OT: Marqués de Riscal Rueda Verdejo (2014)

• Winery: Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal S.L. Crtra. Nacional VI, Km. 172,600. 47490 – Rueda (Valladolid) Marqués de Riscal is one of the oldest wineries in La Rioja. Founded in Elciego (Álava) in 1858 by Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga, it has always been characterised by its benchmark status, both nationally and internationally, in the wine sector. At the start of the 1970s, Vinos de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal decided to expand its product range with a white wine. Following two years of tests, the Rueda region was selected for its production. Loyal to its pioneering spirit, Marqués de Riscal created a new young, fresh and fruity white wine in a region famous for its strong, fortified wines. Other wineries took their lead, resulting in the creation of the D.O. Rueda in 1983. Vinos de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal has the best owned vineyards in the Rueda Designation of Origin (205 hectares), and is, additionally, one of the main wine producers in the area, as well as being one of the main producers throughout Castilla y León.
• Phone: + 34 983 868 029
• Winemaker: Luís Hurtado de Amézaga Hamparzoumian
• Website: www.marquesderiscal.com
• Brand: Marqués de Riscal Rueda Verdejo
• DO: Rueda
• Type: Young White Wine. The verdejo grape is stemmed and cooled and left to macerate in order to extract the maximum aroma from the skins and increase the smooth oiliness of the wine. The must, once fined and clear undergoes slow fermentation at a controlled temperature of between 13ºC and 15ºC for 20 days, in order to preserve the varieties characteristic fruitiness. After a time of maturation the wine will be bottled between January and March in the year following the harvest.
• Vintage: 2014 
• Alcohol: 13% vol. 
• Grape Variety: 100% Verdejo (According to the rules and regulations of Rueda D.O. if the Label says Verdejo, the wine has to be at least 85% Verdejo —although many are truly 100% of the native grape. The balance can be Viura and/or Sauvignon Blanc)
• Vineyards: Vinos de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal has the biggest stock of estate-owned vines in the Denominación de Origen Rueda (205 Ha of own Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc vines, plus 250 Ha of controlled external vines in the villages of La Seca, Rueda, Serrada and Rodilana). 
• Soil Type:  The D.O. Rueda is located in the central area of the depression formed by the river Duero, on a smooth plateau blown by Atlantic winds. The area has alluvial and flood terraces on the banks of the river Duero and its tributaries, the rivers Trabancos, Zapardiel and Adaja. Dark grey-brown soils, rich in calcium and magnesium, stony but easy to farm, with good ventilation and draining, and limestone outcrops on the hilltops. Permeable and healthy, their texture varies from sandy-loamy to loamy.
• Bottle Size: 75.0 cl.
• Price: € 7,10 at Licores Lafuente Madrid.   
• My wine rating: 88/100 (A wine of good quality) NEW!

By the way, the 2015 will soon be available, if it is not already, and would be better to buy this vintage. Note that young whites don’t improve with time, to the contrary they tend to get worse faster.

Film Notes: The Hateful Eight (2015) directed by Quentin Tarantino

US / 168 minutes / color /The Weinstein Co. Dir: Quentin Tarantino Pro: Richard N. Gladstein, Stacey Sher, Shannon McIntosh Scr: written by Quentin Tarantino Cine: Robert Richardson Mus: Ennio Morricone Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks,, Dana Gourrier, Zoe Bell, Lee Horsley, Gene Jones, Keith Jefferson, Craig Stark, Belinda Owino, Channing Tatum Release Date: (Los Angeles, California, premiere) 7 December 2015. (Spain) 15 January 2016.

The Hateful Eight is a 2015 American Western mystery film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino announced the film in November 2013. After the script leaked in January 2014, he cancelled the movie, but announced that he had changed his mind after directing a live reading of the script at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles. Filming began on December 8, 2014, near Telluride, Colorado. Distributed by Weinstein Company, The Hateful Eight was released on December 25, 2015, in a roadshow release in 70 mm film format, to generally positive reviews from critics. It had a wide digital release on December 30, 2015. The score, composed by Ennio Morricone, was his first complete Western score in 35 years and was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, winning the former. (Source: Wikipedia)

Official Synopsis: Set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman”, will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road they encounter two strangers Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) a black former Union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) a southern renegade who claims to to be the town’s new sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Demian Bichir) who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they might not make it to Red Rock after all… (Source: The Quentin Tarantino Archives)

Last week Begoña and I had the chance to go and see Tarantino’s latest film, The Hateful Eight, another film that I was expecting I would have enjoyed much more, unfortunately, this has not been the case. In a nutshell after a first half which I quite liked it, in my view, the film ends up being unnecessarily lengthy and the ending is far too predictable and disappointing. Maybe only for Tarantino’s diehard fans.

The Hollywood Reporter film review

Quentin Tarantino Interview: Screenwriting The Hateful Eight with Chris Nolan

Quentin Tarantino on his new film, The Hateful Eight

Official site