Chianina, Bianchi Wines and Spring Lamb

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Chianina in Naples  hosted another wine dinner.  www.chianina.com,  Decided that this might be an interesting dinner.  All courses are "spring lamb". (Margie knows why she was asked to join us  LOL).  

Met Beau Bianchi who is at the helm of the winery now. His grandfather founded the winery in the Paso Robles area about 75 years ago. Beau indicated they made their wines "heavy on the brix" which means overly fruity to me. That turned out to be right.

Started the dinner with a Chilled English Pea Custard. Tasted much better than is sounds. The custard had Lamb Cracklings on top which gave it crunch and texture.  They poured a 2013 Bianchi "El Camino Vineyard", Chardonnay. Some oak but the fattiness of the custard cut the oak quite well. A decent pairing.

Second course was a Lamb Crepinette. Ground lamb with spices rolled like a sausage but with no casing on it. Had excellent flavor. Also on the plate was green garlic, chickpeas and fennel. Tasted the fennel (one of the few foods I do not care for) It was alright. Not to much of a licorice taste to it. The wine was a 2012 Bianchi "Garey Vineyard", Pinot Noir. Way too fruity. Was not that good of a wine. Definitely not my style of Pinot.

Braised Lamb Shank and Neck with mint, parsley, cavatelli, fava beans and pecorino romano cheese was next. Very good flavor. The cavatelli was "al dente" so it was not over cooked which made a better dish. The best wine of the evening was paired with this dish. A 2011 Bianchi "Geste" GSM. 

Fourth course is a Roulade of Lamb Loin and Belly with fiddlehead ferns, asparagus, morel mushrooms, spring onion and pea puree. Again excellent flavors. Wine was decent. A 2012 Bianchi "Lakeside Ranch" Merlot.

By the end of roulade I was stuffed and we had one more course to go. Bet I take it home.

Fifth course served was a Roasted leg of Lamb, olive tapenade, baby artichokes, spring onion and rancho gordo beans. Had one bite to taste the lamb  which again was excellent and had them box it up for me to take home. The wine was a 2012 Bianchi Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. I was not impressed.. Did not finish the glass of wine.

Dessert was very good. A Vanilla Panna Cotta with rhubarb and strawberry. Light enough to eat without being overfilling. a 2014 Bianchi Estate Moscato was paired with the dessert and it was the best pairing of the dinner.