If you’re reading this and you’ve already drank your June Wine Club shipment wines, first of all, we don’t blame you. The 2009 Sangiovese and 2011 Pinot Grigio are delicious, very easy to drink and pair well with just about everything. Second of all, we urge you to take advantage of the Members-only 30% discount on the two wines this month because, as we’re about to show you, Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio can be (and should be) enjoyed all summer long. We’ve come up with 10 dishes, five for red and five for white, that taste oh-so-nice in the warm summer months. Today we’re highlighting Sangiovese, but check back next Wednesday when we’ll talk up Pinot Grigio.
Sangiovese
- Mushroom Pizza. Or mushroom-sausage pizza. Or mushroom-sausage-pepper pizza. Basically, if you’ve got pizza, you’ve got a great partner for Sangiovese. While pizza out of the oven is great, in the summer we urge you to try cooking it outdoors on your grill. Not only will you keep the heat out of the kitchen, but you’ll also score some of that coveted crispy, charred crust from the direct heat of your coals. Check out a recipe from our chef here
- Sangria. So this isn’t exactly a food pairing, but how could we not recommend this classic, extraordinarily popular beverage from our Restaurant that has always been made with Sangiovese? Take a bottle of wine, add some orange juice, sugar and fresh fruit, let it refrigerate overnight, and – boom – you have an insanely good and refreshing drink. See the Restaurant’s Sangria recipe here.
- Spaghetti Sauce. Spaghetti in the summer? Absolutely! The last time we checked, classic spaghetti with tomato (or meat) sauce was a weekly staple on most families’ dinner menus, summer, spring, winter and fall. And what’s a quintessential Italian pasta dish without a quintessential Italian wine? View our recipe here for old fashioned spaghetti sauce.
- Panzanella Salad. This dish is usually best at the height of summer when tomatoes and peppers are plentiful and at their peak of ripeness. There are a lot of recipes out there for Panzanella, but all of them should at the very least include day-old bread, tomatoes and basil…three things that are d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s with Sangiovese. Our version can be found here.
- Hamburgers. You should count the number of times you make burgers this summer. We’re guessing it’s a lot. While the toppings may change – one Saturday it’s blue cheese and grilled onions and the following Sunday it’s barbeque sauce and bacon – one thing is pretty certain: Sangiovese will taste great with them all. Check out our recipe for Bison Bleu Cheese Burgers here.
–Do you drink red wine in the summer? What do you drink it with?
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