The Spanish Table Berkeley Wine Newsletter- February 2005 I cook because I care Valentine’s Day is avoiding vacations in traditionally one of the August, airline travel at busiest days of the year Thanksgiving, and going for restaurants. If you out dancing on New are headed out to a Year’s Eve. My wife and restaurant this year, I have been staying home consider taking along a and preparing a simple special wine. Gran meal. We open a nice Reservas from Rioja are bottle of wine, slice up a bargain even after some good bread, paying the restaurant Spanish cheese and their corkage fee. chorizo, and enjoy each Lately however, I have avoided other’s company. We take time to going out to eat on Valentine’s Day appreciate the taste of the food, and in the same way I find myself (continued, p.4) ‘Be Mine’ – Say it with wine salmon/apricot tint, a light berry aroma, and bright acidity. Smooth ripe fruit Rosado character leads to a clean finish. $9.99 Some pink wines to match your Pago de Valleoscuro ’03 - From Valentine’s Day décor: the Valles de Benavente region in Northwest Spain, this Rosado is made Aloque ’03 - This Rosado from D.O. from Tempranillo and Prieto Picudo Rioja is made from 50% Tempranillo and grapes. The rose pink color, and the sweet 50% Garnacha grapes. It has a floral scent complement the rich textured character follows on with flavors of black palate of ripe berry fruit. $9.99 currant and plum, along with a dry cocoa powder finish. Give this one lots of air if Torres De Casta ’03 - The bright you want to drink it soon. $52.00 pink Rosado from Torres in D.O. Termanthia ’02 - The high-end wine Penedès has sweet strawberry aroma, from Bodegas Numanthia - Termes is with light fruit character and enough composed of 100% Tinta de Toro grapes, bright acidity to keep the wine fun. Serve from old pre-phylloxera vines, grown in De Casta before a meal or with light the eleven-acre “Teso los Carriles” appetizers. $8.99 vineyard situated in Argujillo (Zamora). The painfully small yield of this tiny Vega Sindoa ‘03– This Rosado vineyard is hand-sorted before the fruit is from D.O. Navarra is watermelon pink crushed, macerated and stirred for thirty and medium bodied. Drier than many days. After fermentation, the wine is aged Rosados, Vega Sindoa has enough acidity for twenty months in new French oak and complexity to make it perfect for before bottling. At present, Termanthia is serving with a meal. Match this wine to opaque purple, with volatile spicy simple foods with bold flavors like pollo aromas, and concentrated flavors of dark al ajillo or sardinas en escabeche. $8.99 fruit, earth, and tobacco smoke. The wine will soften with age, and will be Cristalino Rosado –Always a drinkable for decades. $181.00 customer favorite on Valentine’s Day. This pink Cava has fresh berry aroma and lively bubbles. It is bright, refreshing, and easy to drink. A glass of this sparkling Rosado is always a welcome sight, especially when accompanied by some cheese or seafood Tapas. $8.99 New Arrivals The Eguren Family, maker of many great wines in D.O. Rioja (Sierra Cantabria, Senorio de San Vicente), is doing it again, only this time in D.O. Toro. The wines of Bodegas Numanthia - Termes are extremely popular at present, and we are happy to offer even a small (really small) quantity of these wines for sale. Numanthia ’02- 100% old vine Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) grapes undergo extended Other notable new arrivals: maceration before fermentation and aging Clos Erasmus ’02- for nineteen months in new French oak The new vintage of this celebrated wine barrels. Intense dark purple color, woody from D.O. Priorato is now available in aroma, and mouth-coating tannins make limited quantity. Made from 85% the first impression. Deep rich fruit Garnacha, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Syrah, Clos Erasmus is fermented in color are as attractive as the distinctive 100% new oak open top barrels and aged tall bottle. This is a gift that tastes as for 18 months in the same barrels. The good as it looks. $23.99 ruby color and the spicy aroma reveal a darker core of complex concentrated fruit Marques de Monistrol Brut character. Smooth tannins finish gently Reserva Cava - Brut Reserva Cava on the palate. $ 130.00 is the driest of the dry, and Marques de Monistrol has dryness in buckets. It also Artadi Pagos Viejos ’02 - has fine, lively bubbles, leesy aromas of Bodegas Artadi makes some of the most rising bread dough, and bracing acidity. sought-after wines in D.O. Rioja, Serve this wine with cured salmon or Pagos Viejos comes from a selection of mixed seafood Salpicon. $16.99 the best Tempranillo grapes from the oldest vines on the estate. Blending in Henriques & Henriques small quantities of traditional white wine Monte Seco Madeira - grapes (Viura, Macabeo) gives Pagos Three-year-old Madeira is just embryonic Viejos a certain delicacy. This is an compared to some of the old vintage opulent wine with balanced character. Madeira on the market. Monte Seco is Flavors of earth, smoke, and dried cherry young and very dry. It has the burnt blend seamlessly on the palate, and caramel taste of all Madeira, but the resolve effortlessly. $72.00 (Very limited pronounced citrus and almond notes are quantity) brighter here, and the pale straw color is evocative of fino sherry. Serve Monte Clos Mogador ’02 - Garnacha is Seco chilled, in the same manner as a dry the primary grape in this D.O. Priorato sherry for a pleasantly surprising change wine, with some Cabernet Sauvignon and of pace. $12.99 Syrah in the mix to lend support to the blend. Highly rated and sought after, Clos Don PX Gran Reserva ’71 - Mogador is intense, complex, and A celebrated sweet wine from D.O. everything one could ask for in a Montilla-Moriles made from the Pedro powerful Priorato. $77.00 (Limited Ximenez grape. It is dark and viscous, but quantity) with a rich bounty of aroma and flavor that keeps expanding on the palate. Figs, and lemon zest, and toffee, and nutmeg, and, and, and…..the list goes on and on. $31.99 750ml, $23.99 375ml Seasonal More Favorites Specialties Pago de los Capellanes Joven ’02 - A wine from D.O. Ribera Privat Laeita Cava- del Duero, for less than twenty dollars, An unusual Cava, made from 100% that packs plenty of dry tannin and rich Chardonnay fruit. Laeita is much finer fruit character into one bottle. A true and creamier than most Spanish bargain. $14.99 sparklers. The yeasty scent and golden Partal Crianza ’99 - than the Verdejo, with aromas of tropical Mostly Monastrell grapes from D.O. fruit, and a crisp finish. $11.99 Bullas in the south, near Valencia. Extracted, dry fruit character, with plenty Valmiñor ’03 - In D.O. Rias Baixas of body and a tannic finish. $15.99 the Albariño grape is King. Serve Valmiñor with your next Crab feast and Blanco Nieva Sauvignon you too will see why this dry wine with Blanc ’03 - We normally carry the jasmine aroma, pleasant citrusy flavor, Blanco Nieva made with Verdejo grapes, and mineral-dry finish is perfectly suited but I’m also fond of this version made to seafood meals, especially when paired from Sauvignon Blanc. A bit more lush with crustaceans. $11.99 (continued from page 1) notice how the wine amplifies and reinforces the varied flavors and textures. We notice how much calmer we are without the distraction of crowds of other people. We don’t discuss finances or family. We just talk about the wine and the food. Well maybe we do plan a trip to Spain. Wherever you spend Valentine’s Day, I hope you have a pleasant moment together with someone you care for. Whether you plan a complicated gourmet feast, or a simple dinner, try finishing the meal with this non-heart shaped, simple to prepare dessert recipe. It is utter simplicity to prepare and only requires three ingredients: 1-box, Rabitos (truffle filled dried figs, dipped in chocolate…from The Spanish Table) 1-half pint, whipping cream 1-375ml bottle, Dios Baco PX sherry Whip the cream in a clean cold metal bowl. Add three tablespoons of the Dios Baco PX Sherry to the whipped cream and mix well. Slice the Rabitos in half lengthwise (two Rabitos per person). Place a big spoonful of the PX whipped cream on a small plate, and top with the halved Rabitos. You may serve this with a small glass of the Dios Baco PX Sherry along side. What you do with the leftover whipped cream is up to you. .