I was on a food shopping mission at our local Safeway a couple of weeks back to gather up some goods for a dish that my wife was going to prepare, Italian pot roast, from the Williams Sonoma Italian Recipe Book (www.williamsonoma.com).   They carry a great line of recipe books from nearly every corner of the cuisine world.   

While at the market, I realized that I needed to pick up a few items to accent a salmon dish that I was preparing that evening for dinner.  I had stored away a few pieces of wild salmon in the freezer from AJ’s (www.ajsfinefoods.com) and intended to baste the fish with a lemon and citrus sauce accented with finely chopped fresh dill.  I figured that sautéed asparagus in a little olive oil, lemon juice and garlic would make a great side.  However, I realized that I was missing a key ingredient, a nice crisp and grassy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to pair.  These are easy to find at almost any market or wine retailer in town.  As I grabbed a Kim Crawford bottle and began to head out (before I incurred any addition damage), I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes fixed on a wine bottle label that was very familiar to me.  It was the Pio Cesare Barolo, the vintage a 2005. 

We’ve enjoyed this wine in the past and in fact planned to pair it with the upcoming Italian pot roast.  Cesare is a five generation estate producing outstanding Piedmont wines such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and Dolcetto since the late 1800’s and is definitely worth the experience.  But the shock didn’t end there for seated right next to Pio Cesare was a bottle of Tuscan Tignanello from famed vintner Antinori.  These wines are made from mostly the Sangiovese grape blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  The end result are wines that always full of fresh red and dark fruit, fine tannins and floral elements along with lovely spice.  You just can’t go wrong with either of these wines.  As curiosity pushed me a little further, I scanned the rest of the shelves for added gems and discovered sparkling wines from Feuillatte, Tattinger and others.