WTN: Drouhin, Felsina, Iche- all good

Saturday with some mushroom-stuffed baked quail and some kale, the 2004 Drouhin Cote de Beaune Villages. I found this a little simpler than a previous bottle. Somewhat foursquare Burg with good red fruit and a little earth, but not especially deep. Still, lively cherry/raspberry fruit in a nicely balanced package, decent QPR. B

Today Betsy was preparing a Beef Bourguignon for our mini-x-country ski trip this week, she used up the Drouhin and most of a bottle of the 2004 Iche "Les Heretiques" Vin de Pays d'Herault. One of the best $7 bottlings of the last few years, not complex but not intended to be, a good ringer for a CdR lineup. Nice warm soft fruit with a bit of underbrush and herb, B but at the price a real value.

Tonight's actual dinner was a ragu made with a lone lamb shank, Betsy said it was a Tuscan recipe so I opened a 375 of the 2001 Felsina Chianti Classico. Once again, I really like this wine. Lots of body for a straight CC, big black cherry fruit with little hints of leather and damp earth. B+/A-

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Chiming in, Dale, I had the 2001 Felsina Chianti Classico last week at Baleem in Coconut Beach -- a really nice wine. We got some roasted coffee notes as well -- otherwise your TN is right on for what we enjoyed.

How did Betsy make the lamb shank ragu?

Regards, Bob

Betsy said recipe was from Florence Fabricant, it's actually from Abruzzi, not Tuscany.
Thank goodness for the Times archives, no typing for me:

PASTA WITH BRAISED LAMB SHANK RAGÙ
Time: 2 1/2 hours

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces diced pancetta
2 lamb shanks, about 2 1/4 pounds
2 medium onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 branches fresh rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 pound spaghetti alla chitarra or penne
Freshly grated pecorino cheese.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in 4-quart ovenproof casserole. Add pancetta, lightly brown and remove. Add lamb shanks, brown on all sides and remove. Lower heat; add onions, garlic and rosemary. Sauté until soft. Add white wine. Scrape pan, return pancetta and lamb to casserole, season with salt and pepper, then cover and bake 90 minutes, turning lamb once.
2. Remove lamb from casserole. Cut meat from bones, trimming off fat and gristle. Finely dice meat and add to casserole. Add tomatoes and red pepper. Simmer on top of stove one hour. Check seasoning.
3. Boil pasta until al dente, drain, toss with sauce, and serve with pecorino for dusting.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Thanks, Dale. Sounds good. And thank Betsy for me. Bob

I think I'm becoming a fan of the Felsina line-up in general. Bought some in DC on a trip last year. Maybe I'll open it with Betsy's (Times) recipe for lamb shank.

I'm nowhere near being a Tuscany expert but I know I like Felsina and Montevertine so that's all I buy.

[David M. Bueker]

Big thumbs up for Felsina here. I'm still working off my stash of 1997 Riserva level wines. Yum! The '99s are fantastic also, and 2001 is another great year for them. They're also very consistent in the "off" years (which are not nearly as off as they used to be). The 1998 and 2000s from Felsina were also very good.

I also managed to find some 2004 Felsina CC in 375s! That's handy for a mid-week pasta dinner.

FWIW I found a pretty big difference between the Felsina Chianti Classico Reserva and the Felsina CCR labeled Rancia. I much preferred the Rancia, it seemed to have less apparent new oak flavors and maybe a little more earth. Can anyone enlighten me as to the difference between these two bottlings from Felsina? TIA.

Dale, thanks for the notes.

Marc

FWIW I found a pretty big difference between the Felsina Chianti Classico Reserva and the Felsina CCR labeled Rancia. I much preferred the Rancia, it seemed to have less apparent new oak flavors and maybe a little more earth. Can anyone enlighten me as to the difference between these two bottlings from Felsina?

Marc, I have only had the regular CCR a couple of times, it's far cheaper than the Rancia and I'm pretty sure a recent label only for the North American market. I've thought it a slightly oakier version of the CC, and not worth the $2-4 bottle premium (actually, less attractive than the CC, so worth a bit less), but still a fairly nice Chianti.