Piedra Roble with Tamales au gratin
Piedra Roble
Winery Estancia Piedra
www.estanciapiedra.com
D.O.: Toro
Grapes: 90% Tinta de Toro, 10% Garnacha.
Ageing: 6 months in French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels.
Price: 9€
Excerpt from the book “Pairings of spanish wines with exotic cuisines”.
Click to see the preparation of these dishes, in American recipes.
Pueden ver la versión en español pinchando en Piedra Roble
Some people say that it is a passing fad, but in my opinion it is a discovery that is going to last long because the result is a delicious, rich wine, the kind I love, respecting of course great reservas, polished and velvety, which will always be at the top of the pyramid.
“Tinto de Toro” grape, considered from an ampelographic point of view as a variety of Tempranillo, produces in this region some dense, fleshy wines with a taste of ripe fruits, which, after six months in new barrels, acquire those nuances of cocoa, vanilla and liquorice that make them even richer and more spectacular.
The work has been finished up by adding a 10% of Garnacha grape, another variety that makes great wines in the Toro region but not long-lasting, something that is no problem in this case since a “Roble” usually has an estimated life of three years.
Grilled tamales
Ever since I was a child, tamales have been one of my favourite delicacies. They consist of simple cylinders of corn flour dough, usually stuffed with turkey mole, which are wrapped in corn cob leaves and steam cooked. “Tamaleras” sell them along the streets in every Mexican village.
This is a more sophisticated variety, not a food cart dish but a restaurant one, since it is covered with mole and cheese and then grilled, so it requires a plate and cutlery to be consumed.
The flavours are heavy, powerful, almost radical, but unforgettable when assimilated; bear in mind that Mexican cuisine is one of the richest, most varied and most sophisticated ones in the world.
Pairing
As it happens in nearly all the dishes in this book, these tamales contain several sapid elements that constitute a pairing themselves; in each bite we will perceive the sweet taste of corn dough, the powerful, cocoa-flavoured mole and of course the grilled cheese.
A Solomonic solution would be to resort to a scented white, which would certainly overcome the obstacle of too intense spices, but Inma Cañibano told me that she had tried tamales with her wine and it turned out to be surprisingly harmonious, so I tried and found that the wine held its ground perfectly and the pairing was spectacular, no doubt due to the great power of the tannins.
It is advisable to drink the wine cool, as in the cellar, about 14ºC, never over 16ºC, to enhance its acidity and vegetal nuances.