With Paella?

Joseph wrote on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:42:27 -0500:

Doesn't sound bad but I wonder if Sangria might be just as good. I have even had a white wine "Sangria".

Joseph, There are so many different paellas that it's hard to recommend something without more info about ingredients. I've been told that the most "traditional" paella had rabbit and artichokes in it, but I doubt that your recipe follows that tradition. If you're making a paella Valenciana, then a white or rosé would seem to be the thing. If it's more focused on meat then a lighter red would be my choice (not a Rioja, though, as Santiago upbraided me some time ago).

Have fun! It's fun food, so a fun wine to go with it. Mark Lipton

Joseph Coulter wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Will you serve the same wine for Spaghetti Bolognese or Spaghetti Carbonara? Probably not. Then, please try to know what it is going to be in the paella and you will mostly have an idea of which wine to match it with.

Rice is neutral and will only absorb the flavor of the different ingredients and broth used.

Anyway, if we are to be purists, paella is a countryside (and outdoor) dish so it is better to opt for simple wines. For a typical paella with chicken, rabbit, scargots the two different white (garrofó) and green beans (ferraura) (which I doubt you will use since they are seldomly used outside of Valencia), and the several vegetables present in the sofrito, an Albariño will go well. As would a young red with not much oak, or even a rosé. Think of something juicy and savoury.

About Albariño, provided it is a good one (there are crappy albariños as well as any other grape variety), you should find quite intense aromatics with white flowers and fresh juicy fruit from pear, apple and peaches, sometimes some citrics. Easy drinking, with good balance between fruit and high acidity.

I hope it goes well!

s.

Thank you. I think that this one will be heavy on shrimp and perhaps other seafood, perhaps some chicken. I am leaning toward the Albarino and hope I can find a good example. That is the fear part, finding a good example of a wine that I have only had once maybe twice before.

It will be a birthday so all will be in a good mood.

Gracias. Joseph Coulter Joseph Coulter Cruises and Vacations

why not rioja?

pk

Joseph Coulter wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

My favorite Albariños from D.O. Rias Baixas:

Upscale:

- Trico 2007 (only year released). One year longer than average on the lees.

- Pazo de Señorans Selección de Añada. This is probably too upscale and too refined for paella.

- Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas: a selection from the oldest vines in the vineyard.

- Zarate Cuvée Palomar

- Fillaboa Finca Montealto

Regular releases:

- Do Ferreiro

- Fillaboa

- Abadía San Campio

- Pazo de Señorans (though I usually find it a bit lacking in punch)

Reports are that Martin Codax sells a very different cuvée in the U.S. than they sell in Spain (which I find quite ordinary) and I guess that it would be quite available.

Anyway, if you have the chance, ask what is available and I may be able to give you a recommendation.

Best,

s.

my second visit at that wine heaven that is Mon Vìnic, I was introduced to a magnum of Zárate's Rias Baixas "Tras da Viña" 2004. At first I was suspicious, I have seen the wonderful fruit of many Albariños ruined by excessive wood and other manipulations, and the idea of Albariño that spends 30 months on its lees got me worried, but it is so well done that we all loved it, the slight oxydation seems to enhance the fruit instead of masking it.

I enjoy the Pazo de Señorans wines too.

bye for now

Mike

Mike Tommasi wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

Eulogio Pomares (the man behind Zárate) is a magician, as is the case with many other producers such as José Antonio López (formerly at Lusco, now starting up Tricó) or Gerardo Méndez (Do Ferreiro).

I like their wines for their purity. But I must say that I always find in "Tras da Viña" an outlier in the form of acidity. I prefer Cuvée Palomar (also available in Magnum).

As you, I am not very fond of oaked Albariños. Leirana Barrica might be an exception, though.

Me too, but sometimes I think they are too polished and I try to prefer my Albariños a bit more fresh and fleshy. I sometimes think of Pazo de Señorans as the Wehlener Sonnenuhrs of Rias Baixas, even with that little vanilla touch (but oak is not involved). Since I tend to be more of a Zeltingen Schlossberg kind of guy... I do not really drink much Pazo de Señorans, even if I recognize how good a wine they are.

s.

Interesting, I shall be on the lookout for some Zeltingen Schlossberg Albariño... :-)

Seriously though, I did try an interesting combination of riesling and albariño! "Ekam" from DO Costers del Segre, by Castell d'Encus. Very pleasant intro to Zárate...

Nitpicking again... Zeltingen is the village. The vineyard is the 'Castle hill of Zeltingen' and 'of Zeltingen' is 'Zeltinger' in German - so 'Zeltinger Schlossberg' is the correct name, which you both already know, of course... :-) Anders

Anders, as long as they make albariño we are happy to use the correct name. :-)

Joseph, Marci and I shared a (gigantic) Paella at Mixto restaurant in Philly last year and ordered an albariño off the wine list. It paired very well. It sounds like it had close to the same ingredients as you are expecting.

Jon

I think the point was that Rioja is too refined a wine for a peasant dish like paella. Or perhaps he was just needling me for opening a La Rioja Alta 904 with my paella ;-)

Mark Lipton

Anders,

I stand corrected!!!

Mike Tommasi wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

Ekam is serious stuff!!!

I had the chance of tasting it last week and was really amazed. I am very prejudiced against whites from Cataluña and I was clearly humbled, because this EKAM I thought had real class. I did not know it was Riesling and Albariño. Will purchase some.

I remember that my first tasting of Mosel Riesling was around 2002, when we found some wines of the so much touted great 2001 vintage. I remember it was mostly Selbach-Oster and Dr. Loosen, since we found an importer of these wines in our country.

When we tasted blind... we all thought: this smells like Albariño. And then we put them in our mouth and were.... puzzled: This is sweet! We did not even know the difference between a Kabinett and an Spatlese. Not that that has changed that much anyway ;)

So I can understand that those thay enjoy Riesling also enjoy Albariño, for they are very similar in the nose. Unfortunately, in Spain we lack the experience of centuries of learning about the different terroirs. Next time I will go to the Mosel I should bring some Albarino clones with me to say how it grows in ZeltingeR Schlossberg ;))))

Best,

s.

Mark Lipton wrote in news:hn3h75$u0j$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

Lipton, Mark ---- A+

s ;)

Joseph wrote on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:11:12 -0500:

It is interesting that a number of sites suggest Cava with paella, including a wine bar that is also reputed to serve the best paella in Madrid.

Just in passing, I first had paella at what is supposed to be the oldest restaurant in the world, the "Casa de Botin". It is still very good (and not outrageously expensive) but attracts tourists and no longer has paella on its menu.

You are correct, Anders, but quite a few of the better growers today write things like "Zeltingen Schlossberg" or "Niederhausen Hermannshöhle" in order to confuse consumers less.

M.

So Fillaboa's Finca Montealto would be "Riasbaixen Hochberg"

Rather Niederfluss Hochberg.

M.