Chianti

[evileroy]

Does anyone know what is generally consumed with a Chianti...(foodwise..)?

[Bucko]

Fava beans........ [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Innkeeper]

Hi Evilroy, and welcome to the Wine Board. Pasta and any other Italian dish that has tomatoes in it, including heavy meat dishes. Please forgive our moderator as he doesn't care for Italian wines. That is one of the things that makes him a little strange.

[mrdutton]

Bucko - don't forget the kidney along with the fava beans.

LMAO!!!!

[Bucko]

I thought it was liver...... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]

[barnesy]

I tend to avoid serving chianti with pasta. It'll do in a pinch, but its not my favorite match. Tuscany, the home of chianti, is a major anitpasta area. Serve it with steaks and meat dishes without major tomatoes. It can handle some, but not much if thats the major source of your dish's flavor.

Barnesy

[Innkeeper]

Barnsey, Chianti is a highly acidic wine as are most other Italian reds ending in a vowel. It takes an acidic wine to neutralize acidic food; as in acid with acid, sweet with sweet. Hardly any food is more acidic than tomatoes. Therefore Chianti is highly recommended for any Italian dish containing them from pasta to beef. If you check past posts by Randy Caparoso, a true expert on food and wine matching you will find dozens of recommendations along these lines, e.g. http://www.wines.com/ubb2/Forum37/HTML/000378.html

[Botafogo]

IK, Chianti is SUPPOSED to be a highly acidic wine that can deal with anything from Red Sauce Pasta to Pork Teriaki BUT the internationalization of styles in Italy has affected no wine more than Chianti. So, it is harder and harder to find one that meets your memories of the style.

As to the "ending in a vowel" bit, what about

Amarone
Ciro
Bardolino
Ripasso
Salice Salentino
Lacrima de Morro d'Alba
ect

that are NOT acidic?

Roberto

[Innkeeper]

Said most, not all. Never say never, all, et al. Have had Salice Salentino that had primitivo in the blend to give it a shot of acid.

[mrdutton]

You are correct, it was liver, not kidney..... my wife reminded me of my error!

Didn't read the book, didn't see the movie. But my wife and my neighbor friend have and they just love that part:

"I had his liver with some fava beans and a fine Chianti........"

[Botafogo]

and he pronounces the second sylable in Chianti like "ant" (sounds like Archie Bunker)!

[joeyz6]

Almost every word in Italian ends in a vowel, and those that don't are usually foreign words that found their way into the language.

[Innkeeper]

Very perceptive. If they had stuck with their own grapes, most would have a respectable level of acid. However, the now grow and label wines with names like merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and chardonnay.

[barnesy]

Sorry IK,

Just don't believe in adding acid to tomatoes...might as well just save myself the trouble and suck down a car battery. It just don't taste good to me. I keep barberas and chiantis away from predominently tomato dishes and find myself, and my guests a lot happier. I may be an ignorant fool, but wine/food is all about subjectivity. And if my tongue and the tongue of my guests like it, I'll stick with it. Thats the name of the game.

Barnesy

[Thomas]

I'll take a southern Italian red over Chianti for rich tomato sauce; we have had this discussion before. Acidic food matched with deep fruit/low acid wine creates balance in contrast. Acidic wine with acidic food might work, but it is not as much fun. Chianti does much better, in my opinion, with salty cheeses and meats.

[winedope]

I'd have to go with IK on this one. I prefer Chianti with strong flavors to match- ie. tomatoes. Further, as a part-time caterer, I can tell you that this is also the trend with most of the party/function guests I've seen who have been presented with a choice. Maybe it's a New England type thing...

[This message has been edited by winedope (edited 11-22-2001).]

[Thomas]

I don't want to sound elitist, but the last thing I would do is pattern my beliefs after the "party" crowd. As for Chianti with strong tastes: sharp cheese, hams, et al, are strong tastes; they just aren't acidic like tomato, and they go better with Chianti, or is it the other way around???

[winedope]

I'm not "patterning my beliefs after the party crowd", I'm merely making an observation about the choices I've seen made.
Everyone has their own taste preferences- that's why there are so many choices available out there. I don't think that anyone can say, beyond general guidelines about which foods and wines affect each other adversely, who should drink/eat what
with whatever else.

[Thomas]

If we did not have different experiences and different preferences we would have little to discuss on this or any other board. And so you can see that I never said what you or anyone "should" eat with wine. I said what technically happens when acidity in wine meets strong tasting food, as opposed to when acid meets acid. And I pointed out that some foods have strong tastes and flavors yet they may not necessarily have high acidity. In other words, acidity doesn't mean strong flavors.

In my years of teaching people about the relationship between wine and food I have never taught that one "should" do anything. I try to teach people the facts and ask that they explore those facts. But I also know that many people simply cannot focus the way a trained person focuses on the relationship between wine and food, and so, many people like what they like, in spite of the fact that what they like might be contrary to what the facts say work best.

[winedope]

I agree that facts are important, and appreciate the knowledge and information available from trained people, whatever their area of expertise.
However, regardless of what the facts say (whoever they come from), my final decision on a pairing will be made by what my tastes and those of the people I am eating with. This is not just my thought- I have seen it expressed by others on this board.
The idea that Chianti goes better with foods such as cheeses and hams than tomato based dishes is an opinion. For that matter, so is the opposite view.
Certainly, topics such as this do make for interesting and informative discussion, allowing everyone to express their own opinions and preferences. I am glad that there is such a forum available to us all.