The visit to Coque begins in the cellar, which twenty years ago was the dance floor of the Archy nightclub. Now everything is awash in bottles, sheltered under an imposing design by Jean Porsche. “We have vintages and verticals of all the most important wines in the world. Obviously, many from Bordeaux: Le Pin, Petrus, Angélus, Mouton Rothschild ”, lists Rafael Sandoval, sommelier of the restaurant and whom his brothers affectionately call Don Ruinart, making a play on words with the famous Maison de Champagne founded in 1729.“ When a vintage that I will not be able to buy again disappears, I get three new ones ”, he continues explaining about his modus operandi. The fixed assets in the warehouse represent three times what the restaurant is worth.
When asked about the tragedy that the Atrio restaurant has experienced this week – from which 45 bottles were stolen, including a Château d’Yquem dated 1806 – he is disappointed. “I don’t understand how something like this could have happened,” he stammered. Among its 3,120 references and more than 30 thousand bottles they also treasure another liquid treasure: Trafalgar, a wine bought by Gonzalez Byass in 1805 and which is displayed in Coque in a demijohn, from which drops are poured to some privileged people.
In Spain there are very few restaurants that treasure jewels of this caliber. “It is increasingly difficult to get hold of certain names,” says Joan Carles Ibañez, the man who serves the wines in Lasarte, Martin Berasategui’s three Michelin stars in Barcelona. Furthermore, Ibañez was for two decades Santi Santamaria’s right-hand man in El Raco de Can Fabes. “At that time it was not so difficult to obtain quality wines. I especially remember a Mouton Rothschild that had on the label a painting by Tapies, who was a neighbor of Sant Celoni. We bought about 40 units for five or six thousand pesetas each ”, he recalls about that period, which was from 1991 to 2011.
Txomin Rekondo, alma mater of Rekondo, the farmhouse that opened in 1964 in the foothills of Igeldo, is also cut off when he talks about the wines he has collected over the years. “At first we only served cider and little by little we saw that customers were demanding something of better quality. I keep in my memory those that have been gifted to me as a wine from the year of my birth, 1934, by Eric de Rothschild. An exceptional vintage ”, points out this Donostiarra, also known as the guardian of wine. Its verticals and horizontals of great reds from Rioja and Bordeaux are recognized worldwide.
“A wine has the ability to move”, indicates Chefe Paniego, the sommelier from Echaurren, the family hotel restaurant in Ezcaray that his parents would put on the map and that his brother, Francis Paniego, would crown with two Michelin stars. Here you can drink some of the best Rioja vintages. “Montecillos from the year 45, Paterninas from 28, Tondonias from 39 and also vintages from the nineties of many innovators in the area”, he highlights. A few weeks ago, some customers passed by who were able to taste a Gran Reserva Rioja Alta 904 from 1904.
For Josep Roca, who began to build his winery 35 years ago, “it is a way of life towards fulfillment, a journey in complicity with a loyal clientele. Each bottle is an instant that can be infinite, a lasting memory of a time lived, felt, shared. They are testimonies of life, of a more or less intimate story, more or less cultivated of love, of soul, of transcendence ”. When asked if there is any wine that has accompanied him his whole life, he answers without hesitation “Of course, Vin Jaune by Pierre Overnoy from 1949”. El Celler has 4,000 references and 85,000 bottles that rotate daily.
But if we talk about relatively young restaurants with important wineries, it is also necessary to mention the work behind Esparteras, the roadside venue with more than 3,500 references, ranging from a 1921 Chateau d’Yquem to a 1925 Ygay Castle. that Miguel Angel Millan is doing recently in Diverxo: “We have 1200 references. We are a winery that is growing month by month, but that does not neglect the great wines from all parts of the world. Because of my previous work at Kabuki Wellington, I take special care sakes “, points out. Millán also remembers how two years ago 45 bottles were stolen from his cellar. “Hacked security systems and the most valuable bottles were taken ”.
On whether these wines could end up in the bidding market, David Durán, from the auction house that on December 11 holds a specific auction of wines and whiskeys old people observe “that it is very complicated. Everything passes very strong filters. What is true is that interest in and collecting for wines is growing ”.
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