Stay Rad

It’s summertime in California!

With all the delicious, seasonal foods available this time of year, Kara and I have made a habit of hitting up the farmers market as much as possible.  Recently, I’ve been really happy with the quality of tomatoes that we’ve been picking up.

Check out what Kara put together for us last night…

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Basil and Balsamic Drizzle

To go along with it, I made a far less impressive sandwich…

Mozzarella and Tomato Panini on Whole Wheat

For such a simple, rustic, and inexpensive summertime meal, I had to pour the perfect wine to go with it…

Tedeschi 2011 Lucchine Valpolicella Classico

I have been a fan of the wines of Valpolicella for a couple of years now (thanks in large part to Jonny Brandy for telling me to check this region out a while back).  While this area is probably more well-known for its higher-end Amarones and Ripassos, the entry-level Valpolicellas offer a great quality of wine for the price.  I picked up the 2011 Tedeschi at Vintage Wine Merchants in San Jose for only fourteen bucks!

Color: Dark ruby-red.

Nose: While the nose was quite tight when I originally opened the bottle, there were some pretty, woodsy and dark berry notes with subtle hints of bright cranberry.

Taste: This wine is straight earthy!  Tons of soil, forest floor, and crimini mushroom flavors took center stage.  There were nice notes of cranberry fruit on the mid-palate, which gave way to a long, lemony, acidic finish.  As the wine opened up over time, some serious, dark, dried fruits began to take over.

Score: While the wine was a good representation of Valpolicella, it came off as a bit too thin on the mid-palate.  This is a solid 88-pointer that is worth checking out.

Food Pairing: The tomato salad was very fresh and vibrant.  When paired with the wine, I noted a nice expression of cranberry and black pepper flavors.  The buttery and starchy bread from the panini did a good job of highlighting the earthy flavors from the wine.

Do yourself a favor…

Pair yourself a wine with a tomato dish.

You know it’s gotta work…

Tomatoes and wine both come from vines.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

What’s your favorite fresh tomato-based dish? What wine would you pair with it? Leave a comment, and let us know.

Tags: 2011, Lucchine, Mozzarella, Panini, Tedeschi, Tomato, Valpolicella, Wine, Wine and Food, Wine Tasting

This entry was posted on August 6, 2013 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Food and Wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.