by Andrew Barrow, http://www.spittoon.biz/
Readers of Spittoon will know I have a ’special relationship’ with Prosecco – that trendy, low-ish alcohol, Italian sparkling wine that I, and many of my friends, seem to be addicted to. There was a recent pop-up meal that matched Riccardo Proseccos to various courses (see Wine Passionista for a great atmosphere encompassing video) and my second trip to Venice and the hinterland to reacquaint myself with the life-style, food culture and lie of the land via top producer Bisol.
There is a problem with Prosecco. The top bottles are sourced from the steep sides of the Cartizze hill. You know they are producers most prized bottlings owing to the high retail price. Invariably these wines come with a modicum of sweetness. For the technically inclined, the Bisol Cartizze contains 25g per litre of sugar, the Riccardo Cartizze has 28g. A sweet wine you would have thought; and here lies the problem.
Matching a dessert with these wines seems to be incredibly difficult. The excellent dessert at the Black Hat dinner proved too sweet for the wine (not mentioning the ice-cream accompaniment that just deadened the palate’s responsiveness too). There is obvious sweetness in the wine but not enough to balance out practically any dessert I’ve thrown at it.
Until last weekend.
I think I might just have found the perfect match to Bisol’s Cartizze Prosecco – cookies. Not just any old cookies mind but specifically Byron Bay Sticky Date, Ginger and Walnut cookies. Oh and the Spiced Cranberry are a pretty good match too; it is just that the ginger brings out a wonderful edge to the wine and not being too sweet in themselves allows the wine to sing.
Byron Bay cookies, originally baked in an old farmhouse in a ’small coastal hamlet on the most easterly point of Australia’ are now also made in the UK. Delicatessens and Sainsbury’s in the UK stock them (and you can buy them from Amazon.com in the US). Not overly sweet and not enormously over-sized either. One or two with a glass (one really is never enough!) make for fine end of meal partnership; maybe not a dessert in the traditional sense, but still a superb combination.
Andrew is one of the UK’s leading wine bloggers. You can read his work on his Spittoon blog and by following him on Twitter where he goes by the name of @wine_scribbler.
Tags: Andrew Barrow, bisol, Bloggers, food and wine, food and wine matching, Italy, prosecco
Good stuff, Andrew. I remember first tasting Cartizze with some posh Italian shortbread that had a dash of Prosecco in the recipe. There clearly aren’t enough biscuit and food matches around. Maybe we should do a tasting? New World Merlot & Jammy Dodgers? Old skool Californian Chardonnays with custard creams…?
Actually that isnt such a bad idea… rutherglen muscats with chocolate hobnobs anyone?
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