Vino Novello aka Nouveau Wine

The change in the seasons brings not only wardrobe changes but also culinary changes.  And that is followed by different wine choices.

November brings the release of Nouveau wine or Vino Novello in Italian. 

While Beaujolais Nouveau is released on November 15^th, Italian Vino Novello is released November 6^th and cannot be bottled after December 31^st.   

Beaujolais Nouveau is without a doubt the most famous of the nouveau style wines.  However, there are many wine regions that produce this wine and you can find it throughout all of Italy.  This isn’t your typical red wine.  It is light, fresh and fruity and made to be consumed young.  Ideally, shortly after its release.  This isn’t a wine you want to hang on to.

Vino novello is not made like traditional red wines.  The process used to make these wines is called Carbonic Maceration.  After the harvest, the grapes are placed whole (stems included) into a tank.  The oxygen is removed and CO2 is pumped in.  The yeasts that are found on the skins of the grapes travel into the grapes in search of oxygen and water.  This begins a fermentation process within the grape while at the same time, the weight of the grapes causes the bottom ones to break causing the resulting juice to begin to ferment.  After 7 – 9 days, the tank is opened and the traditional red wine making process begins with a light pressing of the grapes followed by another fermentation lasting 3 - 4 days.  It is bottled immediately without ageing.

The wine created by this process is light and very similar to fresh grapes.  Some wines have a sweet/tart quality reminiscent of red Jolly Rancher candies.  As it lacks tannins, you want to serve this wine chilled.  It isn’t a wine that appeals to everyone but like many wines the correct pairing can make all the difference.

So what exactly do you pair with this wine?  Roasted Chestnuts are my pick.  The wine works well with the chewy chestnut and cleans the palate.   Chestnuts have long been a staple in the Appennini areas of Italy.  They are often ground into flour and used to make desserts.  Tuscany, Liguria, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna all have variations of a chestnut flour cake.  In Tuscany, it’s called Castagnaccio.  Baldino, Ghirighio and Pattona are other names for this cake.  Chestnut flour, water, olive oil, pine nuts and raisins are combined to make a dough.  This is a typical autumn dessert.  In Tuscany, we top the cake with ricotta and chestnut honey.

In today’s gluten free world, this is a great dessert that everyone can eat.  And with a glass of Vino Novello, you may be starting your own Fall tradition.

Here's a recipe for Castagnaccio if you'd like to have a taste of Tuscany this Fall.

Ingredients

3 T sultana (golden) raisins
1/2 lb chestnut flour
2 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for oiling the pan and drizzling on top
pinch of salt
4 t sugar
2 to 2 1/2 c cold water
3 T pine nuts
a few sprigs of rosemary

Preparation

1. Soak the raisins for a few minutes in a small bowl with warm water.

2. Mix the chestnut flour, oil, salt, sugar, and water (I used 2 c, but you can add a little more according to your taste and the consistency of the batter).

3. Drain the raisins and mix them into the batter, along with the pine nuts.

4. Pour the batter into a greased 9" diameter pan, 2" deep. The batter will not rise during baking, so if you have a slightly different size pan on hand, that is fine too.

5. Sprinkle the rosemary sprigs over the top of the batter and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.

6. Bake at 400 F for 1 hour. You'll know it is ready when the surface is covered with little cracks. Cool, turn out onto a plate, and enjoy!