Tonight we celebrated a Sardinian friend's recent PhD defense and
appointment to a faculty position by having her and her family over for
a dinner of lobster paella. I went to Indianapolis to get some supplies
for the dinner and also looked for a suitable wine to accompany the
paella. Apropos of Dale's recent thread, since the paella would be quite
aromatic with fennel, saffron and tarragon, I decided that a light
bodied, crisp white of the not-so-aromatic sort was in order. Ideally,
I wanted to get a Vermentino for her, but none were to be found in my
usual haunts. The Riesling selection boiled down to a '04 Selbach-Oster
Wehlener-Sonnenuhr Kabinett for $25, a decent Albariño for $20 or (my
eventual choice):

2006 Alois Ladeger Pinot Bianco Alto Adige
nose: perfumed, slightly floral with minerals and white stonefruit
palate: crisp acidity, light body, lovely minerality, delicate floral
fruitiness

This wine was lovely and a big hit with all and sundry. It didn't
overwhelm the lobster but wasn't overpowered by the saffron or fennel,
either. Jean gave it her highest accolade: "get more of this!"

We started the meal with olives, cornichons, bread and two cheeses (both
Spanish, one an aged, pressed goat cheese; the other a Basque sheep
cheese). With them, we had a very decent NV Mumm Cuvée Napa Brut that
was crisp, fresh, decently fruited with a fairly refined mousse.

Mark Lipton
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