have to make a present and it is late and everything is closed, you can always count on Floristerías Navarro. Their shop, near Mercat de la Concepció and Passeig de Gràcia is a “classic” of Barcelona. They have a nice choice of flowers, affordable prices and efficient shop attendants.