Buonamico wines to be paired with mushrooms

This month Tenuta del Buonamico has chosen for you its flagship white, the Vasario IGT Toscana, and a more drinkable red, the Montecarlo Rosso DOC Etichetta Blu, to suggest combinations with typical autumn dishes.

Vasario is a pure Pinot Blanc, whose 30% is put in wooden barrels, where it carries out the malolactic fermentation, that is the transformation of malic acid, responsible for the sourness of the fruit (for example very evident in green apples) into lactic acid, thanks to the lactobacteria oenoccoccus oeni and lactococcus lacti;

Malic acid is perceived as more delicate and less acrid. In order for malolactic fermentation to take place it is necessary to have the following conditions:

• pH of the wine not excessively low, therefore wines not excessively acid;

• low concentration of sulfur dioxide;

• ethyl alcohol less than 15%;

• temperature between 18 ° and 20 °

The passage in wood gives the Pinot Blanc hints of vanilla, butter, cream and honey, which are combined with the typical hints of apple, pear, mango, apricot, pineapple and quince, and make Vasario a very intense and complex wine, without however covering the fruity elegance of the Pinot Blanc. On the palate it is broad and well structured, very balanced and with a soft and persistent finish. Perfect in combination with shellfish with light sauces, baked fatty fish and white meat with light sauces, it will surprise you in combination with mushrooms, which in this season become one of the main dishes on Italian tables.

There are many varieties of mushrooms, all of which share a more or less intense aroma, a slightly bitter but delicate flavor and a discreet persistence of taste. For this reason mushrooms require white wines of medium or important structure, or even young red wines that are not too tannic.

The sautéed mushrooms, in particular, that are cooked with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley, characterized by juiciness, aromaticity and oiliness, require a dry, structured and intense white wine, with both fruity and spicy aromas, and therefore the Vasario, due to its characteristics, presents itself as the ideal.

Grilled mushrooms, on the other hand, for example the heads of porcini or drum sticks, are aromatic and decisive, with a very light succulence, and require a young but full-bodied, fruity and slightly tannic red wine. This is why Tenuta del Buonamico offers you its Montecarlo Rosso Blue Label, the typical Montecarlo DOC. Here a part of the musts is fermented at low temperatures to better preserve the varietal aromas, while a part ages in barriques for 7 months, once again carrying out the malolactic fermentation. The nose is clear, with intense notes of dark fruit and flowers, cocoa, vanilla and spices. With a good structure, on the palate it has a velvety, broad, dense entrance with a pleasantly rounded tannic texture, balanced and with a persistent taste.

In addition to savory soups and soups, white meats in aromatic stews, grilled red meats, eel, cod, aromatic fish soups and medium-aged cheeses, this red wine will surprise you not only in combination with grilled mushrooms, but also with a risotto with mushrooms or a polenta with mushrooms.

This is also the season of a prized “hypogeum” mushroom, (this means that it grows underground), the truffle. This consists of a fleshy mass, the gleba, covered by an external cortex, the peridium. There are two different varieties of truffle, the white one, also called Alba, the most precious and fragrant, and the black truffle, with a rounded, gibbous and lobed shape.

The truffle in Tuscany originates mainly in 6 areas between the provinces of Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and Grosseto, and grows in symbiosis with oaks, willows, limes, poplars, hazelnuts, pines.

The varieties that grow abundantly from June to November are the scorzone truffle, with its particularly rough and wrinkled outer skin, and the hooked truffle, ideal both raw and with long cooking dishes. In San Miniato, in particular, one of the most renowned market fairs is organized for three consecutive weekends in November, and the country is known as the “city of truffles”, as it is able to supply all of Italy.

One of the simplest dishes that enhance the taste of truffles is the simple fried egg, but you can indulge yourself with tagliolini with white truffle, carpaccio with white truffle from the San Miniato hills, risotto and scallops always with white truffle.

From a wine pairing point of view, we must think that truffles should be considered a perfume rather than a food, therefore the wine should be chosen based on the preparation. That’s why, depending on the dish, it is possible to pass from a structured white wine to a red wine with good structure.

Also in this case the Vasario IGT Toscana and the red Montecarlo DOC Blue Label will be ideal in combination with truffle-based dishes, which will be enhanced by these two fine and extremely pleasant wines.