El Vino Nuevo

Summertime for most of the United States means the return of vegetation. Both our rural and urban areas come alive with the blossoming of flowers, the production of fruits and vegetables and the long hours of sunshine. We spend countless evenings cherishing this season. As we relax, whether on our own patio or at a neighborhood restaurant, we look for refreshing wines to share the intimate harmony between both humanity and nature.

The premise of this column came to me after a customer referred to a fellow wine salesman as “psychic.” When she arrived in the store, the employee greeted the customer, kindly offered the normal services and turned to walk away. As the salesman walked away, he muttered out one simple phrase, “Think Spain.”

“Trying to describe places by sculpting liquid is a fascinating job.” - Stéphane Derenoncourt

Perhaps it takes Stéphane Derenoncourt, one of the many French winemakers in Spain, to put the Spanish situation in perspective. Historically, Spain was a country of prohibitions and Civil War and their wines were often rustic, coarse and alcoholic. But Spain has changed, and so have the wines. Whatever the catalyst, the Spanish wine revolution grows stronger each day.

When I think of Spanish wines, one memory comes to my mind. I remember a few years ago attending a wine tasting at Ramiro’s in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the time, I was a young sommelier listening to the Spanish winemaker Mariano Garcia prophesize about el vino nuevo, or the new wine. I was attending the tasting with my mentor, Gary Rush, a long time collector, restaurateur and chef. Of course, I was ecstatic to even be invited. (Mariano was the winemaker for Vega Sicilia for 36 years.) His wines were some of the most expensive and sought after wines on any wine list. But Mariano wasn’t talking about the Vega Sicilia wines. In fact, he only talked about one wine, the San Roman, from the Toro region.