In Italy, a Barolo wine is considered a”Sunday Dinner” wine. In other words, it isn’t just a red to pour when a red is called for. It’s a true, “occasion” wine, even if the occasion is only a big meal with the entire family.
For New Year’s Eve, we stayed in and cooked together. I knew we were having lamb and risotto, so I chose in advance thge 2004 Barolo from Baroli.
Being rather young by Barolo standards (Nebbiolo, the primary grape is one of the most ageworthy of all grapes), I decanted the wine in the early afternoon to soften it. I also tasted it then, just to see what it was like at the youthful age of 5 years. As I expected, it was quite tannic, but the flavors were developed enough that I also knew it would be tremendous with hard parmesan cheese.
Sometimes whern you taste a wine, it simply begs for a food pairing and this was one of those extreme cases. As my wife prepared the lamb, I quickly sauteed some prosciutto and prepared crackers with a small dab of prosciutto and a bite sized hunk of parm.
Although I would normally pour multiple wines with a meal like this, we decided to just drink the Barolo throughout and keep the cheese as the tie in to each course. The wine and appetizers were perfect together as starters. The wine had opened up in the decanter and the cheese married exceptionally with the Barolo’s rich flavor.
The second course was risotto made with black truffle oil, grated parm and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Along with the heavenly aroma of the food filing the house, the wine was once again an excellent accompniment.
Finally, the rack of lamb with rosemary was the piece de resistance, and once again made a remarkable pairing with the Barolo. Barolo wines are rarely found under $40 and are not meant to be drunk young.
These two factors are probably what has limited their popularity in the US, but wines from the Piedmont, and Nebbiolo in particular, have always been among my favorites. Baroli is an excellent producer whose 2004 Barolo is filled with all the depth and richness of flavor one would expect from a wine of this caliber. A very good cellar candidate, it can also be drunk now, but I would recommend some breathing time and rich foods.
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