Falanghina – Deep Red Cellar

Grappa di Passito

It was a dark and stormy night….no, it really was. The power threatened to go out during the day but thankfully did not. I threw a small and fully operational dinner party in the midst of hollowing winds and sheets of rain.

Our drinks for the evening were Italian specific. Not due to planning but coincidentally we started and ended the evening with Falanghina. Appetizers with Vino Spumante, a couple hearty, old vintage Italian reds with dinner (ooey, gooey, lasagna – yum!) and grappa as the culmination. That’s right, I said grappa! Dare I say, it was the rock star of the evening. I’m not usually a lover of distilled spirits but due to the rave reviews of my dinner guests, I took a few swallows to confirm what the others were saying – this stuff was GOOD!

The sentimental part of me loved that the grappa was the star of the evening. We brought it back from Italy about 9 years ago from Cantine del Mare, our favorite small, family-owned winery in Monte di Procida. It came with a tag, that had No. 161 handwritten on the bottom. Unfortunately, I don’t remember any background information but like to think it was a special small batch production for the maker as well.

A little back ground, grappa is a digestivo from Italy (and the part of Switzerland by the Italian border). It is made by using brandy to distill pomace (leftover skin, seeds, stems and pulp from winemaking) and usually comes in around 35-60% abv. It was originally created to prevent waste but now is deemed legit all on it’s own.

Our digestivo was Monté Grappa di Passito Falanghina – passito means the grapes were dried on mats concentrating the sugars and making for an absolutely delectable grappa. Aged in neutral French oak barrels for 8 months, the grappa had a harmonious and elegant structure, soft on the palate. The age was seen through the beautiful, amber color, rich and luxurious. Flavors of butterscotch, almond, sweet tobacco leaves, honey and spice swirled around the palate culminating in an evident 40% abv warm lingering sensation in the throat and chest.

The warm grappa, warm house and warm fellowship somehow made the rain and cold go away for the evening…until we opened the door. We said goodbye to our guests and watched them brave the dark and stormy night hoping the lingering warmth of the grappa somehow made the pelting rain a little less obnoxious.

For The Love Of Falanghina!

Thanks to my former role as military spouse, I spent 3 years living in Naples, Italy. I loved living there – the food, the culture, the wine….oh the wine!

While indulging in the Italian experience, I developed an infatuation for Italian wine. Like many European countries, eating and drinking local is daily life in Italy; thus, I spent many days drinking the local wine. Unfortunately, that encompassed brief encounters with “landlord wine” (loosely translated, wet gym socks wrung into a wine bottle) – just to be clear, only brief encounters because I also had good landlord wine. I had the privilege of drinking exceptional local wine from the ancient, indigenous grapes of the region. One of the wines I grew especially fond of was Falanghina, a refreshing white wine with classic flavors of green apple, pear, citrus, and depending where it is grown, pineapple, floral, spice and/or mineral notes.

I always say “drink what you like, like what you drink” but in general agree with the saying, if you want a good pairing, pair wine and food from the same region. In fact, I would say that’s how I first fell in love with Falanghina, but have learned this wine just seems to go well with most any food. Seriously, I’ve had success pairing Falanghina with anything from Super Bowl junk food to gourmet artisanal salted dark chocolate.

When I moved from Italy it was with a heavy heart for many reasons. One being that I thought it would be hard to find Falanghina. Thankfully, Falanghina has been in my wine glass pretty much whenever I’ve wanted it, from sipping on it reminiscing about my days in bella Italia to pairing it with a pile of nachos.

Pairing Wine And Food

A friend requested I write about pairing wine and food. I was somewhat hesitant because I felt the post would either become a dissertation or be so short it would barely clear a paragraph.

There are many avenues to take for pairing, from mandatory adherence to a strict set of rules to “Vinotyping” and taste bud count affecting how a person tastes (i.e. Why You Like The Wines You Like by Tim Hanni, MW). I lean more towards the the later. In my opinion, there is only one thing you need to know: drink what you like, like what you drink. Choose a wine you enjoy and desire to drink with whatever it is you’re eating. Conceding to pairing the alleged “appropriate” wine with food will not make the pairing better if it’s not speaking to you in the first place. It will however, make for an unpleasant dining experience.

Taste is personal but I believe there are parameters we generally share. Most people establish some level of tolerance for acidity and most people like sweet food. There are even a small percentage of people who cultivate a liking to bitterness. Accordingly, consider the following basic guidelines; use them as a starting off point then follow your own personal palate preferences:

BASIC WINE AND FOOD PAIRING GUIDELINES:

Intensity: match intensity of wine and food (i.e. light wine-light food, heavy food-heavy wine)

Spicy food: pair spicy food with high acid, off dry, medium-sweet wine – try brut Rosé, Albarino, Riesling, or fight fire with fire and pair with a high alcohol spicy wine like Syrah or Zinfandel

Fatty food: pair fatty food with a high acid wine like an Vinho Verde, unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, or a tannic red like Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon or Tempranillo

Salty food: pair salty food with a high acid wine or wine with a bit of sweetness – try something sparkling like Champagne, a crisp Falanghina or a tawny port (think pretzels dipped in caramel)

Sweet food: pair sweet food with wine that has a high level of sweetness or fruitiness – try a late harvest wine, Ice wine, Moscato d’Asti, which has a slight effervescence, or for something fruity try a newer vintage Shiraz or Petite Sirah, these will probably be best for those dark chocolate pairings.

My ultimate advice is to acknowledge and embrace your individual tasting preferences. If you want Chardonnay with your steak and your friend prefers Cabernet Sauvignon…congratulations, you have both nailed your pairing!

~Drink what you like, like what you drink!~