Finding eggs might be more traditional for Easter, but Larry from the local wine ship Giles wrote in a recent email of "finding" a bottle of 2006 La Spinetta Langhe Nebbiolo ($30) on his counter on Easter. His description of it made me unable to resist giving it a try, as I've become a fan of this Italian grape. I wasn't disappointed!
Larry urged me to give the wine some breathing time in the glass. I took the advice a step further, and decanted it for an hour before tasting it. Yet after that hour, it still had a tart cherry taste, rather tight, accompanying the dusky aroma. But it did blossom beautifully the longer it was in the glass, developing a soft, supple mouth feel with tasty ripe berry flavors. Very well-structured and enjoyable wine.
This Nebbiolo proved a nice match for the pasta with lamb ragu I made following this recipe from Food & Wine. A bit of a twist on a traditional Italian meat sauce with its use of coriander, cumin and other spices not typically found in a ragu; but it works well with the lamb. The wine had the complexity to stand up to these various tastes.
0 comments:
Post a Comment