Noche española

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At a dinner some time ago, Monsieur Jamin had brought up the topic of the Spanish menu at the I Hate the Handover Club. It seems he found the offering fairly enjoyable, or at the very least a welcome change from the usual club offering. Apparently he also discussed with V about popping some Spanish wines together, and this, boys and girls, is how we all ended up in the Hong Kong Room tonight.

Coca d'escalivada - the peppers and pine nuts worked well with the Cantabrian anchovies on top, and the cracker was pretty nice and flaky.

Pulpo a la plancha con mojo

Pimientos del Padrón

Bikini de sobrasada y tetilla - pretty nice with the sobrasada.

Txistorra a la sidra - OK la...

Fideua de calamares en su tinta - I love fideuà, so I was very happy at the sight of this big pan.

Unfortunately the execution FAILED. This was very, very wet, and for me fideuà should be dry enough to produce socarrat at the bottom. There wasn't any here. Sure, the flavors were still nice, but the texture was just wrong.

Cochinillo "a la Segoviana" - always happy to see little piggies.

I actually didn't pay attention when they cut the pigs up, so I couldn't say whether they were tender enough to be cut with ceramic plates. The suckling pigs tasted good, though.

Green salad - always need your greens.

Torrijas y leche frita caramelizada

It's rare that we would choose a lineup that is made up entirely of wines from Spain. It's even more rare that the range spans 10 decades and almost 100 years, and would include fortified wines, too.

2019 Rafael Palacios Valdeorras Sorte O Soro - pretty fragrant, some flint on the nose. Good acidity on the palate but starting to show some ripeness on the nose, too.

1925 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Reserva Especial - pretty fragrant nose and still alcoholic. A bit smoky. Drinking pretty well 30 minutes after opening. Very lovely nose of plums. So, so beautiful after this opened up. Very alluring.

2013 Comando G Tumba del Rey Moro - pretty exotic and interesting. Still alcoholic and sharp, and certainly got plenty of sweet fruit.

1998 Pingus - decanted for about 1½ hours before serving. Nose with vanilla oak and a little coconut butter, minty, smoky, earthy. Very smooth on the palate and drinking very nicely. Could feel the tannins after more than 2 hours in the decanter.

1970 Vega Sicilia Unico - definitely some burnt rubber on the nose, some exotic spices, pretty sweet fruit underneath.

1964 Toro Albalá Marqués de Poley Palo Cortado Selección - very fragrant and certainly savory.

1980 Toro Albalá Don PX Selección - bottled in May 2021. Lots of exotic herbs. So rich, so viscous on the palate. Very, very sweet.

What an interesting evening in terms of the range of wines! Gotta say that 1925 Ygay really, really got me... it was so special! Needs to get my hands on more of those old Ygay!