Nevia, arguably one of the best of farmer’s market stands (we like Rick Bishop too) in NY is currently offering pementos de padron. I rejoiced and I purchased. About twenty peppers into a plate of freshly sautéed goodness I got a hot one. Bingo!
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A few months back, my shellfish allergy meant copious amounts of padron peppers in lieu of crustaceans during a trip to Rias Baixas. I couldn’t get enough of the piquant, vitamin c-charged capsicums at the time. And now I can get them from my local farmer’s market. This makes me exceedingly happy. I experienced a rush when I made my transaction.
It’s summer time in New York. Summer is when my personal chef (and husband) shines. Today’s menu is a locavore’s feast. We procured a slab of flank steak from a new butcher’s shop in the Chelsea Market. Not yet fully opened, Dickson’s Farmstand Meats was offering a peek preview of beef from two different farms. One raises strictly grass-fed cows, while the other feeds his cattle with a mix of grass and grain. We opted for the former. Jim marinated and grilled the meat with garlic scapes, made his summer specialty succotash (corn with some bloody expensive fava beans) and a light cucumber and tomato salad. The steak was as lean as grass fed beef usually is but filled with immense flavor.
The wine to top it all off was a Thierry Puzelat KO rosé. Get a load of the mouth-watering condensation on the bottle.
In the natural wine world, Puzelat is what Kurt Cobain was to grunge. He defines low-interventionist wine and I’m a groupie, along with about half of Tokyo from what I hear. The KO rosé is juicy and fruit-forward with a peppery finish and has that just-fermented, from-the-tank kind of quality. It’s $13.99 and you should get a case of it. C’est l’été enfin.
I discovered Jose Pastor about three or four years ago when Bowler first started distributing the Vinos and Gourmet portfolio. I recall going to the tasting and walking by his table, which had little more than twenty bottles lined up and ready for the pour. I walked by, thinking this must be a bunch of high alcohol, high extracted fruit bombs because I hadn’t heard of the producers and as far as I was concerned, if it wasn’t a Txacoli, Godello or a Lopez de Heredia, the wines probably weren’t worth looking into. I was wrong.
I approached Jose Pastor because the Burgundy and Peter Weygandt’s tables were crowded. The first wine Jose poured for me was a cava. I was blown away. I don’t think he carries that particular wine anymore but it was my first peek into real wines from a country that has had an unfortunate mega makeover in favor of modern technique and Parker-friendly points (the Priorat complex is what my husband calls it). Like the kind of makeovers you see on the Tyra Banks Show, when the chick in the jeans with the mousy hair looked way better than the pencil skirted, stiletto-perched, blonde highlighted aftermath, much of Spain had temporarily turned itself into a monster. Thankfully the pendulum is swinging back.
I continued to taste more of Pastor’s imports (under the name of Vinos and Gourmet) and I realized this guy was doing something really brilliant. He was sourcing wines from Spain that aren’t spoofed. Since those early days Jose has become a rising star among real wine followers.
Pastor and David Bowler (the NY distributor for Pastor’s wines) flew in a bunch of Spanish winemakers and set up an excellent tasting last month. Here’s what I loved.
Aforado Albarino was so deliciously mineral and focused. The Forja de Salnes Albarino slapped me across the face with its lemony, fresh and zingy tastes, while the same producer’s reds (a Caino and Loureiro) are elegant and show gritty mineral and balance.
Terres de Leon’s Preito Picudo Rosado is a juicy vin de soif. And I thought I didn’t like Bierzo – the trendy darling of the conventional wine industry a few years ago but Pastor proved me wrong – again! Peique makes old vines (45-80 Y.O.) Mencia wines that show distinct, funky-barnyard character.
Ribera Sacra, a region recently written about by Eric Asimov in the Times, gets to shine in Enologia Temera’s wines: Alodio and Themera (both 100% Mencia). These two wines really reminded me of the Loire. Another Ribera Sacra producer, Guimaro, makes a white wine blend (Godello and Treixadura) that is incredibly aromatic and he grows and vinifies Mencia too – juicy and herbaceous Mencia wines.
The biggest shock of the day was wine from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. I associate this part of Spain with the lobster red British tourists that flock there for their cheap, package deal vacations. Los Bermejos, has vines planted in the craziest land I’ve ever seen. Pastor showed me images of what looks like fine yet arid black [volcanic] soil dotted with large craters. Mars? Nah, it’s Lanzarote! The Bermejo Malvasia was fresh, pretty and aromatic, the Bermejo Diego was funky, unusual, earthy and backed up by excellent acidity. Finally the Bermejo Tinto had a slight prickle, a lot of fruit and a somewhat intriguing rubber whiff – in a good way.
I have a soft spot for oxidative winemaking. Primitivo Quilles really rocked my boat. Their wines are made from 100% Monastrell and they have been called the Lopez de Heredia of the south, in the sense that their wines are made in an old-school style.He is one of the few producers that still makes a Fondillon Solera. This is an oxidized, solera-aged and blended red that has not been fortified. It was like sherry but without the heat. Very savory – makes fruit seem so overrated.
Tipping to the far north of Spain, in Asturias, the Monasterio de Corias wines were brilliant. The vines are old and planted in slate soils. All the wines are a blend of native grapes: Carrasquin, Verdejo and Mencia. They are natural too. The ’08 Joven was earthy, a bit funky, herbaceous and had lovely acidity. ’06 Monasterio was really amazing and reminded me of Burgundy only more approachable. Corias Guilfa ’06 was beautiful, unique and showed purity of fruit.
If you thought Spain had become this modern winemaking machine, I urge you to taste some Vinos and Gourmet.
I just returned from the epic party that is Tales of the Cocktail, which took place in my favorite US city (next to New York of course), New Orleans. While in NOLA my post for 31 Days of Natural Wine ran. The brainchild of Cory Cartwright, 31 Days is an offshoot of his regular year-old blog, Saignee. Cartwright invited a bunch shakers and makers to contribute to the site. Be sure to read Guilhaume Gerard’s frankly dogmatic manifesto, Joseph di Blasi on Frank Cornelissen in Sicily, Lyle Fass on natural in Germany, Joe Manekin on Spain, Brooklyn Guy on Bernard Baudry’s Rose and my dear friend Alice Feiring talks about her Muscadet moment in Paris. There’s tons more that worth the read (Peter Liem and Jeremy Parzen for sure) but I couldn’t mention them all now, could I?
I humbly asked if I could join in on the communal rant, rejoice and sharing of natural wines and Cory kindly had me aboard. Here is my post on Jean Paul Brun (of Torres Dorres).
More to come on NOLA in a day or two.
