A Red Wine From Spain Is the Star of the Evening

When I invite friends to dinner, there is often an ulterior motive – beyond the good company, it’s a chance to taste and talk about lots of wines.The trick, one can discover the hard way, is to weave the wine component into the conversation so that it embellishes, rather than dominates, the evening. No one likes a wine bore.With that in mind, on a recent Saturday night, as friends came over with appetizers, the wines started coming out.We began with some whites from Washington state. First there was a Chardonnay – full of promise and attractively labeled. After a couple of sips, though, there was quick consensus that it was all but drowning in oak. I took it back to the kitchen, recorked it and put it away, perhaps for some future cooking project.How about a Riesling? Not a bad idea, but this one was quite sweet (without saying so on the label), lacking in balancing acidity, and not particularly refreshing – not exactly the way we wanted to start off the evening. With two wines down and my guests showing signs of impatience (okay, they were downright craving a decent glass of wine at this point), I brought out the third and last of the whites I had on deck.Fortunately, Hogue’s 2002 Reserve Chardonnay did the trick. I poured everyone a glass of the $22 wine from the Columbia Valley and, thankfully, the preoccupation with finding a drinkable aperitif was over.The Chardonnay was well balanced with pear, touches of butterscotch, citrus, and spice, suggesting oak exposure but not screaming it.By now, a butterflied leg of lamb, marinated all afternoon in red wine, fresh rosemary, mint, and garlic, was cooking slowly on the grill. For this, I wanted a substantial red or two. It’s always nice, of course, when friends bring along a bottle of wine, but I will confess that I am usually more eager to try my own.Not this time. Our guests came armed with what turned out to be a magnificent red from Spain’s Priorat region, which is in Catalonia and known for the spectacular slate soil in its hillside vineyards. The 2000 Finca Dofi from Alvaro Palacios, the area’s superstar, was concentrated and complex with ripe, sweet blackberry, mocha, mineral, and spice components and loaded with supple tannins, giving it a chewy quality that suggested it would continue to evolve for years.The wine’s dimension is achieved, in part, by the blend – mainly Garnacha (known elsewhere as Grenache), with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Carignan. The considerable sediment left in the glass suggested the wine had not been filtered, which is generally a good thing because it retains flavors. At $65, one of our friends described it as the Spanish equivalent of great Bordeaux. More than that, the wine is unique.As a coda, I happened to have another bottle of Priorat on hand, the 2000 Lo Piot from Francesca Vicent Robert, at $40.This one, 90% Grenache and 10% Cabernet, was more fruit-forward and a bit less complex, but also delicious and elegant with its intense fruit. The evening was all about good friends, good food, and some great wines. For me, it doesn’t get much better.

A Red Wine From Spain Is the Star of the Evening

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