MIKE RICCETTI
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast
    • Chinese
    • Cocktails
    • Fajitas
    • Hamburgers
    • The Heights
    • Italian
    • Indian / Pakistani
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Pizzerias
    • Sandwiches
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • Tacos
    • Tex-Mex
    • To Take Visitors
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The best new restaurants to open in 2023
    • Houston's Italian restaurant history
    • Restaurants open for lunch (or brunch) on Saturday
    • Restaurants open for Sunday dinner
    • Restaurants open for lunch on Monday
    • Restaurants open for dinner on Monday
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast
    • Chinese
    • Cocktails
    • Fajitas
    • Hamburgers
    • The Heights
    • Italian
    • Indian / Pakistani
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Pizzerias
    • Sandwiches
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • Tacos
    • Tex-Mex
    • To Take Visitors
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The best new restaurants to open in 2023
    • Houston's Italian restaurant history
    • Restaurants open for lunch (or brunch) on Saturday
    • Restaurants open for Sunday dinner
    • Restaurants open for lunch on Monday
    • Restaurants open for dinner on Monday
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

Brunellos ready for the restaurant

1/19/2017

0 Comments

 
The Brunello consortium is in town today, their only stop other than New York.  It's great for the city's wine community, one that features a surprisingly number of restaurants with Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino on their wine lists.

If you want to impress a client or a date at an Italian restaurant, ordering a Barolo or Brunello di Montalcino is usually the way to do it.  These are the top red wine appellations in Italy.  Several super Tuscans are as highly regarded as the best Barolos and Brunellos, but those usually require more wine knowledge and attention from your guests.  You’d hate to spend hundreds of dollars on Masseto and let that go unnoticed.  Same goes for Flaccianello, which also has a name that some might not take seriously.  Flaccianello.
 
However, “Barolo” and “Brunello” scream top-of-line, even at much lower price points than Masseto, Tignanello, Solaia and Sassicaia, and most of the wines from Gaja.
 
The problem with most Barolos and Brunellos at restaurants is that what is available on their wine lists – usually just the most recent vintages – are not old enough to be in prime condition.  This is especially the case with most Brunellos, even though the aging requirements are lengthiest in Italy, four-plus years for the “regular Brunello and five-plus for the Riserva.  Many of these wines take years to develop.  I had the opportunity to visit several producers a few years in and around Montalcino.  At a tasting at Fattoria dei Barbi, one of the oldest Brunello producers, the Brunellos we tasted were all still extremely tannic.  Our guide told us that Barbi’s Brunellos “need to wait five years at the very least.”  In late 2012, the 2004 vintage was the youngest of their Brunellos that was ready to drink.
 
Another issue is that Brunellos are big and usually very tannic wines that demand big, and usually, fat-laden flavors.  The most common answer I received from producers to my query of what food best paired with their Brunello was “bistecca,” steak.  Dining at wineries and with Brunello for several days, the wine might go best with steak and beef, in general, but it can complement more than that.  Legendary restaurateur Piero Selvaggio of Valentino recommends Brunello with “braised meats, any form of steaks and wild boar and pici pasta with a rich meat ragù.”  The pici (or pinci in Montalcino) is the indigenous pasta of the area, which are like thick, soft strands of spaghetti.  More than bistecca, but big and meaty still work the best.
 
In a restaurant setting, your guests will likely be ordering somewhat disparate dishes, not all steaks. But, Brunello can still work, especially if it is a lighter style.  Two I tasted at an event in Houston last week sponsored by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino were from La Fortuna and Camigliano.  These wines from a recent vintage were medium-bodied, less tannic than typical, and extremely approachable and drinkable, much more so than the typical Brunello, which will need more time to develop.  These wines would be good to order at restaurant since, while still carrying the prestige of Brunello, these are likely ready to drink now, and the lighter style can appeal to a greater range of dishes than the rich meat preparations.  In Montalcino, I found the wines from Altesino readily approachable and enjoyable when young, too.
 
I asked Joel Mack of the informative, Italian-focused Vintrospective blog, who was a fellow traveler in November, for additional recommendations of a lighter style of Brunello.  He suggested, “La Lecciaia, La Poderina, La Magia, and perhaps Gianni Brunelli.”  A few more to remember when dining to impress.  La Magia is found at a number of restaurants in Houston.

Some of the products sold by Altesino
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

    Picture

    Archives

    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    Beer
    Cocktails
    Italian
    Margherita Pizzas
    Recipes
    Restaurants
    Wine

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.