Celebrating the Holidays with Albino Armani and the Weekly Menu featuring Leftovers
Suzanne of Vigneto Communications invited me to join her in a Webinar learning about Albino Armani Wines. I was provided with 4 bottles of wine for tasting purposes. No monetary compensation was given and all opinions and writings are strictly my own.
I decided to open up the Cuslanos Amarone Del Valpolicella to pair with our traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner.
There was a snafu in delivery of these wines so I didn't get them until after the webinar where some of them were opened and tasted by other guests while we spoke with the owner of this family run winery, Albino himself.
Albino Armani is very passionate about his wines and spoke a mile a minute about them. All in Italian. Susannah graciously translated the gist of the conversation with us. Here are some key notes that stucke with me about these wines.
This is the 16th generation of the Armani family who have been making wines for over 400 years.
They are located in Northeast Italy and have vineyards in three regions.
They use indigenous grapes, Veneto, Trenton-Alto Adobe and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
Their vineyards are surrounded by mountains.
The Prosecco, grown in a mountainous area, is quite different than the Porsecco's normally available.
Their wines are easily available at Total Wine Stores, country wide.
I have yet to open the Prosecco or the two vintages of Pinot Grigio that was sent. I am looking forward to doing so over this holiday season and will certainly shared those experiences with you as well.
Should those wines be of the same quality of this Amarone Del Valpolicella, I am in for a wonderful treat. According to the tech sheet given, this wine is named after Cuslanus, an ancient god worshipped in Valpolicella at the time of
the Etruscans more than 2000 years ago. Cuslanus was connected to the idea
of the passing of time, just as this wine needs a long time to fully express its
complex personality that evolves into balsamic and ethereal scents, endowing
each glass with elegance and balance.
I opened the 2015 vintage and poured myself a glass as I was doing last minute dinner prep before my guests arrived. This wine was very smooth with a brightness that surprised me. It is aged for at least 4 years before release to the public and it would be a wonderful wine to keep in your cellar for a few years for more aging, IF you have more willpower than I LOL.
This vintage is $59.99 at Total Wines. They have recently opened a Total Wines about an hour from me in Michigan. I haven't yet gotten over there to visit but I have a list of wines for when I do and this one is at the top. It was a wonderful pairing with all the earthy flavors I served up yesterday for dinner. I know it will pair very well with other holiday menus I have planned for the season.
Well I'm having a good start on my Leftover Makeovers already. The turkey frame is simmering away with the aromatics to become Turkey Frame Soup for dinner tonight. I was getting worried that I was going to have to make another batch of Cranberry Sauce in order to make and share the Cranberry Vinaigrette but I had just enough left to squeak some out. You will find that recipe at the bottom of this post.
This vinaigrette is going to dress a salad of baby greens, red pears, pecans and cranberry cinnamon goat cheese. The Lents family is coming for dinner tonight and I am feeding them leftovers. My main course is Thanksgiving Leftover Stuffed Potatoes. You will find that recipe on the blog this Sunday.
I hope that you all had just as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I. I love Thanksgiving and I normally keep it pretty traditional. Not only do I love all those comforting foods filled with memories of holidays past but I look forward to all those leftover meals.
This year I am trying a few new recipes. The salad dressing and the potatoes that I'm serving tonight are both new to the rotation. The Kielbasa Pasta bake is also new this year and I diced up some of the leftover turkey for the freezer. I'm going to pull that out for a new Taco Tuesday recipe.
Sunday, we are having a memorial luncheon for the Teen's biological Mom. This is going to be a tough holiday season for her. I hope that she finds comfort in our support and love.
That lunch will be our main meal, so turkey sandwiches for dinner is perfect. The rest of the week is pretty quiet as life returns to normal before the next batch of holiday preparations.
Bright and tart this vinaigrette starting with leftover cranberry sauce is the perfect dressing for a seasonal salad, complementing fall and winter flavors.
Prep time: 3 MinTotal time: 3 Min
Ingredients
1/2 c. leftover cranberry sauce
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. water
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Place the cranberry sauce, vinegar, oil and water in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, adding additional water, if needed, to reach desired consistency.
We've been to the new Total Wine in Ann Arbor a couple of times and it's an amazing and enormous store with a huge selection of wines.I hope you like it when you get there!
I enjoy getting comments and feedback from my audience. Please let me know what you think, keeping in mind that we are all entitled to our own beliefs and opinions. I am happy to hear yours as long as they are stated nicely.
We've been to the new Total Wine in Ann Arbor a couple of times and it's an amazing and enormous store with a huge selection of wines.I hope you like it when you get there!
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I have been before when our daughter lived in Florida. It is an amazing store and I'm very excited.
DeleteThe cranberry vinaigrette looks delicious. I think all the leftovers of turkey dinner are delicious. !
ReplyDeleteMe too Cathy. Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely.
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