Twofer For You!

There's a little bit of Spain in the air tonight. I was originally going for just something for the Altos de Luzón, but while I was making the dish, it dawned on me that maybe a white would be called for instead. So I figured why not try both and see which goes better!

Wine: 2005 Finca Luzón Jumilla Altos de Luzón and 2005 Havens Wine Cellars Albariño
Meal: Spanish Paella

Tasting notes on the wines:

Altos de Luzón
Color: 5/5
Rich, dark berry. Clear to about 1/8" from the rim.

Nose: 13/15
Complex nose, and yet the individual scents each present themselves clearly. Spices, particularly cloves, with dark berries like mulberry and black raspberry, a little bit of tobacco, and after letting the initial touch of heat blow off, a noseful of bacon fat.

Flavor: 10/10
I may be a bit biased, but this is one of my favorite wines. Velvet smooth. Chocolate is the first thing to hit the palate, like a dark Belgian chocolate. Following on the mid-palate are plums and dark berries, with delicious raisinettes. There are beautiful tannins nicely balanced in, soft and chewy, but they definitely make their presence known. The best part about this is that you can pop and pour with little to no decanting. Perhaps a little aeration in the glass, but not much. Nice, big, leathery mouthfeel to it.

Finish: 8/10
The raisinettes carry through the finish ending with a gentle mocha flavoring, which lasts a decent 30 seconds or so.

Aging: 3/5
Plenty of fruit in this one, and it's very well balanced. Should last for quite a while in the cellar, if you can resist drinking it that long. Drink now through 2012.

Overall: 5/5
What can I say? From the very first time I tried this wine, it became a favorite of mine. I just absolutely love it. This wine drinks really well either on its own or paired with food. The chocolatey characteristics lend well to drinking it after dinner, almost as a dessert, although I would not call this a sweet wine.

Total: 95pts

Havens Albariño
Color: 5/5
Pale straw colored, clear to about 1/8" from the rim. There's some small bubbles lining the side of the glass, not sure where they came from.

Nose: 12/15
Fairly simple nose to this one - tangerines are the first thing that spring to mind, followed by watermelon and lemon. Very citrusy.

Flavor: 7/10
Not as big a fan of this, although it's still quite tasty. It reminds me very much of a limey-lemonade. Tart, and lime, lots of lime. It's like drinking an almost-flat 7-Up with its characteristic lemon-lime flavor. It's a little rough around the edges. Very summery, for sure. Would probably work really well for making some wine-based cocktails from. This may not have had enough time to properly chill before I tried it, so it might benefit from a little more time in the chill chamber before being poured.

Finish: 6/10
Short. Very short finish, almost non-existent. A little on the bitey side. Still with the lemon-lime, maybe a touch of fennel on the very back end of it.

Aging: 2/5
Drink now through 2010. Might not last much beyond that. Not a whole lot there to hold it up.

Overall: 4/5
It's a nice wine, really, if a little one-dimensional. If anything screamed for shellfish, this would be the one. Not spectacular, but not bad.

Total: 86pts

The paella consisted of four different proteins mixed in with the rice. Chicken, chorizo, mussels, and shrimp. It's precisely because of this mixed meat approach that made it so difficult to choose one wine over the other to pair with this. The chicken and shellfish called out white to me, but that chorizo with it's spicy kick just said, "I need a red with a little bit of structure to it." I'm glad I ended up going with both of these wines. They both pair equally well with it and bring complements to the dish that really ought to be experienced.

The rice turned the Havens a little on the sharp and acidic side, which I found to be quite nice. Didn't really do much for the Altos, my notes simply say "nice". The sausage, with its lovely spices, overpowered the white, while the red very nicely cut the heat of it. It also brought out the chocolate flavor even more of the Altos, and brought a new bacon flavor to it. Both the shrimp and mussels had the same effect - overpowered by the red, but the Havens became like a butter dipping sauce for them. That lemon-lime flavor of it really cut the "sea" flavor from the mussels and turned it into something beautiful. This is one of those dishes that you can just pick your favorite wine, red or white, and you shouldn't be disappointed. I ended up, unsurprisingly, going for the Altos to finish my meal.

Want to make this meal?

Spanish Paella
This is a one-pan dish, but you MUST have a large enough skillet for it! I recommend going out and getting a 16" skillet with a good-fitting lid, if you can't find an actual paella pan. Yes, they make special pans just for paella. Mine was only 14" and, well, let's just say I have a good bit of cleaning to do on the stove from overflow.

1/2 cup olive oil
4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed
1 small white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon salt
a pinch saffron threads
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup peas (frozen is fine)
3 cups long grain rice
14oz can chicken broth
4 cups chicken stock
8-10 mussels
12-15 medium shrimp, peeled
1 lb chorizo, sliced into rounds
handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp dried sage
6 wedges lemon

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Place chicken thighs into oil and sear until golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.

Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 1 minute. Add bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes more.

Stir in salt, paprika, cayenne, sage, saffron, tomatoes, peas, rice, stock and broth until well combined. Add bay leaves. Return chicken to the pan, add chorizo, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Scatter the shrimp over the top, and press the mussels into the rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes. Add parsley to the top, and simmer for an additional 3 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges.

Serves 4-6.

Enjoy!