Ideas For Meals! Part 1

More and more we get people coming into us here in the store asking for Wines that will go with certain dishes- so I've decided to start a blog series which will give a recipe from any one of the amazing celebrity chefs in the world (but don't worry i'm not going to pick something overly complicaed!) and then I will let you know which wine in store we have that will compliment the dish to its fullest extent!

So, lets get down to it, because today is the first of October- which means that there is next to no chance that any of us will be getting sunburned for the foreseeable months, and that all we can take for certain now is that the rain is coming! And it seems the only escape from this fact of life

is to go away on a cheeky holiday to a country that appreciate the finer things in life- like oh say i don't know... Italy!! Now I'm not going try and sell this blog as a legitimate substitute for a trip to

Italy, but in fairness hopin on a plane to Italy isn't quite as easy an option as it used to be! But what i will do is give ye this- a recipe from Jamie Oliver's Book "Ministry Of Food" and will also pick some wines that will compliment this meal perfectly, and not only that- but we are actually having a special on Italian wines at the moment so it won't even cost you that

much! Whenever i think about Italian food I instantly always think about the Godfather movies! It seems like for the entire movie all they do is eat! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! So

because of this I'm picking a dish that Don Corleone himself would enjoy! Meatballs and Pasta!

In the interest of time and because there is a lot to this recipe that only Jamie Oliver can explain I'll attach the link to the recipe at Jamie's website where you'll find

far more detailed instructions than i could ever give here!!!! And if that wasn't enough- here you'll find the youtube link where you can watch him cook it himself! The best rule of thumb i could give any of ye who want to know more about food and wine (aside form the obvious that it is all entirely subjective, and that what works well for you may not work well for another) is that a ceratin type of dish from a region will go well with a wine from that region- not always, but it certainly makes sense if you thin about it. Generations have

grown up on this type of food, they're not going to be drinking something that makes it taste awful are they? Because Meatballs and Pasta is a traditional southern Italian dish with a tangy red tomato sauce, then you can't beat the dry Italian red wines- Chianti of course, but also Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, or Salice Salentino. Luckily for all of ye, we have any number of different varieties of these in store!!

Ricasoli Chianti Riserva 2005:

A rich, elegant and complex wine. With raisin and sultana notes on the nose. a very smooth palate and very well balanced tannins- not too over powering as to wash out the rich flavours of the meatballs, but not to weak that it doesn't compliment them either! Marked down by 20% this wine is now available for just €16.96

Of course you are not just limited to this wine, we have a whole host of different Italian Wines in store now, that are sure to work well with Jamie Olivers Meatball recipe! So don't hesitate in asking any of us here!