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via StarChefs.com

Oliveto Sommelier Esteban Brunello has recently been featured in a StarChefs article, talking about some of his favorite pairings with with Executive Chef Jonah’s unique dishes. A quote:

enlargeWineSagrantino di Montefalco, Colpetrone, Umbria, 2007DishPotato-wrapped Pigeon-stuffed Quail, Farro, Wild Mushrooms, and Truffle SugoPairing Note“These Paine Farms pigeons and Wolf Ranch quail are the best I’ve ever had,” says Rhodehamel. So why choose between the two, when you could serve one stuffed inside the other! The slow-cooked farro and onion crema anchor the plate, and the earth notes continue with bluefoot and hedgehog mushrooms (stuffed in the quail, alongside the pigeon). Perigord truffles and pigeon sugo intensify and unify the other components, whose execution is a prime example of referencing historical cooking while applying modern technique.
The variety and number of earth notes in the dish set our expectations on a big wine, so Brunello brought two. The first, a Santenay Gravieres from Paul Chapelle (2005), is an “outstanding wine at a good price, with light cherries, raspberries, some floral notes, and a little bit of licorice.” Not the big wine we were anticipating, but Brunello explained that the Santenay has good earth notes with a subtle gamey quality that pulled together the mushroom and game flavor of the pigeon.
To exemplify a more classic pairing, Brunello poured a Sagrantino because, “people expect a denser, heavier wine with gamey flavors.” We liked the matching complexity of the dish and this wine, with less fruit and more earth tones. “This particular Sagrantino is not so tannic as others,” explained our sommelier, “so it’s perfect for someone who wants a heavier wine, because more tannins would overwhelm the dish.”

Wine: Sagrantino di Montefalco, Colpetrone, Umbria, 2007

Dish: Potato-wrapped Pigeon-stuffed Quail, Farro, Wild Mushrooms, and Truffle Sugo

Pairing Note: …The variety and number of earth notes in the dish set our expectations on a big wine, so Brunello brought two. The first, a Santenay Gravieres from Paul Chapelle (2005), is an outstanding wine at a good price, with light cherries, raspberries, some floral notes, and a little bit of licorice.” Not the big wine we were anticipating, but Brunello explained that the Santenay has good earth notes with a subtle gamey quality that pulled together the mushroom and game flavor of the pigeon.

To exemplify a more classic pairing, Brunello poured a Sagrantino because, people expect a denser, heavier wine with gamey flavors. We liked the matching complexity of the dish and this wine, with less fruit and more earth tones.This particular Sagrantino is not so tannic as others, explained our sommelier, so it’s perfect for someone who wants a heavier wine, because more tannins would overwhelm the dish.

Read the rest here.