Tonight’s supper was Fusilotti pasta with a sauce of a few slices of guanciale, trimmed and crisped, with sixteen or so baby portobellos, sauteed in the fat rendered from the guanciale, Blood Orange-infused olive oil, and garlic, with a half-jar of Rao’s Southern Italian Pepper and Mushroom sauce. Since I’d used slightly more than half the jar last time, I added between a half cup and a cup of fire-roasted tomatoes. This was quite good with the lesser amount of guanciale giving the right balance. The pasta dish was good with a Cal version of a Super-Tuscan, a 1999 Luna ‘Canto’ (54% Sangiovese, 38% Merlot, 8% Cab - dense, dark garnet in color; interesting herbaceous, chocolatey dark cherry fruit, with vanillin oak overtones, an oaky mid palate with barely adequate acidity, and a medium-long vanilla-chocolate fruit finish. It was an enjoyable, warm evening out on our patio, no clouds, light breeze.
Then we finished with a crisp Pink Lady apple and three grappas - Marolo Grappa di Moscato, Banfi Grappa di Brunello, and Badia á Coltibuono wood-aged Grappa di Sangiovese. If anything the Marolo was even hotter than the first time; the Banfi was hot, but had more fruit than the Marolo; the woody sangiovese was best with the beginning to be past it apple, still crisp, but aged in flavors.