Another Super Bowl has come and gone and as has been our custom for the past 4 or 5 years a group of friends and family members convened at Casa Scudiery to enjoy the game and partake of some great Super Bowl chow and drink some great wines. Everyone brings one of his or her specialty dishes for the occasion. The dishes were similar to last year (hey never fix what ain’t broke) with a couple new and very welcomed additions.
Returning from last year were my Meatball Sliders, Gene’s moist & delicious Pulled Pork Sliders topped with Bill and Linda's Crunchy Cole Slaw and Tina’s remarkable Eggplant Caponata. Returning after a one year hiatus was George’s refreshing Mixed Arugula Salad.
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| Nancy's Italian Wedding Soup |
For dessert once again we savored the spectacular Italian Pastries from Vaniero’s Bakery in NYC, compliments of Peter & Amelia.
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| Sausage & Peppers |
The Clos des Pape Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc continues to drink beautifully. I am a huge fan of the whites from CDP. In their youth they possess a stunning yellow hue and as they age the hue morphs into a glistening honey-gold. The fruit was pure, balanced and focused on the palate with layers of complexity and finished with considerable length.
For red wine we began with a few bottles of 2005 Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reservee. 2005 was a spectacular vintage for Chateauneuf-du-Pape and these bottles were certainly a testament to that fact. Soft and silky tannins entice the palate. The fruit is ripe and focused and the wine finishes with impressive length. A very, very good CDP at $75 per 750ml.
Next we popped the cork on a 2000 Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia. This spectacular wine is from one of Italy’s best wine making estates and is only made in vintages in which all three of the Conterno Cru vineyards, Romirasco, Cicala and Colonnello yield outstanding results. The wine is velvet on the palate with great structure and balance. It is drinking well now, but will benefit from a few more years in the cellar.
Emil brought a bottle of 1998 Quintarelli Amarone, and we were glad he did. I have written about Quintarelli’s wines on many occasions and there is not much to say other than they are “other-worldly”. They are simply the essence of great wine making are have to be drunk to be appreciated. This had an almost port-like nose and was sweet and inviting on the palate with a monster finish. A wine with soul.
Bill, my fraternity brother from Pennsylvania brought along a couple Pennsylvania wines to try. While I forgot to open the Chardonnay (I will soon Bill) I did open the 2010 Chaddsford Barbera Portfolio Collection, Miller Estate Vineyard. This was quite nice. It had a soft palate of ripe fruit and reminded me of a very good homemade wine.
With dessert I opened what is in my opinion one of the great dessert wines of the world, 1993 Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Mollieux 1er Trie. Alas the wine was corked and undrinkable. In its place I opened a 1997 Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico. Amber gold in color with a pleasing sweet palate, it was superb. The wine is made from a blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia di Toscana grapes that are late harvested, then dried on mats throughout the winter to further concentrate the flavors. It's fermented, then matured in barrels which are not topped during evaporation to purposely allow a slow, oxidative maturation. $60 at 56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ.
My thanks to all who came and made this a great party…and the game was good too!
Saluté
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