A Tuscan Lunch

A friend was joining us for lunch the other day and told us that he would bring a bottle of Brunello.  Michele wanted to make a dessert that she had not made in a long time and I had a bottle of Vinsanto I wanted to try, so Michele decided to make a Tuscan lunch.

Michele had some organic chicken livers and sauteed them with shallots.  She mashed them onto crostini and drizzled on a little balsamic vinegar.

The pasta was made with guanciale, dried porcini mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes topped with grated pecorino.

Pasta in the plate.  This is a deeply flavorful sauce that was perfect with the wine.

The chicken was spatchcocked and roasted over sliced ciabatta, which absorbed all the chicken-y juices.

To go with the chicken, Michele made green beans which she dressed in a kind of Caesar dressing with anchovy and garlic.

The plate 

Brunello di Mantalcino 1999 Lisini made from 100% Sangiovese from the estate’s massal selection. The vineyards are at 300 to 350 meters. Vinification is in glass-lined cement tanks with skin contact for 20 to 26 days. The wine is aged in 20 – 52 HL casks for 42 months, followed by 6 to 8 months in bottle before release. This is an elegant wine with hints of red and black fruit, tobacco, violets with a very pleasing finish and long after taste. The wine was drinking very well and was a perfect combination with the food.

Dessert was the Torta Sbrisolona, basically a giant buttery cookie filled and topped with almonds.  To eat it, you just break off a piece.

Vinsanto del Chianti Classico 2008 Meleto made from Sangovese, Malvasia Nera and Trebbiano Toscano. Fermentation and maturation takes place in sealed carati, traditional small barrels, of acacia and cherry wood and kept in rooms with great seasonal variations in temperature. The carati are only filled to 70% and aging lasts for 4 to 5 years. This is a deeply flavored dessert wine with hints of dried fruit, honey and apricot with a touch of spice. It seemed as if the dessert and the wine were made for each other.