Filed under: Soup

Zarzuela, Albariño and nerdy reference books

I like Monday night because Jesse cooks dinner on Mondays. To be honest, J makes dinner every night, but it's particularly nice to come home to on Monday, so I think it rates special mention.  The evening started out with a blind tasting of Alianca Vino Verde (Fail for me. I thought it was Trebbiano or at the very least, Italian. Meh.) I've had this producer before and it's very lightly and naturally effervescent, with a hint of RS--if you are used to Gazela, which has an assertive spritz, this is a different style, more old-fashioned. The meal tonight was Zarzuela, with a generous side of grilled bread for each of us. Oh deliciousness, you are tomatoes, shellfish and breadcrumbs. What a bright, savory meal for a rainy evening. Just as with risotto, it seems like too much food for two people, but then thirty minutes later, we're sopping up the juices and wishing for more. I also blind tasted for tonight's wine pairing, 2008 Bodegas Palacio de Fefinanes Rias Baixas. This is a nicely balanced Albarino with lots of trademark peach, saline and lemon-lime citrus. It was a great match for the tomato in the Zarzuela and paired well with the cheese, Idiazabal.  We pulled out two books during dinner: The Wine and Food of Spain which is 20 years old but our in-house reference book for Spanish cuisine as well as the ubiqutous Stephen Jenkin's Cheese Primer.

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bethbecker
peripherique | selections
www.peripheriquewine.com

Checking out posterous for périphérique | selections

Elizabeth and I aren’t interested in comfort or having any free time so we’ll be offering our own selections soon! We’re looking for an better way to blog about all the wine we taste and great eating we do, not to mention the many cellars we regularly visit around the world. For test purposes, here’s some typical pics: Elizabeth eating some homemade Thai chicken soup in our luxurious Tendernob studio, the wines we had that night (the 2008 Weingut Keller von der Fels Riesling QbA from the Rheinhessen was terrific!), yours truly, and finally the soup itself. Stay tuned for the exciting follow-up test post where I’ll attempt to post a video of me riding in a car! After that, we’ll test the social connectivity features, and we’ll want to make sure Posterous has a place for feedback and comments so our loyal fans and customers can tell us how fun we are.  

jessebeckerMS

périphérique | selections

www.peripheriquewine.com

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