I woke up late today at 9am! Got ready in 10 mins to go to Monte Nevado, a jamon (pronounced hamon) factory an hour away from Logrono. The company produces 75% for their local market and the rest is exported to the rest of the world. Malaysia’s difficult to get in coz loads of forms need to be filled. A pity really.
They produce 3 types of breed – 70% Serano (white pig), 20% Iberico (black pig) & 10% Mangalica (almost extinct Hungarian pig that looks like a sheep coz of its curly white wool). They are the only company in the world to produce Mangalica. The director of quality control, Alejandro (damn young & good looking!) took us around and explained the whole process of curing the jamon.
The raw meat is first thawed, added with curing agents, put in the salting chamber, washed, shaped, placed in a drying chamber, coated in fat to protect from dehydration, hung in the aging room and finally packed. Whole process takes an average of about 18 months for the Serano and 30 months for the Iberico and Mangalica. Obviously, the last 2 are more expensive.
I tried my hands at cutting it too! It’s much harder than it looks. 3 of them bought a whole leg (market price E400 but they got it at bout E100+). I bought a small cut from one of them for E20.
At the jamone factoryWe spent a bit too long at the jamone factory so was late to Bodegas Lopez Heredia, a small winery that still makes their wine the traditional way, exactly the same 132 years ago. They are the oldest winery in their neighbourhood and the 3rd oldest in Rioja. 80% is for local market, rest for export. Amazing place where everything is done painstakingly by hand.
Their underground cellar is simply out of this world. I was in awe the entire trip coz everything is the same more than 100 years ago. It was like stepping back in time. Almost everything there was built by Maria Jose Lopez’s (the lady who showed around) great grandfather. They still use their 1910 pressing machine. She admitted that others think they are crazy to produce the old-fashion way but she says it works and that’s what gives character to their wine. They had bottles covered in cobwebs from 1920!
Their modern futuristic shop
Bodegas Lopez Heredia, where everything is done the traditional way.
Maria treated us to a late lunch (after 3pm!) at La Vieja Bodega and we sampled 9 different types of wines! One of them was a white 1987 vintage. Phew. She gave us a bottle each to take home but I got an extra rose. Will bring it to Jerry in Germany.
Lunch at La Vieja Bodega
Went to Museo Vivanco after that, an amazing museum dedicated to the culture of wine. We were given a tour of the place after opening hours by this lovely old man. No pictures allowed unfortunately.
Museum of Wine Culture
Loli gave us ½ hour to put our stuff in the room and we went for a walk around Longrono. Only me, Lorella & Maya went. The rest were too tired but it’s their lost coz they missed out on the nicer part of the old town and the night life there. Funny, no rowdy drunk people. Night life here is a family affair at the tapas bars eating & drinking. An old guy who couldn’t speak a word of English tried to pick us up and offered us wine & mushrooms. Apparently that’s normal coz a few tapas bars specialise in mushrooms only. Went back before midnight to pack.
Night life in Spain - Tapas & wine
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