The Wednesday Winedown
On Wednesdays, we drink wine (at Perquín).
I first encountered the culinary talents of chef Bryan Girón on two separate occasions. He had conceptualized phenomenal menus for the Jersey City Art & Music (JCAM) Festival as well as for a CoolVines Wine Academy class on food pairing, weaving layers of complex flavor and texture into every dish. He always brings next level sophistication and passion through his food, whether it be with his signature Honduran pollo chuco or his unforgettable recipe for Tuscan ribollita.
Not long after these experiences, I asked Bryan to cater Le Grand Prix du Trousseau Gris, one of my larger annual tasting events, for which he had made a series of Honduran dishes, including his pollo chuco. Thanks to the various pop-ups he hosted in 2024, I’ve continued to be blown away by his incredible dishes, so I was very excited to hear that he would be opening Perquín, his own brick-and-mortar restaurant in Jersey City’s Paulus Hook neighborhood.
Last year, Bryan and I discussed potentially collaborating on a curated wine dinner/event with my friend Adam who works at Zev Rovine Selections (ZRS), but after some unforeseen logistics, that attempt had sadly fizzled. Luckily, the team at Perquín opened its doors last October, so we reached out again to see if Bryan would be interested in co-hosting something in the new year.
Once we hashed out the details, our final collaboration would materialize as Perquín’s inaugural Wine Wednesday in late January. With Adam’s guidance, I would curate a selection of five wines from ZRS’s portfolio to “pair” alongside the restaurant’s core menu, while Bryan would cook up some additional specials and a one-night prix fixe option for the evening.
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THE CONCEPT
One of the most influential natural wine importers and distributors in the United States, Zev Rovine Selections represents more than 150 producers in countries ranging from Canada to South Africa. Given the wide array of offerings in their portfolio, it only made sense to draft up some “theme” ideas so as to not get overwhelmed by the considerable options.
For this first event, we opted to introduce an outstanding winemaker from Mexico from ZRS as well as highlight some of my favorite producers under Selections de la Viña (for whom ZRS distributes wines), with a tiny spotlight on their Litrona label. Focused on drinkability, native varieties, thoughtful farming, and minimal intervention, Litrona also serves as an ode to the liter format (commonly found in Spain as the bottling vessel for beer).
While narrowing down the selections, we aimed to include a sparkling wine to start followed by balancing the remaining progression with two whites and two reds. I saw an opportunity to capture a “rainbow” of wine colors as well as to “travel” through the wine regions of different countries. We kicked off with a sparkling orange pétillant naturel from Uruguay then made our way across the Atlantic to Spain with a Verdejo from Castilla y León and a white blend (predominantly Albariño) from Rías Baixas in Galicia. We returned west with a Chilean red sourced from old wild vines of Carignan in Colchagua Valley and concluded with a Mexican red blend of Syrah, Merlot, Grenache, and a little Moscato Giallo (Yellow Muscat) from Valle de Guadalupe.
Along with offering these by the glass and by the bottle, I arranged these wines into four fun flights, giving guests the chance to try some (or all!) of the wines while diving into Perquín’s delicious menu.
THEMED FLIGHTS
OPTION No. 1: The Express
Great choice for getting the “highlights” from the full wine offerings. Plus, some agency in your choices of white and of red.
1 × sparkling orange from Uruguay
1 × choice of white from Spain
1 × choice of red from Central/South America
OPTION No. 2: The Transatlantic
This flight captures how the Atlantic Ocean between two continents affect terroir and winemaking choices.
1 × sparkling orange from Uruguay
2 × still whites from Spain (both choices)
OPTION No. 3: The Sudamericano
For those wanting to discover the potential of Central and South American wines, this red-focused flight lets you explore this across three different climates (i.e., maritime, continental, and desert).
1 × sparkling orange from Uruguay
1 × still red from Chile
1 × still red from Mexico
OPTION No. 4: The Full Monty
Completionists will appreciate this option to try ’em all!
1 × sparkling orange from Uruguay
2 × still whites from Spain (both choices)
1 × still red from Chile
1 × still red from Mexico
❧
THE MENU
1ST COURSE (choice of)
potaje with yellow lentils, pork ragú, & red sofrito
ensalada with honey-roasted beets, satsuma mandarins, fennel, honey vinaigrette, & spiced pepitas
2ND COURSE
mussels with garlic, tomato, habanero, & fresh flour tortilla
3RD COURSE (choice of)
pollo chuco with crispy green banana, tomato salsa, red cabbage encurtido, white sauce, & herbs
skirt steak chuco with crispy green banana, tomato salsa, red cabbage encurtido, white sauce, & herbs
4TH COURSE
banana fritters with whipped cream & Honduran honey
THE WINEUP
/ January 29, 2025 @ Perquín, Jersey City /
Proyecto Nakkal 2024 Naranja ‘Simple’ Pét Nat
Zev Rovine Selections + Selections de la Viña (New York) | 🇺🇾 sparkling orange
Muscat Ottonel / Sauvignon Blanc
aromatic ale ・ magical maceration ・ uniquely Uruguay
MicroBio Wines 2022 ‘Litrona’ Verdejo Castilla y León
Zev Rovine Selections + Selections de la Viña (New York) | 🇪🇸 still white
Verdejo
piña al pastor ・ Magician of Verdejo ・ sesquicentennial, pre-phylloxera vines
Pentecostés 2022 Rías Baixas ‘Varietales’
Zev Rovine Selections + Selections de la Viña (New York) | 🇪🇸 still white
Albariño / Treixadura / Godello / Loureiro / Caíño Blanco
fruit × (star + grape) ・ razor sharp acidity ・ round & Chardonnay-esque
Villalobos 2021 ‘Litrona’ Carignan Colchagua Valley
Zev Rovine Selections + Selections de la Viña (New York) | 🇨🇱 still red
Carignan
wild octogenarian bush vines ・ strawberry skins & bramble ・ prosciutto ends
Vinos Pijoan 2023 Valle de Guadalupe ‘Vino Pelón’
Zev Rovine Selections (New York) | 🇲🇽 still red
Syrah / Merlot / Grenache / Yellow Muscat (Moscato Giallo)
balanced blend ・ berry marmalade ・ plum & cardamom
THE CODA
I couldn’t be more ecstatic with how awesome this collaboration had gone with Adam and Bryan. It was a lively evening made possible by Perquín’s badass team (shoutout to JP and Walter, the MVPs of the night!), familiar faces (big thanks to my Jersey City wine crew 🫶), as well as new ones — all open-minded to tasting and trying new wines, whether it be in the form of new-to-you wine regions (read: Uruguay and Mexico) or lesser known grape varieties (read: Verdejo and Carignan). The wines were outstanding accompaniments to Bryan’s absolute 🔥 of a menu — neither overwhelmed the other, instead creating a gustatory harmony of flavors that was greater than the sum of their parts.
TYSM to Adam and Bryan for trusting me “to run with” this collaboration, which had allowed me to curate the full tasting experience down to the wines, the “theme”, and the flights, remarkably without having tried any of these wines before. Adam is an excellent steward of ZRS’s portfolio, answering all my questions thoughtfully and providing much helpful guidance, especially regarding producers with whom I wasn’t as familiar. Guests were very receptive of what we were trying to do for this inaugural Wine Wednesday, with feedback overwhelmingly positive over our selections, flight format, and producer stories.
It sounds like we may be collaborating again (and with a glimmer of hope, regularly, too 🤞) for future Wine Wednesdays at Perquín so stay tuned (I may or may not have some theme ideas already marinating 👀). I enjoy connecting with people over wine, and this endeavor empowers me to do just that against the backdrop featuring some of the best food in Jersey City. Qué rico!
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Cheers,
Stefie aka ‘Two Bottle Stef’ 💁🏻♀️✌️🍾
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