Last post about the Havens Albariño, but just as a "I wish I had made this when the Albariño still tasted like limey-lemonade" post. I went for a quick dinner tonight, with whatever I could find lying around. I found shrimp, pasta, butter, red bell pepper, garlic, shallots, parsley and Old Bay seasoning, along with the final dregs of the whites sitting in my fridge. Once it was all put together and tasted, it really felt like it needed a little lemon and acidity, which the Albariño would have given just beautifully as a pairing. But here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it.
Shrimp and Penne with White-wine Butter Sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp olive oil
1 stick unsalted butter
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 small shallot
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 package penne pasta
1 lb medium shrimp
kosher salt
Bring 6 cups water to a boil.
Pour the olive oil in a small sauce pan, add the shallots, garlic, and red bell pepper with a pinch of salt, and saute until the shallots begin to become translucent. Add the Old Bay seasoning and wine and bring to a boil, and allow to reduce by half. Cut the butter up into chunks and add, along with the parsley. Stir to let the butter melt evenly. Allow to simmer while the pasta is cooking.
When the water is boiling, add a couple of healthy pinches of salt, and the pasta. Cook according to package directions, about 11 minutes. Use a steamer basket on top of the pasta pot to steam the shrimp for 4 minutes until the shells turn red.
Remove the shrimp and rinse under cold water for 30 seconds, and then peel.
Once the pasta has cooked, drain and place in a large bowl. Add the sauce and shrimp, and toss to combine.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Havens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Havens. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Leftover Luck
No picture tonight, sorry folks. Didn't plan on posting this one. However, I realize that I'm not the only unlucky soul out there that's unable to finish up a bottle of wine in a single night (let alone TWO), and so it might be of interest to post about how a wine is holding up two or three nights later in the fridge.
The Havens Albariño has been in the fridge now for three nights. This morning I looked in my fridge and saw I had a half dozen chicken wings that had been thawed for a couple days, and knew it had to be cooked up. So I pulled out the crock pot, placed them in there, poured in about a cup of my many-weeks-old leftover 2006 Mandolina Pinot Grigio, and about a cup and a half of leftover marinara sauce. Topped it off with a few sprigs of parsley, put it on low for 10 hours and tottered off to work.
When I got home, the smell was just incredible - this chicken was ready to go. I originally thought about putting it over angel hair pasta, but it turned out I ran out of that. So I just ate them as-is, with a freshly poured glass of the well-chilled Albariño. Let me tell you, not only has it held up, but I feel it is much better tonight than it was on Monday.
The limey-lemonade flavor is still there, but it's much subdued. There's a greater complexity of flavor to it, and one thing I pulled out was this raw snack-tray vegetables flavor. Like cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots, raw. Take a bite of each, and that's the flavor you get. The nose has improved as well, now bringing with it cantaloupe and honeydew. There's also a touch of new-leather scent, but the citrus scent is still predominant.
I think now, after being opened for a few days and being well chilled, this one bumps up to an 89-90 point wine for me. Chill this wine. It deserves to be well chilled.
On a side note, I mentioned I had the 2006 Mandolina Pinot Grigio leftover in my fridge for many weeks. I honestly don't remember when I opened it, but it may have been close to a month ago now. This one is a white that I know and trust, and don't mind sipping at it slowly and working on other bottles while it just sits there. It holds strong in the fridge for weeks, fantastically. It's still drinkable, although it's declining and is better for cooking with at this point.
The Havens Albariño has been in the fridge now for three nights. This morning I looked in my fridge and saw I had a half dozen chicken wings that had been thawed for a couple days, and knew it had to be cooked up. So I pulled out the crock pot, placed them in there, poured in about a cup of my many-weeks-old leftover 2006 Mandolina Pinot Grigio, and about a cup and a half of leftover marinara sauce. Topped it off with a few sprigs of parsley, put it on low for 10 hours and tottered off to work.
When I got home, the smell was just incredible - this chicken was ready to go. I originally thought about putting it over angel hair pasta, but it turned out I ran out of that. So I just ate them as-is, with a freshly poured glass of the well-chilled Albariño. Let me tell you, not only has it held up, but I feel it is much better tonight than it was on Monday.
The limey-lemonade flavor is still there, but it's much subdued. There's a greater complexity of flavor to it, and one thing I pulled out was this raw snack-tray vegetables flavor. Like cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots, raw. Take a bite of each, and that's the flavor you get. The nose has improved as well, now bringing with it cantaloupe and honeydew. There's also a touch of new-leather scent, but the citrus scent is still predominant.
I think now, after being opened for a few days and being well chilled, this one bumps up to an 89-90 point wine for me. Chill this wine. It deserves to be well chilled.
On a side note, I mentioned I had the 2006 Mandolina Pinot Grigio leftover in my fridge for many weeks. I honestly don't remember when I opened it, but it may have been close to a month ago now. This one is a white that I know and trust, and don't mind sipping at it slowly and working on other bottles while it just sits there. It holds strong in the fridge for weeks, fantastically. It's still drinkable, although it's declining and is better for cooking with at this point.
Monday, September 1, 2008
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!
Wine: 2005 Finca Luzón Jumilla Altos de Luzón and 2005 Havens Wine Cellars AlbariñoMeal: Spanish Paella
Tasting notes on the wines:
Altos de LuzónColor: 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 AlbariñoColor: 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!
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