Last night, Jean and I set out to investigate a recently opened wine bar in our little town. Since the demise of the late, lamented Windows on the Wabash [sic] we haven't really had anything like a wine/tapas bar in this area. This new place is an outgrowth of a wine/cheese shop downtown that featured very pedestrian offerings, so I went with no great sense of anticipation. Fortunately, the new venture has hired a very talented cook to make their various small plate offerings. This month they offer a series of specials from Mexico and South America, so we got a very tasty ceviche, smoked duck tamales, and a fantastic stuffed poblano pepper, all of which were very well conceived and prepared. After ordering our food, we were told to go to the bar, where we were offered our choice of 3 different wines to taste. In keeping with the theme of the month, the wines were mostly from S. America (not my favorite region) but they had a few off-theme wines. I chose for my
3 tastes a 2007 Kunde Sauvignon Blanc (boring) and a Malbec/Syrah blend from Argentina that was utterly international and bland. The third wine was the winner of the lot:
2010 White Spanish Guerrilla Albariño (Castillo de Maetierra) nose: ripe melon, minerals palate: firm acidity, medium body, dry
Despite my aversion to cutesy names, especially when they are export labels, this was the most appealing wine I tried and the wine that both Jean and I got by the glass to go with our food. It was certainly a riper rendition of Albariño than most other examples I've had, but by the same token it had plenty of character and didn't seem hot or overextracted. I suspect that this wine would not pass muster as a "natural" wine or anything close to it. It was probably manufactured somewehere, but still had enough character for me to like it.
For my bully pulpit, I'll note that this operation had better get a clue about wine if they hope to match the excellence of the food they're offering. Their selection of wines is small and focused on low price point wines from obscure producers. With time, perhaps, I'll be able to talk to them about upgrading their wine selections, but they may not have the cash to invest in more ambitious wine offerings. We'll see...
Mark Lipton