 Matching the right wine to food can sometimes be a challenge, especially in the world of international cuisine. Suishi, cheese fondue, and Green Curry are devilishly difficult to pair with wine. In this multicultural morass, I think of the Italians and thank God (a Catholic one I suppose). Italy gave the world the greatest culinary no-brainer of all time: Italian red wine and tomato sauce.
I don't want to be accused of stereotyping. There are many different Italian reds from all walks of life. Some are profound while others are closer to an improvised donkey emetic. But the bulk of inexpensive wines we find in the LCBO are decent Chiantis, Montepulcianos, and Valpolicellas that are designed for the dinner table. Drunk on their own, they may appear too acidic, high-toned, and thin. But matched against a pasta, veal parmigiana or pizza, it becomes apparent that sometimes the simplest pleasures are the most satisfying.
Last Friday I crawled into my house from a week I would have rather have forgotten, and began regenerating my frayed nerves by puttering in the kitchen. I couldn't swing anything too demanding, so I found an easy recipe for a Bolognese sauce by Jamie Oliver. By the time I could smell the ground beef and chopped bacon sizzling with the tomatoes in a pan, I was already feeling better. Soon, the spaghetti was on the boil and my girlfriend and I repaired to the Short Cellar to see what we had to drink. Looking at my Italian section, I realized that every choice was a good one.
There's nothing more relieving for a lawyer than knowing that it is impossible to make a bad decision. I settled on a Ripasso called Sa’ Solin. Ripasso is a fascinating wine. It's made from the same grapes as its lighter cousin, Valpolicella. But Ripasso is enhanced by an added winemaking step: the wine is "re-passed" over dried grapes that have been used to make the much more expensive Amarone style wine. This triggers another round of fermentation in the Ripasso, adding extra character and weight to the wine. Ripassos are a cheater's way to enjoy the luxury associated with Amarone at a fraction of the cost.
Sa' Solin Ripasso ($16.95, Vintages # 650713) appears periodically at the LCBO, and when it does, grab as many bottles as you can carry: it is a cheering, gregarious and friendly dinner companion. I opened the 2004 vintage that I'd been storing in the cellar for over a year. The nose was a vibrant mélange of berries. The palate had the typical Ripasso notes of raisins and milk chocolate, but it was enlivened with a flirty tang of blood oranges. Its vivacious acidity extracted the best flavours from the tomatoes and cut right through the starch in the pasta. It was a perfect match. Thank God for the easy, effortless style of Italy.
Matthew Sullivan is a lawyer with the Department of Justice in Toronto. He writes a weekly blog entry here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at
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