Rekondo Restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain, is well known for their amazing wine list. See below for just a page from the heavy tome showing almost a century of Vega Sicilia. When we mentioned that we were headed to San Sebastian a winemaker friend of ours insisted that we eat at Rekondo and check out their wine list, filled with old wines at reasonable prices.
To keep the drinking semi-local, we ordered a 1970 Rioja (it went great with the local delicacy of rustic fish stew). Martin Flea (the sommelier in charge of the amazing collection- really amazing guy, super nice with a quiet, dedicated personality) recommended that we remove the top of the bottle instead of trying to remove the 40+ year old cork. He brought out port tongs (pictured left) to get the job done. First he lit a propane fire beneath a round iron disk affixed to tongs. Once the disc was glowing red, he placed it over the neck of the bottle and held it there for about 1 minute. This super-heated a ring of glass at the very base of the neck. Then he removed the tongs and brushed the area with cold water. The neck of the bottle snapped off due to the drastic change in temperature.
After dinner, Martin was very kind and took us on a tour of the wine cellar. We entered a temperature-controlled room lined floor-to-ceiling with wine-packed shelves on each wall. A grand table sat in the center-- I assumed this was a VIP private dining area. I made my way around the perimeter, marveling at all the Sauternes. Then, he opened a door and led us into another room-- filled very much in the same way with wine, a long banquet table, and with several glass cabinets housing and showcasing particularly amazing bottles (including what appeared at first glance to be a complete vertical of the Mouton Rothschild artist series); ok I figured, this must be the VIP private dining room and the real cellar.
He opened one more door and led us into the real real cellar. This was an extremely large underground room, very dark and cave-like with wrap-around perimeter shelving and library-style shelves spaced throughout the room in rows about 3 feet apart. Here all the bottles were sleeping. It was pretty overwhelming being there-- each bin filled with incredibly amazing wines. We left in a dreamy daze.
After dinner, Martin was very kind and took us on a tour of the wine cellar. We entered a temperature-controlled room lined floor-to-ceiling with wine-packed shelves on each wall. A grand table sat in the center-- I assumed this was a VIP private dining area. I made my way around the perimeter, marveling at all the Sauternes. Then, he opened a door and led us into another room-- filled very much in the same way with wine, a long banquet table, and with several glass cabinets housing and showcasing particularly amazing bottles (including what appeared at first glance to be a complete vertical of the Mouton Rothschild artist series); ok I figured, this must be the VIP private dining room and the real cellar.
He opened one more door and led us into the real real cellar. This was an extremely large underground room, very dark and cave-like with wrap-around perimeter shelving and library-style shelves spaced throughout the room in rows about 3 feet apart. Here all the bottles were sleeping. It was pretty overwhelming being there-- each bin filled with incredibly amazing wines. We left in a dreamy daze.
As a side note, we had this incredible dessert: simple, sweet milk-soaked bread with vanilla ice cream. It doesn't look that impressive from the photo, but it was so delicious, I'm still dreaming about it.
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