The Inquisitive Palate

One of the dilemmas of enjoying fine wines is that oftentimes the more vibrant a wine is, the less likely it will go well with all those hot-spicy-piquant flavors being served. Wines are picky that way - and so are foods. If you want to show off the foods, the wine needs to complement them rather than striking out on its own. And vice versa.

A few months back, my husband and I spent an afternoon touring wineries on the Berks County Wine Trail. I had never done that before locally and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I was also surprised to learn that my home county of Berks has 9 wineries. And there are many more in the surrounding counties of Lehigh, Montgomery and Chester, among others. I tasted many friendly wines on tour that day but one of the nicest ones I enjoyed was produced by Calvaresi Wineries in Bern Township.

But before I talk about the wine I found, let me share a story from back-in-the-day. Back then, actually it was in 1986 or so, my husband and I were living in — according to a recent article in This Old House Magazine — one of the best places in the U.S. to get a great bargain on a fixer upper. That was, and still is, The Centre Park Historic District in the city of Reading, Pa. We had a stone row house and it was definitely a fixer upper. But heck! We were young and it was a beautiful place, despite its disrepair, with stained glass windows, wooden floors and original moldings.

The neighborhood was filled with interesting people - still is - but one of them was a fellow who was making wine in his home and offering it for sale. Of course, I had to try some and within days my husband and I found ourselves in the basement of another fixer-upper just down the block sipping wine. The guy who was making that wine was named Calvaresi. We took some home.

Now fast-forward more than twenty years —  and, my husband and I are  driving across our county to a small town where Calvaresi Winery has found a new home and has become a substantial winemaker with many different wines for sale and numerous awards to its credit. We were long overdue to try some Calvaresi wine again.

Of all the wines I tried, I especially liked the Baco Noir. On the winery’s website, the description of the wine is “[s]emi-dry Germanic style red, medium bodied with hints of plum, raspberry and cranberry in the nose and finish. Excellent with Italian food.” I liked it because it was a light red wine with some full-flavored fruitiness to it and just the slightest hints of spice and smokiness. It was a little sweeter than I would ordinarily choose but that was not overwhelming.

As I was tasting it, someone mentioned that the Baco Noir also went well with barbecued foods. And, a light went off.  I don’t always have success matching wine with grilled foods but this one had potential. So, I took some home to try at a summer back porch dinner with friends where I served slow-grilled pork and several other spicy dishes. And, it was a match! My friends were impressed, too!

I drink wine that comes from many places but it was especially gratifying to find some I liked that is made almost in my own backyard. If you try some of Calvaresi’s Baco Noir, I hope you enjoy it, too. Calvaresi wines are available only at the winery. To learn more, visit the site here.