I'll set the scene: After a very long day at work, I arrived to find the dog guarding an empty house. JPH had done the dinner shopping and sent me the menu along with a pairing. I was confused, all of the ingredients were right there, but I searched the wine rack and the fridge high and low and could not find his suggested Vernaccia di San Gimignano to go with Chicken fricassee with rosemary, garlic and lemon, Asparagus with homemade mayonnaise and Cacio e Pepe (JPH is desperate to recreate a dish he tasted at a villa outside of Naples a couple of years ago).
It was opportunity knocking! I had put the rosé in the fridge over the weekend, and I needed something elegant and bubbly to lift my mood after a long day of bureaucracy. I grabbed Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, poured a glass of well chilled Sergio Rosé and with the dog patiently waiting at my feet for any scraps that may fall her way, I started cooking dinner.
This really is a good all around Italian Prosecco Rosé. It's a bright, bubbly and refreshing blend of 70% Raboso and 30% Lagrein grapes with a hint of raspberry dryness that is not sweet. And, at 11% ETOH there was no risk of me getting "experimental" with my dinner prep. (ahh, the things I have done under the influence of Australian Shiraz must never be published while I am alive...)
As I sipped and cooked dinner, S. and JPH came home bearing a box a Macaroons for dessert and revealed the secret hiding place of the Vernaccia. (there were two bottles in the beer drawer) JPH stepped in and made the Cacio e Pepe and we all sat down to a really nice dinner.
Mionetto is well known for producing good, inexpensive bubbly that
really adds a highlight to any day or meal. $19.99 is a high retail
price. It can be found for $12.99 and for that price it is a "MUST BUY"
- really, why not make Tuesday night a special occasion? And just so you know, the wine was great as a stand alone sipping wine,
really good with dinner and with the Macaroons??? PERFECT!
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