And they wined & they dined with me

"Wine is one of the most civilised things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing."
Ernest Hemingway, 'Death in the Afternoon'

I was absolutely thrilled and excited that after so long I would be creating a Bang On menu for the legendary wine maker from Spain @ my restaurant NIDO where I have now frequently started a cordoned off area called THE NOOK dedicated to food paired with wine dinners

Bodegas Mauro is the first family-run winery under Mariano García to lie in Castile-Leon and is named in honour of his father, Mauro García. The Fine Wine Forum is THE premier club of wine lover and afficionados in the country from Mumbai and Delhi who invite top dog vino masters every few months. It's not just about white wine – white meat, red wine with red meat, not totally yes but I don't really agree and for sure this menu which I created for these amazing reds worked wonders. Check out the menu below.

The evening was perfecto with selected group from the forum. It was an honour and treat to go all out to make their experience more than just an experience.

A couple of weeks before I was sent a five page document with tasting notes for all the wines, so picking up elements from the notes, putting them together and created this menu which was actually sent across to Spain to the legend himself, approved and got a thumbs up for it!

BODEGAS MAURODOS
Dinner – May 2014
Canapes
Hummus and parmesan flat bread
Duck and fig flat bread
Tuna tartare vol au vents
Prima is like nectar concocted from cherries and red and black fruits. Lively and densely coloured, and fresh on the nose, hints of barely ripe black olives, citrus and sweet notes from the fruit itself, all on a mineral background. My thoughts were Salmon, butter poached cooked sous vide , with some citrus, olive oil and minerality which I got from the artichoke.

PRIMA 2011
Block of Salmon
Olive oil poached, citrus talc, pickled beets, jerusalem artichoke puree
Mariano García is one of the accepted authorities in the world of wine in Spain. After spending 30 years as technical director of Bodegas Vega, he decided to set up independently in 1998 in order to work full time on his own personal projects. It is some time ago since the first of these, Bodegas Mauro, consolidated its position as one of the finest wineries in Castile-Leon

MAURO 2011
Black Spice & Coffee compressed Tuna loin
Celeriac fennel puree, peperonata, caper berry aioli, pea shoots, pecorino shower
The 2005 San Roman is 100 per cent Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) sourced from the estate's older, higher elevation vineyards. It was aged for 23 months in a mix of new French oak and seasoned American oak and bottled without filtration. Opaque purple-colored, it gives up a superb perfume of pain grille, pencil lead, mineral, spice box, espresso, and wild black cherry. Layered on the palate, it has tons of succulent fruit, plenty of spice, my dish for the 2005 was…

SAN ROMAN 2005
Charcoal griiled tuscan Crostini
Wild mushrooms, panzanella, chevre espuma, liquid cherry olives

TERREUS 2003
My 36 hour Lamb Love
Raan and Rice
Slow braised n strung lamb, brown rice, lentil & quinao pilaf, chipotle chocolate gel, hummus yoghurt

or

Root vegetables, black bean paella (V)
MAURO VS 2000
Cheese, Choolate & Berries
This wine had to be treated with care. I did not want to distract them from the goodness and seriousness of what had gone dwon to create the MAURO VS 2000
Medium ruby. Super ripe aromas verging on roasted: bitter cherry, dark chocolate and sandalwood. Dense and very ripe, with slightly cooked berry flavors complicated by chocolate, coffee and licorice. A 84 per cent single origin chocolate deesert, some ripened spanish cheese and local mulberries and imported red currants did the trick.

Check out some of these wines on your travel overseas, Salute to all and have a great weekend.