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Paella w/ Forest-Marie NV, 08 Urki, 08 Drouhin St Veran, 06 Bermejo Tinto Lanzarote
Christianne's Place in SF
Tasted February 15, 2010 by tonyvelebil with 533 views
Introduction
Last night we went over to our friend Christianne's for a simple paella night. Drank some fun wines, tried to watch some Olympic action and just to generally catch up. The wines were all terrific wines that worked pretty well with the food and would have been enjoyable drinks on their own...
Flight 1 (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
N.V. Forest-Marie Champagne Blanc de Blancs
85 points
Picked up a bottle of this to try....still have their other bottling to try later.
Good but not great bubbly and we all agreed we'd rather have Gosset for the same money. Bready and moussy with some attractive green apple and pear but pretty simple and straightforward. Nice but not special.
Good but not great bubbly and we all agreed we'd rather have Gosset for the same money. Bready and moussy with some attractive green apple and pear but pretty simple and straightforward. Nice but not special.
White
2008 Urki Getariako Txakolina
88 points
Cracked a glass of this after the Forest-Marie and while very tasty, needed food so we opened something else and set this aside for a half hour. Coming back to, this is a wonderful food wine. Racy acidity, loads of minerality with some sea air notes. On the palate, racy citrus fruit, minerals, and more sea air with a little chalky limestone. Good with the paella but would be even better with raw oysters....yum!
White
2008 Joseph Drouhin Saint Véran
87 points
Grabbed this to drink while waiting for the paella. Untwisted the screwcap and we were ready to roll. Compared to the Urki, this is rich and fat. On its own though really not that fat. Pretty good straight forward Chardonnay. Some green apple and pear fruit, a little bit of minerality and a enough acidity to keep it lively and fresh. I don't think this is very expensive so it would be a pretty terrific everyday Chardonnay for under $20.
Red
2006 Bodegas Los Bermejos Listan Negro Lanzarote
88 points
This wine was a terrific find. Our local wine retailer has been on a volcanic soil kick and we were the beneficiary with this recommendation. Fresh and clean red berry fruit, some minerality, smoke and earth. Nice fresh acidity but with enough fruit to grab your attention. Worked extremely well with the paella, even the spicy chorizo. Very enjoyable wine and maybe a little over priced at $25 (I'd be happier if this was high teens) but a refreshing change from the overripe oak driven wines that Jay Miller and the gang love over at The Winery Advocate. 88-89/100
Closing
After we finished dinner, we had some homemade carrot cake with a 2006 Muscadelle (Par Robert & Bernard Plageoles) that was dried apricot and peach. A little flabby but still fun to drink. And then we finished with what could be my least favorite drink...white flower infused lighter fluid - Grappa.