What better a way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with great food and great wine? When I received a free bottle of 2005 Fratelli Recchia Ca’Bertoldi Amarone from Wine Chateau*, I immediately set out to create a menu that would pair well with it. As you well know, I like to create a menu plan in advance, and I had the perfect spot for such a bold wine – Valentine’s Day.
I had never before tried an Amarone, and I was curious. Because wine is meant to be enjoyed with food, I wanted to be sure that I properly paired it. This is always an interesting chore when doing a blind pairing, so I set out to research the wine varietal first.
Traditionally, Amarones are more expensive wines. Finding one that is under $50 is quite a special thing. The reason they are more expensive is that they are made from older vines and the grapes are first allowed to dry into raisins.
In determining what I would pair such a wine with, I figured I would do a classic “coursed” dinner. This way, I could test the versatility of the wine and what better time to do a wine-pairing dinner than Valentine’s Day! I decided that I would do a soup, main course, and cheese course. Since Amarones should not be paired with desserts, we purchased a dessert wine – Quady Winery‘s Elysium to pair with tiramisu cake.
The soup I chose to make was Giada de Laurentiis’s Pasta e Fagioli. I was a bit skeptical, when I did the research, that a soup would pair well with such a bold red wine. The soup has pancetta in it, and has quite a bit of heft to it. I chose to do steaks with a gorgonzola crust, roasted rosemary potatoes, and mushrooms sautéed in wine for the main course. For the cheese course, I paired parmesan that had been drizzled with balsamic vinegar and honey.
How did it all turn out? You’ll have to check in tomorrow to find out. Have you tried an Amarone? What did you pair with it?
*All opinions in this post are my own. While Wine Chateau sent me the complimentary bottle of wine, I was not compensated for this post.
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