Great Match: Wine and Tapas 2005

Happy 2006! I know this will be an exciting and very fast year. The calendar is filling up with vintner visits, tastings, and what promises to be a spectacular trip to Spain and Portugal. Chef Daniel Drumlake, this chapter's former president, and I will be coleading the two-week trip. A large group of culinary students have already signed up, and we're looking forward to relaying our adventures later this year.

With the Iberian trip in mind, I jumped at the opportunity to attend "Great Match: Wine and Tapas 2005", hosted by the Spanish Trade Commission at Santa Monica's Casa Del Mar hotel. The focus was on Spanish wines relatively unknown to the buying public. One of my favorite finds at the event was a sherry, an all-too-often overlooked drink. I found Domecq's La Ina Fine Dry Sherry ($15) to be very dry, in the Manzanilla style. This fortified wine is best when served ice cold, with salty nibbles like Spanish olives, cured ham and almonds.

Also notable were two red wines. The supple Finca Antigua Reserva 2001 ($15) is a smooth Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blend from Bodegas Martinez Bujanda in La Mancha. The Bodegas Muga Reserva Seleccio_n Especial 2000 ($35) from Rioja is a world-class Tempranillo that will continue to improve with age, but already shows great dusky wood and strawberries notes. As a total splurge, Mas d'En Gil's Priorat ($100) was a provocative stunner. Priorat is one of Spain's trendier, more expensive wineproducing regions. It typically creates notable terroir-driven wines. Mas d'En Gil's offering consists mostly of Grenache, and has full, smooth tannins. This would go well with roast meats. I had the pleasure of meeting Mas d'En Gil's Marta Rovira Carbonell at this event. Carbonell, whose family owns the winery, was kind enough to invite my student group to visit when in Spain.

I continued my virtual vacation at an Italian wine event held in Beverly Hills, hosted by trade organization Vinitaly. We started with Sicilian wines. Worth seeking out is Benanti's Pietramarina Etna Bianco Superiore 2000 (no price available). This 100% Carricante bottle comes from vines on the east side of Mt. Etna. Dry and pleasantly acidic, the pale yellow wine has ripe apple overtones that make it good with food. I also liked the well-structured, ruby-red Nero D'Avola Principe di Corleone 2003 ($10) from Azienda Agricole Pollara. Last but not least of the Sicilian offerings were the 1998 Taurasi DOCG Aglianico Reserve, from Feudi di San Gregorio (no price available). Muted and subtly elegant, this dark-red specimen had nice minerality and a long finish.

From the Puglia region, I thought highly of the Galatina Negroamaro DOC 2003 (no price available). Negromaro literally means bitter black, and the varietal produces muscular dark red wines. This bottle was blended with 15% Montelpuciano to smooth the edges, and the end result was a fruity wine easy on the palate.

Sadly, many of these wines are not yet available at a store near you. I hope to see distribution grow over time.