LCBO Food & Drink Winter 2017

EGGPLANT PARMESAN recipe on page 96

A lush, rich tomato sauce demands a wine with good acidity, partly to cut through the sauce and partly because tomatoes have their own natural acidity in spades and can humble a wine that fails to compete. These wines all of- fer a medium body nimble enough to refresh the palate and plenty of fruit to stand up to the tomato-eggplant double threat. From Niagara, Malivoire Guilty Men Red VQA ( LCBO 192674, $15.95) is a ripe mélange of five different red varieties with masses going on—cherry with earthy, oaky chocolate notes and a hint of the barnyard. It has the substantial flavour and good length this dish demands.    Valpolicella is a classic choice for a tomato sauce because it has its own fruitiness and a stout backbone of acidity. Sartori Valpolicella Classico ( LCBO 378109, $13.95) is a doozy, with soft tannins and an earthy sophistication under the cherry and pomegranate flavours. To me, that “Classico Superiore” moniker is Italian for “extra intensity.” Aquinas ( LCBO 277657, $18.95, not shown) is a Pinot Noir made from grapes grown in Napa and Sonoma counties. At 14.5% ABV (alcohol by vol- ume) it’s more powerful than a typical Burgundy but that strength lifts the ripe red cherry and rasp- berry fruit flavours and gives the wine a sumptu- ous weight that matches the richness of the dish. RED: medium-bodied & fruity

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