Blame it on Rioja

TO: Christmas Wines

FROM: UK Telegraph

RE: Be Yourself!

An ongoing series dedicated to finding tasty and distinctive Rioja wines for less than $20

It’s a particularly British thing to use notions of class when describing wine, but I really love the metaphor used by the London Telegraph over the weekend in an article entitled, “Wines for Christmas: Drink Up and Don’t Break the Bank” (Do any American newspapers ever refer to this time of year as Christmas anymore?):

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In a brilliant marketing move that will surely leave lots of folks wondering why they didn’t think of it themselves, California’s Concannon Vineyards recently unveiled two Recession Reds (Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and a Recession White (Chardonnay), low-cost wines with a suggested retail price of $5. According to SlashFood.com’s Annie Scott, the 2006 Merlot is “delicious…my new favorite wine.”

Now, in all fairness I haven’t tasted the wine yet, and not ever wanting to tarnish anyone’s vision of a wine experience, which is governed by many factors not having anything to do with wine (just think of Jessi Coulter’s line from ‘Why You Been Gone So Long?” which some of you might recall was on my T-Day Mix: “I could drink a fifth of Thunderbird, write myself a sad song….”), I do not want to question Ms. Scott’s judgment.

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Here’s the mix I put together for Thursday. Tried to focus on American music, especially country, with happy, food and wine related lyrics, not too much contrast in genres.

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Only three more days till the eating event of the year, and like lots of folks this fall, I’m staying put, cooking with Lily and Gail across the river in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with Mom and Dad coming in Thursday morning for the day’s festivities, plus an extended weekend involving a good amount of walking and probably more eating and drinking.

But let’s focus here. Thanksgiving.

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While researching patatas a la riojana for a recent post on a wine dinner in Connecticut, I came across a series of cooking videos made in Spanish by a blogger in San Sebastián named José Mari. His blog is called Cocinar para los amigos, or ‘Cook for your friends,’ and I am having a really hard time trying NOT to watch all of them, TONIGHT.

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The other night at Barcelona Restaurant in Greenwich, CT, I found two more wines to add to our growing list of Rioja wines that retail for less than $20 and also deliver great value.

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Rioja wine dinner at Barcelona Restaurant, November 19, 2008

Gretchen Thomas, wine director for the Barcelona Restaurant Group in Connecticut and one of five sommeliers who came with me to Spain a couple of months ago, invited me up to one of the group’s five restaurants to help her host a wine dinner, and so earlier this week I hopped on a Metro North express at Grand Central Terminal and joined her at the Barcelona restaurant in Greenwich for a four-course meal prepared by the group’s culinary director, Adam Halberg, paired with six Rioja wines:

Pan seared trout with piquillo peppers, celery, and almonds - CVNE ‘Monopole’ Rioja Blanco 2005 and Marqués de Murrieta ‘Capellanía’ Rioja Blanco 2003

Grilled quail with olives, caparrones, stewed kidney beans with smoked pork - Abando Rioja Crianza 2001and Marqués de Vargas Rioja Crianza 2004

Braised lamb shanks with patatas a la riojana (check out this AWESOME YouTube video from ‘Cocinar para los amigos’ or ‘Cook for your friends’ on how to make this dish; it’s in Spanish but TOTALLY worth it.) - La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Rioja Reserva 2000 and El Coto de Imaz Rioja Gran Reserva 1996

I was happy to see that the meal stayed true to both season and classic Riojano ingredients (or fairly true: trout? check; lamb? check; patatas a la Riojana? big check; quail? hmmm, well it’s not partridge, a Rioja fave, but it is a small bird, so close enough).

A very, very cold evening outside made warmer by flattering lighting, plates of hearty winter fare, and Gretchen’s roundly superb wine selection.