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Tag: Valle Calchaquí

Wine bars and restaurants

Argentinian wine bar in La Latina

Wine bar and restaurant Cedrón is located in the the La Latina neighborhood of Madrid, just behind the Plaza de la Cebada, with the famous market. It’s a warm and cosy locale from 1850, with wood, steel and stone. They have a wide variety of wines by the glass, some are natural wines, some just organic, and all are made by small family producers.

The owners are Argentinians, and both wine list and food menu has some influence from this. I ordered vitello tonnato, that is Italian origin, but very popular in Argentina. I completed with two more small dishes, a fresh burrata, and croquetas of cod, that turned out to be quite spicy. A complimentary starter was a humus de remolacha, accompanied by flatbread with herbs.

For the three platters I chose three wines. La Salada Disbarats 2021 is a simple but delicious white made by Toni Carbó, that has collaborated with Mas Candí in Penedès. The wine, from macabeu 80% and xarel.lo, is a light skin-contact white, slender, with aromas of citrus, flowers and a touch of orange peel, and with a saline finish.

La Traca 2020 (Risky Grapes) is a juicy, light structure bobal from València. The colour is ruby red, and the aromas are dominated by red berries like raspberry. This red wine accompanied the vitello tonnato, as always cold veal with tuna mayonnaise, a dish with some umami. Sommelier Gustavo, also Argentinian, said that he would normally have chosen a sherry for that dish. Knowing what I now know it would have been easy to agree.

I had quite a bit of luck, as the croquetas were more spicy than expected, and also the last wine was more sweetish than expected. Las Nubes 2021 is made by José Luís Mounier, whom Gustavo called the father of the grape torrontés in Argentina. Light straw coloured, and on the nose it was very perfumed with flowers and honey. This gives a sweetish sensation, not sweetness. The same continued into the taste, not unlike a dry moscatel. I had a suspicion though that this was a wine made with selected yeasts, later confirmed by the producer’s web page. Anyway, the marriage was good, and I am happy to have found a new wonderful wine bar in central Madrid.

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Wine of the Week

Rosé white from black grapes

This wine is, like last week’s selection, from our recent tasting of Argentine wines. The name is Blanc de Noir, a well-known expression from Champagne denoting white wine from black grapes. Here the producer has admitted a tiny amount of colour to get through.

We have been used accustomed to the thought that good (some would think: all) Argentine wines come from Mendoza. But El Esteco is found in Cafayate, a small town in the Calchaquí Valley, province of Salta. We are in the very northwestern corner of Argentina, at an elevation of 2.000 meters, with poor alluvial soils. The marked temperature ranges of the valley encourages a long maturation period.

The grape is pinot noir, grown in a finca called Chañar Punco and harvested by hand in the early morning hours, whole bunches pressed very lightly and slowly, and elevated in steel. Truly fascinating!

Blanc de Noir 2020 (Bod. El Esteco)

Light salmon pink with a touch of onion-skin. Delicately fruity, of medium intensity, of redcurrant and some herbs. A bit glyceric and tannic in the mouth, yet fresh acidity shines through.

Price: Low

Food: Fish and shellfish, salads, light meat

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