Not only cantucci and vin santo

“Appetite comes with eating, thirst goes with drinking” and we want to satisfy both with this article.

WINE AND FOOD

The performance anxiety caused by a complex wine list is surely an emotion that many of you will have experienced in restaurants. Trying to understand which wine can be the best choice to be matched with all the dishes our table mates have chosen is not easy, we know this. That is why there is our article which will explain you the two main methods to evaluate how to make your choices.

Nevertheless, restaurants are not the only point where we can match a good dish to a wine, on the contrary! In these last years in which we all rediscovered ourselves as great bakers, chefs and new Elvira Coot, why don’t we try to understand how to enhance our cuisine with a proper bottle?

Balance: this is the magic word that anyone who talks about matching will sooner or later pronounce. And it is true, without any doubt, that the search for a balance of flavors between the taste of a wine and the aromas of a dish is the best way to start.

EXACT SCIENCE OR PERSONAL TASTE?

There is no fixed formula, no rigid table that can tell us for every dish which wine to choose and, we can serenely say, luckily it is so! Every recipe is different and every bottle, even of the same wine, has its own #Character: the best thing we suggest is to experiment, taste and be amazed by the power of matching.

As we told you there are some tricks that can help us in the selection of the perfect bottle for our recipes. However, we would like to take a journey with you thanks to some producers who, with their wines, will give us concrete examples of how your dishes can be enhanced at their best.

APPETITE COMES WITH EATING, THIRST GOES WITH DRINKING

How to stimulate hunger, if not with a good aperitif? If we are looking for a delicious ingredient, characterized by a pretty unmistakable taste, we cannot but think about Olive all’Ascolana (Olives from Ascoli – a.n.). Originating from Marche region, they are now a dish that can be easily found everywhere and in order to make the most of it, we chose a wine born in the same lands. The family which is dedicated to Vigneti Vallorani winery is careful in making their wines express the soul of the territory in which they are born, bringing with them a baggage of history and traditions. For this reason their “Avora” seems to us to be a perfect match: the characteristics of crispness of this Falerio and its sapidity, always present, are perfect to accompany an aperitif.

The unctuousness which characterizes a fried dish, then, finds its perfect balance in a white wine having at the same time a agreeable sapidity and a good structure, due to the aging on yeasts.

SOLID COLOR, SO YOU CAN’T GO WRONG

In this season one of the dishes that people often love to prepare is risotto: a delicate first course that everyone agrees on, capable of keeping the warmth that winter makes us appreciate so much, but not to make it heavy in these weeks following Christmas holidays.

And how can we not think about a risotto prepared with the same wine you will pour in your glasses?

Among the most quoted rules for the matching of a wine with a dish, it has always been considered the matching of colors: in this case even the eye looking for chromatic similarity at table will be satisfied! In Piemonte, Barbera d’Asti “Mysterium” of Tenuta Montemagno brings with him the history of ancient vineyards, the original ones of the estate, and of long aging in casks that in the glass will amaze you for the intense aromatic persistence.

The trick to make this combination perfect? The final mantecatura (a technique that works the dish into a deliciously creamy texture – a.n.) of your risotto, will make it creamy and enveloping, perfect to accompany the slight tannicity that you will find in the glass.

A TRADITIONAL DISH 

To occur with the delicacy of white meats or a second course of seafood, why not try choosing a Pinot Grigio?

Balanced, fruity and stimulating: it is “The Lady”, a Pinot born in Veneto and which reveals the work of Ferro13, a winery born from passion and creativity. An aromatic profile so rich in taste, is in full harmony with the baggage of flavors that a traditional dish such as baccalà alla vicentina (a traditional Venetian dish based on codfish – a.n.)  brings with it. Few ingredients, a dish with an intense taste and a glass which will accompany it with a masterly balance. A recipe which is part of the Italian enogastronomical history, rich, decisive and handed down by mothers: what better dish for a wine “homage to women, to their charm, beauty and elegance”? 

IT’S NOT GOOD (ONLY) WHAT IS GOOD, BUT IT IS GOOD WHAT IS LIKED

We took the liberty of altering this traditional saying a little because when it comes to food matching, this rule is really decisive.

Eating and drinking have to be, first of all, a pleasure and the combination of flavors, aromas and scents must make us enjoy and satisfy. If it is true what the father of gastronomy Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said, that is “the discovery of a new dish contributes much more to human happiness than the discovery of a new star”, maybe the same is true for the discovery of a new matching!

Always aim to taste what you have in your plate, recognize the basic aromas and tastes you can perceive and try to identify the dominant character in the food. Start focusing your matching on this character and look for a wine that can exalt it. Fortunately there are no exams or tests to be passed: there are no wrong answers, only satisfied palates.