Fideuá and Bobal

You might know Valencia best for paella but in fact it has another paella-like dish called fideuá pronounced fi-de-wah which is made with pasta rather than rice.

As opposed to the classic Valencian paella which contains chicken and rabbit it’s almost always based on seafood, generally prawns and squid with tomato and sweet (dulce) pimenton.

You might think that would make it a better pairing with a white wine than a red one but the locals drink red with it, not always a red from the region (Valencia or Utiel-Requena) as Rioja and Ribera del Duero are popular here. But the local grape variety Bobal which is fresh, fruity and cherry flavoured - not unlike a Valpolicella - is a particularly good match.

I had a home-cooked fideuá at a local winemaker called Bruno Murciano with a couple of their wines - of which I think the fresh, vibrant 2022 Cambio de Tercio worked best although their very elegant El Sueño which isn’t currently available in the UK is my overall favourite of their range*. You can buy the Cambio de Tercio from Ultracomida for £15.95

There’s a recipe for fideua here if you want to give it a try yourself. The secret according to this post is a really good fish stock.

*I made Bruno Murciano's L’Alegria my wine of the week a couple of years ago.

I lunched with Bruno and José Luis as their guest