They’re baaaaaacccck! A few weeks ago, we announced that our Wine & Spirits Director, Gretchen Thomas, was getting ready to embark on her annual Spain management trip. Seven employees: Bart Madonado (GM, West Hartford); Sean Palani (Director of Guest Services, Atlanta); Joel Singleton (Corporate Beverage Mgr); Eric Ferraro (AGM, Brookline); Ennio DiNino (GM, Greenwich); Farah Masani (Corporate Culinary Team); and Allison O’Connell (Server, Fairfield) joined Gretchen during this trip. This week’s blog posts will be dedicated to our staff’s favorite Spain moments. Without further ado, we’re going to kick the Spain blogs with Allison O’Connell…
Unlike the rest of my travel companions, who consisted of managers and company executives, the story of how I came to be on this trip is a little different…
After just a few months of working for the company as a server in Fairfield, I was lucky enough to have achieved the highest score on our annual Barcelona proficiency exam. It was a test of our food, wine, and service knowledge, and the top two scorers were rewarded with this all-expense paid educational trip to Spain. When I started working at Barcelona in May of last year, I never dreamed that I would be spending a week with a group of amazing managers and directors, getting to try some of the best food and wine Spain has to offer. It was an incredible opportunity, which proved to me again what I already knew.. That Barcelona is a truly unique and special company; one that believes that by investing in our education, they are going to see the return ten-fold by what we bring back to the guests. That’s what sets Barcelona apart from the rest.
They practice what they preach, and let us experience Spanish food, wine, and most importantly hospitality, so that we can bring that authentic experience back to every guest we get the pleasure of serving. Currently I am a nursing student, going to school full-time and working as often as my busy schedule allows. But even an upcoming final exam didn’t stop me from lugging a textbook with me to Spain, just to be able to juggle both. You can sleep when you’re dead, right? No matter how much longer I am able to stay with Barcelona, this is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, and I’ll always be grateful to the people that made it possible.
DAY 4: Valencia and Josep Foraster
By Alison O’Connell, server Barcelona Fairfield
Today we woke up in Valencia to a sight we had yet to see: the sun! After a short early morning walk, we made it to one of the oldest European markets still running, Mercat Central, for breakfast.
Here we had a wealth of options to choose from, including the best croquettes of the week and some delicious meatballs. The vendors wereselling everything from jamon and bacalao to organ meats and cooking utensils. Everyone enjoyed exploring on their own and getting lost in the many aisles.
The incredibly fresh-looking fruit caught my eye, and I made sure not to leave without picking up some strawberries and oranges for the road.
With our goodies from the market, we jumped into our rental cars and started our beautiful seaside drive to Montblanc and the Josep Foraster estate. The best moment of the day was arriving after a long drive, and seeing a homemade lunch being prepared for us over a wood-burning stove. It truly felt like we were home!
Our gracious host, Ricard, introduced us to his family, and we chatted over lunch about the history of the family run vineyard and his plans for the future. We were all shocked to learn that Ricard and his family have only been producing wine for less than twenty years. Both the conversation and wine flowed as we feasted on lamb chops with homemade garlic aoli, roasted eggplant and peppers, spinach flatbread, and of course jamon and manchego. I was surprised that my favorite thing we ate today was the morcilla, or blood sausage. This was easily the best morcilla we had all trip – meaty and crispy! Content from our wonderful meal, we were ready for a walk around the vineyard.
The entire vineyard spanned about25 hectars and had a number of different grape varietals including – Trepat, Tempranillo, Macabeo, Garnache Blanc, and Chardonnay to name a few. The soils were surprisingly diverse for the relatively small amount of land. Ricard and his sister were very happy to tell us that next year they would be able to use the “organic” label on all of their wines. Ricard also showed us his newest plot, which he explained required an investment of 5 years and $15,000 before it turns a profit!
As the sun set over the mountains, we headed back inside for a wine tasting in a very personal setting. Ricard invited us to gather around his dining room table in his modest but very beautiful farm house, and try some of his wines he was most proud of. Some of the highlights included an “orange wine” which was made from 100% Macabeo, with some skin contact and complete oxidation to give it a pale orange hue.
Ricard wants to capitalize on the fact that sommeliers in the U.S. are interested in this new type of wine, and already very impressed by the Josep Foraster brand. We tried his very first vintage of a sparkling rose which I thought was particularly nice, but I think everyone agreed that the overall winner of the night was the Trepat. The light-bodied, easy drinking Red was hard to beat, with its smoky finish and surprising complexity. This was the undisputed favorite of our group.
What I will remember most from this day is the true hospitality that we were shown. While it was great being taken out to nice restaurants and elaborate dinners, this was the one and only home-cooked meal we had this trip, and I don’t think any of us will soon forget it. We were all so impressed by Ricard, who took us into his home and treated us like family. His humble demeanor and lack of ego made it hard to believe how successful he’s been in such a short time. We all expressed our excitement to see where he takes Josep Foraster in the future. What I will take back to our guests from this experience is a new understanding of what “humble hospitality” really means.
