This month, the Italian Food Wine Travel blogging group is sharing Italian wines with braised meats or stews. It’s hard to go wrong with a nice bottle of Italian wine and braised meats/stews, especially during winter! Right? Be sure to have a look at
Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is leading the charge this month. You can read her invitation post here.
Returning To Italy By Way Of A Bottle of Barbaresco
In October 2016, my wife and I spent just over 3 weeks in Italy. It was our first trip to Italy and extraordinary it was! We spent a couple of days in Milan before meeting up with our Rick Steves tour group for the “Best of Italy” tour. After the tour was over we spent several days exploring glorious Positano.
The tour included a couple of days in Venice. It’s certainly a unique place full of history, art, romance and culture. With only a couple of days, it was truly a “so much to see, so little time” situation. As part of the tour, we managed to see the major sights, enjoy a local classical concert, learn how gondolas are made and of course enjoyed a taste of Italian cuisine.
Did I mention the Acqua Alta (“high water”) – seasonal wind and rain caused by the moon’s gravitational pull, that floods Venice? A nuisance for sure, but determined to make the most of our time in there, we leaned in like human ducks.
One night while we were off-tour, we did some “cicchetti” hopping. Cicchetti are the Venetian equivalent of Spanish tapas and French canapés served at bars and tavern. The most memorable stop of was Cantina do Mori. Founded in 1462, it is the most ancient bacaro (tavern) in Venice.
Cantina do Mori is Venice’s oldest tavern 
I tried a Refosco 
My wife opted for a glass of Barbaresco 
The Acqua Alta (“High Water) 
A bit of “cicchetti”, which are served in bars, bàcari, and other eateries from late morning onward. They are the Venetian equivalent of Spanish tapas and French canapés; irresistible little snacks of every imaginable configuration. 
Rain or shine, Venice was fine!
After enjoying our cicchetti and glass of wine, we purchased a bottle of the 2012 Produttori del Barbaresco and it made its way home with us.
I’d been thinking about this bottle of wine and our trip to Italy for at least a month, then last weekend, I decided it was time.
About Produttori del Barbaresco
Let’s begin with the grape variety – Nebbiolo (click here for more information about Nebbiolo in Italy). It is the “king of grapes” in the Piemonte region in northwestern Italy where it is the grape (100%) in the region’s two most notable wines – Barolo and Barbaresco. Nebbiolo based wines are renown for their strong tannins, high acidity and distinctive aromas. Barolo has a deeper history and is arguably Italy’s most revered wine, but the history of Barolo and Barbaresco are intertwined.
Aside, from a deeper history, the two primary differences between Barolo and Barbaresco are 1.)Different soils and climate, 2.) different rules related when wines can be released and labeled as “Riserva”. Generally speaking Barbaresco is considered the more elegant of the two.
Prior to 1894, Nebbiolo grapes from village of Barbaresco we sold to make Barolo wine. But in 1894 Dominzio Cavazza, headmaster of the Royal Enological School of Alba and a Barbaresco resident, created the first cooperative, the “Cantine Sociali” by bringing together nine Barbaresco vineyard owner to make wine that was, for the first time, labeled as “Barbaresco”
The Cantine Sociali didn’t survive the fascist government rules of the 1930s, but in 1958 a priest of the village of Barbaresco, recognizing that the only way the small properties could survive was by joining their efforts, gathered together nineteen small growers and founded the Produttori del Barbaresco to continue the work started by Cavazza.
Today, Produttori is has 51 members and 51 members and controls more than 100 hectares (250 acres) of premium Nebbiolo vineyards in Barbaresco. The vinery produces a Barbaresco D.O.C.G., a blend of Nebbiolo grapes harvested from different vineyards (such as my wine), but when great vintages occur they craft nine single-vineyard Barbarescos, and a simpler Nebbiolo Langhe suited for earlier consumption.
My tasting notes follow:
The wine is a translucent ruby color with enticing and complex black cherry, violets, dried rose, dust, camphor and a bit of savory spice aromas. On the palate it medium-bodied and fresh with moderate chalky tannins. It shows very appealing black cherry, violet, a bit of red currant and savory spice notes with a long finish. 14% abv|~$30 USD.
An eloquent and compelling expression of Barbaresco!
Once I decided to open the bottle of Barbaresco, it was time to decide what to eat, and Braised Beef Short Ribs was top of mind. It’d literally been years since we made it at home. I found this recipe for Braised Beef Short Ribs In Red Wine Sauce. We added an order of Wild Mushroom Risotto from our favorite local Italian restaurant. Et Voila! Dinner was served!
The wine was fantastic paired with our dinner of Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce on a bed of Wild Mushroom Risotto.
If you’re looking for other great Italian wine pairings with braised meats and stews, be sure to check out what my fellow #ItalianFWT friend are bringing to the table.
- An Afternoon at Castelgiocondo by Somm’s Table<
- Braised Brisket with Donnachiara’s Kapemort Aglianico by Vino Travels
- Braised Pork Ragù over Pasta + Bruna Grimaldi Nebbiolo d’Alba 2017 by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Chianti Beef Stew by Our Good Life
- Dolcettto d’Alba: A Food-Friendly Bet for Braised Chicken by My Full Wine Glass
- Farina Amarone della Valpolicella with Ground Pork in Karela Rings by Chinese Food & Wine Pairings
- Home Cooking with Sabrina Tedeschi and the Wines of Agricola Tedeschi by Grape Experiences
- Hunter’s Style Chicken and Cantina di Filippo by FoodWineClick!
- Pasta e Ceci with Chianti Classico from astellina by The Swirling Dervish
- Pasta with Pork Braised in Red Wine with Tasca d’Almerita Lamuri Nero d’Avola 2018 by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- The Most Tender Short Ribs You’ll Ever Have, Perfectly Paired With Red Wines From Abruzzo by The Wine Chef
- Warming Up Winter with Braised Oxtail and Casa Bottega Ripasso Superiore by The Quirky Cork
- What’s the Difference? 3 Organic Montepulciano: Vino Nobile,d’Abruzzo, and Molise Paired with Ragu by Wine Predator
And if you’re up early enough, feel free to join the group in a live Twitter chat on Saturday, February 6th at 8am Pacific time. Just follow the hashtag #ItalianFWT and be sure to add that to any tweets you post so we can see them.
Thanks for joining us this month, Martin. And I loved a virtual trip to Italy since we aren’t getting to travel in real life any time soon. Of course, your meal and wine pairing look spot on and perfect for the kind of weather we’ve been having. Cheers.
This looks so good! And that wine…is there anything more fun than revisiting a place in your memory when opening a wine you purchased there? Glad it lived up to expectations.
Great minds think alike. I was going to braise short ribs too but never made it to the store this week. Looks like you had quite the experience in Venice with the high waters and the scrumptious cicchetti. It’s these special memories that are pulling us through these crazy times.
Thanks so much for sharing your trip and memories with us Martin. Sounds like an amazing time was had.
Patient of you to keep a 2012 Barbaresco until now! Worth the wait, right? Enjoyed reading about your memories of Venice and learning about cicchetti.
Produttori del Barbaresco is one of my favorite Barbaresco producers and I’m sure it was delicious with the short ribs! Thanks for all the great information.
What a lovely pairing – perfect as snow covers half of the US. I enjoyed learning the history of Produttori del Barbaresco, too. Thanks for this quick trip to NW Italy!
I’m glad I live the half not covered by snow!
What a wonderful story behind this wine. I felt like I had a mini trip to Venice with you, as I read this! I have always enjoyed the elegance of Barbaresco.
It’s so nice to revisit travel memories right now — thanks for sharing yours. Produttori del Barbaresco makes lovely wines and I’m sure this bottle was delicious with those short ribs and the risotto! Yum!
I loved reading your story. I enjoy short ribs but we don’t make them at home. After reading your pairing and your recipe, we have to make this a priority!