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The celebrated winemaker at Bodegas Hispano-Suizas, Pablo Ossorio, is originally from Bierzo. This is a part of Spain I know through their wines from the mencía grape, and which have been have been impressing all and sundry (and me particularly) for a while now. Friday 9 February saw the third annual “botillo” lunch at the magnificent new winery, and the first I’ve been to. We were told that the botillo is to Bierzo what the paella is to Valencia – a dish with deep roots in the region’s identity and DNA. It is made from the bits of the pig that are left behind when the standard parts have been removed, like the tail, plus great chunks of rib. The bits are collected in the bladder and smoked.
I knew we were in for something epic when I was taken in to see great pieces of orangey-red meat (Bierzo is also famous for its red peppers and pimentón) boiling away in a huge steel vat. They had been doing so since early in the morning.
So, we girded our gastronomic loins with the bodega’s much-admired Cavas outside in the unexpectedly warm sunshine — it had been freezing up in the hills for weeks — and talked about the reform of employment law announced by the new government that very morning, before moving on to the three large tables groaning with food and wine.
Pablo talked a bit about his wines and a lot about the significance of the botillo to Bierzo, and then we got stuck in. This is not food for calorie counters, but our table did it justice, and as Pablo prowled about checking that the foodwas being done justice to, we were generally tucking in big time. It was helped down by magnums of the delicious Bassus Premium 2007, no longer available in standard bottles. I don’t know if it was the effect of the magnum or the additional ageing since I last tasted this wine, but the wine managed the task of matching up to the powerful pimentón infused pork, while expressing its subtlety and finesse.
As so often happens, the party was just getting going — via an earthy-humoured comedian and an ominous-looking karaoke contraption — when I was obliged to leave. It was a memorable day, and I left with a determination to eat botillo in Bierzo itself one day, I hope in the not too distant future. Congratulations to Pablo Ossorio and Hispano-Suizas. I knew they made fine wine, but I didn’t know until Friday that they threw such a good party.
