Valpolicella – It’s not what you think!
Back in my college days, Valpolicella was one of those cheap Italian wines that came in 1.5L bottles. It was innocuous, but drinkable and at least it didn’t cause the killer hangovers that were associated with the other student wines of the time. Today, while mass market versions still exist, Valpolicella can be a good to great wine. Made Corvina and Rondinella are the primary grapes, although others are blended in as well. Basic Valpolicella is a lighter wine with bright red fruit flavors and a wonderful nose that sometimes has a scent of rose petals. Good bottles can be found in the $10 to $15 range. It is a good, multipurpose food wine that is great with appetizers (and not surprisingly, antipasti) and pastas with tomato sauce. A few recent favorites are:

• Allegrini Valpolicella Classico – A good basic Valpolicella from a great producer


• Tommaso Bussola BG 2003 – A well-made lighter wine with faint rose petal on its nose


• Tommasi Rafael Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001 – An earthier style with cherry notes in the finish


• Zenato Superiore Valpolicella Classico 2001 - Slightly fruitier than the Tommasi with a mid palate finish of strawberry fruit

At the other extreme, are the Amarone wines, officially called Amarone della Valpolicella or Recioto della Valpolicella. These wines are made with grapes that have been allowed either on the vine or on straw mats. Reducing the water in the grapes, concentrates the flavors and increases the level of sugars (although Amarone is fermented to dryness). The result is a high alcohol wine of stunning depth, richness and complexity. Amarone is a spectacular, but expensive wine that will merit its own blog post in the future. For our purposes today, however, we’ll consider how Amarone influences and enriches more standard Valpolicella wines.

A new style of Valpolicella has evolved, where basic Valpolicella is blended with some percentage of wine prepared in the Amarone style, or processed “Ripasso” style, where the Valpolicella is vinified in a second fermentation over wine-drenched skins and pulp leftover from Amarone production. The result is a deeper, richer and more powerful Valpolicella that can stand up to more highly flavored dishes and is sufficiently nuanced to be an enjoyable wine on its own. These wines typically fall in the $18 to $30 range. Top producers include Allegrini, Bertani, Tommaso Bussola, Le Ragose, Masi, Speri and Zenato. Personal favorites include:

• Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Valpolicella 2001 – A great price performer and a perpetual favorite when I serve it to friends. It’s been called a “baby Amarone.”


• Zenato Valpolicella Ripassa 2001 – A rich, silky and attractive wine with a great long finish. The 2003 is recommended as well.


• Tommaso Bussola TB Valpolicella Classica Superiore 2000, 2001, 2003 – Wow! These wines are Bussola’s higher end bottling and are unbelievable in power, complexity and shear enjoyment. Very Amarone-like. They are expensive (up to $50/bottle), but worth every penny.

Tiny Sparrows
Spätzle, officially tiny dumplings, but more like a pasta in texture and use is an extremely fun side dish that complements many main courses. Spätzle which apparently means “tiny sparrows” are made from a simple batter and formed over a pot of boiling water using a Spätzle Maker.
This unique kitchen tool is inexpensive and a heck of a conversation piece for dinner parties. Guest love to watch you make spätzle, and extra hands can be useful.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour


• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt teaspoon


• ½ teaspoon baking powder


• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg


• 2 large eggs


• ½ cup milk


• Large pot of salted boiling water

Garnish

• 2 tablespoons butter


• Several tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (to taste)

Method
Put the large pot of salted water on the stove and heat to a boil. In the meantime make the spätzle batter. Iin a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg, In a separate bowl, beat together the milk and eggs. Add the milk and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well until fluffy and slightly bubbly. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter, but not stiff. You want it to be able to drip from the spätzle in a controlled manner.


To form the spätzle, place the maker over the pot of boiling water. Pour the batter into the maker, sliding back and forth to create the spätzle by dropping little bits of batter into the water. Extra hands are useful here! Give the spätzle a good stir as they rise to the surface to keep them from clumping. Let all the spätzle rise to the surface and then cook briefly (a couple of minutes, but taste to get the consistency you like.) Don’t overcook or they will get starchy! Remove and drain the spätzle with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. You can toss with the butter and parsley and serve as is. But even better, toss with a little butter to prevent sticking, then heat the remaining butter in a sauté pan. When hot, add the spätzle and toast lightly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!

Spätzle works well as a side dish and is an especially good accompaniment to dishes with rich sauces. As shown in the accompanying picture, I served it with a Hungarian Chicken Paprika. A perfect combo!