Cubans sample Wine Country’s best

A typical Cuban breakfast is tostada (toasted bread) and cafe con leche (coffee with milk). Last Wednesday morning, several Cubans gathered around a long table at Ramekins Culinary School on East Spain Street for a somewhat heartier breakfast of eggs, sausage, potatoes and other fare.

The 18 visitors – Cuban sommeliers representing much of that country’s expertise in wine and the hospitality industry – were in town on a unique wine-buying tour designed to foster cultural and trade connections between Cuba’s restaurateurs and California’s wine industry. And they needed to fill up ahead of a long day of tasting, tasting and more tasting.

“This is a beginning. Opening a door,” said sommelier Leticia Cabrera Alonso, referring to the trip’s purpose of expanding the reach of California’s wines in Cuba.

When it comes to intercultural communication, “We always believe in a better future,” she added. “You have to.”

As for the wines, “She’s in love with the pinot noir,” said Fernando Fernandez, a Cuban professor, master sommelier and internationally known expert in cigars and rum, who sat opposite Alonso at the table.

Fernandez explained that although Cuba’s climate is not ideal for growing wine, its restaurants – typically small, family-run places called paladares – serve plenty of it. But he noted that, due to U.S. trade restrictions, most of those wines come from France, Spain, Italy, Chile and Argentina - a definite loss for California’s winemaking industry.

But last year, the U.S. government opened Cuba’s market to American-made wine, and organizers say now is the time for renewed business relations between this popular tourist destination and California.

Enter Sonoma-based Californians Building Bridges, a nonprofit formed “to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children and families that have experienced physical and economic hardships in the United States and around the world,” according to its website. The group fosters humanitarian programs through grants and donations, and its “Project Havana” operates as a humanitarian and cultural exchange program.

Californians Building Bridges organized the tour, which took place throughout Wine Country and featured tastings, conversations and food at several estates including Gloria Ferrer, Buena Vista, Benziger and Ram’s Gate. Wines from elsewhere in California – Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Lodi and Livermore – also were featured during the Cubans’ visit, which went from July 20 to 26.

From what Alonso had seen so far, “The prices are very good for the quality,” she said on Wednesday.

Hearty as the breakfast was, it didn’t last too long. A bus came by to take the group – including translators and other guides – to Napa Valley for the next leg of their trip.

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