This Lenten wine adventure has been so good for my soul. Connecting with real people, sharing stories about our lives and food over fish and wine. My journey has taken me through Kingston, St James, and St Catherine so far. So, I thought it was time to head west and pay a visit to the fisherfolk of Negril Fishing Village.

Today’s wine haul consists of Freixenet Cordon Negro, Caposaldo Pinot Grigio, Matua Sauvignon Blanc, Gérard Bertrand Côtes des Roses Rosé, and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages!

I pull up, park and walk in and am greeted by Gravel, who was standing with a group of men near the shore. Gravel remembers fishing from the age of 10 years old. He is 30. I invite them to drink wine with me and we install ourselves by an outdoor kitchen where fish is being fried and roasted on a coal stove. The words of French Chef Daniel Boulud come to mind: “Kitchens should be designed around what’s truly important — fun, food and life.” And wine of course!

Leon aka Nabade from Negril catches fish on the line and has an outdoor kitchen in the village. Nabade also buys from the local fishermen once they return to shore. He cleans and seasons the fish then adds them to his fryer or places them directly on the stove to roast in the skin. Leon is the one who feeds the fisherman and provides breakfast for sale before they head out in the early morning hours, and he also feeds them when they come from sea. I ask him about the fish that he has roasting over the coal stove. Leon tells me that the fish is called Trunkfish — seasoned with powdered seasoning. “Usually, you would put a little onion, pepper, and garlic. I ask Leon to give me more details about the ingredients. He tells me that all-purpose fish seasoning is used to season fish for frying, “but I am not going to give you all my secrets”.

“You can use likkle garlic and scallion. Garlic is number one …dat a antibiotic.”

“Do you cook with wine?” Gravel asks. I respond in the affirmative before asking him, “Do you?” He shares that when he is cooking king crab or lobster he cooks with white wine. “Just season up the crab with some garlic but not too much so it doesn’t overpower. Just like how some people make garlic butter just like that. After you add butter and it melts you add some wine and burn off the alcohol.”

“Mr Food Man” aka “Nyam Food” or Kenny says as we laugh that he would talk more if something is in his cup! Hint, hint! He shares, “Fisherman rich! Fishermen are not poor. We do good business and we are good people! It was Bob Marley who said “the greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

Cheers! It’s love at first sip when we open and try the crisp, bright and well-balanced Freixenet Cordon Negro. “This wine is nice and it has power,” says Kenny. Nabade shares that he would have the Freixenet with grilled lobster, garlic butter and toasted bread. Nabade mentions that he would typically cook down crab in Red Stripe Beer and garlic but he would also use the Freixenet instead of the beer. He goes on to say, “So like today I don’t use water to cook my roast fish. I use Red Stripe. That’s my style. Steam you a steam the fish in the pot and instead of throwing water, add beer or throw some of the wine in it instead.”

I take out the Caposaldo Pinot Grigio and Matua Sauvignon Blanc so we can try them side by side. First, we try the pinot grigio. Gravel exclaims, “This is the wine now! This is the type of wine I cook with. This would be good with all fish styles.” Kenny and Nabade say that the Freixenet is stronger and they love it over the Caposaldo Pinot Grigio. They share with me that they would drink the Freixenet and cook with the Caposaldo Pinot Grigio.

Cordell, a fisherman nearby, was already sipping on JB and wanted to try the Caposaldo Pinot Grigio and says, “It’s refreshing.” Admittedly, he likes white rum and sometimes mixes it with beer or Guinness. “I don’t like nutin weh sweet. This would be good with any fish style.”

Before we taste the Matua I tell everyone to smell the wine first. “Put your nose right up to it and take a good inhale.”

“Wow! Smells like mango,” says Kenny. Gravel tries to remember what fruit he is sensing but it doesn’t come to mind. As they sip I can already tell that the Matua Sauvignon Blanc hits different. Gravel continues his review of the wine — “It’s a little sour. This smells like a fruit but I can’t quite place it. I would get some garlic and onion with lobster, sauté in butter, then add this wine. It is good and you can experiment with it and seafood.”

Chef Leon chimes in, “Trunkfish and Wenchman (Style: roast fish). Dash weh the jaws and eat the meat. I would eat this with the pinot grigio or the sauvignon blanc.” He continues to cook in his open kitchen as we taste our way through the wines.

“The wine gives you a nice spirit,” Kenny shares. We are now tasting our way through the mouth-watering and medium-bodied Gérard Bertrand Côtes des Roses Rosé — the bouquet releases aromas of summer fruits. There is so much joy, roaring laughter and chatter around the wines — each fisherman talking over the other describing the wine, their style of cooking and what he would eat it with — “I would try this with a brown stew fish,” says Gravel. I laugh out loud after hearing Kenny say that “he has a buzz” and has to be careful.

Admittedly, I have a buzz too, and we all sit again as Leon starts serving us with freshly fried goat fish in foil. There’s nothing like fried fresh catch with wine! I watch as he takes more fish out of the fryer and puts it on the piece of foil in front of me. I had already devoured the first two fishes that he provided. I thank him and I am grateful for it! “You are in our town and we have to take care of you,” says Gravel. US wine critic Robert M Parker Jr ( The Wine Advocate newsletter) said it best: “Wine to me is something that brings people together. Wine does promote conversation and promote civility, but it’s also fascinating. It’s the greatest subject to study. No matter how much you learn, every vintage is going to come at you with different factors that make you have to think again.”

Gravel goes on to describe his everyday life in the Negril fishing village. “I go out every three days. We catch a lot of fish at night via line fishing — throwing the line overboard. We catch snapper, red tail, yellow tail, grouper, and grunt. Every day is a fishing day, but not every day is catching day and, it depends on the weather. Today you may be lucky but the next day you may be unlucky.” And so it goes.

On cleaning the fish before cooking Chef Leon shares that it’s “best to wash the fish first with lime or vinegar (if you don’t have the lime). It opens up the cells for the seasoning.” Of course I ask about finding my beloved hog snapper and they tell me, “If you want to catch the night seaman dem come early like 6:00 or 7:00 am!”

For the grand finale we open the Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages — loving this wine! I taste strawberries, cherries and a little spice on the end! It is divine and the perfect red for hot weather. Chef Leon gives us his fish pairing “all some king fish. Dem sweet, man! Throw some peppa and ketchup in it. Anything you want to do to it. All curry it or curry the head.” I am full. My heart is full. Kenny looks at me and says “You are really down-to-earth. The way you come here and sit with us. This was nice. Please come back!”

#Lent #FreshCatch #Fish #Wine #WineLover #MyJamaica

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