Wednesday Lunch: Txakoli y Kokotxas, Etc.

Wednesday, 24 June 2009, I woke up very late after the German Beer & Sausages Dinner and rushed to La Tienda to catch up with Miguel and J-Lab for lunch. Apparently, the German beers share the same powerful narcotic effects on me as Chimay Blue. Thanks to the usual horrible traffic on the SLEX, I got to La Tienda just before 2pm. The guys had long started, naturally, but had some food kept warm for me.

The point of the lunch was to try out the Kokotxas al Pilpil made from the real deal Spanish cod ganglions Miguel’s mom had sent to him from Spain regionally paired with his bottle of Txakoli. Aside from that, we had other tapas and bottles of wine.

Chorizo, Cheese, Olives, Escalivadas and a couple of specials made for us by the chef.

With the Kokotxas de Bacalao al Pilpil, I had a couple of glasses of…

Txomin Etxaniz Getaria 2008 - Miguel’s bottle, brought in from Spain specifically to pair with this dish. From the DO Getariako Txakolina located in Getaria, just outside chef Javi’s hometown of San Sebastián in the Basque region whereat Txomin Etxaniz owns 35 hectares of sloping vineyards planted to the native hondarrabi zuri (90%) and hondarrabi beltza (10%) grapes. For whatever it is worth, I’ve read that Jancis Robinson considers this producer the best of the area.

Meant to be served very chilled and traditionally poured at arms’ length height, this is a wine meant to be enjoyed casually, paired with starters of shellfish and fish - anchovies and tuna in oil particularly recommended by the producer.

Though it is a still wine, it has a slightly fizzy/carbonated feel on the palate, exhibiting very dry and fresh, light, tartish green apple and lime/citrus flavors with high, though not disturbing, acidity and a very slight appetite-enhancing bitterness past mid-mouth. From my readings, this is typical of txakolis.

It is a rather simple, straightforward, refreshing wine well-suited for the tropical heat and, indeed, seafood dishes. I’d guess it is not for everyone, but I liked it well enough for the novelty of a typical Basque regional pairing. Since it is quite inexpensive, I’d likely buy some to keep at home, but, unfortunately, I do not believe there is any txakoli locally available. Terry Selection used to offer it, but they stopped a while back according to JC de Terry.

Bodegas Hidalgo Pastrana Single Vineyard Manzanilla Pasada - J-Lab’s bottle; from the village of Sanlúcar de Barrameda along the Costa de la Luz, in the Anadalucian province of Cadiz in southern Spain. This 217 year-old bodega’s holdings span 200 hectares planted to vine, with some reaching 80 years of age. “Pastrana” is the name of the particular vineyard wherefrom the fruit to make this wine is harvested.

According to Miguel, this is the typical drink enjoyed in Spain, after work, before dinner, at a tapas bar, with some olives and slices of chorizo.

It struck me as a rather light type of sherry, quite nicely dry, with a subtle, vaguely rosted-nutty character with faint wood notes. Smooth and comfortingly warm on the palate. I could easily get into this pairing with tapas.

2007 Laxas Albariño - Miguel’s bottle. I’ve enjoyed many bottles of this ever since Miguel introduced me to it, and have written about it, as well as the 2006 vintage, several times. For me, it is simply a must with Javi’s escalivadas, pulpo à la Gallega and fresh boquerónes.

From previous notes:

From Rias Baixas, a D.O. in Galicia that includes Condado do Tea, Val do Salnés and O Rosal. Albariño is a white wine grape that most all authorities consider performs the best in Rias Baixas (and I definitely agree, having tried several Portugese versions, alvarinhos, which have been comparably insipid). Albariño wines are typically dry, brightly/sharply acidic and floral. As such, in Galicia, they are traditionally paired with seafood dishes the area is famous for.

This wine, as before, displayed fresh, brightly dry, crisp, vibrant mineral/flint touched, slightly grassy green apple, guava, grapefruit, gooseberry and a bit of ripe lemon. There is a slight, appetite-enhancing almond bitterness that comes in towards the back. Its sharp acidity gives over-all lift to the fruit, making for a lively and refreshing wine.

After our double espressos, Miguel’s dad, a long-time regular of La Tienda, then joined us and poured us some glasses of…

Bodegas Hidalgo Cream Alameda - From Jerez in the Andalucian region, made from palomino fino and Pedro Ximénez. I understand that this is a blend of Oloroso sherry sweetened by dark rich sherry made from Pedro Ximénez.

After warming a bit in the glass, the aroma foreshadowed the fortified wine’s moderate sweetness. In the mouth, it was noticeably darker, heftier, sweeter and slightly more viscous than the above-mentioned mentioned Manzanilla Pasada from the same producer.

Roasted walnuts, fig, with whispers of candied tamarind, orange rind and wood on a slightly-over-medium body and a nice, long finish - a very enjoyable way to end a rainy Wednesday lunch. My bottle of 2007 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé was untouched, left for another day.

Gracias a todos!

2 great posts in 24 hrs! Again, appreciate all the effort you put in. Some very interesting notes, look forward to other posts.
Txakoli is a name I am familiar with but unable to pin down up here!

Love Txakoli with light fish and shellfish dishes. I’d recommend trying Itsas Mendi, particularly their Nº 7, if you get the chance. It’s only made in good years and aged for twelve months on the lees in stainless steel, which gives a fuller, richer flavor. Their normal bottling is also first rate. (I would not consider Txomin Etxaniz the best maker in the area, FWIW. It is one of the biggest, particularly in international markets).

The Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana is also one of my favorites. The slight oxidative aging (“Pasada”) gives more richness and flavor to the Manzanilla. I believe it’s also got a much lighter filtration treatment than their ordinary Manzanilla, as well.

Hi, Bob. I do this stuff almost everyday - more often than I can post!

Txakoli is also unavailable here in Manila, the bottles we had were brought in from Spain for the pairing at lunch. One of my friends who runs a Spanish deli and a few Spanish restaurants (he’s a Spaniard, chef, former concert pianist and Phd in oenology) used to sell it but stopped as nobody because the local market didn’t react too favorably.

Best,

N

I will definitely order some from Spain, Doug. Thanks for the recommendation. This was my first taste of txakoli. As I mentioned above, in response to Bob, txakoli isn’t locally available so my friend, Miguel, who grew up in Barcelona had some bottles brought in for the pairing. This particular bottling was recommended to him by the chef, Javi Lecumberri, a native of San Sebastián.

The Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana is also one of my favorites. The slight oxidative aging (“Pasada”) gives more richness and flavor to the Manzanilla. I believe it’s also got a much lighter filtration treatment than their ordinary Manzanilla, as well.

Yes, it is quite nice and, fortunately, is very inexpensive to boot. Sí, “pasada” significa como has dicho, exactamente. ¿Hablas Español? En Filipinas, aún hay muchas gentes que lo hablan.

My wife’s family is from el País Vasco, and we travel there often. I’ve tried several Txakolis; don’t get me wrong, Txomin Etxaniz is good – it’s sort of the 600 pound gorilla there. The problem with getting it outside Spain is that it’s quite delicate and really doesn’t travel very well.

Sí, claro, hablo español. La famila y los amigos de mi mujer no hablan inglés. El problema es que el resto del año tengo que practicar; afortunadamente tengo amigos en españa con quienes puedo hablar y escribir a menudo. (Incluyendo Jesús Barquín, el de los jereces “Equipo Navazos”. Estaba en NY hace poco).

Saludos,

Pues, es intresante que lo hablas/esribes Castellano muy bien aunque tu familia son de País Vasco. ¿Comprendes Batua tambien? Hay unas familias aqui de origen Vasco, pero no conozco nadie de ellos que habla Batua.

Con respeto a practicando la lengua, somos iguales. La familia de mi mujer tambien hablan Español pero, generalmente, los mas viejos. Entonces, Sabado y Domingo son los dias unicos cuando puedo practicarlo con mis amigos de golf (es porque todos ellos son mestizos Españoles).

In any event, lets switch back to English for the sake of others reading (aside from Jorge of course).

I hope to be able to visit the Basque country for the first time this coming autumn. If plans push through, I hope you don’t mind if I ask for your advice with regard to the area. I’m pretty well-covered as regards where to eat, but will most likely need guidance in where to stay and what to see. Wine as well, naturalmente.

Best,

N

¿Batua? ¿Quieres decir euskara? (Basque)

(I’ll switch to english as well…)

Everyone in Basque Country speaks spanish – it is the lingua franca. My wife’s family is not of basque origin, however we do have in laws who are; they do speak basque, although not with us. The children also have to speak basque in school. As you may know, it is not an indo-european language, and bears no resemblance to any other (there are hypothesized some similarities with languages like finnish, but I have been led to believe these are very speculative). At any rate it is quite difficult to learn. My wife does understand it relatively well, and everyone can speak a few words at least, but most conversations you will hear in Basque Country are spanish.

Sure, glad to be of help. Just let me know, either here on the boards or by email or PM.

Agur,

Si, si, Euskara. Perdón.

I have no idea about the origins of the Basque language, all I know it is like from another planet compared to Spanish. Yes, my wife told me this morning that everyone in the Basque region speaks Spanish - much like most everyone in the Philippines speaks Tagalog even if they have their own provincial dialects. Even that friend of mine I mentioned who grew up in Barcelona who is also fluent in Catalan cannot speak or understand Basque.

I find it a bit strange that the families here of Basque origin do not/cannot speak the Basque language at all. Though they do keep ties with their family over there, they converse in Spanish more than anything and seemingly do not even try to learn their mother tongue. - Strange because I understand that the Basques are fiercely proud of their heritage/language/traditions.

Best,

N

I would expect that very few spaniards indeed would speak basque outside of Basque Country. Again, it is very difficult to learn, and is of very limited use to anyone not actually living there. Even so, one does not require it at any point, except that some of the radicals spray paint out the spanish equivalents on bilingual signage. Unfortunately the politics there makes the place, IMO, nearly unlivable. One does not live there and discuss the political situation there openly.