Marsala and wine gods....

Well, this weekend I had the Artiste Vanessa (white blend) mentioned in my last post with my Chicken Marsala. I thought it was pretty good with it….it had enough body to stand up to the creamy marsala sauce and to the alfredo sauce for the fettucine. I think I might mark the other bottle exclusively for Marsala use…..Lucy, what’d you think?

And, how sad I was that the 1999 Marsannay we had was bad...the one time the Luce's want to voluntarily drink Chardonnay and its turned! Darn you wine gods!

Sangiovese / Shiraz showdown

I recently made chicken marsala for the Luce’s and so we had the opportunity to officially kick off the Marsala Quest by trying two different wines with it. They brought 2004 Poggio San Polo Rosso Di Montalcino (100% Sangiovese) and I purchased the 2004 Clos Du Bois Shiraz. I’d never had a Shiraz with it and thought I’d give it a try. My method of deciding was rather un-scientific- we didn't have a Shiraz at home so I skimmed over the descriptions on the back of a few potential bottles at the store and picked one with the least mention of “peppery”.

I decanted the Shiraz for about 2 ½ hours prior to dinner and the Poggio was decanted for about 1 ½ hours. (its when they arrived) Both were really good, but in different ways. The Poggio was a bit more earthy, but still had some nice berry flavor. The Shiraz, a bit fruiter, somehow stood up nicely as well. Honestly, even after many (many!) tastes and discussions, none of had a clear favorite. Both were very good, so go forth and buy either-you won’t be disappointed!

The Marsala Quest begins

One of the most searched items on my blog is “what wine to pair with chicken marsala”. Well, dear readers and random Google searches, that is my winter quest. (Lucy, that means we’ll just have to have chicken marsala a ton of times this winter, sorry to put you through that!!) Last night I took a stab at Veal Marsala. I will note it wasn’t the best cut of veal, but I wanted to give it a try. It was ok, but I think I might prefer chicken a bit better. Here’s a picture-which looks almost identical to how my Chicken Marsala would look.

On to the wine, since that’s really the most important part for a WineLush. We had both white and red wines with it, since it’s a rich, beef / beef broth based sauce with mushrooms, but with a creamy touch, as well as fettucine alfredo as a side dish. One was the Shoofly Buzzcut ($12ish), a white blend from Austrialia made of Verdelho, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon. It’s a little citrusy, has enough acidity to cut through the side of alfredo and the oil used in the Marsala, but enough body to stand up to a rich dish. It was good. The other was La Rochelle Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, a recent $38 selection from a wine club we belong to. The pinot was fantastic, a bit fruity at first, and actually got a bit better and more complex after being open about an hour.

It was a tough comparison, as both were good with the Marsala. In the end, we determined the pinot was better, but only by a tad. Its possible we just weren't able to look past the fact we both really liked the pinot better as a wine, thus we enjoyed it more, thus it was of course better with the food.

I’ll keep tasting all winter, and post my thoughts on each. If you’re reading this wondering what to pair with it, my thoughts are a lighter bodied red or a fuller bodied white blend. See my past thoughts on pairing options with the label Marsala Quest.

My love hate relationship with Chicken Marsala and pairing

As you might know from reading my blog, I make Chicken Marsala from time to time and am always on the lookout for the perfect wine to pair with it. I serve it with a side of pasta alfredo and my sauce has a slightly creamy texture, but the base of the sauce, Marsala Wine, isn't white, so it goes with many things. Which, some could say is a great feature of a dish-that it tastes good with a lot of wines that you aren't stuck with a certain kind, but I think its a bit of a pain because nothing tastes perfect with it. The latest effort was the 2000 Pietra Santa Sassolino form Gold Medal Wine Club.

Its a "Tuscan-inspired blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon, from grapes grown exclusively on the Pietra Santa estate. Sassolino translates to “little stone” in Italian, and is in reference to the granite and limestone rich soils that add interesting characters and flavors to the wine. The 2000 Sassolino was awarded 87 Points – “Highly Recommended” by the Beverage Tasting Institute. On the nose, rich aromas of cherry, sandalwood, sage and vanilla are present, and the wine opens with good concentration and a medium body. The Sassolino is loaded with ripe, mouthfilling fruit, and displays opulent raspberry and blueberry flavors with hints of mint and spice. Pietra Santa’s Sassolino has excellent balance, soft tannins, and a supple texture that pairs well with grilled steaks or lamb chops. Aged 25 months in oak. 54% Sangiovese, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy now until 2010. Pietra Santa’s Sassolino is a proprietary blend of the winery. This is a special wine not only to the family, but also to the winery’s enthusiasts who have anticipated each vintage release since 1993."

We decanted the wine for about 30 minutes, although in retrospect it could've used about 90+ minutes. It was great though- a bit harsh on the oak at first, but as I said we should've decanted it a bit more. It was also very good with the Marsala. Probably still not the perfect pair, but I guess I'll be *forced* to keep on trying.

Oh the demands of being a winelush.

Drinking and eating is complicated

Last night I made chicken marsala. Its a difficult dish to pair with. Its chicken, which makes you think white wine. But I make it with a brown/creamy sauce, not quite cream, but not too brothy, and I use real marsala wine, which is not white. Its also very rich. So maybe a lighter red? But I also serve it with a side of fettuccine alfredo. So now we're back to white.

Well, we ended up having the St. Supery Virtu which is 53% Semillon, 47% Sauvignon Blanc.
It was really good with it. I've had it before by itself and didn't care for it as much as I liked it last night-I think the crispness of the sauv blanc was good with the creamy rich food, but it wasn't so sharp that it competed with the food.

But the choice of what we were going to have with it was really a 10 minute conversation. I started thinking about other hard to pair food/wine combos - I mean, even lasagna, which I make really cheesy, is a little hard to pair. You don't what a red that's too full bodied because the melted provolone and mozzarella and ricotta will be overpowered, but its a red sauce so you don't want a white. And Italian food is supposed to be easy to pair since so many italian wines go better with food.

On the flipside, I like Chardonnay. But really, a full bodied, oaky, slightly creamy chardonnay is very hard to pair with. Pork chops is about all I think fits with it- and I don't recall seeing very many recipies in pairing books that call for chardonnay. Even old world style chardonnay, which is less oakey and more minerally, is hard to pair.

Who knew drinking and eating was so complicated?