“A Fine Old Library”: Rioja this Week on the Web
Saturday, March 28th, 2009Classic Rioja seems to be on the brain for a lot of folks these days besides me, including New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, whose blog, “the Pour,” earlier this week detailed an encounter with a 1998 Viña Albina Gran Reserva from Bodegas Riojanas, which he paired alongside a few slices of Jamón Ibérico at the East Village’s Pata Negra wine bar.
Mr. Asimov, who in many ways leads the mainstream wine media charge towards a rediscovery of wines expressive of a particular place, has a knack for original language, which is key in this buisness, given the sheer number of bottles one must find descriptors for.
About the ‘98 Albina Gran Reserva he writes:
The spicy vanilla of American oak, which is integral to the flavor profile of good young Rioja, had faded into the ensemble, blending with the more earthy flavors of leather, tobacco and subdued fruit that can give an older Rioja the sophisticated air of a fine old library.
Yeah, I know, it’s a stretch, but the image works for me…
I don’t think it’s a stretch, Mr. Asimov, at all. Given that, for years in the early 1990s, I was a budding young scholar in Washignton, D.C., Madrid, and New York City, I remember well the comforting and intellectually edifying aromas of those ancient libraries, and it works for me too.
And speaking of intellectual edification, the PEN American Center writer’s group is gearing up for its Fifth Annual World’s Voices Festival of International Literature, six star-studded days of readings and lectures and panels taking place in New York City from April 27 to May 3.
Mediabistro’s Galleycat feed reported on a celebration of the festival’s launch held at the Cervantes Institute this week, and included a snippet of festival chair Salman Rushdie’s opening remarks as well as a brief description of the menu enjoyed by the “global literati”: Rioja and tapas.
