In order to ”eat my wine”, I chose to prepare a pot roast marinated and slowly simmered in a Barolo wine. Why pot roast? Why Barolo? This is a specialty entree from the Piemonte region of Italy. It has a French influence and is known as “Brasato al Barolo“ (braised beef with Barolo).
Barolo is a hearty red wine which is necessary to stand up to the 3 hours in the oven required for a rump roast. Forget the veggies being used as a side dish. They will cook up to a mush. However, I suggest to puree the veggies with the liquid sauce after taking out of the oven to help thicken and enhance the taste of the reduction to apply over the meat when it is served. YUM! OK, so I spent $45 on the bottle of Barolo, but a friend had recommended it. You see, he had been traveling through the Piemonte region of Italy a year ago and enjoyed a fabulous lunch where several bottles of the 2004 bottle of Ceretto Zonchera Barolo were served. Et voila, there was that exact wine staring at me from the shelf of the wine store! I decided to bite the bullet and pay the rather expensive (for me anyway) price tag.
The Ceretto winery:
Here are the tasting notes for the wine which scored 90 points:
“Zonchera is Ceretto’s more affordable base Barolo and it offers an excellent taste profile for those who are new to Nebbiolo. The wine opens with a dark, garnet-brown hue and segues to aromas of ripe berry, apple skin, vanilla, licorice and ginger. It’s a fruit-forward wine with tight tannins and a polished mouthfeel. It’s ready to drink now with fondue or grilled meat.”
Here is the recipe for the Brasato Al Barolo. There are many variations, so you can look for the one that suits you best!
February 10, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Reblogged this on Dallas Food & Wine.
February 11, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Totally delightful dinner! The recipe I use calls for 1.5 bottles of Barolo… one for the roast and .5 bottle for the cook! I like those odds. 2 hours or 3 hours in the oven depends on the recipe and size of roast; 3 lbs around 2 hours but if you go slightly larger 3 – 5 lbs roast it will probably need the 3 hours. I put mine in a dutch oven to keep the moisture in the pan. Delicious. Ideally served with a loose polenta as a side (I put a bit of rosemary in mine).