I love the warm weather. Give me sun, oceans and beaches any day and I am a happy girl.
But right now I am excited for the winter season. To tell you the truth, I've wanted it to be cold enough to start opening some of the earthy, full bodied red wines I have received for Christmas and pair them with some wild mushroom risotto (which I have been craving desperately). I called some friends and decided that last night was finally the night. There is something about full bodied reds that warm the soul on even the coldest winter nights. Fuller bodied wines do have a higher alcohol, so maybe that’s the warm, fuzzy feeling I'm going for...
We started off with a 2004 Deforville Nebbiolo from Northwest Italy in Piedmont. The wine had notes of candied cherry, powdery soil-chalk and potpourri, and was delicate with softer tannins, similar to Pinot Noir. In other words, the wine was delicious and helped to tie us over while I continually stirred the simmering risotto, slowly releasing its sweet fragrance.
We then moved on to a 1999 Monsanto, Il Poggio, Chianti Classico Riserva from Tuscany. This particular bottle was drinking phenomenally well; the flavors were smoky, earthy, and full of truffles, stewed tomatoes and wild mushrooms. Needless to say, it was the perfect wine to bring out the chanterelle and portobello flavors in our main course.
A few bottles of earthy reds, a bowl of delicious wild mushroom risotto, some excellent cheese from Murray's Cheese Shop (thanks Alexis), and our winter blues were gone. This is when I decided to tell them about my trip to Miami this coming weekend. After all, I like white wine too...






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