02/03/05 Italian meatloaf

Welcome to Vine to Wine, this is your host Linda Moran, and today is food and wine pairing day. You know some of the most common dinner recipes, can be altered, to make very interesting and tasty meals. Today we will look at meatloaf and the wines that go with it. Meatloaf does not have to be boring or common. Look at your basic meatloaf recipe as a place to start and then determine how you can change the character of it make it more interesting. And if you like the recipe you can even use it for meatballs. For example; I like most of the flavors of Italy, so incorporating them into my meatloaf, has made it a fun dish to pair with Italian wines. By adding pesto, lots of garlic, parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes it has taken on very rich appealing flavors. In order to pair wine with it I focus on these flavors. I was also interested in changing the texture of the loaf so I substituted ground lamb and veal for a portion of the ground beef. The changes, were applauded by my guests and, made the wine selection even easier. I recommend red wines such as Brunello with this savory meatloaf. If that is too heavy for you, try a Chianti Riserva or one of the Italian varietals such as Sangiovese being produced in California or Washington state. You can find my recipe for Italian meatloaf on our website vine to wine dot net. And don't forget to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net. Tanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.