Bodegas Pesquera Wine Dinner with Alejandro Fernandez at Cafe Maxx

"If penicillin can cure those that are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life."
- Sir Alexander Fleming

Tonight we have one of the living legends of Spanish wine in the house for dinner. Although he speaks a limited amount of English, passion is an international language and the last time that Alejandro Fernandez was here he had everyone in the back room at Cafe Maxx singing in Spanish by the end of the night!

This will be a night to remember and we will be breaking out a few special bottles for this evening, an assortment of everything that Alejandro has his hands in and a little Cave to start as well as my favorite dessert wine in the store the 1985 Pedro Ximenez from Toro Albala, one of Spain’s sweet treasures.

Chef Oliver Saucy has put together a special menu to accompany these wines and this dinner will be in the back room at Cafe Maxx so we are limited to 25 people at this event. The fee for Dinner is $150 + Tax, for reservations call 954-782-0606.

Bodegas Pesquera Dinner with vintner Alejandro Fernandez at Café Maxx
Tuesday October 30, 2012
7pm

Pass Arounds

Caviar & smoked crepe
Sea scallop ceviche with coconut
Jumbo lump crab with miso and caviar

Mont Marçal Cava Brut Rosado 2008
Price: $14.25 Sale $12.54 Case $146

One hundred percent Trepat, a Catalan black variety especially apt for rosé production. Attractive light ruby color with pronounced red berry fruit and excellent mousse.

First course

Beef tenderloin sashimi with foie gras and shiitake mushrooms, garlic and white soy

Bodegas Condado de Haza Tinto 2008
Price: $24.75       Sale $21.78          Case $253

(89+ Points) The 2008 Condado de Haza is a glass-coating opaque purple color offering up a fragrant perfume of Asian spices, incense, violets, espresso, and blackberry. On the palate it is sweetly-fruited, ripe, plump, and tasty. Relatively forward for a young wine from Ribera del Duero, it still has enough structure to fill out for another 1-2 years at which point it may merit an outstanding rating. Drink it from 2012 to 2020.

Bodegas Condado de Haza is a large estate (500 contiguous, fully planted acres) owned by Alejandro Fernandez of Tinto Pesquera renown. Wine Advocate #195, Jun 2011

Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez El Vinculo Crianza 2005
Price: $28.75       Sale $25.30          Case $294

(90 Points) These wines are all 100% Tempranillo. The 2005 El Vinculo Crianza offers a fragrant nose of cedar, saddle leather, and black fruits. This is followed by a full-bodied, structured wine with good balance, depth, and length. It should evolve for another 3-4 years and drink well through 2020.

These wines demonstrate the potential of La Mancha, a large region known in the past primarily for bulk wines, but now increasingly the focus of top vignerons such as Alejandro Fernandez of Pesquera fame. Wine Advocate #176, Apr 2008

Second course

Muscovy duck meatball with cheesy polenta and tomato demi glaze

Pesquera Ribera Del Duero 2009
Price: $35.00       Sale $30.80          Case $357

(89 Points) This tender, expressive red offers toasty flavors of black cherry, licorice and mineral, with light tannins and bright acidity. Racy and fresh, this shows focus and depth. Drink now through 2018. 50,000 cases made. –TM Wine Specatator Issue: Oct 15, 2012

Pesquera Reserva Ribera Del Duero 2008
Price: $54.00       Sale $47.52          Case $551

(91 points) Black cherry, licorice, mineral and herb notes mingle in this firm red. Chewy tannins and tart acidity lend an austere character now, but this shows focus. Best from 2014 through 2020. 5,000 cases made.–TM Issue: Oct 15, 2012

Third course

Grill braised & pressed beef short rib, celeriac & Yukon potato-apple mash and fall vegetables

Bodegas y Vinedos Fernandez Rivera Dehesa la Granja 2005
Price: $20.25       Sale $17.82          Case $205.55

(91 Points) The 2005 Dehesa la Granja, from a top-flight vintage, displays an inviting perfume of cedar, Asian spices, a hint of balsamic, licorice, and assorted black fruits. This is followed by a sweetly-fruited, well-proportioned wine with a friendly personality. It is approachable now but is likely to evolve for another 2-3 years. Drink this outstanding value from 2013 to 2020+.

Bodegas y Vinedos Fernandez Rivera is another Alejandro Fernandez estate (the Rivera coming from his wife’s maiden name). Located just outside the Toro demarcation line necessitating the use of the more generic Castilla y Leon designation, the historic La Granja estate has been replanted to 325 acres of Tempranillo from clones in Pesquera. Wine Advocate #195, Jun 2011

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Bodegas y Vinedos Fernandez Rivera Dehesa Seleccion 2000
Price: $31.50       Sale $27.72          Case $322

(91 points) Deep red. Lush, perfumed and sweet on the nose, offering a range of wild plum and red and dark berry aromas complemented by vanilla, bitter chocolate, espresso, dried mushroom and baking spices. Lush and creamy, with solid tannins framing deep, sweet blackberry and plum fruit. Persistently sweet finish features broad, supple tannins and hints of smoked meat and black pepper." Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Sep/Oct 06)

Fourth course

Red wine marinated & grilled lamb chop, bacon-onion brussel sprouts and new potato chips

Bodegas Condado de Haza Alenza Gran Reserva 2001
Price: $96.25       Sale $84.70          Case $982

(93 Points) The 2001 Gran Reserva Alenza is deep purple with a complex perfume of sage, pepper, mineral, leather, and blackberry. Layered, rich, and structured, it should evolve nicely for another 4-6 years. This full-flavored, lengthy wine should reach its peak by 2013 and provide pleasure through 2025 if not longer. It reflects the quality of the outstanding 2001 vintage.

Dessert

Chocolate dipped strawberries filled with red wine over raspberry-red wine sauce

Toro Albala Pedro Ximenez Gran Reserva 1985
Price: $49.50       Sale $43.56          Case $505

Toro Albala in Montilla Moriles is famous for their aged Pedro Ximenez. Traditionally the grapes are allowed to raisin for several weeks before pressing. Figs, dates and prune aromas, with notes of caramel, toffee and baking spice. Dense and palate coating, the cutting acidity provides the perfect foil to the sweetness in this wine. A perfect pairing is either arroz con leche or simply a little vanilla ice cream. It's a new taste experience that you'll be sure to like.

The fee for Dinner is $150 + Tax, for reservations call 954-782-0606.

A Bit about Pesquera and Ribera del Duero:

Some of Spain's greatest reds, including her most expensive by far, Vega Sicilia, grow along the banks of the Duero River in the Ribera del Duero in north central Spain. The Ribera del Duero is just south and west of Spain's much more well-known Rioja district, but knowledgeable observers feel that this close cousin and neighbor of Rioja has much greater potential. Spain's most prestigious estate, Vega Sicilia, was founded in 1864 - it is perched some 2400 feet above sea level on the south bank of the Duero. The founder of Vega Sicilia imported Bordeaux grapes (cabernet, merlot, and malbec) and added them to several local varieties. The yield of the 296 acre vineyard is extremely low (10,500 cases), but the result is a wine combining immense power, great fruit, and unusual breed. Because Vega Sicilia is so rare, it commands prices that approach and even surpass some of Bordeaux's top crus. It was inevitable that the quality and resulting fame of Vega Sicilia would eventually inspire others to repeat and magnify on the performance. What is simply amazing is that some of the new bodegas were so long in coming. For example, Pesquera did not even exist fourty years ago!

In 1972, Alejandro Fernández of Pesquera de Duero initiated the replanting of Spain's Ribera del Duero appellation with the area's first modern wire-trained vineyard, his Viña Alta in Pesquera. This was at a time when the region was still actively replacing vineyards with irrigated crops such as sugar beets, aided in part by Alejandro and his revolutionary, patented harvesting equipment. His first love was wine, and by 1972 his machinery business had developed to the point which allowed him to establish Bodegas Alejandro Fernández. His Tinto Pesquera was destined to demonstrate the greatness of a long-neglected terroir and to create an international wake which revitalized an entire wine district - not to mention the whole lethargic Spanish wine scene. Praise came relatively soon for Pesquera. Robert Parker dubbed it the "Pétrus of Spain". Writing in the NY Times, Frank Prial said: "Tinto Pesquera uses the very Spanish tempranillo grape. Even so, the wine is extraordinary, with intense fruit that reminds one of the finest Bordeaux. The wine is intensely flavored but elegant. It could grace a wine lover's table with ease. And indeed, it closely resembles some of the greats of Médoc at various stages of its development: Latour one day, Mouton the next, Pétrus the day after that."

In the middle 1980's, as Tinto Pesquera was taking its place among the most intriguing and powerful icons in the world of wine, Alejandro spied a neglected slope along the Duero River which had the appearance of being the most ideal vineyard site in the region, perhaps in all Spain: One full kilometer of southfacing mountain slope leading right to the river's edge, remarkable in the absence of intervening, level benchland terrain. Ideal soils in the full range preferred by the Tempranillo variety, from gravel to clay with a chalky base, suggested the potential for a multitude of styles from this difficult grape, essential material to create the complexity and balance required in a great wine.

Although abandoned for years due to its unsuitability to the growing of irrigated crops, the slope consisted of hundreds of small parcels with individual and stubborn ownership. Three years of continuous negotiation beginning in late 1986 resulted in the first planting of 100,000 vines on 45 hectares (113 acres) in 1989. As more of the slope was acquired, preparations ensued for planting in mid-1996, nearing completion with over 200 hectares (500 acres) established of prime Tempranillo vines. Entirely within the county once controlled by the fortified medieval hilltop village of Haza high above the opposite bank of the Duero, the vineyard estate became known as Condado de Haza in commemoration of past as well as future nobility.

While small amounts of an excellent 1993 were produced from Condado de Haza grapes, the great and ripe 1994 was the first vintage for shipment to the international market. Both 1993 and 1994 were fermented and pressed in the old bodega at Pesquera de Duero, then transferred to the barrel rooms on the new estate for aging and bottling. In 1995, the grapes were received and processed on the estate, all vintages thenceforth to remain on the property, from growing and harvesting to fermenting, aging and bottling, until the final shipment to the market. Condado de Haza Tinto reflects the bold and brilliant winemaking style of Alejandro Fernández, unrivaled master of Spain's Tempranillo variety. Bottled after 15 months in American oak, like Tinto Pesquera it can be enjoyed early, yet it will reward those with patience.

The Dehesa La Granja Winery (Where time takes on a flavor and memory becomes an aroma) is located in the province of Zamora in the area once known as "Tierra del Vino", the land of wine in Spanish. It is Alejandro's third winery and has almost 8000 hectares of varied lands on the banks of the river Guarena.

The property was formerly dedicated to fighting bull, until Alejandro Fernandez refurbished it and dedicated it once again to its original purpose of making wines.