Reflections at the end of the year | LA VILLA
The year 2021 is coming to an end and with it my first two years as General Manager of LA VILLA, in the new management constellation with Margarete Schultes, our wonderful Hotel Director
Further training in LA VILLA with sherry tasting and tea specialties. In November, the LA VILLA team had the pleasure to participate in two great trainings.
We started with a sherry and vermouth training, with none other than the house of Lustau. We started with the theory of the traditional production of sherry, for example the different maturing processes, the storage, which is very important to Lustau, and meticulous research on which sherry should be stored in which barrel, in which place, in order to create an excellent taste experience. Here it became clear that sherry can be an outstanding white wine not only because of its "atypical" color. After the theory, it was time for the tasting. 6 glasses, 6 different vintages, one better than the other and something for every taste. So it began with the "fino Jarana", a 5 year matured sherry with aromas of yeast and almond, which made it seem rather tart and sour, to a 15 year matured "East India Cream" which was now quite contrary with its sweet note, reminiscent of maple syrup or raisins, convinced.
After the sherry tasting followed an introduction to the vermouth of the house Lustau. Here we were explained the four important components of vermouth production. In the first place is white wine, which is the main ingredient with 75% of the total volume. Important for the taste of vermouth, however, are also the extracts of the "botanicals" on the quality of which much importance is attached in the house of Lustau. Alcohol and sugar are also essential for the grandiose vermouth.
Last but not least, there was a surprise consisting of a sample of Lustau Brandy and the story of how it was perfected by pure chance.
However, not only alcohol plays an important role in gastronomy. A week later, we attended a tea training course by Ronnefeldt Tea, which you can also find at our breakfast buffet and as a tea offering. Here, too, we started with the theory and learned a lot about tea varieties, tea cultivation and growing areas, brewing times and what to pay attention to in order to provide our guests with the best possible tea enjoyment. Afterwards, we had another tasting, including a demonstration of how to brew tea correctly. Because not all teas are the same! For example, green tea requires a lower water temperature for infusion, which is cooled down beforehand with a simple trick. The freshly boiled water is poured into a porcelain pot and then poured onto the tea leaves to reach the ideal temperature of about 80 degrees. Should you not be able to enjoy Ronnefeldt tea in our beautiful villa in the near future, there is of course also the possibility of browsing through a large selection of high-quality teas in one of the Ronnefeldt brand stores, such as in the Pasingarcaden in Munich, and taking a small aromatic trip around the world.
We are excited to see what other interesting training courses and further education courses are in store for us, with which we can prepare a wonderful time for you in LA VILLA!
