If there’s one thing I really enjoy, it’s sharing a quick lunch with my son after picking him up from school. Federico has just turned eighteen, but he has already begun his journey into the world of wine, both by attending a WSET Level 2 course and by taking part in several tastings with the friends of vinodabere.it.
Sharing lunch with him has now become a perfect opportunity to “try something interesting”, and today I had a bottle ready to be opened: a Brunello di Montalcino 2015 from Carpineto. The best thing we could do was to sit down in Testaccio and let ourselves be accompanied by a nice lunch prepared by my friends at Conciabocca.
And since we had such a good bottle to share, I extended the invitation to my friends Andrea and Stefano, who—unsurprisingly—were more than happy to join the initiative…
We’ve long since lost the habit of heavy lunches, so we relied on Giulio Burtone, the chef, to guide us toward the right pairings. A small taste of carbonara, a Mangalitza pork belly from free-range farms in the Monti Volsini with pumpkin cream (wow!), and a cheese board—that’s how we did justice to our bottle.
Of course, we opened and tasted the wine before the food arrived.
From a Brunello di Montalcino 2015, a warm and dry vintage, I must admit we had high expectations.
In the glass, a beautiful ruby red—perhaps even a shade deeper than ruby—with an unmistakable nose where cherry takes the lead. The wine certainly lived up to expectations, showing the structure and elegance we were hoping to find.
It accompanied the entire lunch beautifully, even during the “risky” carbonara tasting, which we simply couldn’t refuse. We kept returning to the glass, discovering along the way a gentle spicy note that added even more appeal to the wine.
It’s wonderful to take a break like this.
A weekday lunch, not for work but simply for pleasure. A real luxury.
An even greater luxury when you are spoiled by a Brunello like this one from Carpineto.
