Bolognese and Italian Wines

I had to cover a Sunday evening at Jar, which is normally our day off. Kara decided she was going to make dinner for me. Bolognese Sauce to be precise. My thoughts immediately turned to Barolo and I could not wait for service to be over. These are two of my favorite things in the world! To have them on the same table at the same time is sheer heaven for me.

As I entered the house, the smell was intoxicating. I quickly raced up the stairs to the computer, practically dropping my suit on the floor as I went. Scrolling frantically through the Piedmont section, I was reeling with excitment. Kara already had the water boiling for the pasta as the sauce was getting happier by the minute. I agonized over what to open, as I always do. Some wines were locked up in cold storage offsite. Some were completely too young. I pored over the wines again and again, looking for just the perfect one. Before I knew it, Kara had the food plated and there was no more time for selecting, much less decanting. ARGH!

I sighed and grabbed the Guido Porro Barolo 2004 from the "guest cellar" since it would be the closest, fastest, and best instantly ready wine I had on hand. (I need to get more efficient in my decision-making process when it comes to selecting wine at home...) Not to say that this is not a good wine, by any means. It's a terrific, inexpensive and servicable Barolo. It shows perfect typicity and manageable tannin levels. I must admit it was perfect with the sauce, which was heavenly. The florality was expressive on the nose and the structure was still felt on the palate, even with the amount of bacon Kara included in the dish. She knows me so well...



I had one of those crazy sommelier moments about halfway through the meal and decided to open another wine. Morbid curiousity. Nothing was going to be the equal of the Barolo! But I had to satisfy the madness. I popped the cork on the Terre di Balbia 'Balbium' 2009, a new wine we're pouring by the glass at Jar that I've got a crush on at the moment. Up to now, I haven't really played with it in terms of pairing so it seemed like as good a time as any. The wine is made in Calabria by the owners of Venica y Venica (a well-known white producer in the North) from 100% Magliocco. Stylistically, it reminds me of a cross between Barbera and Syrah. It expresses peppery and spicy flavors over the fruit of a rustic Italian quaffer, but backed by mild tannin and surprising acidity. It's a total wine geek wine and people have just been loving it.

As a pairing for this dish, however, it fell flat. Lacking the structure for all the delicious fats, it became a wishy-washy, non-descript, fruity blob. More tannin please! I think it may have shown better with a marinara or arrabiatta sauce. I will be interested to try this experiment on another day.

Returning to the Barolo, I relaxed into my happy place. Why did I ever leave you, my darling...? I may need to start working Sundays more often.