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Red Wine Weather - And A Party To Enjoy It I love October. The days shorten, the air cools, foggy mornings give way to a crisp bite in the air. We might even get a storm. Folks who live with maple trees that turn color in September, and have rainy spells all year, can't know how excited we get in California when the first rain of the season washes everything clean and chills the air - the smell of it, the look of the dark, heavy sky. It's the time to light the first fire, to taste again those fall and winter flavors - dense golden squashes, wild mushrooms, smoky cheeses, chestnuts and walnuts, pears and new apples - and time to uncork a wonderful red wine. That wine exists is something to be grateful for, but that wine is an art, a blessed conjunction of good health, pleasure, conviviality and beauty - that's cause for celebration. Now, as I put the warmer blankets on the beds, I take a look at my wonderful reds. I drink red wines all year round, of course; Chianti is perfect with a summer pasta. But in a hot climate, all the big reds become much more interesting in the fall, when the weather steps into line. A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to get some newly released 1997 Brunello di Montalcino, one of the great wines of Italy. I designed a meal that would let me revel in autumn flavors, and drink one of those grand reds. Celebrations don't have to be huge. This is the dinner party I had, and it is just right for you and five or six good friends:
AN OCTOBER DINNER PARTY
I started with a salad of very young arugula; cool weather greens get much better now, and new crops, harvested at the baby stage, are far more delicate and tasty than the leathery and overly peppery leaves of late summer. I added paper-thin slices of fennel and raw asparagus, shavings of aged dry Jack cheese, and thin slices of chilled Asian pears. This salad can be dressed with olive oil or with walnut or hazelnut oil, and I also added a drizzle of black truffle oil. Because it is full of assertive flavors, it hardly needs vinegar. I added just a few drops of a good sherry vinegar, barely enough to notice - you can go ahead and drink wine with this salad. After the bright-tasting salad, I served a rich risotto with chestnuts and caramelized red onions. I added a tiny bit of fennel to this, too. Cooked, its own flavor melts into the mix, a slight sweetness underlining the chestnuts. Parmesan cheese is stirred in at the end. This is a superb dish to pair with a wonderful red, and gives the lie once more (as if it were needed) to the idea that meatless food does not complement red wines. For dessert, I wanted to reprise the taste of pears. Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled and poached in red wine, served with thin dark chocolate biscotti or wafers, make a perfect finish. A juicy pear crisp or a pear tart with a layer of ground walnuts under the fruit would also be great. But nothing could be better than simply bringing in a platter of perfectly ripe, lovely pears and a wedge of soft, creamy Gorgonzola. That's a dessert that calls for opening another bottle of Brunello! Look for the risotto and salad recipes in this month's "new recipes", and enjoy the red wine weather of autumn. |