Take your aperitivo to the next level with spicy patatas bravas and a glass of Colet Navazos Cava

One of the reasons I love travelling to the south of Europe is the fabulous local aperitivo culture. Which is so much more than a cocktail or a glass of wine before dinner. Just head to a bar in Italy or Spain for pre-dinner drinks and you will know what I mean.

By the way, when you travel to Spain, you do not have to wait until late in the evening to go for a tapas crawl. Given the huge popularity of tapas, you can now enjoy them all day nearly everywhere in Spain.

If you can’t travel to Spain right now, don’t worry either. Most tapas dishes are easy and quick to prepare and the perfect appetizer to make at home.

One of my favourite tapas dishes (though I am likely saying this to a huge number of them) are spicy patatas bravas. They really take fried/oven roasted potatoes to the next level. And they pair wonderfully with a glass of crisp Spanish cava.

If you really want to impress, go for a bottle of Colet Navazos from Equipo Navazos. It is a quite unique style, blending the classic Xarello grapes from the Penedès region with a small addition of Sherry from the Spanish sherry triangle in Andalucia.

About Equipo Navazos

Equipo Navazos was born out of a passion for Sherry. Back in 2005, a small group of sherry lovers started to buy almost forgotten sherry butts hidden away in the cellars of Andalucia’s sherry hotspots Jerez, Sanlúcar, El Puerto, and Montilla. Initially the group bottled the sherry in limited quantities for their own joy only. Over time, however, encouraged by positive feedback from friends, they also started to sell to the public.

Sherry remains the core product of Equipo Navazos, though the team is open to other styles of wine.

Collaborating with Penèdes winery Colet, a family-run wine estate making organic sparkling wines, they created the Colet Navazos brand. The cava is made in small batches of around 2,500 bottles per year, so if you come across a bottle by chance do not hesitate to bring it home.

Tasting Notes: Colet Navazos Extra Brut

Colet Navazos Extra Brut is produced in joint venture with a leading cava producer Colet from the Penèdes. This excellent cava is made from Xarello grapes grown in the Penedès in northern Spain with a small addition of Palo Cortado and Amontillado sherry from Sanlucar.

The result is really unique and stunning.

The sparkling wine is matured for 30 months on the lees in the bottle, thus qualifying as Reserva.

In the glass, a dark golden yellow.

On the nose, aromas of almond, green olive, salted lemon, and dried fruits along with a hint of sherry.

On the palate, fresh and spicy with aromas of roasted walnuts, pine nuts and almond peel. Vibrating and extremely salty and highly aromatic. Dry and very long finish.

In conclusion, this is a sparkling wine not made for the faint hearted

Food pairing: Colet Navazos Extra Brut is perfect for aperitif either on its own or with a wide range of appetizers, in particular Spanish tapas. Or try is with ceviche or gilled sardines.

I have paired it with one of the most popular Spanish tapas dish, the delicious spicy patatas bravas.

Recipe: Patatas Bravas

Serves 6 to 8

For the patatas bravas:
500 g small potatoes, carefully cleaned and halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
300 ml water

For the lemon mayonnaise:
150 g mayonnaise (homemade or store bought)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of ground saffron

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and fry until they turn lightly golden.

Stir in the tomato paste, season with salt, pepper, and paprika powder and sauté for about one minute. Add water and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. The water should be nearly evaporated by that time.

In the meantime, stir mayonnaise, lemon juice, olive oil and saffron together. Season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle potatoes with mayonnaise and serve still warm.