Catalan Whites Dinner at Ibérica

15-Nov-10 - To Ibérica in London for tasting dinner celebrating the white wines of Catalunya. We had a preliminary meeting there with Alison Mann from Emma Wellings PR, who handle the account in the UK, the chef Santiago Guerrero and 'flying sommelier' Bruno Murciano, to thrash out the wines we wanted show and the dishes Santiago would cook to go with them. On the actual night disaster almost struck: the electricity main on Great Portland Street went down in the afternoon and everything went, while most of the guests were already on their way or already there at the pre-dinner tasting. Quite how they did it I don't know, but somehow the electricity engineers were able to get the lights on, at least, if nothing else. Fortunately Santiago cooks with gas so we could go ahead, having been warned by the engineers that the lights would go off at 10:00 pm prompt. I am always doubtful about timekeeping with Spanish events, but Alison, and Núria Ruiz from the Asociació Vinícola Catalana assured me that we could. It was all a question of Santiago getting the food out on time and, of course, me getting the wines described and getting the reaction of the guests on time. In fact, we did it, and were all safely on the street by 9:45 pm. The meal was a great success, with two wines per course to see which went better with the food (my choices marked with a star):

Miguel Torres Fransola 2008 and Agusti Torello XII Torello Mata* 2009 with carpaccio of prawns with citrus and mint - carpacio de gambas con citricos y menta fresca

Alta Alella Lanius 2008 and Castillo de Perelada Garnatxa Blanca* 2009 with seared scallops with clam escabeche, fennel and granny smith apples on a bed of cauliflower purée - vieras a la plancha con escabeche de almejas, hinijo y manzana verde sobre un puré de coliflor

Albet i Noya Xarel·lo Fanio* 2009 and Parés Baltà Electio 2008 with xuquet of monkfish with potatoes - xuquet de rape con patatas

Avgvstvs Chardonnay 2009 and Loxarel Cora* 2009 with Garotxa Cheese with quince, apple purée and mixed nuts - queso Garotxa con membrillo, puré de manzana y frutos secos

For me the best match was the Xarel·lo with the monkfish. The wine was aged over concrete eggs - trendy or what? But it was further proof that this once-despised grape, in the hands of a skilled winemaker, can achieve great things.

 Residue of the pre-dinner tasting

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