The sweet wines of the Marina Alta are claimed in the Mercat de Dénia

At the gates of the Christmas, five wineries of the Marina Alta They claimed their role in the lunches and dinners with family and friends that we will celebrate in the coming days. And they did it with the spoiled children of their homes, sweet wines, perfect to accompany after dinner or, why not, in starters.

Last Friday the Mercat de Dénia hosted a new edition of Menja't la Marina, the day of gastronomic and product promotion that on this occasion paid special attention to Christmas sweets and sweet wines of the region.

Joan Pastor, from the winery Joan de la Casa, from Benissa, presented Nimi Naturalment Dolç, made with the autochthonous variety of Muscat of Alexandria. It is a wine that has no added alcohol or sugar, is obtained from virgin raisins, dried in the sun in pots but not scalded, and fermented in barrel with 12 months of aging. Pastor recommends breaking with the topics and taste it with cheeses and pates.

Felipe Gutiérrez de la Vega, commercial director of the winery Gutiérrez de la Vega, participated with a classic of the house, the Casta Diva, harvest of 2014. As he explained, the sweetness of the wine is obtained naturally, since the grape is, in large part, passed, with little alcoholic content and with a long aging in French and Caucasus oak barrels. Gutiérrez de la Vega advises pairing it with intense flavors and a bitter point like chocolate or coffee.

From Teulada, the winery Cooperativa Sant Vicent Ferrer presented the muscatel wine Càntic del sol, which is based on a very ripe, almost passionate grape. Its president, Paqui Oller, stressed that it is a Muscat that is fermented in barrels 3 or 4 months, achieving 15 º graduation and, in the mouth, "It's like eating a raisin". The cooperative produces some 5.000 bottles of this label.

Also from Teulada arrived M from Alexandria, a project by Cristina Rodríguez Vicente who obtained the first harvest in 2017, with a limited series of 1.200 bottles. It is a wine made from traditional Muscat grapes with a particularity that sets it apart: the grapes are picked and frozen at the vineyard, "which greatly enhances the flavors of muscat and provides an end point of acidity that invites you to drink more".

Les Freses presents Dolç de les Freses

During the day it was presented for the first time Dolç de les Freses, the new wine from the winery Les Freses, by Jesús Pobre. Mara Bañó explained that this new wine comes from very late harvest, at the end of September, when the pendant has dried on the plant and it is already happening, with an initial graduation of 14º, to which 2 degrees have been added more of alcohol.

Christmas sweets as a complement

This exhibition of the potential of the sweet wines of the Marina Alta, has been completed with a sample of traditional Christmas sweets, made by two of the ovens stopping at the market, which the public has been able to taste. Mistela and cassall rolls Trini's Raconet and almond cakes with egg yolk, sweet potato and angel hair, from the Sivera bakery.

The chefs of the restaurant Origins from Dénia, Amanda Fornés and Ximo Ivars, have demonstrated creative cooking with two sweet-savory recipes for this Christmas season: a casca filled with minced meat and duck liver with sweet potato nougat and sweet anise reduction.