The end of 2024 and the beginning of the New Year have been both trying and freeing.
The New Year always gets me excited about new things, and this year is no exception. But this year, I chose to take things a little more slowly and thoughtfully. Rather than rolling out a whole new plan on January 1st, I set aside the month of January for planning.
Planning for the New Year during the holiday season is never a good idea. December is the time to relax and enjoy the season. So this month, I am reflecting, thinking, and planning in a softer way than usual. By giving myself a bit of grace, I hope to find a way into this new year that allows for inspiration and flexibility.
That would be the freeing part.
The trying part came with a cold at the end of December, one that has hung on in a light but annoying way into mid-January. The problem with this is wine tasting. My sense of smell is not quite normal, which makes picking out aromas in wines not so easy. Several tastings and pairings have been postponed so that I can give the wines the attention that they deserve.
I wrote an article about the Cava Vilarnau Brut Reserva that we enjoyed on Christmas Day and then planned to open the Vilarnau Rosé Delicat for New Year’s. New Year’s arrived, and my nose was not right, and I was not inclined to imbibe, so we postponed.
We did a few shots, and finally, I felt good enough to dive into these bubbles but not good enough to finish the bottle. I sealed it and hoped for the best! Then, reopened it several days later. It had lost some bubbles but still had a gentle fizz and lovely flavors. I enjoyed it while Michael was at work with a small pack of potato chips topped with dots of sour cream and sprinkled with caviar. This is one of my favorite decadent pairings, and it is much more affordable than you might think.
Cava Vilarnau Rosé Delicat Reserva
This Cava bottle is wrapped in a design that is an ode to the Trencadis art movement in Barcelona. You can read more about that in my article “Cava with a nod to the Trencadis art movement from Vilarnau.”
The bottle is beautiful, and they sent me 2 matching tree ornaments that will grace my holiday tree for years to come.
The wine itself is 85% Garnacha and 15% Pinot Noir. I found an article where the winemaker spoke about how much she enjoys working with Garnacha for sparkling wines, and I can understand why! The fruit aromas that are so often masked in sparkling wines by the yeast notes explode from the bottle. There are notes of wild strawberry, raspberry, and tangerine, with subtle notes of rose petals. There is a delicate hint of lees (yeast) on the nose, that warms and rounds the nose without diminishing the fruit.
It has a 12% abv, so I did not feel guilty about finishing this bottle on my own, and I did not stumble after finishing it!
The grapes are certified organic and come from the Espiells area, inland from the Garraf Massif in the Catalan Coastal Range, within the Penedes region of Spain near Barcelona.
Eva Plazas Torné, Vilarnau’s winemaker, harvests and ferments the Garnacha and Pinot Noir separately, then blends them for the second fermentation.
An indulgent pairing and a bit of self-care
This was a budget pairing for me, pulling out things from the pantry and fridge, but it was decadent in my eyes, and I reveled in the self-care moment.
I know, budget, bubbles, and caviar don’t sound like words that go together, but let me break it down for you.
First, this lovely bottle of Vilarnau Rosé Cava I did receive as a sample. But…if you were to pick this up in the store, it retails at $17.
We rarely have potato chips in the house. Michael had brought a snack size home from a box lunch he had at work. I had sour crème left over from Taco Night and the caviar…well it was left over also from an event. This caviar is not the fanciest. In fact, it is grocery store caviar. The Romanoff Caviar Company is based in Westerville, Ohio, and produces shelf-stable caviar that you can get at Albertsons. Their 2 oz jar of Black Lumpfish Caviar adds just the perfect salt and glamour and will set you back under $12. With Caviar, a little goes a long way. In fact, I did not finish it off in this sitting. There is more glamour to be had with this little jar.
In the end, this was a good reminder to me to cherish the smaller moments. I sat on the floor at the coffee table, indulging in some TV (I’m currently binging Ripley, which is fabulous), sipping this Rosé Cava and munching on my chips with caviar. It’s moments like this that I want to continue to share with you and encourage you to create for yourself!
May this next year be one in which you find joy. In the cacophony of noise in the universe, it is sometimes hard to find, but it is there in even the smallest moments. In moments of kindness to yourself and others.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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