This month the Wine Pairing Weekend (#WinePW) group of food and wine bloggers are exploring wines in the American edition of Slow Wine Guide, and pairing it with foods that evokes the ethos of the “Slow Food” movement.
For the uninitiated, Slow Wine Guide selects wineries that respect and reflect their local terroir and practice sustainable methods that benefit the environment. And commencing with last year’s 2021 Guide, those wineries that receive the snail or the official Slow Wine seal are 100% free of chemical herbicides, a quality that the Slow Wine Guide continues to passionately support.
Slow Food was started by Carlo Petrini and a group of activists in the 1980s in response to a McDonald’s being planned at the iconic Spanish Steps in Rome. Its initial aim is to defend regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. (Note: If you enjoy Stanley Tucci’s, Searching for Italy S2 Ep3 Piedmont which features Tucci chatting with Petrini about the Slow Food movement)
I’m writing about Prima Materia winery which was featured in the 2021 Slow Wine Guide paired with Chicken Liver Truffle Ragu Rigatoni.
About Prima Materia
Prima Materia Vineyard and Winery is an Oakland, California based winery whose estate vineyard is located in the Lake County Their 10-acre estate vineyard is situated at 1450’ elevation on red, obsidian-strewn soil resulting from Mt. Konocti’s volcanic upheaval. It is planted to Dolcetto, Barbera, Primativo, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Aglianico, Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Sagrantino, Refosco, and Negroamaro.
Owner/Winemaker Pietro Buttitta explains his “culinary background is the foundation of my winemaking approach with a focus on texture, balance, and trying capture a distinctive, Italian-inflected voice in harmony with California’s vast wine history and location signatures.”
2017 Prima Materia Sangiovese
Sangiovese, has been grown in California since the 1880’s. This wine was crafted from 100% Sangiovese from 4 different clones from 5 separate vineyard blocks; all fermented separately. Nearly dry farmed. No pesticides or herbicides. Hand harvested, hand “everything” including bottling.
Raised in neutral 225l barrels – mostly old thin stave French and thicker Hungarian oak. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Tasting Note:
It pours a translucent garnet color with aromatic red cherry, blueberry, boysenberry and savory spice, with an appealing subtle floral perfume. On the palate, it’s on the lighter side of medium-bodied and very fresh with well-integrated velvety tannins. It shows boysenberry, red cherry and savory spice flavors accented with an appealing mineral note. Medium plus finish. 14.1% abv|SRP – $32
The wine was wonderful paired with Chicken Liver Truffle Ragu Rigatoni. The key ingredient in the dish was Les Trois Petits Cochons Organic Truffee (Pork and Chicken Liver Mousse with Truffles), which is my hat tip to Slow Food.
If you’re interested in learning more about others wineries in 2022 Slow Wine Guide, click here. I invite you to see what my other Slow Wine with Slow Food pairing my fellow #WinePW bloggers have unearthed:
If you’re up early enough, please join our Twitter chat on Saturday, May 14th at 8am PT for a discussion of Slow Wine/Food. Just follow the #WinePW hashtag.
________________________________________________________________________
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and for all things wine. As a wino with latent foodie tendencies, you’ll also find plenty of food and wine pairings, and wine related travel stuff! Become a fan and join ENOFYLZ Wine Blog on Facebook. Cheers!
Copyright Notice: This entire site is Copyrighted 2010-2022. All Rights Reserved. No unauthorized copying of any section of this site is permitted. If you wish to use any part of this site, contact me. For information on Copyright Law, see the official U.S. Copyright Office home page.
I need to remember there are a lot of good wines from California that feature Italian varietals! This one sounds good, as does the dish.
Indeed! I know here in Northern CA many Italian immigrants planted vineyards featuring grapes from the “homeland”. For some reason, the Sierra Foothills seems to have the lot (primarily Barbera…they even have an annual Barbera Festival) Cheers David!
This sounds like an amazing pairing Martin. I was hoping for the recipe….off to do some research.
Thanks Wendy, it was an wonderful pairing!
We had no idea Sangiovese had been grown in California that long! Love the concept of the ‘slow wine’ movement!
I too am a fan of the “Slow Wine” movement, and too a lesser extent the “Slow Food” movement. So, often it feel like time is at a premium and getting food on the table in a decidely Un-fast way take priority. I do love some of the Slow Food movement concepts as well. Ha! I guess I need to work on slowing down more!
That combination of liver and truffle sounds like earthy, umami heaven. And I can’t wait to grab a bottle of that wine.