Food/Wine pairing - Valpolicella

Both in France and Italy whites represent a small percentage of wine produced (I believe it is under 10%). There is a general ignorance of whites in both countries, and as a result food pairings are often influenced.

Hence the French (and not only the French) drink reds with most cheeses, while we know that for most cheeses a white will do better, or rather, for most cheeses a red does not make the kind of pairing that improves both wine and cheese. Think of easy examples like Camembert, no red will match in the strict sense above, you would do better with a beer. Think of extreme examples like a Maroilles or a Livarot...

Iin Italy the white wine culture of your average wine drinker is similarly limited.

But whereas France has produced grand whites in Alsace and the Loire for centuries, and even the grandest of them all in Burgundy, the serious whites in Italy are not as easy to name, and those few are of very recent "tradition". Friuli only a few decades ago produced mostly reds, and Campania was not known for ANY wine until recent times (let's leave out the Romans, let's think of the last 500 years...). Even neighbouring (from my perspective) Liguria, with its recent improvements in Vermentino, is a relative newcomer to the world of quality whites, and only a handful of producers are worthy of attention.

I might add that while Friuli whites redefined the taste for whites in Italy, the style was initially marked by the distinction between barrique and non-barrique, the former getting most of the attention despite the prevalence of excessively oaked wines. This overoaked tendency is showing signs of abating, thankfully, and with any luck, in 5-6 years we will see Italian whites reach new heights.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

And I might add that while Grenache Blanc is quite popular in the southern Rhone, I am not aware of any being planted in Sardinia

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

"Mike Tommasi" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Mike is right, the Italian renaissance on white wines has just begun, even if more and more often I find surprising products like the Ageno from La Stoppa (Piacenza). A white made totally without SO2, and that lives a month on their skins during fermentation. But coming back to ossobuco, if one want to remain in Veneto, a Soave of Pieropan or Inama IMHO will match decently.

Luk

Don't forget Alto Adige - possibly the oldest white wine culture in Italy (with Friuli).

M.

Jumping in late, I nevertheless have many opinions :)

I agree with Cwdjrx that the quality of veal can make a big difference. Milk fed veal vs. "almost beef" can influence the choice. My default choice for veal is usually white, unless I know either the veal is NOT delicate or the sauce requires red.

There are 2 main styles of osso buco prevalent in America. Probably the more common (and probably what Dimitri had) involves a rather dense tomato sauce. The other style (osso buco bianco) is more what Mike & Tom are talking about- braised in white wine and broth, with gremolata (parsley, garlic and lemon peel). Betsy made a variation of the latter, osso buco Trieste (adds garlic and anchovies), last week. "Proper" match would have been a Northern Italian white, but went well with a white from Campania, the Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina.

Chuck, I'll try to remember to post, but am fighting the flu and it might be a couple days. I beleive the recipe came from Biba Caggiano's "Biba's Northern Italian Cooking".

Greetings Dale;

Your descriptions of Betsy's cooking has often elicited drools in this quarter. My preferred Osso Buco to date has been that offered by Marcella Hazan in "The Classic Italian Cook Book". I've snooped the net and have not been able to find the "Trieste" variation of which you spoke. Pretty please, would you favour us with the recipe.

Thanks and regards,

Veal shanks in tomato, herbs, and veggies. This makes a rather red sauce much like a vegetable stew.

Dimitri

"DaleW" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

So, we'll collectively drool in anticipation - and yes, that applies to any of your food descriptions :-) Please, keep them coming! Anders

Ossobuco alla Triestina

Melt butter w/oil in large casserole over med heat. When butter foams, add onions, saute till pale yellow. Remove Sprinkle shanks with flour. Add to casserole. Brown on all sides. Season. Return onions. Add wine, cook till reduced by half. Add broth. Cover, reduce heat. Simmer 1 1/2 hours, ore till meat falls off bone. Stir in parsley, garlic, anchovies, and lemon zest. If too thin, remove veal and boil uncovered for 10 minutes. If too thick, add a little more broth. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Yes and not. You can not separate a wine from its land. Given this, a grand wine is probably a good wine into a dominant culture. France wines have been enjoyng a dominant culture for some centuries. Wines in Campania have a longstanding tradition and -probably through the Italian community in the United States of America -they are becoming part of the present dominant culture.

Alright, but we are talking about quality wines, and while winemaking has been going on for millennia in Campania, twenty years ago you would have had a hard time finding any good wine there, apart from a few exceptions like Mastroberardino. Twenty years ago nobody was talking about aglianico, and few people could have mentioned a single grape variety from the area. Lacryma Christi at the time made the (bad) reputation of Campania, and Taurasi was seen as a notable exception to the rule.

Thankfully things have changed and last autumn while in Naples I was able to even enjoy some of the whites, though frankly I was not overwhelmed by any.

But let's get back to the whites you mentioned, what did you mean by Grenache in Sardinia? ;-)

Just rubbing it in, no harm intended...

Cheers Ferrante.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Greetings Dale;

Many thanks for the recipe.

"DaleW" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

Filed - thanks Anders

And this as well. :^)

My preferred Osso Buco to date has been that offered by Marcella

The only changes I make are omitting tying the meat with string, and increasing the amounts of vegetables and herbs somewhat. I don't even add Habanero - as I am wont to do with many (most?) other dishes.

Tom S

Aha! That's why you prefer it with a red wine. The Marcella Hazen recipe is very different, and goes better with white wine because tomato isn't the dominant note.

Tom S

"Mike Tommasi" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

twenty years ago you

In early '70 Mastroberardino settled a wine-based scale economy based upon a vinification procedure and vineyard style settled by Fiore Bottiglieri, a graduate in Agriculture Sciences, and Luigi Ferrante, founder and first headmaster of the "Scuola Enologica di Avellino" -School of Enology in Avellino -. Fiore Bottiglieri had been working to prompt Irpinia's vineyards to produce larger quantity of grape since 1930.

Mastroberardino has been happily sustaining this school and has been among the promoters of the attribution of DOC labels to the vineyards in the Avellino county. Probably the very innovation introduced by Mastroberardino was the conversion of a family-held activity into a worldwide commercial businness. Probably by so doing some original features have been lost to market specifications. In my opinion white wines in Irpinia are generally average wines with some high ranking exceptions

When I told about Grenache, or Guernacha I had in mind the Guarnaccia , which in some documents -such as this site -

Is classified as white. If this is wrong, thanks for your correction ciao

--Ferrante

Me too, but my wife and are big fans of almost all her recipes.