By Brian Robinson

When I opened Gnarly Vines in Brooklyn, New York, almost two years ago, I was thrilled to discover that the local clientele of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill was overwhelmingly adventurous, open-minded and unpretentious. Across the board they drank to enjoy, not to impress. It's no coincidence that our neighborhood can support five African restaurants, though pairing wine with their cuisine presents a few challenges.

When pairing food and wine, I don’t believe in precise matches. In most instances, people will enjoy the wine they prefer regardless of the pairing, so I generally try to avoid disasters and encourage experimentation. With this in mind and with a little help from my friends, I set out over the course of two nights to sample a dozen Spanish wines with take-out from A Bistro (Senegalese/French), Grand Dakar (Senegal, granddakar.com), Madiba (South Africa, madibarestaurant.com), Bati (Ethiopia, batikitchen.com) and Kif (Morocco, kifbrooklyn.com).

We started with Grand Dakar’s Black-Eye Pea Salad and Kif’s Goat Cheese Spinach Cigars, both of which had a slightly pasty texture that craved the fruitiness and fizz of the Dibon Cava Rosado from Penedés – a blend of the indigenous Catalonian Trepat varietal with a splash of Pinot Noir. The lime dressing in the pea salad returned the favor and gave the Cava a nice little lift.

Barbadillo Solear Manzanilla D.O. Jerez from Sanlucar de Barrameda, with its light, tangy, brininess was a perfect match for salty African interpretations of Spanish tapas or pintxos via Fort Greene – A Bistro’s Dakaroise Octopus Salad and Akara codfish and black-eye pea croquettes), Grand Dakar’s Salmon Cassava Croquettes with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce or Madiba’s Ostrich Carpaccio. I’m always amazed by how many knowledgeable wine drinkers still think of sherry as a sweet, rich wine. No wonder the Spanish consume about 80% of their Manzanilla, while they export about 80% of their Cream Sherry!

We found that two opposite approaches to the spiciest appetizers–Bati’s Kategna (toasted Injera bread brushed with Berbere–a cayenne, garlic and black pepper rub) and Kitfo (spicy prime beef tartare with Kibe), or Madiba’s Mozambique-style Prawns Peri Peri–worked best. First, the 2008 Txomin Etxamiz Txakoli de Getaria from the Basque Country danced around the spices and cleansed the palate with its cool zestiness and touch of petillance. A completely different yet equally satisfying approach was the 2008 Botani Moscatel Seco from Sierras de Málaga. This bold, flavorful wine was loaded with exotic flavors –tropical fruit, lychee, honeysuckle and ginger –that more than stood up to the bold flavors of the food.

As we moved on to the reds, we tried A Bistro’s legendary Senegalese Fried Chicken, a deceptively simple dish, which paired perfectly with the 2006 Bodegas Alto Almanzora Este from Valle de Almanzora in Almería, a medium-bodied blend of predominantly Monastrell with Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot, with good tannic structure.

Bati’s signature Doro Watt (spicy chicken stew) begged for the plush, velvety 2007 Pagos de Quintana Tinto Roble from Ribera del Duero. There’s something about the way Tempranillo extracts sweet vanilla flavors from oak barrels better than any other varietal that works great with spicy meats. We moved on to our most powerful reds–the 2007 Atalaya Monastrell/Garnacha Tintorera blend from D.O. Almansa and the 2006 El Regajal Vinos de Madrid, which were both strong enough to tame the powerful harissa in Kif’s fabulous Lamb Tagine without being overwhelmed.

With its enticing bouquet of cedar, fresh herbs, violets and wild berries, Ánima Negra’s estate wine, the 2004 Ànima Negra AN, a blend of 95% old-vine indigenous Callet with Mantonegre and Fogoneu from Falanis, Mallorca, matched perfectly with Bati’s milder Ye Beg Alicha (lamb stew). The 1996 Finca Dofí (Garnacha, Cab and Cariñena blend) from Priorat, the jewel of the tasting, confirmed my belief about not pairing older vintages of exceptional wines with strong, spicy food. It was a match made in heaven with Madiba’s Pap & Boerewors (traditional beef tenderloin sausage with onion and tomato gravy), illustrating how a great bottle of wine can elevate a simple meal like this comforting staple of the bush.

After tasting over a dozen Spanish wines with the cuisine of five African restaurants in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, I can easily proclaim that if I could only drink from one country for the rest of my life with the foods I enjoy most frequently, it would have to be Spain.

After all the eating and drinking, we didn’t leave much room for dessert, but we had a cold bottle of Alvear Solera 1927 Pedro Ximénez from Montilla-Morilles waiting. While it was deliciously rich on it’s own, it was magnificently decadent drizzled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream - vanilla beans from Madagascar of course!

Brian Robinson is a reformed wine-auction specialist who has regained perspective on wine and life since opening Gnarly Vines, a neighborhood wine shop in Fort Greene – the neighborhood in which he lives and loves with his wife and three young children. Gnarly Vines is located at 350 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn, NY. www.gnarlyvines.com