Rose Wine, Cigars and Pizza

This is the summer of Rose for me.  I have tasted and drank more Rose than I have in all the years I've been drinking wine.  The one thing about this summer is I've learned to appreciate Rose. I've been pairing the wine with many different dishes.

Masi Agricola 2015 Rosa dei Masi is no exception. I first got introduced to the Masi wines at a Amarone tasting at the New York City Public Library a few years ago. The "head" of the Masi family could double as my father-in-law, and yes he is Italian.This is the first Rose I've tasted from the family.

What is unique to Masi's Rose is that they use the appassimeto method to concentrate the aromas and flavors in the wine.  This Rose was made with 100% Refosco which is a dark skinned grape native to the Venetian region.

The first pairing with this wine was Paul and his cigar.  I am not a cigar woman so I leave that to him. He said his cigar went nicely with the Rose.

The 2015 Rose dei Masi was an exquisite rich pink color. It displayed itself and its personality well in the glass.  Fruity aromas filled the glass expressing strawberry and red berry fruit. Flavors of fresh strawberry, raspberries and cherries filled my mouth with a slight lemon lime on the finish.  The wine was nicely balanced with a long finish.

I went out of the box and paired this with a homemade grilled margarita pizza. Honestly the Rose held up to it.  The pizza wasn't overpowering the wine. This is a very nice Rose and reasonably priced at $14.99

Take Advantage Of Masi Wines: 6 Things I Learned

Last week I attended one of the Winter Dining Series at the Culinary Institute of America titled "Six Generations of Venetian Wine." The dinner was all about the Boscaini family and Masi wines.  The speaker was Tony their US Director for their portfolio.

Here are six things I learned about Masi wines and wines from the Veneto region of Italy.

• Any year ending in 2 was a bad year except 2012.  
• 1992 - bad weather harvest ruined grapes
• 2002 - hail
• Valpolicella is like Beaujolais.  
• Valpolicella - fresh grapes
• Campofiorin is "Baby Amarone" one-third of the grapes at harvest sit on bamboo racks to dry 6 weeks while the rest is crushed and put into tanks then the grapes that were drying on the racks are then crushed and added to the tanks. 
• Campofiorin is Valpolicella with semi dried grapes added back into it.  Wine is intense with dark cherry and more tannins.  Can age for 15 to 20 years.
• They age Amarone on Slovenia wood because it is very mild and the Corvina grape is very delicate.
• Amarone must age 2 years in large barrels then 6 months in bottle before it's released.

Of course I can't let you go without learning about the foods we paired the wines with.  All pairings were excellent!  The Sea Bass was a tad bit salty and I loved having the Formaggi for dessert.  Having cheese instead of some rich sweet dessert lessens the food hangover for the next day.