Copertino

[Thomas]

Copertino; Faunus; 1999; Puglia; $11.00

From negro amaro and malvasia nero grapes produced at a cooperativa. Deep, dark, some cherry but lots of coffee/chocolate tannin, not to mention alcohol. Quite a lot of wine for its price.

Ever have cavatelli pasta? When I was a child I called them "bullets" because their size and shape reminded me of the Lone Ranger bullets I had for my Lone Ranger pistol. A cavatelli is about an inch long, rolled pasta with ridges. My mother made it truly al dente, and it lends itself wonderfully to a chewy consistency.

I had cavatelli in a simple tomato sauce that included garlic, bay leaf, oregano, basil and a dash of sweet marsala wine to cut acidity. Alas, the pasta dish is great, the wine is too, but together made for a poor pairing--the wine is too big for the dish.

Filet mignon would have had a better chance against the Copertino.




[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 07-08-2004).]

[Botafogo]

Thomas, that wine has a huge fan club here (where we are able to sell it for $9.99 but are sold out). We have another Copertino from Palamà that is a tad lighter and less expensive. All around a great value zona...