Monday, May 17th, 2010
The Noble Rot Does Rioja
Sierra Cantabria -- Photo by Marcin JM
The sweltering humid evening of this, the past Friday, in the year of the Tiger, we of The Noble Rot (Jonny Cigar (me) & Brian Quinn) did but host and did but bring to a parlor-room full of Noble Guests an event that beheld……. RIOJA. Twas in Park Slope that a little bit of Spain touched the palates of our guests and here’s how the evening played out:
The Winos: Eduardo Eguren, winemaker extraordinaire of Sierra Cantabria (et al.) // Ramon Del Monte of Tempranillo Inc. // Damian Gutierrez of Cabriniwines.com // Aprille Goodman and her band: Tony Melone, Justin Hosek // Brian Quinn, a State-Certified Absolute Gentleman, Jonny Cigar a Self-Appointed Master Sommelier // and Josh Greenfield of Y-I-EAT-N
The Wines: Protocolo Blanco, Sierra Cantabria Joven, S.C. Crianza, S.C. Reserva, San Vicente, Muga Sparkling
In short, good reader, we were quite fortunate to have Eduardo grace us with the Spanish dirt upon his boots. Eduardo’s family has been making wine, generation after generation since 1870. They live in a castle. When one thinks of Rioja, Eguren should come to mind. When Rioja thinks of Rioja, Eguren comes to mind assuredly. The beautiful parlor room of the Brownstone in the P.Slope was quite conducive to a kind of discussion-in-the-round. As guests arrived they sipped on Eguren’s Protocolo, a nice crisp refreshing white that brings to mind images of Don Quixote fighting the terrorist wind-mills. Ready for battle, we launched into a string of reds all of the Tempranillo grape, a grape who characteristically produces full-bodied wines of berries, plum, tobacco, vanilla, leather and herb, or should I say, wild untamed red fruit, Nat Sherman cigarillos, Ben & Jerry’s, (fruit)leather and Herb, a farmer who used to work my Uncle Vinny’s hay farm. We finished with a sparkling Muga, not made my Eguren, but certainly enjoyed by all given the heat.
Eduardo enlightened us throughout the eve with details about each wine with respect to the grape, the terroir, the climate of the year, the age of the vines (some 50+ years!), and told us the life-story of each vineyard worker (the entire event lasted 4 solid days). Har Har! “Har Har!” I clamored as Ramon from Tempranillo fended off a potentially snobish inquiry into the length of time aging a particular wine we served. One guest thought the wine should have been aged a bit longer. Ramon artfully reminded us all that wineries have to make money, and therefore have to release their wines, but that it is our responsibility as consumers to age wine in our cellars. And he’s right! If you don’t have a cellar, age it in your breadbox! It will only speed up the process!
Damian, our friend and frankly honorary Noble Rot partner at this point, was pouring like a wild Spaniard and had a handful of “okay” things to say. Brian Quinn tried in vain to usurp my status as Master Sommelier, but only managed to look sharper in a three-piece suit than I, which is surely unheard of.
Josh Greenfield and his brother Michael prepared a food pairing that was on-the-mark and damn tasty! There was seared Ahi, veggie tacos, BBQ pulled pork, risotto stuffed mushrooms, and a caramel-apple tart that drizzled us into serenity. Aprille and her band tore the place up with a robust and tannic sound that would likely age well in New French Oak.
We learned that Rioja is really the center of the world (Who knew!?). The wines coming out of Sierra Cantabria, Eguren’s flagship label, are of incredible value. The price is right and before the wines of Spain begin showing up on the market priced comparable to their Frenchy counterpart to the east, enjoy and explore Rioja, explore Spain, especially if you love big wines that have a finesse — that have a touch of spice and will transport you to a Spanish mountaintop just before sunset, surrounded by all-you-can-eat tapas, all from the comfort of your modern (Ikea?) couch. Favorites were the Crianza ($18) and Reserva ($27) as well as the San Vicente ($54).
Many thanks to the Eguren family for allowing us to drink their wine with one who has likely and literally touched what was in the bottle. Enjoy these swirlable and amazing photos by the incomparable Marcin JM:
Seared Ahi Tun on a Jicama "cracker" -- Photo my Marcin JM
Risotto Stuffed Shrooms -- Photo my Marcin JM
Michael and Josh dans la cucina -- Photo my Marcin JM
A Noble Rotten Crowd -- Photo my Marcin JM
From Left to Right: Jonny Cigar, Brian Quinn, Damian G, Ramon, Eduardo Eguren -- Photo my Marcin JM
Again: Jonny, Brian, Ramon, Eduardo -- Photo my Marcin JM
Aprille Goodman and her band: Justin Hosek (left), Tony Melone (right) -- photo by Marcin JM
What a shot! -- photo by Marcin JM
Damian pours delicious Crianza like a Spanish-Pro -- photo by Marcin JM
Lovely Rotters Listening as Jonny and Eduardo Talk Rioja -- photo by Marcin JM
Not a bad evening... -- photo by Marcin JM
Tags: a brownstone in park slope, Aprille Goodman and her band, Brian Quinn, Cabrini Wines, Cabriniwines.com, Eguren, Eguren Family, Jonny Cigar, Josh Greenfield, Muga, Noble Rot, Protocolo, Rioja, San Vicente, Sierra Cantabria, Spainm Marcin JM, Tempranillo, Y-I-EAT-IN
May 17th, 2010 at 4:55 PM
[...] A write up about the Noble Rot event my brother and I catered with pictures here [...]