Tequila might not seem a suitable pairing beverage for a gourmet luncheon. Unless you’re at Casa Herradura, the Tequila Herradura distillery in Amatitan, Jalisco . A five-course lunch on Oct. 22 Casa Herradura was paired with the full Tequila Herradura product line’including the brand’s new Cognac Cask Finish Reposado.
Chef David Salgado from Paralelo 28 restaurant in Guadalajara prepared the lunch, which started with a Baja clam ceviche, with black radish and cilantro and ginger foam with smoked avocado mousse; the course was paired with Herradura Blanco Original. The second course, a boneless roast quail stuffed with thyme, mint and breadcrumbs, served on a bed of Herradura Reprosado flambé peaches, with vanilla and kafir lime beurre blanc, was matched with Herradura Reprosado.
A third course of tangerine and cardamom sorbet had a dash of Herradura Reprosado tequila. The fourth course was a Casa Herradura agave-braised lamb shank with sautéed baby greens and black truffle mashed potatoes; it was paired with Herradura anjejo.
The final course paired a bitter chocolate truffle with the new Coleccion de la Casa, Reserva 2013–Cognac Cask Finish Reposado, which Casa Herradura officially launched Oct. 24 . The small-batch tequila was crafted by its master distiller Maria Teresa Lara using traditional production methods and a proprietary fermentation from naturally-occurring wild yeast. Herradura ages the tequila in American oak barrels for 11 months, then transfers it to French oak casks sourced from France’s Cognac region for three more months.
The release is the second of Herradura’s small-batch tequilas; the first was a 2012 Port Cask Finished Reposado that came out last spring. The Cognac Cask Finish Reposado will be available throughout the U.S in November at a suggested retail price of $89.99 for a 750-ml. bottle. Owned by Brown-Forman since 2007, Herradura has been producing tequila in Amatitan since 1870.