Spain's Great Match

Spain's Great Match celebrated its 23rd year of wine and food design at the IAC building last week. Over 300 incredible wines were poured during the press tasting and even more at that evening's public event.   I began my day with an incredible seminar The Sommelier's Guide to Spain with moderator Steve Olson, whose stunning resume includes Gramercy Tavern's first sommelier when they opened the doors 22 years ago.  He choose selections according to "a wine of place" wines so unlike any other they could only be created in a specific region, this region of course being Spain.


I really loved each selection from this seminar but highlights included the light and lively Pares Balta Blanca Cava that seemed to just dance across my taste buds, the always elegant 2009 Muga Prada Enea Gran Riserva and the 2014 Volover Triga that had such a well structured body and long lingering finish it was truly close to perfection.


The walk around tasting paired regional food with the wine, something to be expanded during the evening event with local Spanish restaurants like Amada, Casa Mono, Salinas and Tia Pol on hand serving up tapas.


As I moved from station to station I was amazed how much I was enjoying the array of wines. Even the full bodied reds reaching 15% were incredibly smooth and well balanced.  I tend to lean heavily towards the big Italian reds when dining out but I found myself loving the complexity and richness of these wines in a totally different way.


In the afternoon we headed upstairs for one more seminar with Steve Olson this time Unveiling the Mystery of Bierzo, a small remote region in the north west of Castilla y Leon.  I could seriously listen to Steve talk about wine all day; his energy and enthusiasm for the grape is impossible not to love.


Cheers to Spain's Great Match- I can't wait to see these fantastic wines start popping up on more wine lists.

Comments

TylerP42 said…
Ha- Steve Olson is the best. Great guy and incredible wine knowledge. Cheers
Roze said…
I could listen to him talk all day and never get bored :)