RSS FeedThere are lots of reasons to like El Refugio, restaurante del Carmen. It has a bit of a cool countercultural vibe — it started life as a cannabis-based restaurant and hang-out, “La Cañamería” (meaning The Hempery) before their cooking aspirations found that too limiting. The current name derives from the Civil War air raid shelter just opposite, which by the way could do with a bit off official attention as an historical monument. I feel that little bit hipper when eating there, which is a start, and the food is imaginative and excellent value, with the bonus of a short, but nicely assembled, wine list.
Refugio — restaurante del Carmen
On a recent visit I saw on the menu something I hadn’t previously noticed. It announced a Bring Your Own Bottle option. I’ve always liked the sound of this, but I don’t think I had ever actually taken a wine to a restaurant in England or in Spain. This is mainly due to lack of organization and pre-planning, as the chance of trying some interesting bottles of one’s own without a restaurant mark-up has got to be a good thing.
So, one Saturday lunchtime I did get organized. I arranged to meet Castellón winemaker Vicente Flors after his Aula Vinícola Tastavins class. I rang Refugio to check that the BYOB policy was still running. It was, they explained that there is a charge of 1 euro per person per bottle. There were three of us, so 3 euros corkage sounded fine. I thought Vicente would show up with his wines, but just in case brought along a couple of bottles that I thought were winemaker-worthy: a German blance de noir, Anselmann’s white Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 picked up for a song at some celebration of European food at El Corte Inglés, and a wine from Toro, Flor de Vetus. Sure enough, Vicente arrived armed with his Clotàs and Flor de Clotàs.
The staff were quite impressed at the array of bottles on the table, but I explained that Vicente was a winemaker, and we were looking forward to doing a bit of research. I didn’t help by promptly knocking over a bottle as I said this. But we enjoyed the pale golden Cabernet Sauvignon white wine, very different to the moscatels, macabeos and such that are my regular local white wines. Perhaps the starter of ceviche of mussels, shrimp and octopus needed a sharper, more acidic white, but my years in Peru mean that I can’t resist ordering ceviche when I see it. Anyway, the white wine went down so easily between the three of us, that it was almost finished by the time the first course arrived.
Vicente was keen that we should try the Flor de Clotàs 2010, as he is particularly pleased with this vintage. I like the subtlety and elegance alongside the vivid fruit of this pure Tempranillo (previous vintages include a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon). After cold maceration prior to fermentation the wine spends just five months in oak before being gently filtered. It is clear that the aim is to achieve restraint and finesse in this hot area. It certainly went perfectly with my main course of Iberian pork with “tamarillo” (tree tomato), plantain chips and satay sauce
Castellón has only recently begun to recover its wine tradition, and Vicente has until now not even been in the Indicación Geográfica Protegida Castelló (though about to enter), so I’ve always admired the way he has trodden his own path. He works with the admirable oenologist Oscar Priego who is having such success at Bodega El Angosto.
I wish Paco of El Refugio had been around to taste the wine and consider it for his list. Still, this gives us an excuse to pay another visit. I’m not sure where else in Valencia has a BYOB policy (I vaguely remember something along these lines among a group of restaurants in Russafa a few years ago, but can’t find any reference to such a thing now — though I have just now seen a reference to La Pitanza‘s “Con Tu Vino Bajo el Brazo” — With Your Bottle Under Your Arm), and I’m determined to make more use of this excellent initiative with my wine-fiend friends. Though I don’t expect to come home with more bottles than I arrived with, as on this occasion.
