Whether you are skiing down the slopes of St. Moritz, Andorra, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Vail, Aspen or just around your hometown a winebota is the perfect ski companion. A winebota is less cumbersome and lighter than a flask and the best part of it is that you can carry up to a whole liter (1000 ml) of wine or your favorite liquor to keep you warm during those beautiful skiing trips.
Our winebotas are durable and very easy to carry over the shoulder with its nylon cords or leather straps.
Vega Sicilia is without any doubt the best and most refined wine made in Spain. In 1864, Eloy Lecanda founded the winery that symbolizes the golden legend of Spanish red wine. Throughout its long history, it has belonged to different owners, although it has always maintained an unquestionable personality, making concentrated, mature, generous and extremely elegant.
This spectacular wine typically made from a blend of 93% Tempranillo grapes and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for this particular vintage, is the best example of what great wines are supposed to taste, smell and look like.
Vega Sicilia only makes three different wines under the Vega Sicilia winery brand: ‘Valbuena 5°’, ‘Reserva Especial‘ (with no vintage as this is a blend of different vintages) and ‘Único’. Vega Sicilia also owns Pintia, Alion (often called the poor man’s Vega Sicilia) and Tokaj Oremus which are not sold under the Vega Sicilia name, however, they happen to also be some of the best wines in the world.
Bodegas Vega Sicilia is located in the town of Valbuena de Duero between Peñafiel and Valladolid in the wine region of Ribera del Duero in Spain. Since 1982, the company is owned by the Alvaréz family.
What makes this wine so unique and excellent?
The aging of the wine begins in January; first in containers and then in new American Oak wooden casks. For the ‘Valbuena 5°’, the duration of the aging process in wood is three and a half years, and for the ‘Único’, a minimum of seven years. During this time, the wine is rotated form new casks to casks that are more and more used. With a view to achieving a perfect balance between the wine and the wood. Once this has been achieved, the wines finally rest in large wooden vats, which prepares them for later bottling. The aging in the bottle requires time and care. The wines of Vega Sicilia end their journey with a calm rest in the bottle in specially acclimatised installations. The time they remain there depends on the format of the bottle: Vega Sicilia ‘Único’ in Bordeaux format (0.75 litres) takes three years or more to age. For the ‘Valbuena 5°’, the period for aging in the bottle is around a year and a half. A system that takes us back in time. There is no hurry in Vega Sicilia. Considering the time that it takes for a certain vintage to make it to the stores you are guaranteed a wine with certain level of maturity and perfection when ready to be drank.
Retail Price Range in the U.S.: $340-$400 and be prepared to look for it as hard as you can. It is so hard to find because of its limited production and because only 100 stores in the U.S. carry it.
The wine is characteristically deep ruby red in color with a very full body and a great oaky cherry aroma and an amazing complexity that you get as you are pouring it out of the bottle. The complex notes on this wine include: black cherry, oak, tobacco and coffee accompanied by a very long lasting taste. What Vega Sicilia would refer to as a ‘pedigree wine’. Once you take a sip, your mouth is so overwhelmed that as the wine starts going down your throat it almost feels like it is magically disappearing without giving you any alcohol sensation or bite.
This wine is a great pairing for game meats including lamb, venison, wild boar, partridge and pheasant or freshly sliced ‘jabugo’ or speck.
On a rating scale from 1 to 10 we give Vega Sicilia a 12. Joke aside this wine is so amazing that it’s hard to just give it a 10. Without a doubt, drinking a Vega Sicilia is a lifetime experience and one of the most amazing ways of pampering your senses.
‘Pulpo a la Gallega’ is one of the most iconic and traditional dishes from Spain. In our opinion it is also one of the most delicious dishes that can be shared with friends during a nice ‘Tapas’ night.
This delicious dish is great when paired with a good Albariño such as ‘Laxas’.
We recommend chilling the wine first and then pouring it into your winebota so that you can enjoy it properly chilled. After pouring it in the winebota the wine should remain cold for at least a good thirty minutes or so depending on the weather conditions.
Galicia where ‘Pulpo a la Gallega’ is from is a large province located in the northwestern side of Spain. The best octopus in the world comes from ‘Galicia’. One of the main reasons why the octopus in this side of the world is so good it’s because of the temperature of the waters and the strength of the tide in this sea. The sea around Galicia and its fishing towns is often is often called ‘Costa da Morte’ (the coast of death) because of its high waves and violent tide.
In order to recreate this traditional dish from Spain all you need is a freshly unseasoned boiled or grilled octopus that should be sliced in pieces about half an inch thick or thinner (if you prefer it that way).
After you have cut the octopus proceed to put it on a plate, drizzle it with high quality Spanish olive oil, sprinkle sea salt on it and add a copious amount of ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ (Spanish Sweet Smoked Paprika from the region of ‘Cáceres’). Then sit down, relax, take a ‘chisguetazo’ from your winebota and enjoy!!!
