Notes from yesterday's lunch at AK Bistro.
Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett 2009 - Bright and zippy with a bit of spritz. Green apples and grapes. There's a bit of peach and pineapple there as well. The acidity keeps everything fresh even if the sweetness seemed more like Spatlese level to me. A wine to buy by the case. Excellent.
Bodegas Campillo Rioja Gran Reserva 1995 - A classic. Spices, cumin, leather, tobacco and cocoa powder. Rich and fleshy but very dry. Surprisingly good with the bacalao, which brought out the fruit - mostly blackberries and black cherry. Soft and ready to drink. Good length. Old-fashioned but very well put together. Already seamless, with all components coming together beautifully. Just about entering its plateau of best drinking where it should stay for a couple of years.
Despite the rather hefty lunch, dinner was at Terry's to sample JC's Asturian menu which is on a limited run. Just a word about the food; the unanimous favorite was the anchovies on La Peral cheese. Very mild salting, subtle flavor, but with the most incredible texture. The sensation was like melted fat. Such a simple dish but I could have eaten these all night. Another favorite was the veal croquetas. Again mild but very complex flavors. We also had a very smoky chorizo and baby squid stuffed with bacalao in a sea urchin sauce and another plate of croquetas which had the flavor of fabada packed into it. All were excellent.
On recommendation of our server, we started with some Tareco Sidra. Very dry and tart. This really cleans your palate. After a couple of glasses of this, we were ready for some red wine so we picked a bottle that we had never tried before:
Pago los Balancines Huno - I forgot to note the vintage but I believe this was 2008. From the rather obscure region of Ribera del Guadiana and a mix of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Very much in the International style. Big, rich, syrupy and oaky. There's a lot of wood here but thankfully, it stops just short of being over the top. The wine is quite sweet with a pronounced blueberry and plum syrup/jam vibe. Although I generally don't like this style, I have to say this wine does it quite well. This makes an impact on tasting but can be tiring. With food, however, it was rather nice, with the powerful flavors and textures rounded out and tamed by the food. Not my type of wine but I can see how this would appeal to some.