Wine events in PV are inn and it´s perfect! This event was organized by Vinoteca and Bodega Catena Zapata, from Argentina, a very prestigious winery, well recognized by “Wine & Spirits” and “Wine Spectator” Magazines.
Catena Zapata recently had an important recognition by “Decanter” Magazine, as they named the owner: Nicolás Catena as “Man of the Year” for his trajectory and his philosophy about wine making.
The place: the new and trendy La Leche, owned by 2 very prestigious chefs: Nacho Cadena and his son Alfonso Cadena.
This chefs and the place deserve an exclusive article, so i´ll leave you with the curiosity for a new post here!!
We arrived at 8:30 and they invited us to go upstairs to a saloon where we saw a presentation about Catena Zapata, introduced by Jorge Crota, commercial director; and then we enjoyed a nice conversation with José Galante, their enologist for 30 years!
Their experience and passion for the wine made it very interesting. José said something that i liked a lot and that i would like to repeat here: “We have to love wine, love it very much, to be able to take decisions with feelings involved, when we passed adversity, looses and we had to stand up again and again to reach this point where our wines are respected and recognized” Sometimes we have to take decisions in our lives but our feelings mix on the way, making it much more harder to take them…i absolutely respected and understood what José Galante meant.
Right after the presentation they asked us to clear our minds, open our senses and emotions to get ready to try and give our own opinion about the wines we were invited to taste. We all went downstairs to the restaurant, what a fun place! all in white and very contemporary, it gives a feeling of space and the vibes i felt were very positive and energetic. All was ready to seat the group and enjoy the 5 courses paired with 5 wines from Catena Zapata, our host.
We started with fish petals, made or raw “perico” fish (a local specie) , slighty marinated in soy essence, paprika and macadamia oil, topped with tropical fruits of the region (pineapple, mango, jicama) with a touch of orange.
It was paired with Alamos Chardonnay 2007, this wine has an intense yellow, greenish color, in nose it´s citric and a bit mineral and in mouth it feels fresh, a bit greasy (like margarine) and i found a nice Pineapple and Vanilla taste.
The result was very nice, fresh and soft on the palate and I enjoyed it while the Chef Cadena was talking to me about La Leche´s practice to use nothing else than the freshest ingredients found the same day at the local Market to design the menu, a menu that changes every single day, accordind to what they find and to what their creativity leads them!!!!
Second course was a Catch of the Day Fish Filet, baked with Mexican herbs (Cilantro, Chives, Epazote) with wild mushrooms from the “Altiplano” (a mountain zone and only available during the hard rainy season)
The pairing with Alamos Malbec 2007 was very good (I always enjoy mushrooms and red wine pairings and this wild ones taste was pretty interesting!)
Third course was great!!!! We got a little can filled with oxtail and shrimps. The oxtail was slowly cooked in the oven and the shrimps sauted with garlic. All with a sauce of red wine, Rosemary, Thyme and marrow pieces.
The pairing was the best! with their delicious Malbec Catena Alta 2005 , this wine has a very deep violet color, with black reflects. The aroma of red fruits is intense, but it also has some cinnamon, species, flowers…it´s a very structured wine with a silky, caressing texture (something like the feeling of the voice of a great singer…) in mouth you can find casis, black fruits, chocolate, vanilla and black pepper.
La Leche Almacen Gourmet it´s a place filled with the freshness, talent, youth and humor of the Chef Alfonso Cadena (the son) and the great experience and talent of the Chef Nacho Cadena (the father)
Answering to my question about “Who ´s the boss here? ” the answer was pretty funny: father and son fight armonically in the kitchen!! sometimes one is the inspiring chef and the other the practical and vice versa.
La Leche has an innovative and daring concept, a different option that aims to trascend and bring something new to the gastronomy in Vallarta.
Fourth course arrived! Pork meat petals, with a tropical fruits sauce and figs marmalade paired with a very very good Nicolas Catena Zapata Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, the result was delicious, the figs marmalade was great with the wine.
For dessert we had a chocolate fudge with paprika syrup and ice cream (different flavors: Mint, Vanilla/Ginger, Avocado, Cinnamon, Thyme)
Fun night, good wines and good food, surrounded with friends, interesting people what else can we ask for?
