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‘We’re
having a couple of bottles. Please come and join us.”
“Come over for dinner...and some wine.” “We have some
new wines we’d like you to try. When can you come?”
Whichever way the invitation is extended, opening a
bottle of wine calls for company. In the past several
weeks, I spent time with friends over some very
interesting bottles.
High on
Terra Alta
MY
initial encounter with Raig de Raïm was like at first
sip, even if I couldn’t pronounce the name. Here was a
fresh garnacha-syrah-cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend,
with round but firm tannins—great, I thought, with
thick-cut grilled pork chops, chorizo and burgers or
even pizza with lots of green bell pepper and pepperoni.
There was more where it came from, I was told. So when
the invitation came for a tasting of the whole range, it
was one I didn’t pass up. Sergi Rostoll and Dani Aliaga,
the dynamic duo at Barcino, hold regular tastings
whenever a new label is added to their already-growing
list of medium-priced wines sourced from small wineries
across Spain. End-January, they rounded up more friends
from the Cheese Club, the International Wine and Food
Society, and l’Ordre Mondiale to taste a selection of
wines from Celler Piñol, a family-owned winery in Terra
Alta, in southernmost Catalonia.
Terra
Alta, as the name suggests, is the highest of the DO
wine zones in Catalonia. Batea, where the Piñol
vineyards are located, rises 450 meters above sea level.
Garnacha, both the black and the white varieties, reigns
supreme here, and the vineyards of the Piñol estate
mainly produce both, with cabernet sauvignon, shiraz,
morenillo and merlot. The wines we tasted represented
those varieties, with styles ranging from dry to sweet,
all paired with a menu that their chef partner, Vicente
Baamonde, had created for the evening: four appetizers,
sopa de ajo, two main courses and crema Catalana—all
prepared at Barcino’s miniscule kitchen. While the chef
was in the kitchen, Sergi and Dani worked the
tables—serving, clearing, pouring wine, making small
talk—the routine at Barcino that charms newcomers and
inspires loyalty from regulars.
The
evening’s standouts were the Raig de Raïm (rajzh de
ra-eem), a great value at P595; the Mather Teresina, a
brooding, intense red that packs 14.5-percent alcohol;
the l’Avi Arrufi, with its crushed raspberry nose and
long, burnt brown-sugar finish; and the Josefina Piñol,
an astounding sweet red wine made from late harvest,
hand-picked garnacha with aromas that evoked muscovado
laced with eucalyptus.
Impromptu
A SIMPLE
dinner that turned into an impromptu winetasting was
what happened when I sat down one evening with a friend
and her family at CAV, the trendy wine shop and café at
The Fort’s High Street. That was how I met the rest of
the Happy Living Wines family—and the 2004 cabernet
sauvignon from Cakebread Cellars, the 2004 Beringer
Private Reserve chardonnay, the 2003 Beringer Private
Reserve cabernet sauvignon, and the 2004 Château St-Jean
merlot. I was the stranger amid people I had never met
but after the first bottle, the ice was broken. Shall we
have the duck or the lamb with cabernets? I think the
lentils and glazed pig’s cheeks will partner well with
the chardonnay. At a table with wine and food, there can
only be goodwill and warmth, even among people who have
just met.
Happy
Living began importing wines about 12 years ago. The
portfolio that started with mostly wines from
California
has now grown to include wines from France, Australia,
New Zealand, Chile and Argentina. Wines from California
are still in the majority, with top labels like Beringer,
Cakebread Cellars, Joseph Phelps, Schramsberg, Andretti,
Château Montelena and Ferrari-Carano. (The wines,
regardless of their price, are shipped by refrigerated
container.) The family’s fascination for wine had
naturally turned into a family business.
The
Château St-Jean merlot was poured as an afterthought,
after the Beringer Private Reserve cabernet sauvignon
(which I also had with the bitter chocolate sorbet and
dayap curd tart). You must taste this, too, insisted my
host, John Yao. I thought it just wilted after the
muscle of the cabernet. So how would you have arranged
it then? Cakebread Cellars cab, St-Jean merlot and the
Private Reserve cab. From the up-front and flamboyant
style to the lean and the austere. Mr. Yao beamed at me
from across the table and made the “OK” sign. It seemed
the wines and I had passed the taste test.
A bottle
of wine begs to be shared. I think that is how wine
works its magic, strengthening the bond between
friends...starting friendships among strangers. |
