I guess we've been on an Italian kick lately. I keep wanting to drink wines from Italy and, of course, that makes me want to cook Italian food. Our neighbors went to Tuscany recently and I guess that's been reinforcing the habit. They brought us back a jar of pesto that I've been hoarding in the cabinet, looking for just the perfect moment to bust out!
It's been eons since I've made Chicken Marsala and, for whatever reason, it called to me while I was "zombie-ing" around the aisles of the grocery store yesterday. With a bottle of Dry Marsala in hand, I was off to whip up some brilliance. On that note, many recipes, I noticed, call for a Sweet Marsala. I prefer to keep my dishes a little less sweet to work better with the wines. And the final product did not disappoint.
To pair with the Chicken Marsala and Buttered Pasta, I opened a 1985 Il Colle Brunello di Montalcino Reserva. This is an interesting wine because, as I understand it, these wine have all been just recently released from the winery in Montalcino. Apparently, the kids inherited this winery and found all this wine so they're selling it off. Brand new labels and all these old vintages - cool stuff! And they aren't that expensive! I'd say they probably retail around $75-ish.
This was my first time with the 1985 and boy was it Brett-y! Brettanomyces is a "fault" in wine that makes it smell like barnyard or horse poo. Delicious! Actually, small amounts are acceptable and add complexity, particularly in European wines (Bordeaux especially!). In America, it's highly frowned upon and stands out like a sore thumb. This was a little overboard, in my opinion, and I don't generally mind Brett. There was fairly good strucure and acidity left here with vibrant cherry/plum/raspberry fruit. Typical spice and leather notes, mushroom. I liked this wine, but I wouldn't go chasing down any more of it, myself.
It was very good with the chicken, though! The funky, earthy tones were totally balanced out by the mushrooms and the truffle oil I added to the pasta last minute to help with the Brett. All in all, a great meal! No complaints at all.
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