It's winter, it is cold and sunny or cold an grey as the weather chooses and that means an ideal, warming, late and long Sunday lunch is in order. The Ox cheeks were cooked long and slow, really long and very slow, such that they fell apart with a deeply satisfying richness and demanded to be over-eaten.
Having cooked Ox cheek previously I wanted something that would pull its weight and, despite having marinated the meat for more than 24 hours in a bottle of Errazuriz Coastal Series Pinot Noir, I went for:
Week V (2109) Masi Campofiorin, Rosso del Veronese IGT 2015. Waitrose £9.74
This did the job very nicely, thank you. In fact so nicely I find myself feeling rather pleased that I bought two bottles and only opened one. It was rich and fruity, in a cherries and berries kind of way, but had good tannins and typical Italian acidity that made it a well-rounded pleasure.
I have for quite a long time been a fan of Valpolicella, in all its forms, as I may have mentioned in the past (not that I expect anyone will have read it) and although this particular bottle is labelled IGT and cannot, therefore, use that name but it is in effect what it is. Made in the Veneto with the three most frequently used Valpolicella grapes: Corvina, Rondinella & Molinara, this wine is a 'supervenitian' for the same reason the wine from Week T (2019) was a Super Tuscan.
Masi first made Campofiorin in 1964 as the prototype for what has become the Ripasso style of Valpolicella. That is, the fermented wine is re-fermented on the pomace left over from the production of either the Amarone or Recioto styles. I definitely banged on about this on 28th June 2015, if you are really bored.
Masi, a producer run by the Boscaini family for six generations, are an innovative bunch as, not only introducing this style of wine, they have also more recently been leading the reintroduction of a near-extinct regional grape variety, Oseleta, which was at the start of the 21st century down to its last 50 acres of vines, near Lake Garda. I was lucky enough to attend a tutored tasting back in September 2016, during the fallow period for my blogging, at the WSET School where a range of Masi wines were shown to illustrate the effect of adding a proportion of Oseleta to the various blends. All of the wines were good with my personal favourite being the Costasera, described by Masi as 'proud, majestic, complex and exuberant...a gentle giant...a benchmark for the Amarone category', which doesn't contain Oseleta so I came away having tasted some excellent wine but being less convinced that Oseleta was the missing magic ingredient. Italy is not short of unusual grape varieties and I was hoping to be more convinced as I like the idea of a winemaker's efforts to maintain local specialities being successful.
Campofiorin will be bought again, especially as at ~£10 a bottle it is good value for money. Costasera may also be bought but at £33 a pop it will need to be for a special occasion. Did I mention it's my birthday next month?
Having cooked Ox cheek previously I wanted something that would pull its weight and, despite having marinated the meat for more than 24 hours in a bottle of Errazuriz Coastal Series Pinot Noir, I went for:
Week V (2109) Masi Campofiorin, Rosso del Veronese IGT 2015. Waitrose £9.74This did the job very nicely, thank you. In fact so nicely I find myself feeling rather pleased that I bought two bottles and only opened one. It was rich and fruity, in a cherries and berries kind of way, but had good tannins and typical Italian acidity that made it a well-rounded pleasure.
I have for quite a long time been a fan of Valpolicella, in all its forms, as I may have mentioned in the past (not that I expect anyone will have read it) and although this particular bottle is labelled IGT and cannot, therefore, use that name but it is in effect what it is. Made in the Veneto with the three most frequently used Valpolicella grapes: Corvina, Rondinella & Molinara, this wine is a 'supervenitian' for the same reason the wine from Week T (2019) was a Super Tuscan.
Masi first made Campofiorin in 1964 as the prototype for what has become the Ripasso style of Valpolicella. That is, the fermented wine is re-fermented on the pomace left over from the production of either the Amarone or Recioto styles. I definitely banged on about this on 28th June 2015, if you are really bored.
Masi, a producer run by the Boscaini family for six generations, are an innovative bunch as, not only introducing this style of wine, they have also more recently been leading the reintroduction of a near-extinct regional grape variety, Oseleta, which was at the start of the 21st century down to its last 50 acres of vines, near Lake Garda. I was lucky enough to attend a tutored tasting back in September 2016, during the fallow period for my blogging, at the WSET School where a range of Masi wines were shown to illustrate the effect of adding a proportion of Oseleta to the various blends. All of the wines were good with my personal favourite being the Costasera, described by Masi as 'proud, majestic, complex and exuberant...a gentle giant...a benchmark for the Amarone category', which doesn't contain Oseleta so I came away having tasted some excellent wine but being less convinced that Oseleta was the missing magic ingredient. Italy is not short of unusual grape varieties and I was hoping to be more convinced as I like the idea of a winemaker's efforts to maintain local specialities being successful.
Campofiorin will be bought again, especially as at ~£10 a bottle it is good value for money. Costasera may also be bought but at £33 a pop it will need to be for a special occasion. Did I mention it's my birthday next month?
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