Italian Vein Melter

Masi
Campofiorin Ripasso, 2003
Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy
Rating: 8.2







I recently attended a luncheon that took place for one reason only: For an Italian winery representative (whose winery shall remain nameless) to pimp out his alcohol for us "on and off premise" pimps to get it, appreicate it, and move his product.

As this man opined his way through the forest of misshapen entrées and clumsy salads, he was able to show his wines with candor, stating all the things he thought were wrong about the lunch (and how the wines were paired), and what was right. And it made sense.

Point being is this: He also went on to scoff at the Veronese (think Romeo and Juliet) habit known as Ripasso/Amarone. Made of mostly the Corvina grape, these two types of wine are not subtle, and any winery trying to make its name on elegance likely would take umbrage of the fact that a heady, concentrated style of wine such as Ripasso/Amarone might take some of the U.S. market share of Italian Imported wine.

I, the suburban white boy, dug this man's wines of elegance. But tonight, I drank a Ripasso.

And as muscular as Ripassos tend to be, I found it to a success in explosiveness and balance, even if there was no complexity.

Masi's Ripasso is just like every "ripassa," in that dried grapes are ultimately added to the blend. So if you ever taste something akin to raisins in these wines, you'll know why.

There was some obvious punchy fruit from the get-go, thick, round and alcoholic. However, this never became a fruit-and-alcohol delivery system. This was, instead, a wine missing some grace, but making up for it with a candied nose, and reminders of blackberry, cherry, wet clay, and cooked red peppers.

My Thai Curry sausages and rice/veggies stir-fry experiment found a relatively sound partner in the Masi. I solidly recommend this for dishes with Asian/Mediterranean/Moroccan spices.

The wistfulness of feeling the wine's acidity come alive with the food was astounding, considering how little I expected the Ripasso to have any dexterity toward a dish largely based on rice and green beans. Thoroughly enjoyable.

It's all about improvisation. An old man I've met a few times is known to say "man makes plans but God decides." I'm sure the old fart had bigger things in mind than food, but it doesn't matter. He's right. I planned originally to drink this tomorrow with some steak, but after I tasted the final product in the pan, I knew I had a nice pairing.

It also helped that Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters" was on in the next room, reminding me just what kind of improvisation actually moves some mountains every now and then.

-Justin