Truffles

On the Hunt: Exploring Spanish Wine Through Truffles. Photos + words by Linnea Covington

Truffles. That ubiquitous fungus that has taken the place of caviar and oysters in our idea of what is luxury, and permeates its pungent scent on anything from macaroni and cheese, popcorn and even hamburgers. Even though you can find truffle essence on just about anything nowadays, a prestigious air still lingers around this food in Europe, especially in spain where they take dogs out to hunt for the dark, earthy, and slightly sweet smelling black winter truffle during the cold months.

Coincidently, this ugly brown nugget goes brilliantly with the wine from the region they are found in, and one lucky night I had the pleasure to experiencing not only the truffle from ground to plate, but also paired with the wines made right beside it. The result, a feast to remember by Michelin-starred chef Carmelo Bosque of Lillas Pastia that included roasted lamb covered in shaved truffle, fatted hen broth with toothsome slices of truffle, foie gras topped with a layer of the fine mushroom, and even dessert, which comprised of mango sorbet, vanilla ice cream, and truffle cotton candy.

With each delicate bite of the feast, the sommelier poured from the Blecua library. We started with the appetizers, an array of truffle-laced eggs, scallops, and soup that played nicely with a glass of 2001 Vinas del Vero Gewurztraminer. One course featured wild roasted turbot with a vertical of Blecua 2004, 2005 and 2007, a trio of distinct bottles that yielded luscious notes of tobacco, leather, and sweet dried fruits. For the foie gras, we had the 2008 Vinas del Vero Clarion, a nice acidic blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer that cut the richness of the dish. Even dessert got a go, and was matched with the current production of Vinas del Vero 2013 Gewurztraminer, a floral and fruit-filled wine that added depth to the light flavors of the sweet before us.

All this took place in the chic dining room of the exclusive Bodega Blecua, a winery owned by Gonzalez Byass who also maintains the land we had hunted earlier in the day. While Bosque guided us around the table, on the field we went with experienced mushroom hunter Mario Cequier and truffle-sniffing dog Teo. Today dogs are often used on the hunt because the former fungus-finders they used were literal pigs when it came to the bounty. For Teo and Cequier, during this season they comb the vineyard of Vinas del Vero Seacastilla, an area that towers 700 to 800 meters above sea level, and forge for the mushrooms, some which are sold for hundreds of Euros. As far as the grapes are concerned, you don’t have to hunt to find local varietals including red and white Grenache, Macabeo, Parraleta, Tempranillo, and Moristel.

By the end of the culinary adventure my love for both truffles and the wines from these vineyards solidified, and as I waddled out of the stunning, tiny bodega, I knew that dinner would never be forgotten and Spanish wines, a decidedly less expensive habit than fresh truffles, would make their way into my cache of vinos.