From: Tuscany, Italy
Blend: 85% Sangiovese, Mammolo, and Colorino, 15% Canaiolo
Taste: A wine for every day and suitable for every meal, with a clean and fresh nose, it offers a wide range of aromas, among which red fruits, blackberries, rose petals, and the subtle spiciness of broken sage leaves stand out. Its silky tannins envelop the mouth in an intense and pure sip of exceptional freshness.
Pairing: Instead of Agnolotti, we’re sharing a recipe for homemade Tortellini because it’s easier to make (or find premade in grocery stores if it’s a weeknight and you just don’t have time). If you’re vegetarian, there are some great sausage substitutes also available in Seattle. Samin Nosrat’s recipe for Classic Meat Tortellini with Tomato Sauce yields four servings, plus leftover pasta and sauce.
Food to Pair With Rosso di Montepulciano
Buglione D'Angelo
Buglione D'Angelo is a traditional Tuscan dish, originating from Maremma. The dish in L'Aquila is made with a combination of lamb shoulder, tomatoes, garlic, red wine, rosemary sprigs and black pepper. It's browned on all sides in olive oil over high heat.
Garlic is added to the pot and the red wine is poured over it. The mixture is cooked until all of the liquid evaporates. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the dish, season with salt and pepper. Put a lid on and simmer over low heat until the lamb is tender (about 45 mins). If the sauce still appears too thin, remove the lid and cook for a little longer until it thickens up.
To serve the dish, thick slices of toasted bread are rubbed with garlic and placed in a bowl. Then, the sauce is placed atop the bread and covered with succulent pieces of lamb. It's recommended to pair the dish with a glass of either Morellino di Scansano or Brunello di Montalcino.
Agnolotti
A variety of Italian pasta ripiena and agnolotti are tender, bite-sized pillows of dough, plump with a variety of fillings. The cheese-based filling is often savoury and delicious. Agnolotti originated in the Piedmont region over 800 years ago, and they are often regarded as the first of many stuffed pasta types.
Unlike ravioli, agnolotti is only made from one sheet of pasta and the filling is usually encased in a pocket not too different from ravioli. Agnolotti comes in various shapes, such as those with a half-moon shape, quadrilles and figures eight.
Around Langhe and Monferrato, they are traditionally sealed with a firm pinch which gives them their distinctive appearance. Asti is the place to go for Agnolotti Gobbi - pasta pockets that are filled so abundantly that you can see their shape from the outside.
Vitello tonnato
A classic dish of the Piedmont region is veal in tuna sauce, called Vitello tonnato. This dish is typically made by marinating the veal with white wine and then boiling it before making a mixture with tuna, anchovy and mayonnaise.
Caper, parsley, anchovies and lemon slices are commonly used in Italian dishes. History records that pasta has been around since the 1700s but it wasn't until Italian doctor, Benjamin R. Martino published a recipe in his cookbook in the mid-1800s that this dish became popular.
