We all enjoyed the Spanish Treasures evening last night @ Crowfoot Wine and Spirits Signature location in Calgary. The evening began with a Cava reception. Cava is the Spanish word for champagne – this is a sparkling wine originating only from 3 regions in Spain. Our sommelier told us it is 1/5 the cost of champagne!
The dinner consisted of three courses 1) Duo of Gaspacho – Almond and Grape / Tomato Vegetable. This was paired with the two white wines. ( excellent pairings !)
2) Bacalao con Patates and Calamares & Chorizio Pilpil served with Crostini – this was paired with 3 reds – Garnacha ( Grenache ) / Monastrell and Toro ( Tempranillo). We all agreed all 3 wines worked as a pairing, but the Tempranillo just shone! This one was the YES or WOW factor.
3) Tortilla Espanola & Extremena Pollo ( potato frittata with Serrano ham and stewed chicken with tomates & cumin) – paired with 2 different Riojas. a) La Vendimia Rioja – picked up a very distinct green pepper taste . b) Bordon Gran Reserva Rioja – now this Rioja had the typical and wonderful earthiness of a true Rioja – this one had the WOW factor in this food pairing.
The entertaining evening ended off with a Spanish Cheese tray paired with Alvear 1927 ( YES 1927 ) Solera PX Montilla-Moriles, Jerez ( Sherry ). The cheese tray was from Springbank Cheese with the usual excellence associated with this cheese company. Cheeses included: Basque / Chevre / Manchego / Mahon and Blue cheese.
We were told not to eat the Blue cheese til last – very, very full flavoured blue cheese! Excellent pairings with this Sherry. This Sherry’s vintage is 1927, and what they have done over the years is top up the barrel bit by bit, so even over all these years, there is still that lingering portion of that original 1927 Sherry. Incredible, indeed!
What a fun and informative evening. We must do more of these outings as a group. See all the photos on Facebook!
