Not a big fan of it with meals either. I like the umami cheese idea, or with some Iberico/Prosciutto, quince paste or figs. I tend to think of it more as a port substitute than a meal-pairing wine.
Braised Ox tail in Amarone Ripasso and mirepoix over pasta or polenta.
Game, pork, chicken and big rich cuts of meat. And smoked or cured meats and strong salty cheese. And roasted, salted nuts.
+1
An engaging woman and a nice view…
OK, Jay mentions food in the first post, but a better pairing with Amarone you will not find.
I actually attended a Zenato winemaker’s dinner here in Toronto once and there were some common threads I noticed when pairing with food:
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Amarone is a big, flavorful and rich wine and so it was paired with big rich accompaniments: risotto, osso bucco, lamb shank and beef.
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It is also commonly used as a dessert wine as well in Italy and was paired at the end of the meal with aged Parmigianno that the winemaker actually smuggled in from Italy himself.
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The Amarone also went extremely well with dark chocolate.
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Whenever a dish was lighter or vegetable based, another type of wine was immediately subbed in for matching purposes. There was seafood and salad on that menu and they would not match the Amarones with them.
From what we were told at the dinner, the Italians view Amarone wine in high esteem and do not treat it as a mere table wine like they do Chianti. It will never be the only wine at a meal and is generally served closer to the end.
Where is Roberto??!
Braised horse or donkey. I’m not kidding.
I enjoyed a Masi Amarone at a LA restaurant two days ago. I really enjoyed it with the bolognese.
At least according to Thomas Harris, a census taker’s liver and fava beans.
I met some of the family that owns Masi when they were pouring at a Kobrand Italian portfolio tasting last month, and I really enjoyed their Amarones, which is what motivated this thread in the first place.