It’s often the case in Catalan or Spanish that when talking about wine pairings, they translate this to ‘marriages’ in English. Thus, ‘this wine marries well with lamb’ makes it sound like a wine prone to bestiality as opposed to being a tasty wine to have with food.
I bring up the issue of pairings because these days, pairings are all the rage in Catalonia. You can easily find ‘wine pairings of paintings’, ‘wine pairings of jazz’, or my personal non-favorite ‘wine pairings with Star Wars’, ergh… It seems that long ago, simply pairing wine with food (two things that are completely different yet share the same mouth space) were deemed completely boring.
Because of this, I offer up my own series of wine pairings but instead of fine art, music, or cinema, I take us down to the everyday mundane world and shall pair wines with recycling pickup days as, when you live in a village like I do, each day has a different kind of item to be collected.
Compost
When I think of compost, I think of decomposing waste. Odors of the pizza you didn’t finish mix with the salad greens you forgot about from last month. This decomposition is like nature and that reminds me of a farm. Farms remind me Syrah and so when the day arrives to take out your organic waste, do so with a Catalan Syrah such as Castell d’Encus Thalarn or Castell de Perelada Finca Garbet. Beautifully excellent wines to accompany your uneaten waste.
Containers
This particular waste speaks of our 21st century existence and requires a 21st, engineered wine to go with it and thus, I recommend Don Simón. Tetrabric with tetrabric, I see a synergy that exceeds all others. Of course, if you want a wine from Catalonia, look for a cellar that starts with the letter E because in Catalan containers are called, envasos, so why not? When tossing your empty milk bottles and soda cans, take pleasure in our packaged lifestyle by drinking a bottle from Edetana from Edetaria, Embruix from Vall Llach, or splurge on l’Espectacle. Again why? Because, these are wine pairings, I’m a certified sommelier and don’t you dare question my process that I’m pulling out of my ass.
Paper
The smell of paper or wet cardboard is quite significant in wine. It denotes flaws of various types that are often the result of unclean cellar practices. That said, dragging your paper down to the street means that you should salute its innate aromas with a natural wine, but not just any natural wine. It needs to be one made by the craziest zealot of the natural wine church who doesn’t even bother with DO certification because they “control him” too much. In a wine such as this, you will find a rainbow of bizarre aromas to pair well with your paper garbage. Be careful and seek out only the worst, most unclean, smallest-production, “unicorn” “natural” wine.
Glass
When I think of glass, I think of wine with the heaviest bottles which is to say, Cava. Once you’ve finished putting one bottle after another in to the bin, relax your sore muscles by letting the core pop out of a Cava, or maybe even a Clàssic Penedès. I recommend the Recaredo Terrers of the Clos Lentiscus Xarel·lo Xpressió.
Big Item Pickup
Tossing out your big, giant furniture? As you push it to the street, stop every meter or so to enjoy a Cabernet Sauvignon. A fine, big wine that the world loves, each sip will remind you of the elegant, mahogany dresser with the broken leg that you’re taking out after it’s been in the basement for 10 years. Search out the Vi de Finca – La Scala of Jean Leon to make your days of moving heavy furniture your classiest days.
