Wine writers are often suggesting that certain wines are best when paired with a particular delicacy, like roast duck, foie gras, kobe steak tartare. Really, how many times this year have you eaten rabbit?  Tonight we will navigate away from the three stars of Michelin, and wade through the depths of American gastronomy into the genre of culinary delights affectionately known as ‘junk food’.  We have unofficially partnered with some of the North End’s premier sources of our own guilty pleasures (White Hen Pantry and CVS) to procure a veritable feast, full with natural and artificial flavors and colors.  How will our favorite new Lambrusco fare when put to the test against the intensely satisfying, slightly alarming flavors in pizza-flavored Combos?  Let’s find out!

2009 Bodegas Garciarevalo “Casamaro” Rueda, Spain

tonight’s pairing: Cool Ranch Doritos

Garciarevalo is a family owned winery established in 1991.  Located in the town of Matapozuelos in the heart of Rueda, they specialize in Verdejo, with additional plantings of Viura. They have 40 hectares of vines that are over 100 years old, including Verdejo vines that are up to 130 years old. The unique qualities of this site are evident in the soils that differ from most other areas of Rueda. The soil here is sand that allows for excellent drainage and greater differences between day and night temperatures. Long winters with late frosts combine with hot and dry summers, creating an ideal situation to cultivate grapes with the perfect balance of sugar and acidity. This is an ideal summer quaffer loaded with bright, tangy fruit and racy acidity.  The blend is roughly 90% verdejo and 10% viura, but who’s counting. This was possibly the best pairing of the night!  You must try it!

2009 Proprietá Sperino, Rosa del Rosa, Nebbiolo Rosato, Lessona, Piedmont

tonight’s pairing: Munchos, Funyons

This wine’s arrival each spring is hotly awaited but us here at the Bottega. Why? Well, of course we have a special place in our hearts for all wine Piemontese, and rosé is just so damn fun to drink!  Add to that that this is a mountain wine born of nebbiolo grapes by one of the master producers of the Alto-Piemonte, and BAM! – instant favorite (though we have enjoyed it for years now).  Monte Rosa (aka the Matterhorn) is the Alp’s second highest peak behind Monte Bianco and the glacial moraine surrounding its base is home to some special wines.  This is the saignée (bled wine) from the prestigious Lessona red wine produced by Paolo de Marchi at his family’s generational property. Nebbiolo loves salty and savory - so both options worked well - not a revelation, but definitely enjoyable.

2009 Venturini Baldini, Lambrusco dell’Emilia, Emilia-Romagna

tonight’s pairing: Pizza Flavored Combos

It took very little convincing for us to fall in love with this little wine from north of the Apennine hills on the outskirts of Parma (indisputable food capital of Europe). The Venturini family has inhabited their farm of mixed agriculture since the early 1800’s and has continued their dedication to tradition with an eye on the future.  On the 50 or so hectares they grow a combination of long-time native grape varieties such as malvasia, marzemino and Lambrusco maestri, as we are enjoying here, as well as some more innovative and well known grapes such as chardonnay and cabernet franc. You know us – we cannot resist a nice refreshing fizzy red wine, especially lambrusco (a.k.a. lambrizzle, fo-shizzle).  As expected, complete home run of a pairing!

2005 Mathieu Coste, Biau!, Coteaux du Giennois, Haut-Loire, France

tonight’s pairing: Fritos

It’s no secret around here that the Loire Valley of France is home to some of our favorite wines; from petit vins like this one to the grand vins of producers like Clos Rougard and Nicolas Joly.  This little wine was a revelation this past week as it made its US debut thanks to one of our favorite local importers, Andrew Bishop of OZ Wine Co. His has a particular knack for finding those rare gems in the rough all the while knowing that we here at the shop are eager to share his discoveries.  The Coteaux du Giennois is a funky little Loire AOC, located closer to Chablis than the heart of the traditional “Loire” (Angers, Touraine, etc.).  Mathieu Coste is a natural winemaker that specializes in gamay/pinot noir blends as are customary to this tiny region.  His vinification is simple (native yeasts, little oak, blah, blah, blah) and hands off though masterfully controlled to berth a wine that has a true sense of place.  Indeed we love the Loire!  As far as the pairing went, this wine seemed to be the crankiest with the junk foods. It’s just so pure and fresh that it was a bit awkward with the greasiness.  Maybe with French Onion Dip…

2009 Fattoria Le Terrazze “Praeludium”, Rosso Conero, Le Marche, Italy

tonight’s pairing: Cheese Puffs

Some of you may have had the pleasure of meeting the world’s biggest Bob Dylan fan, Antonio Terni, right here in the shop some time back.  Dylan fan and winemaker extraordinaire Terni is arguably the top producer of red wine in Le Marche, on the slopes of Monte Conero just outside of Ancona on the Adriatic coast.  Praeludium is a new wine from Antonio through which he wishes to present a lovely, easy drinking and fresh expression of the local montepulciano grape variety.  You might say Terni and his wines are more Dionysian than Apollonian, more passionate and less cerebral, what a perfect match for some junk food!

2007 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, California

tonight’s pairing: BBQ Flavor Chips

Michael and Anne Dashe founded Dashe Cellars in 1996 after spending many years training and winemaking for some of the great names of Californian wine, namely Ridge.  Today it is difficult to find (though progress is being made) dedicated, small, artisanal wineries looking to make classic “American” wines.  The Dashe’s bring experience learned at top wineries, such as native yeast fermentation, delicate berry sorting and minimal oak aging to the foreground with their own viniculture project.  In terms of vintage, they consider 2007 to be amongst their most successful to date.  Fruit was healthy and abundant, fermentations went smoothly and the concentration of flavors was ideal.  There is nothing more suited to the first real barbeque of the season than a hearty American Zinfandel, so with that in mind we propose some tasty BBQ Potato Chips™.  Oh, and the monkey riding the whale – don’t ask.   Another slam dunk success - truly we were amazed how great these pairings turned out!