Feliz Navidad

Since opening in Berkeley seven years ago The Spanish Table’s reputation has grown steadily, mostly by word of mouth, as one of the few specialty stores featuring the food traditions of Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Now, with Christmas a week away, we are stocking many of the traditional holiday items that are difficult to find elsewhere.  The deliveries of wines, cookies, chocolates and other seasonal treats continue to arrive daily here and the staff is busily stacking everything in tall piles to satisfy demand for these unique items.

In the wine department we make sure to carry a wide variety of sweet Moscatel, Porto, Madeira and Sherry at this time of year in addition to numerous sparkling wines and rich, wintery reds.  This week I call your attention to a few of these traditional Christmas wines.  

Also, we have an upcoming event (don’t worry, it’s after the Holidays) organized by Andy and Tanya Booth, the c0-owners of The Spanish Table. Here is what Andy had to say about the Wine Dinner at César in Oakland:

“The giant Tio Pepe weathervane that sits on top of the Gonzalez Byass Bodega is one of the first things that you see as you drive into Jerez from the town just south, Puerto de Santa Maria.  Many of my memories of the five years I lived in Spain while I was seven have the ubiquitous logo of Tio Pepe Fino somewhere in the background.
We are extremely fortunate to have Felipe Gonzalez -Terry Gordon of Gonzalez-Byass visiting San Francisco in January and we’ll be hosting a wine dinner on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 at 7:00 at Cesar’s in Oakland for a fabulous night featuring Spanish foods and wines.  Maggie Pond, the Chef at Cesar’s, has put together a tasty menu featuring tapas, paella and dessert that is paired specifically with the sherries and wines we’ll be tasting.
Felipe will join us to speak about his family’s long tradition of making superb sherries (including Tio Pepe, Alfonso Oloroso and Noe Pedro Ximenez) and amazing wines such as Beronia Gran Reserva.  The cost is $65 per person and includes dinner, wine pairings, tax and gratuity.  This could even be the perfect gift for your foodie friends and/or family members.  Stop by our Mill Valley or Berkeley stores to sign up or give us a ring at 415-388-5043.
See you there!”

 

Reymos Espumoso de Moscatel Sweet sparkling wine from D.O. Valencia. Rich Muscat grape scent, pear and honeydew melon fruit character and light but persistent bubbles. A mere 7.5% alcohol makes this the perfect end-of-meal wine. $11.99

 

Don PX Gran Reserva 1979 This rare aged wine made from Pedro Ximénez grapes that are partially sun dried before fermentation is celebrating its 30^th birthday this year. It is dark and thick as molasses, with concentrated sweetness and flavors of figs, raisins and baking spices. Amazing depth and complexity.  The SF Chronicle recently wrote this wine up in their annual gift guide. Read the article here. $29.99 (375ml)

 

J.P. Moscatel de Setubal 2001This sweet dessert wine from the Setubal Peninsula in Portugal is a perennial favorite at Christmastime. Amber colored and redolent of brandied raisins and honey, this wine is perfect fireside refreshment. $14.99

 

Infantado Vintage Port 1997 While searching for a really delicious and well priced Vintage Port to offer during the holiday season I was thrilled to find this wine from an outstanding year made by a small family winery in the heart of the Douro Valley. The Infantado style is gentler than most, with a sweet floral quality reminiscent of an older wine. $45.99

 

Infantado Vintage Port 1995 For those seeking the pleasures of Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port in a stocking stuffer size we have just brought in the 1995 vintage in half bottles.  This wine is a bit more evolved than the 1997 (in addition to being an older vintage, the smaller bottles age faster than the big ones) with softer acidity and mellower fruit character.  $26.99 (375ml)

 

Arte Mayor Brut Nature Cava Dominio de la Vega is a boutique Cava producer in Valencia. They make several wines with increasing levels of age and dryness. This wine is the driest and most mature of their wines. Zero dosage creates a crisp, lean wine with fine minerality and toasted bread aroma. We got this at a big discount and are selling it the same way. Normally a $50 bottle, we have a few on hand for $28.99

 

Abel Mendoza Seleccion Personal 2003 Abel Mendoza Monge is a third generation grape grower and winemaker producing a handful of excellently crafted wines from his small estate vineyards in Rioja. Each year his Seleccion Personal is made from whichever of his vineyards performs best (thus the name).  This small production (approx. 7000 bottles) wine is dark and concentrated. Toasty barrel aroma dominates at first but blows off with some exposure to air. The meaty, impenetrable element gives way to a rich elegance. Mineral back notes soften with time but never disappear.  Originally priced at $52.00, we have a small quantity available at $34.99.

Giving And Getting

Now is the time for holiday parties. Chances are you are invited to, or are yourself hosting, a gathering of family, friends and/or coworkers in the near future. Even in today’s gloomy economic climate holiday traditions must be observed. Disowning your relatives or ignoring your friends is not a good solution, no matter how tempting the prospect may be. No, what you need is a good old fashioned get together, a meet n’ greet, a turn up the music and dance your troubles away house party to get you in the holiday mood. So maybe you eat a little too much and drink a more than you should. And maybe you talk a bit too loud and say a few things you ought not to say. The point right now is catharsis, a letting go of all that has transpired over the past year and an embracing of a (hopefully) bright future to come.

If the mere suggestion of holiday entertaining makes you start patting your pockets and pleading poverty, rest assured that I am not suggesting a no holds barred festival of extravagance. No, that perspective would be way too 20^th century for this time, place and season. Here and now we need to celebrate in a modest fashion with those we hold dear. Sharing a meal, along with some good wine of course, is a perfect expression of holiday conviviality. If the spirit of the moment leads you to dance and sing with wild abandon, so be it. At least you didn’t pay a fortune to have a good time.

Here are some of the latest additions to the wine selection at The Spanish Table. Combine these wines with any of the delicious and traditional holiday foods now filling our shelves (turrónes, mantecados, polvorones, cardos, bacalao and so many other tasty treats) and you have the makings of a great party or a thoughtful gift. Come visit us in Berkeley for even more holiday entertaining ideas.

 Adamado 2007 One of my favorite Portuguese Vinho Verde wines just came in with a big price drop (how often do you here that these days?). Adamado is a vintage Vinho Verde from the Ponte do Lima sub-zone where the wines a re fuller and richer than the typical non-vintage Vinho Verde. Slight effervescence, low alcohol (10.5%) and ripe Viognier-like fruit character paired with flinty minerality makes this an excellent cocktail wine for holiday entertaining. $7.99 (was $10.99)

Cavas Hill Reserva Artesanía The new wine from Cavas Hill is fresh and lively with abundant frothy bubbles and tart green apple fruit character. This well priced blend of traditional cava grapes (Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo) will liven up your next tapas party. The attractive packaging makes this a good choice for gift giving as well. $10.99

Condesa Eylo 2007 This racy new white wine from the Rueda region is made of 97% Verdejo & 3% Sauvignon Blanc. Aromas of fresh grass and granny smith apple along with intense flavors of lemon peel and honeydew melon are weighty on the palate while the finish is light, lingering and dry. $14.99

CARM 2006 Casa Agricola Roboredo Madeira (CARM) is a small family-run business in the Douro valley of Portugal, dedicated to the production of wine and olive oil. We have carried the excellent olive oil but never the wines, until now. The red CARM 2006 is a bold and assertive blend of several organically farmed traditional Portuguese grape varieties including Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca. This barrel aged red is dark and earthy with rich fruit character and finely tuned tannins. $15.99

Lustau East India Solera After a long hiatus, this well loved sweet Oloroso Sherry is back in stock just in time for the holiday season when many customers pour it as a traditional after dinner drink. Sweet raisin and fig fruit character encounters abundant toasted almond and burnt toffee aroma. This wine is dark, dense and sweet yet possesses bright acidity that lifts the flavors and enlivens the texture, creating a complex and nuanced drink. $29.99

Primitivo Quiles Fondillón Reserva 1948 This unique wine is back for the holidays. Historically, Fondillón was called Vino Noble de Alicante not only because it was enjoyed by royalty (Louis XIV is said to have enjoyed the wine) but also as an indication of a winemaking style that achieves 16% alcohol by volume without resorting to fortification of the wine with spirits as is done in Jerez. Late harvest Monastrell is picked at ultimate ripeness and the sugars in the grape convert to alcohol at a higher rate than normally. After many years in the solera the wine looses its red color and turns a ruddy shade of amber. Nutty sherry-like aroma and flavor balance gentle but not cloying sweetness. $67.00

Holiday Wine Bargains

The evidence is clear:

• Spanish sweets (turrones, mantecados, polvorones, roscos de vino, etc.) are piled high in the center of the store.
• White icicle lights are strung up over the shelves.
• Hector is dressing up the front window with tiny evergreen trees and spray-on snow.
• Augie Rios is singing “Mamacita Donde Esta Santa Claus?” over and over on the iTunes.

The Holiday season has most definitely arrived at The Spanish Table.

Are you ready?

I am.

I’ve been shopping, shopping, shopping for wines that will enliven your holiday season without emptying your wallet. The news in this regard is very good. Wholesalers are eager to move more inventory during this slower than normal season and have offered us many great deals on numerous excellent wines from Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Chile. I am buying bunches of these wines and stacking them to the ceiling to ensure that you all get a chance to partake in the bargains that we normally do not see at this time of year.

Check out the following new items (plus a few repeats for those of you who have been occupied elsewhere lately) that are guaranteed to get your wine cellar in shape for the Holiday Season.

Aforado 2005 Albariño grapes (along with small percentages of Caino and Loureira) go into this crisp, dry white wine from Galicia on Spain’s Atlantic coast. Abundant citrus fruit character with a foundation of fine minerality. A few years of bottle age have softened the acidity and mellowed the fruit character, creating a gentle version of what was once a tart, tangy wine. When first released this was a $15 wine, but is now ‘house wine’ priced at $6.99 (with a special discounted ‘house wine’ price of $5.99 when purchased by the case).

Peñafiel Joven 2004 Young, lightly oaked Ribera del Duero wines have been growing in popularity lately. Peñafiel Joven spends a few brief months in oak, adding the merest whiff of barrel character to this darkly colored, richly flavored red wine fashioned from the thick skinned Tinto Fino grape. $6.99 ($5.99/each, by the case)

Luis Alegre Joven 2006 This light, youthful, unoaked Tempranillo, made in the small Rioja region hill town of Laguardia is a traditional style of red wine made using the maceración carbonica method of whole cluster fermentation that produces fresh, fruity wines in a matter of weeks. This style is favored by the local winemakers in Spain but is not seen very often in the export market where mature, aged wines predominate. This bright, floral red can be served alone, with assorted tapas or at the beginning of a meal as a starter wine. $7.99 (was $12.99)

Servilio Roble 2006 We featured this lightly oaked Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero earlier in the year as one of our Wine Club wines. This dark, full bodied wine is produced from estate grown Tinto Fino and displays ripe fruit character, earthy aromas and moderate complexity. Originally priced at $15.99, we have the remainder of the 2006 vintage priced at $10.99.

Hidalgo Clásica Amontillado This well priced Amontillado Sherry from the famous Bodegas Hidalgo–La Gitana exhibits light raisin fruit character as well as abundant toasted almond aroma and flavor. This medium dry Sherry makes an excellent accompaniment to full flavored cheeses, cured meats and other salty snacks. $11.99

Nectar PX This sweet sherry, made by Gonzalez Byass (the makers of Tio Pepe Fino) is golden amber colored, richly sweet and aromatic. Dried fig and raisin flavors combine with a hint of nutty background flavor. An excellent way to finish a big holiday meal. $17.99

Cyan Crianza 2002 This textbook Toro displays dark garnet color, dense texture and heady aromas of black coffee, cherry brandy and tannic oak. The flavor is ripe and bold, with black cherry fruit character and notes of cocoa powder and coffee bean on the finish. Made from the fruit of 20-30 year old Tinto de Toro vines, this wine normally sells for $21.99 but is now available for $14.99.