In 2009, when this web site was launched, Benessere Vineyard’s (“Benessere”) 2005 Sangiovese red wine was still for sale in its tasting room.  2005 had been a terrific year for Napa Valley such that many a vintner and hospitality professional were ready to tout it as a “monster year”.   Not easily outdone, 2005 was later blown away by the perfect textbook growing year of 2007.  Napa Valley was so blessed with two incredibly strong harvests in close proximity, that quickly the public’s focus settled on the 2007 vintages and everyone’s collective anticipation and wonder regarding when that vintage would be deemed ready for release.  Last year, also having waited for the 2007 vintage of Benessere’s Sangiovese, I could not wait to feature it in an article on this web site and with much enjoyment, featured it was. 

This past weekend I was asked to prepare a casual Italian pasta-based dish.  I immediately thought with fondness that I should pull that bottle of Benessere’s Sangiovese which I had received as a gift from my sibling a few months ago.  Much to my surprise, when I inspected the bottle more closely, I realized that the vintage was from 2005 (and not a 2007 vintage).   Since the release of the 2007 vintage, many a bottle of Benessere’s 2007 Sangiovese has been enjoyed with friends and visiting family members.   Yet in all of the commotion regarding the 2007 vintage, my few remaining bottles of the 2005 vintage sat cellaring away.   Add to the fact that one of these bottles of the 2005 vintage found its way into the clutches of someone less than desirable recently, it made the receipt of the gift of  Benessere’s 2005 Sangiovese even more amusingly meaningful.

Perhaps the greater transcending fondness for Sangiovese, however, is that is a varietal with which people overwhelmingly associate warm memories involving friends.   When I initially launched the site, while this 2005 vintage was for sale in Benessere’s tasting room, I was chatting with outside supporters that I planned to start with a simple first article regarding Sangiovese.  Immediately one of the members of the test circle beamed with an infectiously warm smile and confessed that Sangiovese was one of his favorite varietals.  The stories that followed of gatherings with friends, casual rustic meals at home during the week with his spouse and further expanse on the easy pairing ability of the varietal, confirmed my own suspicions regarding my future reading audience.  My own personal preference for my first article sat squarely with Benessere’s Sangiovese as many years ago I realized that I did have a palate for red wine and that it did not have to be Cabernet Sauvignon.  Similarly, my learning experience came in the company of a close friend after an afternoon of riding shotgun in her convertible Saab past the vineyards in the summer sun and culminated in the discovery of good Sangiovese wine.  To date, more often than not, I hear people share their “wine stories” with particular fondness when Sangiovese is involved.   It may still be simple dinners with good friends or perhaps it is to recreate travel or study abroad in Italy.  Regardless of the reason, it is more often than not that Sangiovese makes its way to the glass with a warm reminiscent smile.

Here, the web site is still a few months off from its third birthday.  Nevertheless, opening and featuring a bottle of Benessere’s 2005 Sangiovese is a delight and primed with surprise.  I have not revisited the vintage in well over a year and the vintage now is about seven years old.   Benessere’s Sangiovese (provided that the vintage was a good harvest year) tends to drink well for about ten years, as long as you have cellared or stored the wine properly.   It is a rare find to be able to add an affordable Sangiovese to your collection and find that it has such aging potential.   In this case, high quality grapes are used, the talents of an exceptional winemaker were incorporated and a well-crafted wine emerged.

The bottle was opened with great anticipation and in traditional style of pouring a few ounces while actually cooking.  The anticipation stems largely from curiosity to determine “where” the 2005 vintage has “gone” over the course of bottle-aging.  It is a delight to open an older vintage of a favorite wine and see where it has gone, how it has matured and how it has grown.  Obviously, years of memories have accompanied this vintage.  No matter when it has been opened in the past, the vintage has been different.   Over the passage of time, the wine reveals itself differently, slowly. Just as you think that you know everything about this vintage, it surprises you and reveals new dimension and elements in its flavor profile.

In the glass, the wine shows the evidence of aging as it is beginning to thin at its edges, showing a lighter ruby shade of red.  This is compatible with a natural progression of elegance that similarly is reflected by a more evolved bouquet and flavor profile.  The bouquet of the 2005 Sangiovese is slightly candied and bewitchingly floral, much like red rose petals.  Texturally, the wine falls back across the palate gently emulating a soft petal-like texture.  The characteristic plum fruit found in Benessere’s Sangiovese is now breathlessly sugared, with slight notes of lavender and accompanied by a gentle cherry cola finish.

 The 2005 vintage of Benessere’s Sangiovese presently reveals that it is capable of sophisticated food pairings (should you desire).  While it could be paired with a fancier meal, it does intuitively pair alongside more simple and rustic cuisine.   Given that I was requested to make a specific recipe this week, the 2005 Sangiovese pairs natively with:

1)      Roasted Red Pepper Italian Sausage Pan Lasagna; and

2)     Simple Steamed Brussel Sprouts.

Historically, each week’s article involves one of my original recipes.   As I have a future cookbook in mind, the recipes are not published here.   This past weekend I received a request to make something from a specific recipe by the folks at America’s Test Kitchen and the recipe is also something that is quite manageable for a weeknight dinner.   Similarly, we find ourselves in that slightly awkward time period where winter has not quite ended and spring has not officially begun.  Such seasonal transition can present an odd lingering for comfort food yet accompanied by a distinct desire for bright, fresh or lighter flavors.  

America’s Test Kitchen has a recipe for one skillet lasagna.   I elected to do a variation using roasted red peppers and Italian sausage.   Red peppers, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes are sautéed in the pan before adding Italian sausage.  Lasagna noodles are broken into two-inch pieces and placed atop the mixture before pouring a blended, chopped mixture of whole canned tomatoes over the ensemble. Covered with a lid, the mixture is allowed to simmer on the stove top.   After the requisite time passes, moderate cheese is added and drops of ricotta cheese are added across the top of the mixture.

It is amazing how tantalizing something so simple and straightforward can appeal on a Monday night.   The recipe also fits our seasonal weather as it is garnished with chopped fresh basil before serving which allows for an automatic fresh tribute to spring and flavorfully.   To tie to the basil and the spicy nature of the dish, fresh brussel sprouts are quickly steamed.

The result is an easy ensemble that is capable of invoking truly rustic flavors while remaining true to everyone’s desires for the official arrival of spring.  The tomato sauce is sweet but with zip and the chopped fresh basil is so aromatic that any sense of “grass clippings” is quickly dismissed due to a greater desire for spring and produce growing seasons to begin.

When a well-aged Sangiovese such as Benessere’s 2005 vintage is paired alongside simple, rustic Italian cuisine, the combination brings a mystical element with it that is capable of transporting you to the European hills from which the varietal originated.  It is in moments such as these that dining becomes an easy conversation and an experience.  The tribulations of the weekday dissipate and the dreaming again commences.  A landscape easily appears and anything seems possible again.