South African Cabernet Sauvignon and Cuban Fare

David and Zack hit up this new little Cuban joint in Alphabet City a couple of days ago and brought a cab from the shop that Paired really nice with their meal. The place is called Café Cortadito and it’s on East 3rd street between Aves B & C on the south side of the street. The wine in hand was the 2005 South African Upland Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Café Cortadito has a very welcoming atmosphere with amazing music in the sound system and a colorful décor of soft yellows and bright, rusted orange. It’s a quaint place with the main dinning room having probably a little over a dozen seats but there is also a room in the back that seems like a small private event space. The menu is on these interesting bamboo plaques and the staff is ever so friendly.

These two dudes sat down and went right for the same thing. They both got the Ropa Vieja; an entrée of succulent shredded beef with a savory, slightly spiced creole sauce and black beans and white rice on the side. Talk about authentic. They popped the bottle and proceeded to devour their meals. I can just imagine what the cab must have done to this rich, hearty meal. The beef is cooked in a good amount of fat and the beef itself has a bunch of protein, which softens tannins. If the dish is not too hot this Upland 2005 is just about damn near perfect. It is a big, balanced, earthy cab that starts out as all soil and dried, sweet fruit and opens into coffee and bittersweet chocolate that just washes meals like this down while keeping all flavors in check. Nothing is lost here. The wine and food compliment each other very well allowing the palate to enjoy it all from the subtleties of the rice and beans to the rich, melt-in-your-mouth shredded beef and the prominent yet balanced aromas and components of the wine. Damn I am hungry.

QUINTA APOLONIA AND LAN CAFE

For our first, “BYOB Of The Week” I am going to talk about this awesome little vegetarian Vietnamese place on 6th called Lan Café between 1st and 2nd Avenue. My wife and I went there last week with a bottle of wine and had ourselves some great food. I am not very familiar with Vietnamese cuisine but I thought a bright yet deep white wine would go well with the potential heat of some of the dishes. So I popped over to the shop (Alphabet City Wine Co. that is) and grabbed the 2005 Belondrade y Lurton “Quinta Apolonia” verdejo from the Rueda region in Castlilla y Leon Spain. Verdejo has been Rueda’s pride and joy for years and now that wine is so popular we are fortunate to have access to some great bottles from this area and the Quinta Apolonia is one of them. It is a bright well-rounded and aromatic wine with honeyed pear on the nose an almost creamy, nuttiness that is balanced by a good amount of acidity. As I was staring at the shelves it was kind of calling me so I went for it and met my wife at Lan Café.

We were the first customers of the evening and the very nice staff sat us and gave us our wine key. We popped the bottle and poured the beautiful dark lemon hue of a wine into our glasses and cheers-ed our first sip and as that bright acidity and fruit hit our palate we realized...OOH WEE! That is some good juice we need some food so we ordered apps right off the bat. We got the spring rolls, which were served, with lettuce and mint and a veggie-fish sauce (It actually didn't taste like fish at all hence the veggie part but I could see where they were going with it and it was really good with salty spice) and the summer rolls served with mildly spicy peanut sauce. Man were they delish! When your eating food this fresh there is nothing like a good white wine to wash it down and compliment it. The verdejo did that wonderfully. For entrees my wife had the lemongrass seitan curry and I went with the tofu pancake with vegetables and a spicy dipping sauce. Again the food was fresh and delicious. The Wine was almost perfect with these dishes. It had the depth of fruit and residual sugars to calm the heat and enough acidity to compliment the flavors of the food with out overwhelming the palate with one or the other. They went very well together.
Lan Café is a great find. It’s tucked into the block and almost hard to see and quite small so I would imagine getting there early is key. There is no stemware available but hey, it’s BYOB. Who are we to complain? So come on in and give the Quinta Apolonia a try for only fifteen bucks a bottle and maybe hit up my wife and I's new favorite BYOB in the city. Maybe we'll see you there. I will be the one in the Star Wars t-shirt and hoodie with a clownish grin as I vocalize how well things are pairing all the while taking notes and embarassing my lovely wife. Sorry Darlin' in advance. Cheers!

ALAS MY FRIENDS A HIATUS IS ON THE HORIZON

Alas I must admit having two businesses has taken its toll. The time allotted for writing about wine has been eaten up by the to-do list. I will not be posting for a bit because of scheduling but I will say that once we get the website up and running for Alphabet City Wine Co. we are going attempt video blogging. Same amount of research and same amount of passion just with my mug in yo’ face rambling like I do at the shop or at In Vino. Here is the link to check out if we have gotten there yet.
I love writing about wine and I miss it dearly. I actually hope that some day I can write about wine in on a larger scale. So if there is any media out there that could use me for some fun approachable wine ranting check out my archive and let me know. In the meantime if you guys are in the East Village anytime soon stop on by and say hi. I am at the Shop mostly but every Wednesday I am behind the bar at In Vino going nuts over wine. Until then…Ciao!

In Vino
(212-539-1011)
215 East 4th Street (btw Ave. A &B)
New York, NY 10009

Alphabet City Wine Co.
(212-505-9463)
100Ave. C (btw 6th & 7th)
New York, NY 10009