One of our pioneering members walked in last week armed with a whole leg of Jamon Iberico de Bellota. Yes, you heard that right, a whole leg of the holy grail of Iberico ham! Nope, there was no special occasion. It was just a day when he happened to receive this special package from Dean and Deluca. You should have seen us circling this baby like piranhas as John tried his damndest to make very precise, thin slices using a Santoku knife. It looked like a challenge. The thin slices glistened with their perfectly marbled fat. Each piece was succulent and rich with subtle and complex meaty/salty/nutty flavors. It tasted like a melt-in-your-mouth, super-rich salted butter, only better.
For this rare treat, we opened a bottle of 1999 La Mission Haut-Brion whose component of minerality worked exceptionally well with the jamon’s salty minerality. The 1999 was an elegant, lighter, and more herbaceous style of La Mission. It was soft textured with a good core of acidity and subtle notes of tobacco, cherry, and blackcurrants. The tobacco and dried herbs added another layer of complexity to the flavor experience.
Only at Graileys, folks, only at Graileys.