I had the good fortune to be invited to a dinner at La Tienda organized by Spanish food enthusiast Miguel Vecin. La Tienda was a favorite restaurant of mine many years back but I hadn't been there in a long time. This was a welcome opportunity to revisit an old favorite.
Freixenet Cordon Rosado Brut Cava NV - Very attractive light strawberry color. The strawberry theme carries on to the palate. There's a little candy going on as well. This has some serious depth of flavor. Friendly and refreshing. A great way to start the evening.
Lots of tapas to start with - boiled chorizo, boquerones, pulpo, escalivadas, and kokotxas al pil pil - a Basque specialty of fish throats or whatever you call the fleshy parts on the underside of the gills, with a sauce of olive oil, peppers and garlic. With these we had:
Pazo San Mauro Albarino 2007 - From Rias Baixas. Subdued nose. Slightly leafy and very light with a dry and somewhat bitter finish. A little too austere for my tastes but it does the job of cleaning one's palate.
Laxas Albarino 2007 - More weight and fruit than the previous wine. There's a slight sweetness to this as well. Nice and easy. More my type.
Rose de Pavie Macquin 2007 - Light, refreshing and some candy. A very good rose that I've enjoyed several times before.
With the whites out of the way, we proceeded to the reds with two paellas both made with basmati rice. One a squid ink paella and the other a paella verdura. We also had baked fish and chuleton.
Venus La Universal 2000 - From Montsant. Despite having some age, this was dark, youthful and slightly hot. Rich and sweet with some plum making an appearance. International in style but very well made.
Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofi 2001 - Decanted for nearly two hours. Very dark, spicy. Warm wine, sweet fruit. The decanting softened this quite nicely. Excellent.
Marques de Murietta Dalmau 1995 - Plum, fruit syrup, sweet. Soft tannins. This wine has a surprising bit of acidity to it giving it structure and making it a rather good food wine. Excellent.
Miguel Torres Grans Muralles 2000 - From Conca de Barbera, a blend of Monastrell, Garnacha, Carinena and the nearly extinct Garro and Samso. Very dark, curry spice. Still young with a bit of tannin. Well balanced and complex. This can probably improve a bit more although its a very good drink now. Excellent.
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 1982 - Brown/olive rim. Beautiful floral nose. Very slight barnyard which makes it even more interesting. This wine is perfect now. The fruit is still vibrant but there's an overlay of earth and leather as well. Soft tannin, high acidity but very elegant and so alive. Outstanding.
Beronia Gran Reserva 2001 - Chocolate/caramel nose. Young and primary. All ripe fruit at this stage. This really needs more time in the bottle but will undoubtedly be excellent.
There was also a Remelluri and a Gaudium on offer but we had the good sense to stop while everyone was still sober. To aid digestion, we finished the evening with my favorite Brandy de Jerez, Cardenal Mendoza from the house of Sanchez Romate.
A great evening and plans are already being made for a follow-up.