Another Stuffed Holiday

And another holiday is gone, leaving behind full bellies and sound sleeps. My belly was filled with pasta al gratin, a baked rigatoni pasta with besciamella and prosciutto, obviously the turkey, a wild one, with my sister's special stuffing, an addictive blend of homemade cornbread, sausage and some other ingredients which I swear secrecy on...and the cranberry sauce was just perfect on both the turkey and the stuffing. As side dish she prepared some green peas with prosciutto cut in small dices and to finish the traditional apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Just talking about it I feel full again but I must say my sister nailed another perfect dinner, like an artist, she can give food that extra touch that makes the experience every time unique. As per wine we begun with the bubbles; the Villa Rinaldi showed different layers of sour berries and fresh violet, some sweet undertones of wild strawberries, the bubbles were small and very elegant. We didn't open the Donabaum Riesling, which is still sitting in my fridge ready for the next one, and we sat for dinner with the Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva 1998; elegant and still vibrant with the typical cherry flavor and notes of leather, the tannins were balanced and still firm considering the age. One my guest, Fulvia, was at first not impressed with the selection, in fact the Villa Rinaldi estate is definitely in the obscure category and Chianti is still perceived as a every day wine; she commented, in typical roman slang of course, once she had tasted them, "ammazza quant'e` bono sto` vino" (more or less translate in this wine is killer) for both of them. That made me think about what my grandma' used to say about judging from the appearance and how sometimes you can get fooled by that. With the dessert we opened up the Colheita Port 1974 from the Barros estate; it is amazing what time can do to wine, this port was elegant and complex, the oxidation balanced the sugars giving a dry and clean finish. Lingering flavors of coffee, chocolate powder and notes of toasted almond were showing in the palate and in the finish.
Everything we ate and drank was natural and of good quality so, I was definitely buzzed and stuffed, but when I woke up this morning around 9 am i didn't have any headaches nor being hang over.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti