Author: sharquillo

Fino Capataz: awesome with steak tartare

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment


Loving this capataz fino – so nutty. Not a great combination with these garlicy grilled razorclams but good enough.

With the steak tartare (with chopped hazelnuts) though the combination is remarkable – the sherry spices up the palate and makes the tartare seem much livelier in every sense. It makes it spicier and brings out a lot of flavours – the tartare seems saltier, nuttier, meatier, and you really notice the savoury spring onion. On top of all that enhancement, you also get a mushroom/truffle flavour from the combination.

Interestingly you also get more alcohol from the fino – almost as if it loses its other flavours to the meat. A really superb pairing though. To try the original get down to La Chula.

Three amigos

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This could be a poster for Jerez 2.0 – the two new kids on the block and Emilio Hidalgo, making wine so old school it seems new school.

Not quite in order, first you have to admire Equipo Navazos – they find and make some serious wines (this Amontillado is a real gem). The guys behind it are real enthusiasts and among the greatest experts around – one day I will post up some of their writings. More than that almost, with their marketing master strokes such as the magic numbers (my favourite is number 34) they seem to have dragged the whole DO out of the shade and blinking into the bright lights of international critics and collectors.

You also have to admire both the chutzpah and the ideals of Tradicion – a bodega that is younger than some of the wines it sells and is dedicated to the most ancient wines but wonderfully modern in every other way. Dated, numbered bottles that look so traditional you know they are bang up to the minute and on the bottom line, yet more seriously nice wines. The VORS amontillado is one of my very favourites and they too are doing as much as anyone on the marketing side – a great bodega to visit  and a great presence at every major event. My hat off to them. 

That just leaves Emilio Hidalgo. It was at a Hidalgo tasting that my sherry spark was kindled into something bigger and a later trip to the bodega sealed the deal. I honestly think that La Panesa and the 1874 are world heritage wines (the Privilegio Palo Cortado and the Santa Ana are utterly ethereal), Villapanes is awesome and even el Tresillo, Gobernador and the Fino are at the top end of their categories. It is sherry as it ought to be.

La Panesa revisited

~ sharquillo ~ 1 Comment


A couple of weeks ago I was a little carried away with all this sherry blogging and, not content with having a bottle of Fino Tradicion open, I also cracked open a bottle of La Panesa.

Two weeks later, it is pretty amazing. Fresh open I sometimes find La Panesa a little cold on the nose but this seems livelier – hay bales and dry herbs. It is also spicey in the mouth, saline, with maybe a suggestion of mosto and a lot of umami and savoury almonds and nuts. I love it – it is awesome.

Fino Tradicion revisited

~ sharquillo ~ 4 Comments

  
A couple of weeks open and this is definitely a shade darker, a notch more mellow and, if anything, even more enjoyable. 

It seems a little less expressive of fruit in the nose than a couple of weeks ago and softer in feel and on the palate – less citrus on the front end but still a savoury middle and a finish that reminds me of comte cheese. 

La Bota de Palo Cortado 52

~ sharquillo ~ 8 Comments

An absolutely inspired pairing in Mugaritz last night. Here you have a head of garlic roasted with lamb juices –  you squeeze the teeth out onto a toast with parsley and then in she goes.


The dish itself is just as tasty as it sounds – absolutely delicious – and the savoury, nutty palo cortado by Equipo Navazos not only stands up for itself but is in perfect harmony.  Guillermo Cruz – the sommelier at Mugaritz – is a genius and this is evidence.

 

 

The Goyas 

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End of week treat at Taberna Verdejo. 

This place seems to be the watering hole of choice for winemakers passing through Madrid – don’t think I have ever been here without meeting someone or other and today was no different. Jose Mas, of Mas Asturias, up in Bierzo. Fortunately I have some of his wine, but it was not sherry so we move on.

On to the “La Goya” – a special edition manzanilla which I find extremely elegant. Pale in colour and very floral in the nose – really expresses the chamomile it is named for – the salinity  is integrated and it has all the vegetable, yeasty bread flavour you would expect. Hits the spot and sets me up for lunch.

Then, with some Navajas, the Goya XL – it calls itself a manzanilla reposada and it has been brewing up for gone 10 years. As often happens, it is darker in colour but slightly quieter on the nose – same aromas, maybe a bit more salt and iodine but definitely sweet herbal tea. On the palate it is definitely more intense – plenty of yeasty power to balance the salinity. And it goes on, and on, and on, keeping its shape pretty well.

And on we go, to the mackerel escabeche, with the Monteagudo Amontillado – also from Delgado Zuleta. To be honest, I have messed up this pairing – the mackerel is delicious, the monty too,  but they are at odds. One (zee fishh) is vinegary and sweet, the other mellow and dry. My bad.

Next up is a salad of sweetbreads and carabinieros and just take a look at this.  

Again, though, the pairing is not great by me – the sweetbreads would be pigs in muck with the monty, but the salad calls out for acid and freshness. (For this dish I would probably go champagne – and it deserves it.)
And now my esteemed colleague from Bierzo has started plying me with his wares so wish me luck. 

 

La Bota de Amontillado 37 “Navazos”

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Late night supping. Dark gold in colour and a lot of crunchie bar on the nose. This has been open a while and it seems to have a bit more edge but not full on acidity. There is burnt, toasty caramel – and a bit of burnt apple sauce there too. From memory it seems to not be as deep, full and bready but there are lingering yeast flavours. It really seems a different wine – still top drawer though. 

Solear en rama – Saca de Invierno 2014

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I really enjoy these little bottles of juicy, zingy, herby manzanillas. At least part of the appeal is the dinky little bottle – this is a wine you can drink without spending all night over it.

It has a nice gold colour and warm hay bale aromas. Then it is oily in texture, saline and herby. Dry but fruity – or maybe toast vegetable sweet.  Really enjoyable.