Bloody Mary London Broil
Serves 6 Total preparation time: 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes to 2 hours for marinating before grilling
INGREDIENTS
	2 cups tomato juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons prepared commercial horseradish 3 tablespoons dry sherry 2 teaspoons crumbled dried marjoram 1 teaspoon crumbled dried basil 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3-1/2 pounds london broil, about 1-1/2 inches thick, trimmed Vegetable oil cooking spray 1996 Bodegas Ismael Arroyo, Tempranillo, Valsotillo Drink Now through Dec. 2015 Rating: 92 Market Price: $22.30 Tasting Notes: The 1996 Valsotillo, made from 100% Tinta del Pais, spent 14 months in barrel, and was bottled with no fining yet a light filtration. Its opaque purple color promises more potential than such top vintages as 1989 and 1994. The wine offers a barrage of blackberry fruit intermixed with smoke, licorice, truffle, and mineral scents. There is sensational purity, full body, and a blueberry/blackberry fruitiness that lingers on the palate for over 30 seconds. There is loads of sweet tannin in this full-bodied, massively-endowed wine, but it is extremely ripe and well-integrated. This should prove to be one of the more dazzling regular bottlings that the Bodegas Ismael Arroyo has yet produced. Sadly, there are only 250 cases for the United States. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2015. 1996 Abadia Retuerta, Tempranillo, Pago Negralato Drink Now through Dec. 2018 Rating: 93 Market Price: $134.60 Tasting Notes: The 1996 Pago Negralato was to be bottled approximately a month after I tasted it. Made from a single Tempranillo vineyard, planted more than 2,100 feet above sea level, the alluvial and clay soil mixture gives the wine a distinctive character. This is unquestionably a spectacular effort, displaying a saturated purple color, and a knock-out blackberry, chocolate, licorice, and earthy-scented nose. Exquisitely balanced, this full-bodied wine is crammed with fruit, yet it does not come across as heavy or overbearing. This wine has benefited from having its malolactic take place in barrel (which tends to integrate the wood into the wine earlier, and, some say, more effectively than when it is done in tank). The layers of fruit are ripe, the wine's purity impeccable, and the overall balance impressive. This stunningly rich, potentially brilliant wine will admirably showcase the heights that Tempranillo can achieve. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2018. Congratulations are in order for this impressive new winery that is already turning out wines of exceptional quality. 1996 Pingus, Tempranillo, Dominico de Pingus Drink Now through Dec. 2027 Rating: 96 Market Price: $571.13 Tasting Notes: The 1996 Dominico de Pingus is cut from the same mold as the extraordinary 1995. Yields are slightly higher, but still microscopic. The color is an opaque black/purple, and the exotic nose offers copious quantities of sweet cedar, smoke, and jammy blackberry and cassis fruit. New oak is present, but it is largely pushed to the background by the wine's massive concentration. The tannin is sweet and well-integrated, and the wine is full-bodied and harmonious. Although one would think it would taste Bordeaux-like, it has its own individual style that falls somewhere between St.-Emilion's Valandraud, Pesquera's Janus, and Vega Sicilia's Unico! More forward than the 1995, the 1996 is still a candidate for 25-30 years of aging. This is a brilliant winemaking effort! Bravo to proprietor Peter Sisseck for these extraordinary Spanish wines! In issue #106 (8-31-96) I broke the story about the extraordinary Dominico de Pingus produced by the young Danish winemaker, Peter Sisseck (Pingus is Danish slang for Peter, as well as the name of a well-known European cartoon). I tasted the 1995 Dominico de Pingus immediately before bottling (it will not be filtered), and it is an extraordinary wine. Sadly, only 325 cases were produced, and only 350 cases in 1996. Made from 60+ year old Tempranillo vines planted in the heart of Ribera del Duero, these wines are produced from yields of under 1/2 ton of fruit per acre, or about 1.1 pounds of fruit per vine. Malolactic fermentation is done in new oak, and the wine is then aged in 100% new oak casks, with the white wine technique of batonage (lees stirring) utilized. Batonage is rarely used for red wine. The wines reviewed in this segment, tasted in September, 1997, are spectacular. 1996 Pingus, Tempranillo, Dominico de Pingus 1996 Abadia Retuerta, Tempranillo, Pago Negralato 1996, Bodegas Ismael Arroyo, Tempranillo, Valsotillo
DIRECTIONS
	1. Stir together the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, sherry, marjoram, basil and pepper in a small bowl. 2. Place the steak in a single layer in a glass or ceramic dish. Spoon the tomato juice mixture over the meat, spreading to cover. Turn the meat to coat the other side. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or set aside at room temperature for no longer than 30 minutes. Turn the meat once or twice and return to room temperature if refrigerated before grilling. 3. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Lightly spray the grill rack with vegetable oil cooking spray. The coals should be moderately hot to hot. 4. Lift the meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the steak for 8 minutes. Turn the steak and grill for 7 to 10 minutes longer for medium rare, or until it reaches the desired doneness. 5. Let the steak rest at room temperature for about 5 minutes before slicing on the diagonal into thin strips.

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