Thursday, February 5, 2009

Mosby Cal-Ital with Ital pinwheel steaks

The other night I made some Italian pinwheel steaks….flank steak rolled with prosciutto and provolone, some Italian seasonings, topped with Italian cheese /breakcrumb mix. We opened the 2004 Mosby La Seduzione, a Cal-Italian varietal. The Lagrein grape is named after the Lagarina Valley of Trentino, although it is now primarily grown at Gries on the outskirts of Bolzano. An extremely rare grape in the United States, we know of only a handful of vineyards in California-they were able to procure these grapes from the French Camp Vineyard. (thus the name “French Camp Vineyard”) It was a artist label purchase, courtesy of Lucy, and we just got around to drinking it.
I had hopes it would be good with the Italian pinwheel steaks-but it overpowered it a bit. Last time I made the steaks I used Asiago cheese, which was very strong. I think I underestimated the mildness of provolone, so while the wine was very good, plumy, a bit smoky and coco-ish, it was a bit too strong for the food. I should’ve decanted it, or even better, picked a different dish for the wine.
I love the Mosby labels, (and the wine!) but sadly they don’t come off very easily-in fact, I have yet to be successful with one yet. But I’ll keep on trying!!!! Thanks Lucy!!!!

2 comments:

LucyinStLou said...

Ah, sorry about the label and the pairing! Langrein is a hard one. I'll keep our Mosby bottles to you can have another label to try to work with.

Randy Fuller said...

I'm drinking it now. I love it, but you're right - it is a powerful flavor.

As for the label, I've always heard if you soak a bottle in warm water long enogh, the label will slide right off! Then you can carefully lay it flat somewhere for drying. Hope it works.