Wine School, Classic Italian Wines, February 17, 2014

Theme: 

Tonight's wines were brought to us straight from Italy, compliments of our hosts from our In-Home Wine Tasting last week (see previous blog).  I had always wanted to taste Amarones and Brunellas but was unsure what to try.  Thank you for sharing your love of wine with us, Mary & Lewis-they were absolutely wonderful! 

The Wine:


Tenute Silvio Nardi 2003 Brunello Di Montalcino

• Color:  Brick red to orange along the rim; deep red in center              
• Nose:  Oak, spice, dried fruit – smells rich and warm 
• Mouth:  Very smooth and balanced with some tart fruit at the end. It has a wonderful, long finish.

Reccla 2005 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

• Color:  Deeper in color, all the way to the rim, more than the Brunello
• Nose:  A lot of dried raisin fruit on the nose, smells like a Sherry or Port
• Mouth:  Wonderful, not nearly as fruity on the mouth as the nose would indicate. Spice on the mid-palate, finish is incredibly long-just keeps going  and going!

Bolla 2005 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

• Color:  Very deep brownish/ red in color. The darkest, thickest of the wines this evening.
• Nose:  Raisin fruit, but not as strong as the Reccla Amarone. More earthiness with some spice and truffles.
• Mouth:  Very smooth, medium tannins, a little black licorice and another nice finish.

Overall conclusion:  A wonderful evening spent with great, classic Italian wines. Amazing wines, great friends, and good food. It will be difficult to top this wine school!

Pairings:

Vintage Cheddar:  This cheddar cheese was an excellent pairing with all three wines. We especially enjoyed it with the Bolla Amarone. The spice in the wine exploded when paired with this cheddar.
Extra Aged Gouda:  Another great pairing! Loved it with the Brunello the most. It was also nice with the Recchia Amarone.
Manchego:  The cheese pairings were a great success tonight. This was very nice with both Amarones. It brought the fruit forward with the Bolla.
Lasagna:  Wow! Can the night get any better? Lisa made a great lasagna and It paired well with all three wines! Our favorite was with the Bolla. The pairing was balance and enhanced the wine and the food. This rich wine became even richer when paired with this dish. Also, an excellent match with the Brunello. A delicious spiciness really shown through with the wine.
Chuao Potato Chip Milk Chocolate:  We weren’t sure how milk chocolate would work with such rich wines, but we enjoyed the chocolate with the Brunello and the Recchia Amarone.
Chuao Fire Cracker Dark Chocolate: This spicy chocolate worked well with both Amarones with the spice in the wine paralleling with the spice in the chocolate.
Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree:  This was our least favorite of the chocolates with the wine. The sea salt just didn’t pair well with these rich wines.

Conclusion:

Beth:  Wow! absolutely loved the wines tonight. I think it is impossible to pick a favorite. Thank you to Mary and Lewis who were kind enough to share their love of Italian wines with us after our tasting at their home. I have had a Brunello in the past, but have only had a small sampling of Amarone in the past. These two wines far surpassed the ones that I had sampled previously. I loved the richness of the wine and all had fantastic finishes. In fact the finish on the the Recchla Amarone kept going and going. The wines paired perfectly with the aged cheeses and the lasagna. I will be dreaming of these wines for a long time. Thanks Lisa for the great pairings and delicious lasagna!
Lisa:  Devine!!  Each of the wines tonight were different and special in their own way.  The colors were definitely old world.  The nose on each was totally different with the hint of sherry in the Recchla. The taste of each kept getting better as the night went on, especially pairing with the lasagna.  Of course the cheeses were  perfect with each wine bringing out the wines best flavors.  The chocolates were just something different I had been wanting to try but for the most part, they worked.  It was really be hard for me to pick a favorite wine tonight because a truly loved them all! Now I know what to look for :).
Mary Jo:  This was truly a special class!  First, the wines were generously given to us by Lewis and Mary and came directly from Italy!  Second, the wines were DELICIOUS!  This was our first class with these wines and we were in for a treat!  It is rare that all three of us like all three wines.  It was so interesting how all three wines had the distinct flavor of raisins, with the Bolla having the least raisiny flavor.  The Recchla was port-like in its mouth, mores than the other two.  Additionally, the Recchla had a finish that never ended!  The pairings were unique to each wine.  The Cheddar paired best with the Bolla, the Gouda paired best with the Brunella and the Recchla paired best with the Manchego.  I found the Bolla to be delicious with the lasagna!  The potato chip chocolate was just okay with all three, but the Recchla worked well with the firecracker and the sea salt chocolate.  I can't pick a favorite because each worked so well with different parts of the meal and alone!  The wines were amazing, as was the company!  (And maybe if we all ask REALLY nicely, Lisa will share her lasagna recipe!!!)