B-21's B-Blog

What were we drinking?

by Chris Sherman (B-21) under Miscellaneous, What were we drinking?

Dinner at home was a quick version of caldo gallego, the soup of white beans, greens and potatoes with a small but mandatory bit of pork (others may do without) and not so small helpings of garlic, onion and bayleaf.  Caldo gallego is municipal soul food here as it is in Galicia, its namesake homeland on the tough and windy northwest corner of Spain. In Tampa, many of our Spanish families are Gallegos who trace their heritage back to that province, and we’ve enjoyed this soup for more than a century.

But what to drink with a near vegetarian dish, hearty thick and long on beans. There was a bit of a chill so I thought rustic Mediterranean, but the wine rack was bare of garnacha and monstrell, or anything from Iberia. Went with La Vielle Ferme, the juicy grenache blend from the Cotes du Luberon made by the estimable Perrins.

Great bargain drink, but too hearty, rich and jammy for bean soup; together it was a mouthful.  Tried a Chilean sauvignon blanc, it was too sharp.

If this sounds like Goldilocks, sometimes food and wine are. I certainly believe personal taste outweighs firm rules (Opposites? Similars?  Matching weight? Local tradition) but sometimes flavors do clash or sabotage each other. Eat and drink things you like (I love both the caldo and the LBV) you’re sure to find combos that are fabulous. And others not so much.

So next time I want something brighter and I’ll follow wise Spanish traditions.

One old maxim is that sherry and soup are good partners, I’ll try a fino  first, and then an amontillado, at most a heady oloroso.

The other is to drink like a gallego and I have two favorites to try.

Galicia’s finest wine is albarino, an aromatic whites that’s great with shellfish,  but on that coast clams and such do wind up in white bean stews (as they do at casa Sherman) . My nominee will be the 2007 Burgans Albarino  ($11.99).

The tempting red is a mencia, the pride of Bierzo in neighboring Leon. It has been growing in popularity – and body – where the heartiest are as good with the local lamb as a thorny shiraz.  The best 2005 value is the hiply labeled Baltos ($14.99), from old vines and new smarts at Dominio de Tares.

Got a better idea? Stay tuned.

1 Comment to What were we drinking?

Leave a comment