Kokotxas de Bacalao and Txakoli at La Tienda

Lunch last Wednesday was at La Tienda. The purpose was to try Txakoli, a very dry white wine with high acidity and low alcohol content produced in the Basque region of Spain. It is normally taken as an aperitif and goes very well with seafood dishes. It is served very chilled and poured at arms length height from the glass. We did not know that so Javi came out and tried to pour it for us. Unfortunately, we did not have the dispenser they normally put on the Txakoli bottles, so it was very difficult to pour that high. I'll have to find those dispenser next time I go to Spain.

We decided then that the lunch would be all tapas, which Chef Javi prepared for us. For starters, and while waiting for Noel who arrived late, Jay and I started with Jay's bottle of: Bodegas Hidalgo Pastrana Single Vineyard Manzanilla Pasada, a fine sherry from the Southern region of Spain. This sherry was quite dry and pairs very well with Tapas like chorizo and olives and cheese.



As soon as we were done with the Sherry and still waiting for Noel, we decided to have the other food brought to our table. We opened my bottle(thanks to Nick for hand carrying this for me all the way from Madrid): Txomin Etxaniz Getaria 2008 from the DO Getariako Txakolina. As said in the beginning, at first we poured it directly into the glass, then Chef Javi told us it had to be poured from high above and in a wider/shorter glass, to sort of 'activate' the wine and for it open up. It was quite acidic and fruity, and it felt like it was a bubble, very refreshing and a simple wine. I will definitely stock up on this wine, for those hot summer days or for a tapas dinner.

With the Txakoli, we also opened a bottle of: 2007 Laxas Albariño, one of my favorite locally available Albariño wines. With this we had Kokotxas de Bacalao al PilPil, a Tortilla of Jamon, Asparragus and Cheese and Hojaldritos (small cakes) of Chistorra, Squid on its own ink and one of our house favorites: Escalivada. All the appetizers were as usual superb and perfect match for our wine. We decided to stick to whites, although Noel brought a Bandol Rose wine, we decided not to open it anymore.

We had no more room for dessert, so after finishing up all the wine and tapas, we had our double espressos. My Dad showed up and joined us for coffee and since we were talking about Sherry, he offered us a drink of Bodegas Hidalgo Cream Alameda, I think some sort of sherry mixed with Pedro Ximenez. A perfect after meal digestif...

Thank you Javi for preparing this tapas meal for us, and I still have one bottle left of Txakoli which I will gladly share with you soon....