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. B
2010 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. B
1985 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 1
Good 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.