A nice group gathered at Txikito in Chelsea for some (mostly) Spanish wine.
A little private room, and the chef put together a nice menu Pintxos with the whites: cod croquettes blistered peppers (some quite hot) Iberico dry sliced sausage with crispy confit artichokes Eggplant
2009 Savart “La Dame de Couer” Extra Brut Crisp, appley, some woody notes, good. B/B+Nanclares Albarino Neglected to get vintage on this, but liked, great with cod, lemon and sali ne notes on a nicely structured middleweight. B+
1999 Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Blanco Rioja Reserva Usual oxidative style, but not over the top, Crisp acids, a waxy almost-Che nin note, citrus zest. B2010 Fevre Le Clos Chablis Grand Cru Diam closure, young,full, citrus and wet stones, the closure makes me hope one could age this, but pretty damn tasty now. A-/B+
With reds we had Piquillo peppers stuffed with vegetable pisto & a cod roe sauce Great dish of trumpet mushrooms cut to resemble baby eels Poached octopus Then whole turbot , followed by suckling pig, fries, and an excellent frise e salad
1976 Lopez de Heredia Bosconia Rioja Gran Reserva Full, high toned, warm red fruits, herby, smoky. A-1981 Muga Prado Enea Rioja Gran Reserva (says Reserva on front, GR on back, only one made and it is GR) A few people thought drying out, but I really enjoyed. Tangy, perfumed, spi cy, citrus zest, good length. A-
1982 Murrieta Ygay Rioja Riserva Full, vanilla, red fruits, but a little clipped on finish. B1985 Murrieta Ygay Rioja Riserva Soft, lower acid, vanilla. B
1985 Tondonia Rioja Gran Reserva Extra tangy, cherry, mulling spices. B+1985 CVNE Vina Real Rioja Gran Reserva Black cherry, coffee,smoke. Herby and delicious. A-/A
1996 Pesquera Reserva Rich, long, coffee, earth. B+1994 Clos Eramus I thought this was corked at first, but the chlorine went away, but didn? ??t love what was left- bretty and volatile with pruney notes. B-/C+.
1986 Vega Sicilia Valbuena I had 2 pours of this - Diane asked me to check for cork, thought no TCA bu t a little funky/volatile. But later (90 minutes?) next pour was better, ma ture but not tired, earthy with black cherry fruit, B+Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 Thick, figs and raisins, Christmas spices. Not really my thing. B-
We did our usual 6 pt (3/2/1) scoring.
1976 Bosconia 17 pts 1985 CVNE Real 10 1981 Prado Enea 9 1986 Valbuena 5 1982 Ygay 4 1985 Tondonia 3 1996 Pesquera 1Good food, good wine, good people.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.