Saturday, February 25, 2006

2004 Italian Barolo
As you can see by the little blurb at the top, I am also an amateur winemaker. I was introduced to winemaking by a friend of mine, and was immediately hooked on it. Not only is it extremely fun and interesting, it can also be fairly inexpensive. After very reasonable set-up costs, you can make a batch of decent to great wine for under $100 per batch. (A batch yields about 27-30 bottles for me.)

Barolo


This is one of my favorites. It's an Italian Barolo, and we bottled it in mid-2004.
If you've never tried an Italian Barolo, I highly recommend it. I first discovered Barolo on a trip to see a very good friend of mine in Italy. The picture that graces the front of my handmade label is actually a picture I took on that trip in one of the many piazzas in Rome

This Barolo is wonderfully tasty, with a lovely dense black cherry flavor. It's fairly medium-bodied, however, it's packing a pretty full structure. The fresh acidity of the wine is accompanied by a lovely good fruit taste. Overall, on the official Monkeybrew rating system, it gets an 8.5 out of 10.

It also proved to be a worthy companion to my dinner this evening. After watching the Food Network Pizza Cooking Challenge, I was struck with the urge for a white pizza.

White Pizza


Simply take your favorite pizza crust recipe, spread out a nice layer of good olive oil, a few minced cloves of garlic, sprinkle with some herbs, and top with a nice layer of cheese. I used a blend of romano, asiago, and mozzarella, and topped it off with some sliced scallions.

Hope your Saturday has been as fabulous as mine!

6 comments:

Special Sauce said...

You.

I could only aspire to be so fabulous. But this is OK. I will live vicariously though your Monkeybrew. And your Hummus (which is much more do-able) You rock.

Anonymous said...

Barolo is one of my favorites. I'm stoked to be going to a wine dinner early next month—Piemontese classics, baby!

Fran said...

You now have me thinking of trying something I haven't before--the winemaking. I just don't have any idea about it but it sounds wonderful. For some reason I didn't get your last several posts and they are all beautiful. My grandmother used to make a similar jelly.

Harmonia said...

Love the wine pic!

I replied to your comment on my blog...hope it helps. I attempted a veggie burger last night - I will post a bout it soon!

Happy Monday!

Fiber said...

Thanks, Sauce!

Vanessa - I am a huge fan of Barolo. Lucky you going to a wine dinner. Take me too??

Fran - I'm telling you, it's much easier and cheaper than you would think it would be. You can buy kits, which is probably the easiest way to go, or you can branch out and make your own recipes from fresh fruit.

Harmonia - thanks! It did help. I'll have to try that.

Anonymous said...

Best regards from NY! » »