RIBERA Y RUEDA, SI SI
My friend and I study A LOT. I don’t nearly study enough, but I make it up in the drinking portion! Our adventure for the day was to embark on a Tapas crawl, in NYC.
A PARTY? check WINE? check? TAPAS? check. No questions asked, I’m in.
This time, my hubby comes along for the ride. No kids! HOLLA.
The morning did start off at the crack of dawn, typical craziness. Arriving at the passport office at 8am with three kids, DON’T ASK. Trip to Starbucks (for sanity) and the Disney store. The Disney store is thanks to the bribery of really amazing parents. It went something like this… “Sleep in your bed all night and you get $5.00”. My husband thought that was a steep price (he’s in Finance and wanted to negotiate). I was sleep deprived and desperate, that was a bargain. 5×7=$35.00 x three kids. BARGAIN!!!!!!! HELLO, it works. Parents if your desperate, Bribery works. My son ONCE woke up (in the entire week) and cried in the hallway because he wanted his $5.00 and wanted someone to bring him back to his room. NO PROBLEM. A hug and kiss and another tuck in bed at midnight, NO PROBLEM! I SLEPT, did you hear me? I SLEPT….. ALL WEEK. OK minus the two nights one of the three were sick, but that is par for the course and I’ll take it!
The series is part of something called Chef’s dinner, which is inspired by puertas cerradas or the secret “closed-door dinner” of Buenos Aires. The party started off at one restaurant where we sampled a white wine from Rueda, Mantel Blanc 2014 $17. This was a good solid wine, crisp with citrus flavor. We Loved it!
Spanish wine can get overshadowed by Rioja, but there are so many amazing wines to choose from in Spain. The region Ribera y Rueda is up and coming on the wine front. A lot of young wine makers and new technology is being poured into this region. In Rueda, the Verdejo grape is in hot demand, which is the first wine we tried today. A unanimous three thumbs up on the Rudeda wine. Thank you Cafe Rizor for some great tapas and great wine. On to the next bar a few blocks down. We wandered down the street like a sea of tourists to the next location; Socarrat Paella bar for my favorite shisteo peppers and the best wine of the night, Convento San Francisco, Ribera del Duoro 2011 $17. The wine is made from Tempranillo grapes, full-bodied, tannic with flavors of tobacco and vanilla. It earned another three thumbs up!
The final location of the night, had us bellied up to the bar at El Cid. Linda and I will take this opportunity to pat ourselves on the back. (insert: applause). Perched on the edge of the bar, we got first dibs on the wine. After a quick taste we both uttered, “this wine is off”. After careful comparison of two different bottles, we gave hubby and the bartender the art of finding “off bottles”. This one had a cork taint, smelled musty and basically off. This is always a good lesson, because wine can be off, a lot. More than you think. My hubby thinks I go to school, to find these “off bottles” and cannot recall all the bottles I have returned to the wine stores. Personally, he would still drink the wine. That will be in the next blog!
Anyway, do yourself a favor and look up @riberarudeawine, @tapascrawl @tapastrail and @chefsdinnerseries!
http://www.newyork.com/articles/restaurants/fabulous-secret-supper-clubs-in-nyc-98775/