Spanish savoir-faire: a robust sampling of the inviting and intriguing cuisine and wines of Spain curated in one dinner
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
At their best, Spanish food and wine, perhaps like Spanish culture, have intensity, embody contradictions, are highly expressive of time and place, and have a haunting quality of remembrance. It is not something that travels or translates easily, but a wine dinner at the Fresno restaurant last Sunday night managed to capture many of these elusive qualities.
The menu by chef Gretchen Menser seemed not only authentic but captured the essence or at least what I think of as the essence of Spanish cuisine, and the wines supplied by Jacques Franey of Domaine Wines were excellent matches for the food. It was far better than anything I’ve had in New York’s everyday Spanish restaurants where the same few sauces cover most main courses.
We drank two wines as aperitifs with passed assorted tapas. A cava (which is Spanish sparkling wine) from Raventos in Catalonia ($15) was quite dry, pale in color, refined, with small bubbles, and worked well for sipping with hors d’oeuvres. More unusual was a Txakolina, a tiny Basque appellation that uses an indigenous grape to produce fresh, sprightly, grassy white wine. Only small quantities are imported, so you won’t come across it too often, but it is definitely worth trying. Xarmant (the Basque version of the French word for charming) sells for $16.
Our appetizer was warm baby octopus salad with white beans, thinly sliced serrano ham and a garlic marjoram puree, accompanied by a 2004 albarino from Dos Ferreiro ($22) in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia. Albarino, probably indigenous to that area in the very northwest of Spain, and possibly related to riesling, is a white grape that has been brought back into the mainstream by modern winemaking methods to produce a highly appealing wine. Until the 1990s Spain was admired for its red wines, but with the renaissance of albarino, it has now gained a reputation for superior whites as well.
Garnacha tinto (grenache in French) is the most widely grown red grape in Spain, and for good reason. The 2005 Artazuri label from the village of Artazu in the Navarre region ($13) is a low-priced wine that always scores well in wine rating newsletters. It is fresh, simple and fruity, with flavors of black cherry and rosemary. It paired very well with a fish and shellfish, chorizo and chick pea stew.
Braised rabbit with green olives, preserved lemon, and almonds, seemed about as Spanish to me as a main course could be. The tender, salty, crunchy tastes called for a wine with some complexity, and the answer was a lively, ripe, lush, dark and dry blend from Rioja, the 2003 Crianza La Montesa from Herencia Remondo ($19).
A selection of Spanish cheeses came “con una sorpresa,” an unannounced taste of 1987 Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva from the renowned estate of Lopez de Heredia. This classic, medium-bodied Rioja cuvee is evolved and elegant, has a superb pedigree, and sells for $80, but the refinement and subtlety seemed to pale after my palate had gotten used to the robust, fruity freshness of the previous wines. It was the right wine but not the right moment to me for such a surprise. Or maybe I was feeling too much like a mythical Spanish peasant.
At least the sort of peasant who enjoys sherry. Lustau East India Solera ($25) is a beautifully crafted wine, the result, like Madiera, of a winemaking process involving heat and humidity. Lustau revived this nineteenth century style of blending and maturing with singular success. The sherry is clean, moderately sweet, with a nutty, dried fruit profile, hints of mocha, and a subtle, tangy acidity in the finish. It has terrific balance and stimulates even taste buds that have been overworked all evening.
I encourage Ms. Menser, Mr. Franey, and David Loewenberg, the co-proprietor of Fresno, to continue this exploration of the character of a country through its food and wine. There are numerous other wine-producing nations in the world. I for one would be happy to keep my passport in the drawer and take my seat at the table. Note: Prices quoted are at Domaine Wines on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, and might be different at other retail or online merchants.
