The beach bars and stalls along the Portonovo waterfront do not easily give away the surprise that awaits inside Taberna A Curva, at the end of this coastal village in Galicia, in northwestern Spain.
Neither the pleasant outdoor terrace nor the wood tables and paper tablecloths on the dining room point hint at the respect with which wine is treated at this inn. Only the empty bottles and wooden lids with names of top producers like André Clouet, Algueira or Dani Landi decorating the walls start to give some clues as to what is served and drunk at A Curva on a daily basis.
Appearances are deceptive and that is something Miguel Anxo Besada is very aware of. He is used to seeing a look of surprise among many of his clients when they join in the fun game of tasting wines blind that he combines among several tables while effortlessly explaining vineyard orientations and subtle differences between vintages. All this happens without a trace of snobbery.
As well as tourists and villagers —the day we visited some local sailors were happily drinking wines from France, Galicia and Germany— A Curva welcomes wine aficionados and is well known by people in the trade from across Spain and beyond. Many of them are accompanied by local wine producers who value Miguel’s passion and expertise and the sensibles prices on his menu.
A firm champion of the wines from Galicia —he worked as a distributor until recently— Miguel stores over 400 selections, including pretty much all those made by small local producers but also from other Spanish wine regions and from places that he likes such as Burgundy, Champagne or Rieslings from Germany.
He tries to pass on this love of wine to his staff, something that diners appreciate in a country where wine education is frequently rare among bar tenders. “My second in command joined when he was very young and knew nothing about wines; after 15 years with us he has got the bug and has trained as a sommelier”, says Miguel. Later this year, while A Curva is closed for the winter from October to January, he and his team will travel to the Sherry Triangle to “taste, learn and enjoy”.
Although Miguel has been at the helm of A Curva for the past 10 years, he inherited the business from his parents. That home-made, traditional touch is still present on the dishes served there, such as the delicious caldeirada de raya (skate fish with potatoes), meat pie or pulpo a feira (boiled octopus with paprika). Fresh quality produce is used and treated with a minimum of fuss, like the clams and grilled volandeiras, a mollusk similar to a scallop which is picked locally in Rías Baixas —it will certainly be a pleasant discovery for those dining at A Curva.
Enterprising and active, Miguel has recently opened Casa Aurora, a wine bistro in the nearby coastal town of Sanxenxo. It is a good place to dine for off-season travelers, given that it shuts just one month of the year. Y.O.A.
