Sean Diggins has done a masterful job at building a wine list that's affordable and pairs well with the cuisine of Gitane. Gitane serves up Spanish tapas influenced by the cuisines of Morocco and Northern Africa. It's not surprising that I loved this restaurant so much since the chef, Lisa Eyherabide, used to be at Piperade—one of my top 5 restaurants in San Francisco.

Some of the pairings that worked extremely well were:
2008 Albariño, Adegas Gran Vinum, “Nessa”, Rías Baixas, Spain (a previous WU selection) with Sardinas en Escabèche.

Sherry, La Cigarrera, Manzanilla, Sanlucar with Piquillo peppers stuffed with fresh Dungeness crab salad served with cucumber tagliatell, lemon confit dressing.

2007 Listan Negro (the name of the varietal), Bodegas Tajinaste, Valle de la Orotava, Canary Islands with Chiprones—grilled squid, stuffed with hot chorizo, garlic, thyme, onion, rice, olives, lemon dressing, fried bell pepper. A hot tip: Don’t share the fried bell pepper!

This month try the following recipe for Cataplana, a Portuguese seafood dish, with Odisea Albariño featured in Everyday Libations club level.

Cataplana

(6 servings)

2 lb monkfish filets, cleaned
1 lb clams
1 onion
3 tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 garlic gloves
½ chorizo Palacio hot
¼ bu fresh cilantro
½ lb fingerling potatoes
1/2 L white wine
1 L of lobster bisque (can also use 1L of white wine instead)

1. Portion the monfish in 6 servings.
2. Cook the fingerling potatoes in water and peel them.
3. Slice the peppers, tomatoes chorizo and onion, coarsely chop the garlic and cilantro.
4. Put everything in a large and heavy pot (or a cataplana copper pot, if you have one), add the white wine and 1L bisque (see instructions below) and cover.
5. Cook at medium heat for 15 to 20 min.

Lobster Bisque:

2 lb lobster head
1 onion sliced
1 carrot sliced
1 celery branch sliced
¼ fennel sliced
10 tomatoes cut in 4
1 cup tomato paste
olive oil

1. Roast the lobster heads in a pan, smash them a little, add the veggies and tomato paste until brown color.
2. Add the tomatoes and 6 L of water.
3. Let cook for 1 hour, mix everything together and strain with a chinois etamine.