Learning to love again
Chris Lynch rekindles a love for wine at Cedrón in Madrid
I’m willing to admit that over the past couple of years I’ve fallen a little out of love with the wine world. It’s hard to put my finger on why. Whether it be fads or fashions that frustrate me, or the fact that a lot of drinkers seem to bypass the well-made (and just about) commercially viable stuff in the middle and reach straight for the crown-capped bottle with bits. Or is it simply that wine in the UK is becoming more and more expensive due to an act of self-harm that 52% voted for? Either way, my love isn’t as strong.
In my view, wine is best enjoyed in the company of others. Ultimately, it’s the experiences and the connections made whilst sharing bottles. I’ve been privileged to have enjoyed a lot of authentic experiences through wine. Enjoying a breakfast of fried eggs in a winemaker’s backyard in Aragón (with a bottle, obviously), or packing up wines into a cool box in Priorat and taking them with us to continue the tasting with some rustic tapas at a campsite nearby – this is what makes wine for me. Even last week, I got to enjoy the first vintage of a winery in Ribera del Duero and the winemaker’s father insisted on preparing some tomatoes from his huerta. And delicious they were too, with nothing more than good olive oil and salt. These experiences are priceless.
Nowadays, there’s usually only me drinking wine at home and therefore I can understand why my love has dwindled slightly. Discovering wines alone isn’t as fun as uncorking a few bottles with good friends. Or just the one friend, if it’s that kind of night! Either way, wine is best shared, for sure
Fortunately for me, an opportunity arose last week for such an experience. My birthday. I decided to recreate the previous year’s milestone celebration by mustering up a reunion. This year, 75% of the gang turned up – a result in my book! We all came together in one of my favourite cities, Madrid. And if you want solid dishes, in a cute taberna de vinos, with a killer wine list, then it has to be Cedrón in the La Latina barrio. It’s everything I love about hospitality. You need little else whilst there, and Gustavo, the owner, is the finest of hosts.
Sunday lunchtime was free-flowing and carefree. Gustavo brought out the food and we sat together as friends, eating and drinking beautifully. One of the party even brought a bottle made by a winemaker friend, and Gustavo generously uncorked it without any fuss. At moments like these, it’s easy to be reminded why you fell in love with wine. Multiple mini-conversations happening round the table, bottles being passed round, and ribbing a friend for being one wine behind… bliss. For me, it’s moments like this that cement all I’ve ever witnessed and learnt when visiting wineries. No winemaker has ever asked me to take a bottle home and analyse the wine. They’ve asked me to open and enjoy it, and for me that’s best with friends. As the Foo Fighters song goes: “it’s times like these you learn to love again.”
And what did I love, I hear you ask? Well, for me, some highlights from a long Sunday Cedrón odyssey were:
Fedellos do Couto, As Xaras: a juicy Mencía from Galicia with perfect minerality and acidity.
Guímaro, Camiño Real: another vibrant juicy number, mainly Mencía, with a lot of character and drinkability.
Frontonio, Microcósmico: I’ll admit we were deep into extra-time here, but oh my, this is a Garnacha with so much poise and precision.