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 At Haro Station Experience, an event curated by the Rioja producers located around the Railway Station of Haro in Rioja, I was intrigues visiting a small stand by Nespresso where they displayed 3 different wine bottles including Roda 1from the region and a Nespresso coffee machine with different types of coffee. I was even more intrigues when the lady manning the stand told me about those different coffees pairing well with different wines.
You drink coffee after wine at the end of the dinner but why would you drink wine after coffee? The answer to my question came promptly from the Press representative who was accompanying me. ‘Spanish people love to have coffee, wine and a lot of chat continues after dinner. So, many times they like to interchange between coffee and wine. In such cases, it helps if the wine flavours are compatible with the coffee flavours,’ she told me.
I tried various combinations and was surprised that it did make a difference, when I tried a sip of coffee and a sip of wine alternatively. When the wine matched with a coffee blend it was really delicious and I could see people lost in conversation would carry on unmindful of whether the next cup was coffee or the glass of wine- either could be the choice.
Coffee and wine rolled into one
Well, for the Spaniards and others who love both coffee and wine, there is a new hybrid product-a wine infused coffee. Like many other such inventions and novel ideas, this one has also emanated from Napa Valley. Molinari Private Reserve is one such winery. According to the company website,
this full-bodied coffee relaxes in a beautiful wine, absorbing  the wine’s nose and history, then the coffee is carefully dried and hand-roasted in small batches. Made in half pound bags (250gms) it sells for $20 and is already out of stock currently, at least at the winery. They are roasting more currently and should be able to fill the back orders!
The blend highlights a blueberry flavour, and once you add some milk into the mix, it brings out even more of the spectacular wine taste.
To release the best flavour this coffee has to offer, use filtered or bottled water with a pot press (French press), although a drip brew works, as well. For a small pot press, use about 20 mL for a large press 500 mL, of a medium grind. Put grounds in the bottom; pour in hot water half way and stir, this will make a small head of foam. Fill to ½ inch then put top on. Wait 2.5 minutes and slowly press down, if hard wait a few more minutes. For a regular machine use slightly less than normal. DO NOT let it sit on a burner or use a warming plate – this will keep cooking the coffee.
Several other options are available at Amazon.com.
Coffee flavoured Pinotage
 Of course, if you like the aromas of coffee in your nostrils. You could go for a few , not too expensive South African Pinotage wines which have a property that when in contact with some type of Oak, it gives strong aromas and flavour of coffee. Many locals and foreign journalists are critical of this style Pinotage but it has found many  takers outside the country.
The first Pinotage wine of this style was produced at Diemersfontein Winery in 2001. The aromatics that give roasted coffee beans their aroma are a result of alcoholic fermentation in contact with toasted oak. According to the winery, “the interesting fact is that although coffee or chocolate nuances are common descriptors of some wine aromatics, no other varietal emphasises the intensity as significantly as Pinotage. And of course a number of variables play a role – the ripeness, the type of yeast and oak, as well as the degree of toasting.”
South African Department of Agriculture says that where coffee flavours are derived naturally from the use of allowed oak products during vinification, the product is not in contravention of relevant South African and international wine legislation. The Department has been testing a range of Pinotage wines with pronounced coffee flavour profiles, using the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method, and has not found any traces of caffeine.
For details of the wine, visit Haro Station Wine Experience Big Hit for Riojan Sub-region |