All Spanish Wines and Tapas Dinner at Rene's House

Dinner Saturday night was at Rene's house. I had spoken to him about another all tapas (since I had brought back some goodies from my last trip) and he offered his house, so we planned it accordingly. Theme was all tapas, all Spanish wines and as main course, Aimee (Rene's better half) would prepare a light pasta and some short ribs.

I arrived quite early, since I had to prepare some of the tapas/cold cuts, plus do some minor cooking. My wife would come about 30 minutes after me, since she had to do some last minute stuff at home.

As the others arrived, Rene already had opened my bottle of 2005 Gramona III Lustros Brut Nature Gran Reserva Cava, a bottle given to me by my Aunt. This was a vintage Cava, quite refreshing although as pointed our by Noel, this would be much better with a few more years in the bottle. As I was finishing the cooking, I was able to Join the rest (as Aaron arrived also) for the tapas proper, and another bottle of Cava, Aaron's 2005 Freixenet Meritum Gran Reserva Cava. A New line of Freixenet that Aaron was sampling for his company. This was also very easy to drink, fresh Cava, pairing well with many of the Tapas.

We then had the appetizers (Tapas) proper, served with the Cava, a bottle of Vionta Albarino of Aaron and Noel's 1987 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva. The Tondonia was a wine that I had been wanting to try for the longest time. It was drinking very well for an 87 white, and I particularly enjoyed this with some of the tapas and the pasta dish the Aimee served later on. I will definitely stock up on this on my next trip.

The Tapas...

Salchichon Iberico

Lower right, Habitas salteadas con Jamon (baby beans with Jamon Serrano), Berberechos and Almejas en salsa Espinaler and Pate.

A closer look at the Almejas, Pate and the 3 different kinds of Colc cuts we had: Fuet, Chorizo Iberico and Fuet Iberico.

Burifarritas (small sausages) with Morcilla de Cebollas. One of my favorites of the night, together with the Habitas Salteadas.

As we moved to the table for dinner proper, all the wines were lined up, ready to be opened.


And food was served: a refreshingly and light Spaghettini with Lemon, Orange, Olive Oil and Caviar dressing and fork tender Beef Short Ribs, cooked for 24 hours.


I had double servings of both! Loved the light refreshing pasta and the fork tender Short Ribs with the Tick and hearty sauce. With the Beef, we had the Aaron's bottle of 2004 Clos Mogador Priorat. This waws decanted for almost 2.5 hours. On the nose, this wine had notes of bloody, raw meat, game...feral as Noel said. This was a very full bodied wine, with lots of peppery notes to my taste. I think this was a good paring with the Beef Short Ribs, which had a very rich sauce.

For dessert, a Strawberry Ice Cream Cake with Oreo. I normally dont eat too much dessert, but this was devoured over some good Nespresso coffee.

Our next 2 wines, which we both had at the dinner table: Rene's 1978 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial and Noel's 1995 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890. I am a big fan of these 2 wineries, so obviously I was excited to try both of them. The Murrieta, still surprisingly fresh and drinking very young, for a 32 year old wine. Could probably last another 3-5 years more in the bottle.

The Rioja Alta, on the other hand, was my wine of the night. Very elegant with lots of finesse and balance. Lots of Aromas, sweet ones like cherry and slight hints of coffee. Loved this wine.

Last was my bottle of 1991 Beronia Gran Reserva. One that had been spared already twice so we really had to open this one. Medium bodied, light, well balanced wine. We had this wine way after dinner, in the garden over more stories and some left over Jamon Serrano.

We ended past 1 AM. It was a great dinner, with good company and fantastic wines. Thanks Rene and Aimee for hosting!