and more:
• I Secondi
• I Formaggi
• I Dolci

A Note from Sergio

In just a couple of days most of us will be gathered around a table with our loved ones eating what is probably America’s most distinctive meal. To get ready for the Thanksgiving festivities there’s plenty of last minute shopping going on right now. Where to get the turkey, yams, and cranberries? Who’s going to bake the pies? And what in the world is the right wine?

Wine people love this time of year, packed with holidays, for this very reason. They get a chance to prove their skills and play the food and wine matching game. You know - that elaborate game that wine professionals have created to make you believe that every morsel of every bite you take must be matched to one particular wine, and if it’s not that wine then you lose. You’ll hear, “Pinot Noir is a must!” or “Gewürztraminer to balance the sweetness” or many other exact matches. The truth is that with holiday meals there are thousands upon thousands of wines that would be perfect. Or not! So how do you know which wine to pick, and what if you pick the wrong one? Well, if the turkey’s a bit dry you don’t cancel dinner, do you? Every book quotes the clichés: "match like flavors" or "what grows together goes together." For most consumers, who don’t taste wine for a living, knowing what a wine tastes like is not possible. Even Chardonnay has at least as many styles as there are vineyard that grow it.

Here is my advice to my friends: leave the pairing game to the sommeliers and chefs who spend twelve hour days six days a week creating these matches. That’s what they get paid for and why you go to their restaurants. They taste the chef’s interpretation of a dish and then decide (or, in rare cases, vice versa). Wine should be fun, especially during the holidays. It shouldn’t be work. You shouldn’t have to stress about it. But know that every bottle of wine, like food, has a time and place when it is most appealing.

At a young age in Italy I was taught that any elaborate meal should have an arc. Just like a great novel, it has to be balanced. It should start light, then intensify, peak, and then wane gradually, keeping your interest without weighing you down. Special meals should have special wines or wine presented in a special way. They should stimulate the palate, promote conversation, and prolong table fellowship.

Few things are as special and as sacred in Italy as the art of eating. Even though every region has different foods and ingredients, the Italian meal is structured roughly the same throughout the country and her islands. And the Italian meal always includes wine.

Read on below for some suggested wines to drink over elaborate holiday meals.

My best,
Sergio Esposito

To share IWM with another enthusiast, just click the Tell-A-Friend link below!
Tell a Friend about IWM!

Gli Antipasti

There are two main meals in the daily ritual in Italy. The first is the midday meal, the pranzo, from the Latin prandium, prae- (before) dium (midday). The Romans ate their midday meal in the late morning, hence the term. The second mealtime is the cena, the dinner, from the Greek koinòs, meaning shared or gathered.

The term for meal, pasto, comes from the Latin pascere, as in pasture, to nourish or to graze. The first part of every Italian meal is the antipasto or the dish “before the meal.” Whether it’s delicate slices of Prosciutto di Parma, paté-topped crostini in Firenze, or marinated anchovies in Amalfi, these savory dishes are intended to stimulate the appetite and the tastebuds. The preferred wines with antipasti are light, sharp wines with good acid, such as the sparkling Prosecco. With Prosecco the world thinks we’re trying to make magnificent Champagne and failing, but all we’re really trying to do is whet our palates as a signal to our stomachs that a meal is coming. Some choices are:

Col Vetoraz NV Prosecco $16.89
Castellino 2000 Franciacorta Saten $38.23
Valle 2002 Sauvignon Araldica $31.11
Cavallotto 2003 Freisa 'Bricco Boschis' $17.60
Giacomo Conterno 2003 Barbera Cascina Francia $31.35

Click for last week's featured wines!

I Primi

First courses, or primi piatti (literally, the first dishes), are always based on a starch (pasta or rice) flavored with small amounts of gentle fat and protein: tortellini in brodo in Emilia-Romagna, trofie col pesto in Liguria, saffron risotto in Milan, and layers of eggplant, cheese, and maccheroni in the Neapolitan timballo. These dishes are meant to be easy on digestion (Italians have never been afraid of carbohydrates), and their flavors are intended to be simple and pure. They are never over-sauced or have too much protein. As the movie "Big Night" showed, a shrimp risotto might not even have any shrimp, but rather just the essence of it. For these dishes it all depends on the texture of the pasta (hard or fresh) and base of the sauce, but think medium-tier wines such as:

Movia 2003 Sauvignon $25.25
La Castellada 2001 Bianco $56.66
Il Macchione 2000 Vino Nobile $34.00
Sportoletti 2001 Villa Fidelia $54.00
Accornero 2001 Bricco Battista $40.59

Click for IWM's featured producers!

I Secondi

Main courses or secondi piatti are based on protein and accompanied by vegetables. Fish (lighter) is always served before meat, and white meats (heavier) are served before game and red meats (heaviest). The ingredients vary from region to region: the Tuscans prefer grilled Chianina beef; the Milanese like Osso buco, braised veal shank; the Venetians serve cuttlefish but also like liver; in Emilia they love boiled meats and sausages; in the South, rabbit and fish are the favorites. The flavor and structure of each protein craves specific wines, but remember to build up to this point as this course is your peak and the right place for the “show wine” to make an appearance.

Gravner 2000 Ribolla Gialla $89.87
Orlando Abrigo 2000 Barbaresco 'Montersino' $56.10
Tua Rita 2002 Giusto di Notri $79.69
Cerbaiona 2000 Brunello di Montalcino $94.70
Prunotto 1990 Barbaresco 'Montestefano' $219.00
Bartolo Mascarello 1995 Barolo $87.95

Click for more Barolo!

I Formaggi

The dish that follows the secondi piatti is formaggio. Cheese is all about pure, delicious fat: creamy Taleggio and Robiola from Lombardia, rich, structured Piave and Ubriaco from the Veneto, inimitably flaky Parmigiano-Reggiano from Emilia, aged Pecorino from Toscana, supple buffalo’s milk Cacciocavallo from Campania. The flavors are pure and strong, and the fat needs to be matched. Try:

Colterenzio 2001 Gewurztraminer Cornell $58.29
Triacca 2001 Sforzato Valtellina Superiore $46.41
Quintarelli 1997 Amarone della Valpolicella $299.00
Dal Forno Romano 1995 Nettare $119.95 (375ml)

Click for more wines from Quintarelli!

I Dolci

The Latins used to say dulcis in fundo, "the sweet comes at the end." For centuries sugar was used as a curative, and we all know the health-enhancing properties of chocolate. The richness and strong flavors of desserts call for wines that are specific to how sweet the dessert is. There are many possibilities here but, this is one category where most wines do not match. It is generally best to drink dessert wines before or instead of the dessert, but for something unique try a piece of chocolate cake with:

Antonio Ferrari 1959 Solaria Jonica $139.95 (500ml)

Click to download IWM's holiday catalog!