Le Mie Cose Preferite, "my favorite things", is the theme of this month's Italian Food, Wine & Tasting group hosted by Camilla. The focus this month is to highlight our favorite Italian wines, along with a pairing or travel tale. Picking a favorite Italian wine is not an easy task for someone like myself. I honestly have so many favorites! When my hand is twisted, though, I must turn to one of my favorite grapes, Sangiovese. This is a grape produced throughout many of Italy's wine regions, mostly central Italy, but it finds its true home in the region of Tuscany.
Sangiovese throughout Italy
With that, Tuscany holds a special place in my heart as it's where I first came to fall in love with the country many moons ago when studying abroad in college. It was a life-changing experience for me, and although I didn't enjoy wine at that time, I have truly come to appreciate the Sangiovese grape and its many expressions. Whether it's produced in the heart of Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, southern Tuscany in the Maremma, Umbria or in the Emilia Romagna region. These are just a few of the many ways I have enjoyed the expressions of this grape.
The Ricasoli Brolio estate
You may recall that I featured this renowned winery, Barone Ricasoli, some years ago, and an earlier vintage of this wine that I’m sharing today. The Ricasoli family is one of the most historic throughout Italy and the world. According to wine.com, they are “the fourth oldest family business in the world” and the “oldest winery in Italy” with over 880 years of ownership. Now that’s some history!
The Ricasoli family is made up of a two-time Prime Minister, Baron Bettino Ricasoli, who also developed the recipe for Chianti back in 1872. The family also contributed to the unification of Italy and helped defend Florence against Siena. The family acquired the Brolio estate in Gaiole in 1141 and operates 580 acres of sustainable vineyards. Today the winery is led by Baron Francesco Ricasoli since 1993. He is the 32nd owner and president of the winery from within the family.
Wine selection
Although if I had to pick my favorite expression of Sangiovese it would be in Brunello di Montalcino. I wasn't quite ready to sit and thoroughly enjoy a bottle of Brunello this week in preparation for this blog, so I chose a 2016 Barone Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG. The 2016 vintage is made of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine was rather transparent in color with ruby to garnet coloring on the edges. There were herbal aromas combined with dried cherries and dried roses. On the palate, this wine was beautifully well-balanced. Medium-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and nice cherry flavors on the palate. The elegance of this wine makes it so lovely to drink. ABV 14%.
A Tuscan pairing of Ribolitta with Chianti Classico
Since time has been quite short lately and I feel I've been just getting by most days feeding the family, I decided to make the time to pair this wine with a Tuscan classic soup, ribollita. There is nothing like a good soup when the cold weather hits. Ribollita is a hearty Tuscan soup with a rather thicker consistency than most.
The name comes from the word rebollire, meaning reboiled. Ribollita was considered a peasant cuisine during the Middle Ages when reheating leftover vegetable soup with stale bread was a tasty meal. It's just one of the examples of cucina povera, translating to poor kitchen, that was an inexpensive but easy meal to enjoy for peasant families that utilized simple ingredients. That's one of the things I have always appreciated about the Tuscan cuisine I have experienced from my travels throughout the region. Simple ingredients, but full of flavor.
It was an easy preparation of this dish by sautéing onions, carrots, and celery in extra virgin olive oil until softened. I added some garlic along with a cup of white wine, a can of whole peeled tomatoes, and 4 cups of vegetable broth. I let these cook over medium for a bit, breaking up the whole tomatoes. I then added two cans of cannellini beans, fresh kale, along with some spices to include Italian seasonings, kosher salt, a bay leaf and some parmesan rind. I let this simmer for at least 30 minutes. Upon serving a slice of toasty bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil will add a nice touch to enjoy.
Enjoy your piece of Tuscany from your own kitchen!
Join the rest of our Italian food and wine loving friends as they share some of their favorite Italian wines and pairings.
- Deanna of Wineivore talks about Alta Langa: Italy's Sparkling Wine from Piedmont
- Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm asks A Favorite Italian Wine? How do I begin to choose?
- Linda My Full Wine Glass suggests we Follow the orange thread: Biodynamic Pecorino from Abruzzo
- Camilla of Culinary Cam writes about Two of My Favorite Things: Cucina Povera and a Bottle with My Name on It
You can find a more recent vintage of this wine for $32 on Wine.com to try. I may receive compensation for any wines purchased through the affiliate link in support of Vino Travels.