Each week, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.

Sticking with the bread theme from yesterday, why not start the week right with some Sun-blushed Tomato & Goat’s Cheese Rolls?

Sun-blushed tomatoes and goat’s cheese make another great match for the the 2005 Remole Frescobaldi (12.5%), £7.49 from Oddbins, made from a blend of 85% Sangiovese/15% Cabernet Sauvignon. The tomatoes and cheese provide a slightly savoury balance to the tannins of the Remole (especially if opened the previous day with InterWined’s Olive & Parma Bread).

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Each week, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.

There are few things nicer than a warm slice of bread and a good glass of wine. So, this week, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings you both with its very own Olive & Parma Bread.

I’ve made this bread several times and in many different ways, as a bâtard, as a baguette, and as a kind of stromboli. This recipe makes the stromboli-style.

Accompanying the stromboli is a simple glass of Italian wine in the form of the 2005 Remole Frescobaldi (12.5%), £7.49 from Oddbins, made from a blend of 85% Sangiovese/15% Cabernet Sauvignon. Oddbins describes the wine as a mini-Super Tuscan and it’s hard to disagree. The flavour is earthy and tannic with a nose that smells of cherries and summer fruits. Together, the two work well and find balance — the bread with its strong olive, salt, and cheese flavours smoothing the tannins found in the wine.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

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A political battle over the regulation of Italy’s famed Brunello di Montalcino has blocked the shipment of hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine and effectively holds the region’s leading producers hostage in a paperwork prison. Brunello di Montalcino is a popular wine from Tuscany, though it is unloved by some, for its smooth tannin […]

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The 2003 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Riserva Chianti (12.5%) is a wonderful wine, with a medium red colour. The raw, red meat aroma is especially pleasing, as is the light oak and vanilla structure. The wine starts sweet and finishes dry. There is no tannin, but it’s still well balanced: 8.8 alone; 8.9 with a discounted mixed case.

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It’s a Chianti! It’s a Sangiovese!
No, it’s a Super Super Tuscan!
A super Tuscan is any wine from around Tuscany Italy that “breaks” the rules.
In this case, the 2000 Le Fioraie “Piemaggio”, has some Cabernet Sauvignon (wah?) and Merlot (gasp!) blended into the mix. Not being 100 percent Sangiovese grape means it can’t call itself a […]

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At any rate, the conversation turned my thoughts to the great Montepulciano d’Abruzzos going down the hatch round here: should have plenty of time to think until police find the body.

Such impressive wines, especially the 2004 Incanto. Montepulciano is an area in Tuscany that makes Sangiovese-based wines. Montepulciano is also the name of a grape grown in Abruzzo, a region in east-central Italy.

The Incanto, somewhat pricey at £10 is beautiful, with folds of chocolate and wild berries. Nice dry, old oak flavour with hints of vanilla and smoke. Really classic: 8.8.

Found a bottle of 1999 Santa Costanza (like the character in Seinfeld) Novello from Banfi – from Tuscany. Turns out it is a blend of Sangiovese and Gamay – the same grape used in Beaujolais Nouveau, that least ‘ageable’ of wines. The Sangiovese saved the wine…Aroma was grapey, the wine was grapey. But mineral notes helped make the wine unique. Really fun, the Novello. And a big surprise: 8.4.

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