I have a confession to make. I really thought that I had finished our series I Love Italian Wine and Food, and even wrote two articles drawing conclusions, one for the red wines and one for the white wines. And then I was tempted by a bottle of Amarone, a specially made wine from the Veneto region of northern Italy. Why not do one last wine for the series? Of course there are still Italian wines to taste and to retaste. But for the time being I am moving on to French and German wines and will be launching two series I Love French Wine and Food, and I Love German Wine and Food. But first let's talk about Amarone and its less distinctive cousins; Valopicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, and Valopolicella Recioto.
Valpolicella (DOC) is usually nothing to write home about, although some producers are said to be better than others. This deep maroon, light-bodied wine comes from the area near Verona in eastern Veneto. It contains 10% to 12% alcohol and often tastes of cooked cherries. Valpolicella is made from a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara grapes and sometimes other grapes native to the region.
Valpolicella Ripasso is made from young Valpolicella wine put into tanks or barrels containing the lees (one could say dregs, but that might give the wrong impression) of a recioto wine (see below). The mixture undergoes a secondary fermentation and becomes a more interesting wine. In spite of its higher quality, this wine may no longer carry the Valpolicella appellation and is usually sold as a table wine.
Valpolicella Recioto is made from passito grapes, those dried on mats for several months. It may be a still wine, a fizzy wine, or a sparkling wine. Valpolicella Recioto is sweet or bittersweet.
Amarone DOC is a type of Valpolicella Recioto whose sugar has been completely transformed into alcohol becoming a powerful tasting wine that packs a punch and ages well. What a difference between Amarone and its source wine, Valipolcella.
Wine Reviewed Farina Amarone della Valolicella Classico DOC 2001 15% alcohol about $30
Let's start by quoting the back label. This wine originated from different clones of Corvine, Rondinella, Molinara, Negrara, and Dindarella, cultivated in our own vineyards on the hills north of Verona. The grapes were harvested in late September and spread out on trays for about 4 months to evaporate their moisture and concentrate their sugar. Fermentation started in early February and continued slowly for about 2 months. After settling, the wine matured for 3 years in Slavonian oak barrels of 5 and 10 hectolitres.
Given the wine's power in part due to its higher alcohol content, I was able to taste it with more dishes than usual. Here are my comments.
The first meal consisted of slow cooked chicken legs in a honey and garlic sauce. The Amarone was multilayered and complex. It was very long. The black cherry taste of the underlying Valpolicella was still there. The wine was quite powerful but did not overpower the meat. I think it would have overpowered most chicken breast dishes. The wine handled the meat's grease well. It was great with a dessert of thin biscuits containing almonds and pistachios.
The next meal consisted of whole wheat spaghetti with a commercial Arrabbiata sauce that was not very spicy. The sauce, which wasn't very tasty, did a fine job of bringing out the wine's fruit. Amarone is known to pair well with Parmesan cheese, but the grated Parmesan cheese on the spaghetti sauce was lost in the shuffle. This wine became softer in the presence of high-quality butter cookies. It was excellent, but I felt wasted on the cookies. I finished the meal with a bit of Amarone on its own. The wine was not as intense as I expected.
The next meal included slow-cooked boneless beef ribs and potatoes with caponata, an eggplant and tomato dish. The wine was very long and fruity, tasting in particular of black fruits, tobacco, and leather. At one point I put too much horseradish mustard on the meat, but the Amarone handled this potential problem very well. On the other hand, the Amarone was flat with dessert, a chocolaty pecan pie.
Saint Aubin is a French soft cow's milk cheese with a natural rind. It has a creamy texture and a soft taste. The Amarone-Saint Aubin marriage was not made in heaven; the cheese gave the wine a flat taste.
Bel Paese is a mild, buttery cheese from the Lombardy region of northern Italy. This pale, creamy yellow cheese is made from cow's milk and matures within six to eight weeks. Critics suggest pairing Bel Paese cheese with fruity wines. The Amarone-Bel Paese combination was better than the Amarone-Saint Aubin pairing but didn't really make sense, even though the cheese brought out the wine's fruit. By the way, when I finished the glass of wine on its own, the wine wasn't as good as it was on its own or after a more appropriate pairing.
Before giving my final verdict, I like to state that I don't blame the Amarone for not faring so well with inappropriate pairings. I regret that I didn't have any ungrated Parmesan cheese to accompany it. I was somewhat disappointed with this wine. I expected more; having tasted better, albeit more expensive Amarones. Amarone della Valpolicella will return to my wine glass, but the next stops are France and Germany for the series I Love French Wine and Food and I Love German Wine and Food.
The 4th arrondissement located on the Right Bank of the Seine River is one of the smallest in Paris at slightly over 0.6 square miles (1.6 square kilometers). Its population is about thirty thousand but the district provides more than forty thousand jobs. The Ile de la Cite (Cite Island) was already inhabited in the First Century B.C. by a Gallic tribe known as the Parisii who gave their name to the city. Our first stop is world-renown, tasty, not very high in calories, and won't cost you a lot of money. It's on the magnificent Ile St-Louis one of the two Parisian islands in the Seine.
Berthillon makes great ice cream and has since 1954. It believes in natural ingredients and flavorings and uses no preservatives or any of that junk. It is usually closed during the last two weeks of August.
Centre Georges Pompidou (Georges Pompidou Centre), often called Beaubourg was built in 1971-1977 near Les Halles (the Halles Market) and the Marais. It contains a library, the Musee National d'Art Moderne (National Modern Art Museum), a center for music and acoustic research, and an industrial design center. You either love this building or you hate it because of its very distinct (hideous) architecture with pipes on the outside. Even if you can't stand this building you may enjoy the art museum with its collection of painters including Kandinsky, Matisse, Miro, and Picasso.
One can only imagine how hard it is to run the city of Paris. Maybe that's why its Hotel de Ville (City Hall) has been in the same Fourth Arrondissement location since the mid-Fourteenth Century. The present French Renaissance structure was rebuilt in the 1870s, undoubtedly inspired by castles in the Loire Valley. Its site was a popular gathering place, in particular for public executions. The local specialty was burning heretics at the stake.
Early in the Sixteenth Century King Francis I decided to rebuild Paris's city hall. Paris was then the largest city in Europe and the entire Christian world. Building the Renaissance city hall worthy of Paris took about a century. During the French Revolution the city hall lived up to its site's history; a representative of the ancien regime (pre-Revolutionary government) was killed there the day that the Bastille was stormed. Several years later on this same site the revolutionary leader Maximilien Francois Marie Odenthalius Isidore de Robespierre usually called Robespierre was shot in the jaw and his followers were arrested.
Paris's City Hall played a role in the revolution of 1870 and the Paris Commune of the following year; first it became the revolutionary government headquarters and subsequently was burnt to the ground when surrounded by enemy troops. The rebuilt building has a split personality: its exterior is a copy of the Sixteenth Century Renaissance building but the interior reflects the luxury of the day, the 1880s. Charles de Gaulle spoke from City Hall on that historic day, August 25, 1944 when Paris was liberated.
Etienne Marcel, the most important pre-mayor of the city was lynched in 1358 by a crowd that felt that he wanted too much power. And the current mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, the first elected left-wing major of Paris in well over one hundred years was stabbed during a party open to the public. After recovering he converted his private apartments to a nursery for the children of municipal workers. Tell me, do you know of any other City Hall with such a momentous history?
The short Rue des Rosiers in the Marais is somewhat a center of Paris's Jewish community, the largest in Europe. Jews have been living here for six hundred years when they were expelled from Paris; at that time the Marais was outside the city limits. As often when a street becomes very popular it changes its character and Jewish butcher shops and delicatessens are giving way to upscale fashion houses. Be sure to visit the rue des Francs-Bourgeois and its many fashion stores, one of the rare Paris streets that is open on Sunday.
In the middle of the Twelfth Century, so the story goes, Maurice de Sully, the Archbishop of Paris, unhappy with the present cathedral had it demolished and sketched in the dirt its replacement, Notre Dame de Paris, one of the most beautiful churches in the world. Construction took almost two centuries, and frankly was worth it. This French Gothic church is located on the Ile de la Cite and is the seat of the Archbishop of Paris. During the French Revolution, many of its treasures were either plundered or destroyed. The church interior was transformed into a warehouse for the storage of forage and food. The statues of biblical kings of Judea (assumed to be kings of France) were beheaded. Many of these heads were found during a 1977 excavation. They are now displayed in the Musee de Cluny located in the fifth arrondissement. Notre Dame's organ was been computerized, requiring three local-area networks. If you like touring churches, this district is home to several other historic ones, but if you ask me none of them are in the same league as Notre Dame de Paris.
Of course you don't want visit Paris without sampling fine French wine and food. In my article I Love French Wine and Food - An Alsace Pinot Noir I reviewed such a wine and suggested a sample menu: Start with Flammekueche (Tart stuffed with Bacon, Onions, Cream Cheese, and heavy Cream). For your second course savor Coq-au-Riesling (Cock cooked in Riesling wine). And as dessert indulge yourself with Quetschelkueche (Plum Tart). Your Parisian sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to suggest appropriate wines to accompany each course.
Levi Reiss has sinced written about articles on various topics from Touring Italy, Travel and Leisure and Food and Drink. Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language communit. Levi Reiss's top article generates over 450000 views. to your Favourites.