Where else would you take your Valentine??

This is where I took Christine for our Valentine's dinner, what a great evening. We had the Banfi representive, Bill Whiting there to present the wines, and Jasper to tell us about the delicious food he prepared.

Bill Whiting is the wine educator for villa Banfi wine. Bill is constantly traveling the world to educate restauranteurs and liquor store owners, as well as liquor salesmen about Banfi and their products. Bill constantly sends Jasper and Leonard post cards from around the world on his travels. Bill worked in Kansas City for three years learning our marketand developed a friendship with Jasper and Leonard.

We had a wonderful time last night. We had 5 courses, all paired with Banfi wines, mostly from South America. The first was the appetizer course. It was a Wisconsin Cheese Board with roasted peppers, artisan breads and olives. After that we had scampi alla Livornese. This was all paired with Palo Alto Sauvignon Blanc. It has a citrus, herb, and grapefruit nose and palate. I really enjoyed it, and I am not much of a white wine drinker.

The prima piatti was Lensi Rigatone Piccolo with pork ragu. Lensi is an artisan pasta, but more on that later. Just delicious. This was paired with Novas Carmenere/Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a Chilean organic wine that is hand harvested. The Carmenere grape is a lost variety of Bordeaux grown in the Valley Central. It is a full-bodied wine that goes will with pasta and red meats.

Next we had crispy sweetbreads with polenta and a balsamic reduction. This was a new experience for us. It was good! It was paired with Amado Sur, a predominently Malbec wine from Argentina. It is a deep red with peppery tones. Very rich and enjoyable.

The piatti del giorno was Tagliata "Trattoria Style" It was slices of delicious beef served over greens. This was paired with Casillero del Diablo Riserva Privada. Casillero del Diablo means "Cellar of the Devil". This wine, from Chile, was wonderful! It is a Concho y Toro wine that is great with grilled and roasted meats. It was a perfect pairing!

Last, but not least, we had the dessert course with "Death by Chocolate" and Nana Mirabile's cream puffs. The chosen wine for this was Rosa Regale from the Peimont region in Italy.l It is well suited to desserts. Bill said that it is the wine that seduced Cleopatra and Julius Caesar!!!!

Bill Whiting was so knowledgable about Banfi wine. He explained that Chile is unique in that it is surrounded by 4 natural barriers; the Atacama Desert, the Strait of Magellan, the Andes, and the Pacific Ocean, that keeps pests way from the grapes. He also told us that there are no grapes indiginous to South America. They were all brought in by Europeans.

We had such a great time last night! We were able to sit with our Slow Food friends and really enjoyed the wine and the food. Thanks for a great evening!

Mike and Christine