Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & a Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce #WinePW
Welcome to the December edition of our monthly Wine Pairing Weekend group! December is holiday party time! Our job this month is to create some creative sparkling wine and appetizer pairings. If you see this early enough, please join us December 13th at 10 a.m. Central Time. We’ll be chatting on twitter at #WinePW about our holiday sparkling wine pairings. We’d love to have you join us!
You can never have enough sparkling wine at the holidays
Sparkling Nebbiolo Rosé from the Piemonte in Italy
Nose: Mildly yeasty aroma, bright red berries.
Mouth: Yeasty strong fruit, nice lively acidity. Lip smacking tartness, great for clearing away strong flavors.
Brut Metodo Classico Nebbiolo Rosé from Luigi Giordano
Rich, fresh, garlicy, spicy and fishy all at once.
Acciughe al Verde (Anchovies in Green Sauce)
This is a very traditional antipasto in the Piedmont where they just eat it straight with knife and fork. If you think European cuisine is all elegant, restrained, white tablecloth food; think again! This spread is full of fishy, garlicy, fresh green spicy flavor, it’s definitely NOT for the meek. You will be surprised, though, as only the most confirmed anchovy hater won’t like it. Whenever we prepare it, we are surprised to see how eagerly it is received.
Sparkling Nebbiolo easily clears the flavors of the anchovy mixture.
This flavorful topping for bread or cracker goes beautifully with sparkling rosé, as the wine carries its own flavor in addition to cleansing the palate. The tart acidity along with the carbonation does a great job of clearing strong flavors.
Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
The Fine Art of Sciabola (sabering)
Want to add some extra fun to your celebration? Break out the saber. We were introduced to sciabola on our first trip to Italy, and we have embraced this fun method of opening sparkling wines ever since. Now, every opportunity we have, we pull out the sword and go for it. Here’s our daughter, Casey, in her first attempt with our friend Leslie in Barbaresco. No problem, you can do it, too!
Sparkling Wine and Appetizer Pairings
Here are the ideas available from our group for you. Try something new this year!
Bacon and Greens Dip with Bubbly by Cooking Chat
Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce by foodwineclick
Segura Viudas Aria Cava with Oysters and Spanish Tapas by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Butterflied Spicy Prawns and Treveri Sparkling Wine by Wild 4 Washington Wine
A Seasonal Nibbles Duet + Pear Valley Vineyard’s Frizzante Muscat by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Appetizers served with a Sparkling Wine by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Cranberry Brie Biscuit Bites and Sparkling Muscat by Curious Cuisiniere
Moscato with Fresh Fruit Almond Cake and Zabaglione by Vino Travels — An Italian Wine Blog
Domaine Meriwether Sparkling Wine and Make Ahead Spanakopita by Tasting Pour
Wine and Dine: Anna de Cordoniu Brut NV and Herbed Parmesan Crisps by Grape Experiences
Italian Sparkling Wine: Bubbly & Bacon #winePW by Girls Gotta Drink
The Holidays Sparkle on #WinePW by Rockin Red Blog
Butternut and Bubbly by It’s Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Smoked Salmon and Potato Chip Appetizer with Louis Roederer Champagne by ENOFYLZ
Don’t forget to our Twitter chat today, December 13th at 10 a.m. Central Time. We’ll be talking about our tips and tricks for the best holiday wine pairings. We’d love to have you join us!
Be sure to mark your calendars for January’s Wine Pairing Weekend, hosted by Christy at Confessions of a Culinary Diva. We’ll be sharing “New Wine Resolutions – Wine or Region you want to explore in 2015. Join in the #WinePW 8 conversation on Saturday January 10!
This recipe is adapted from Matt Kramer’s A Passion for Piedmont cookbook. Out of print, you can find this book used on Amazon. This intensely rich, garlicy, fresh tasting appetizer could change an anchovy-hater’s mind! As always with Italian recipes, choose the highest quality ingredients you can find. It makes all the difference! Wine Pairing Suggestion Ingredients InstructionsAcciughe al Verde (Anchovies in Green Sauce
A flavorful Brut Metodo Classico (champagne method) sparkling rosé will pair beautifully. The bright acidity and carbonation do a great job cleansing the palate between bites. The more forward flavor of the rosé is strong enough to hold it’s own vs. the intensity of the food.
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[…] Dip with Bubbly by Cooking Chat Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce by foodwineclick Segura Viudas Aria Cava with Oysters and Spanish Tapas by Confessions of a Culinary Diva […]
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[…] Dip with Bubbly by Cooking Chat Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce by foodwineclick Segura Viudas Aria Cava with Oysters and Spanish Tapas by Confessions of a Culinary Diva […]
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[…] Dip with Bubbly by Cooking Chat Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce by foodwineclick Segura Viudas Aria Cava with Oysters and Spanish Tapas by Confessions of a Culinary Diva […]
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[…] Dip with Bubbly by Cooking Chat Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo & Pungent Anchovy Green Sauce by foodwineclick Segura Viudas Aria Cava with Oysters and Spanish Tapas by Confessions of a Culinary Diva […]
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[…] Wine Pairing Weekend focused on sparkling wine and appetizer pairings. Thanks to Jeff from foodwineclick for hosting […]
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[…] event (#winePW) for December focused on appetizers that pair well with sparkling wines. Jeff from foodwineclick hosted the event, and had the foresight to see that pairings for sparkling wine would be a useful […]
foodwineclick 
We need to get a saber just for opening sparkling wine bottles! That would be a way to get the party started! Your appetizer sounds wonderfully flavorful. I can see how it would make for a great pairing.
Thanks Sarah! Give it a try, you can use the back (dull) side of a kitchen knife to get started. Once you’ve done it one time, you’re an expert forever. And people love to learn, it really is a great party starter. Good luck!
wow, sparkling Nebbiolo! That’s something new. That spread looks like it would have pretty intense flavor, definitely need a refreshing pairing.
Intense, yes, but amazingly popular!
Wow, it’s our lucky day. Not only did we get a wonderful food and wine pairing but we also were able to share a little of Italy with you. Thanks for sharing and for hosting this month.
Thanks Wendy, I hope you’ll give it a try!
Thanks for the #ItalianFWT shout out! Jealous of the sparkling nebbiolo. Nebbiolo is one of my favorites and to see it in a sparkling form here in the US is for sure unique.
It was a fun way to have Nebbiolo! Now I’ve had the traditional red, rosato, sparkling. I wonder if anyone makes a “white” version, or a dessert wine?
We JUST opened a bottle of wine with a shoe last weekend. We might have to get a saber! Thanks for hosting this month’s #WinePW, Jeff.
Whatever it takes to get the bottle open!
I must confess when I saw the title of the posts for this week, yours was the most intriguing Jeff. I adore sparkling rosé. Didn’t know they produced them in Piedmont. I can definitely see this working with your appetizer! Thanks for hosting!
They make lots of really good sparkling wine in the Piemont, but we don’t see many in the US. Our loss!
I’ve never seen sparkling nebbiolo. How interesting! I am sorry I missed the chat. Is the group open? Would love to learn from you all.
Yes the group is open and we’d love to have you! Look for Wine Pairing Weekend on facebook, or check with David Crowley of @cookingchat
Looks delicious Jeff. I would love to try the Piedmont Sparkling Nebbiolo!
Thanks! The sparkling Nebbiolo was nice and I especially liked that the base wine was a true rosé.
Never had a sparkling Nebbiolo – intriguing. Did you put all those bottles out in the snow and take a picture? Too cute.
Thanks Jade. The snow shot was just before a New Years Eve sparkling wine tasting we did last year. What fun!
I’m so glad to see that you’re making good use of the snow.
The recipe looks wonderful. It’s definitely one of my favorite dishes in Piemonte, but we can’t get such delicious anchovies here.
Thanks Suzanne! Minnesota embraces the snow, we just wish we had beautiful mountains like our Colorado friends have.