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Written by Joe Briand | Friday, 06 November 2009 14:58 The Back Label
A few times a year I get to meet and learn from a true expert about a subject I am less than familiar with. Yesterday was one of those days and the subject was Mezcal. I’d had good Mezcal before and been to great restaurants like Frontera Grill in Chicago where Mezcal was a part of an exciting cocktail with that distinctive smokiness that it can bring to a libation. I knew very little about its production or the reverence that its producers and ardent fans had for the spirit. Enter Ron Cooper.
Ron Cooper is a celebrated artist and brings in bar far the best line of single village Mezcals I’ve ever had the opportunity to taste. It was after a long day of wine tasting that he showed up along with his distributor to educate myself and a few others to the mystery and quality of single village Mezcal. I knew I was in for a learning experience when he broke out tiny ceramic bowls made in Oaxaca designed for drinking Mezcal. A quick comparison between the same mescal in a wine glass and in the ceramic bowl taught us why. In the glass the alcohol and heat was a bit overpowering but when served in the ceramic the heat was softened allowing for the nuances of the fragrance of each of the Mezcals to show clearly.
Ron speaks with passion and reverence for the palenqueros (mezcal producers) and it was hard not to feel a connection to them as we sipped the different Mezcals from the ceramic bowls. There was a ritual to it and I could see passing an evening around a fire drinking these Mezcals and the great conversation that would follow. Just like wines from Burgundy and other regions there were very distinct and noticeable differences between the mescals from different villages. The ones from the higher elevations had a distinct fruitiness that those from lower mountain villages lacked. A Crema de Mezcal which was sweetened with Agave nectar drew comparisons to Pineau de Charntes, a blend of cognac sweetened with partially fermented grape must which we’ve served as an aperitif at Herbsaint.
I probably won’t cover Mezcal in this blog again but it won’t be because I’m not drinking it. The mystery and the ritual of it wouldn’t be the same if I knew I was going to write a blog about it. Ron’s website is www.mezcal.com for those of you interested in learning more. If you enjoy drinking the best version of something whether it is scotch or Bordeaux I highly recommend checking out some of Ron’s Del Maguey Mezcals.
Back Label Out!
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| Joe Briand |
 Joe is the Director of Operations and wine buyer for Link Restaurant Group (Herbsaint, Cochon, Calcasieu and Cochon Butcher.) As a part of his job he routinely tastes hundreds of wines a week from all over the world. If he could have only wines from one region it would be the wines of Burgundy. He constantly reinforces the notion both with his staff and the guests at the restaurants that wine is not something to be intimidated by and asking questions is the only way to learn. Joe is an admitted cork dork but is more committed to drinking wine and the pleasure that it gives then memorizing obscure facts about wines that most people have never heard of nor have access to. He is happy to answer your questions as best he can. Please feel free to email him: thebacklabel@gmail.com |
