Well this past week was a quiet one, and one that was really well enjoyed being back home from Alaska! To keep it simple, we made a lovely paella that I love to make right before Shabbos starts, but we skipped all the toppings. It stays warm in the oven and does not over cook, which is great. In some ways, it is better than risotto, because getting the correct consistency for risotto after being in the oven for an hour to two hours after making it – is really hard!

For the protein (we skipped the Paella toppings) we went with sausages and my wife’s patented honey roasted lemon chicken – AWESOME!

For wine, we paired it with two wines that were better than I thought they would be. One was one of the new 2012 Four Gates Ayala wines, one that I did not post about here. In hindsight I should have, the 2012 Four Gates Ayala Pinot Noir is very nice. Soft and plush but robust enough to catch your attention. I also tasted a bottle of the 2013 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, that I wrote about on my kosher French wines post.

I will warn you that the Chablis starts off a bit sweet, showing its residual sugar, but with time the crazy acid and tart fruit emerges. This is an unoaked Chardonnay, and though oak is lovely in Chardonnay, this wine is nice and viscous with enough weight to handle pasta sauces and roasted chicken.

The wine notes follow below:

2013 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, Le Classique – Score: A- (mevushal)
I actually like this wine now more than when I had it at KFWE. Please beware – this wine starts off with a very clear and distinct residual sugar attack, that calms down with time. So when you open this wine, give it air and decant it. It will grace you with a lovely bite and attack of lemon that was missing before doing so.
The nose on this unoaked Chardonnay – after decanting, shows lovely pear, apricot, English lavender, funk, and lovely herb. The mouth on this wine medium bodied wine is free of oak, with a weight to it that belies its lack of wood, also it is without the hollow I sensed earlier at the KFWE, showing nicely with tart fruit, lemon, citrus joy, along with with nectarine, orange, tangerine, peach, and summer fruit. The finish is long and refreshing with lovely pith, tart fruit, intense spice, mineral, and cloves. Bravo! and this wine is mevu!!!

2012 Four Gates Pinot Noir, Ayala – Score: B+
The nose on this wine is filled with cherry, raspberry, coffee, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is spicy and green with strawberry, cloves, mint, eucalyptus, along with still searing tannin, mad acid, and red fruit. The finish on this wine is mineral based and core with awesome acid, spice, sweet dill, and lovely searing tannin with spicy oak and hints of barnyard. This is not a complex wine as much as it is a solid wine with good fruit structure and acid.