Jose Maria de Castaneda, Dani Aliaga, Alby Xerez-Burgos |
The partnership between Clube Punta Fuego and the Wine Depot is meant to give diners nothing less than the best dining experience: the world’s best wines are expertly paired with international gourmet fare. The benefits of this partnership are brought to life in special wine-tasting and food-pairing events dubbed, “Sip and Savor” that are happening in 2013 at Club Punta Fuego.
The first “Sip and Savor” event, held on May 20, presented top Spanish wines from Rioja, one of the famous wine-producing regions of Spain. What sets Rioja apart is how it has adapted to the modern and contemporary palate.
Four varieties of wines featured in the first “Sip and Savor” event—all made from the Rioja grape variety tempranillo. The wines included the following:
Cosecheros Y Criadores ” Candidato” Blanco: a white wine sourced from the Viura grape from La Mancha. This wine has a balanced aroma of orange blossoms and jasmine.
Vina Bujanda Viura: a white wine that impacts the palate initially with a friendly freshness; this freshness lingers in the aftertaste.
Cosecheros Y Criadores “Infinitus” Tempranillo: a red wine that is very Spanish to the palate with notes of vanilla oak.
Finca Valpiedra “Cantos de Valpiedra” Tempranillo – a powerful Rioja red with greater character and body with hints of minerals and wood.
Club Punta Fuego served their guests and members a specially prepared menu, designed to complement the Spanish wines. The aperitifs included black shrimp balls in aioli and grilled scallops in cauliflower cream with hints of truffle. For starters, guests were served cream of chickpeas with chorizo ravioli, ox tail envelope, and blood sausage from Asturias.
The fish course was pan-fried tuna supreme with oven roast onion and bacon sauce and arugula bouquet. The meat dish was pork tenderloin in old mustard escabeche, apple sweet and sour tartlets, celery puree, and green asparagus. For dessert, torrija with brandy, pear compote, and vanilla ice cream were served.
“Sip and Savor” was just an initial taste of the fine dining experiences in store for Club Punta Fuego members and guests. Wine Depot will provide different wines from around the world every month to Club Punta Fuego as its featured wine of the month until December 2013. Other wine tasting and food pairing events will be held in August and November as well.