I'm just back from a fantastic Galician dinner at Caiola's and I don't know where to begin. Chef Abbie really went all out on the dinner. I presented five wines: one Basque and four from the different regions of Galicia, but we had 6-7 courses of very authentic Galician cuisine. More and more food kept coming out until it was overwhelming; that really took me right back to my expiriences in Ribeiro last year.
The table set and ready to go!
Chef Abbie spent a lot of time researching Galician cuisine and imported some specialties from the region, such as Pedron peppers, tetilla cheese, and pork from the black footed Galician pigs. We had some good talks about Galician cuisine and food culture leading up to this and the dinner brought back a lot of fond memories of when I was there last year.
The dinner was amazing (thanks to Chef Abbie and her passion)
The wines were incredibly vibrant and really demonstrated why Galicia is one of the hottest (excitement wise) and terroir driven of all Spain's regions.
The wines we presented were:
D. Ventura Do Burato Ribeira Sacra
Dominio do Bibei Ribeira Sacra
One of my favorites was Vina Mein was an excellent complex white from the DO of Ribeiro. The old vines, decaying granite, and low yields create a really vibrant white up front with citrus and minerality followed by a dense smooth finish. The combination of these flavors really threw some people for a loop, but were extremely tasty; like some loire whites!
Here's some of the amazing food Abbie turned out. This was a layered baked potato slice on the right, pickled and preserved spicy peppers, and a dish of melon wrapped in serrano ham!
Wine making is pretty traditional in Galicia. Lots of small family producers making wine that is just consumed in the locality. And because of the distinct culture here and the mountains that separate the region from the rest of the country; the wine culture is totally different. Galicia never really replaced it's traditional grapes after phyloxera as other regions did. Many vineyards in the rest of Spain were replanted with alicante and palomino, but Galicia stayed true to it's heritage. From Do Ferreiro to Vina Mein, and Dominoio do Bibei to D Ventura the wines were all extremely deep and complex as well as very unique.
In my opinion some of the most exciting wine and food in Spain comes from Galicia. I'll post tasting notes on Dominio do Bibei and vina Mein soon. These are some of the most authentic, terroir driven wines I've had over the course of the year. Very worth the hunt to find them.