Grown throughout central Italy, sangiovese is most closely associated with the three major wines of Tuscany: Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montalcino. While each of these three wines share the basic qualities of the grape (spiciness, earthiness, medium tannins), they can vary quite widely.

The Blood of God?

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a personal favorite of mine. The region lies southeast of Siena, and the slightly warmer climate gives the wine a slightly more inviting quality, softer and gentler tannins than Brunello, and less acidity than Chianti. When well chosen, they are a breeze to pair with almost any dish, though the perfect dish for them is the Trofie dell’Estate, a simple dish of trofie pasta, sauteed summer squashes, and fresh cherry tomatoes.

Brunello di Montalcino is the broad-shouldered cousin of Chianti and Vino Nobile. Grown from a sangiovese clone named, shockingly, brunello, it packs a serious tannic punch, giving it the aging potential of the celebrated Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont. By law, true Brunello has to spend at least four years aging before being released to the market. As a consequence, many producers also carry a Rosso di Montalcino, a younger, lighter version of the grape suited for more immediate consumption. Brunello is at its best with game or rich meats like pork and beef. It’s also a great wine to savor on its own, allowing the rick dark fruit to roll over your tongue.

If you’re looking for a way to expand your knowledge of Italian grapes and wines, starting with sangiovese is a great idea. In Chianti and Vino Nobile, you can see the elegance, beauty, and aroma of the region, while in Brunello you can sense some of the history, and the power that Tuscany in general (and Florence in particular) once controlled. Like any great wine, they’ll transport you to another time and place if you let them.

As in most Italian sauces, all’amatriciana starts with the meat, in this case guanciale (cured pork cheeks). At Serafina, we cure our own in house to give us the proper amount of spice, smokiness, and salinity. After sweating that down a bit, we ad in some onion, garlic, and chili for a base flavoring. This time of year, we get to add beautiful fresh tomatoes from Billy Alstott’s farm, a little oregano, and then toss in bucatini.

Our Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Bucatini has become the traditional pasta for this dish in Rome, in part because the narrow hole in the middle of the long, spaghetti-like bucatini allows for a bit more of the sauce to be absorbed into every bite. From there, we shave some fresh Pecorino Romano on top, and one of the classics of Italian cuisine is there for your enjoyment.

Guanicale has a wonderfully rich and complex taste; similar to panchetta, but with a slightly sweeter hint. It can be cubed and sauteed, as it is in this dish, or thinly sliced and laid on top of a pizza, where it functions like a meatier prosciutto.

For years, we’ve been buying our bread from Columbia City Bakery, one of the most highly regarded bakeries in the city. They’ve been featured in the New York Times, and you can find their bread in a number of the city’s best restaurants. This October will mark their fifth anniversary, and we’re so happy to have them as a part of our restaurants!

Let’s start with the basics. All tequila is a distillation of 100% blue agave. Native to the Mexican state of Jalisco, these succulents are grown for twelve years, at which point the leaves are stripped off and the sap is removed from the heart. Fermented and distilled, we have tequila.

From there, we have five basic categories of tequila, based on how long they’re aged. Blanco (white) or Plata (silver) tequilas are either bottled immediately after distillation, or aged for less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak. Oro (gold) tequila is simply silver tequila with coloring and/or flavoring added to imitate aging. Reposado (rested) is aged for at least two months, but less than a year in oak barrels, while Añejo (aged) gets one to three years in oak. The newest classification, Extra Añejo, requires at least three years aging.

Generally speaking, younger tequilas are harsher and simpler, but this often makes them a better fit for cocktails like the margarita, since you need that bite to cut through the sweet and sour elements of the drink. Aged tequilas can take on a rounded, smoky, caramel taste and texture, much like an aged whiskey. They’re wonderful on their own, or as the backbone of a more elegant cocktail.

While the Margarita is of course an excellent way to enjoy the pleasures of tequila, Cicchetti in particular offers a number of different ways to sample this versatile spirit. My personal favorite is the Durango, essentially a tequila Manhattan. It lends a nice edge to the classic complexity of that cocktail, and really illustrates the depth of flavor in a well-aged tequila. So stop on in and experience this under-appreciated gem from below the border.

With rosé on my mind, I stopped by Serafina to chat a bit with our sommelier, Salomon, about the roses on our list. Here are a few of his thoughts.

-”This is the season for rosé. The best ones are coming on the market, and 2009 was an excellent year for rosés across Europe and in the US. Whether you’re talking about the classic Provencals, Aglianico rosés from Campania, or Portugese Vinho Verde rosés (like the Casalgarcia we have at Cicchetti), they’re all drinking great right now.

-”They’re such great summer wines because they’re great with seafood, with light meats, with summer vegetables. Plus, you can really run the gamut from light and crisp to rich and fruity. Rosés can be anything from vegetal to melony to minerally, and that flexibility is crucial with our summer menus.”

Right now, Sal’s favorite on the wine list is the Rosato Irpinia, an Aglianico rosé from Campania with a faint spiciness that complements the sweetness of much of the summer’s bounty. So come on in and give one a taste!

So next time you’re feeling the heat of a summer afternoon, stop by and grab a classic cooler. Oh, and check out the rest of Jared’s site for cool videos and other neat bartending tips.

The first step in being green is to try and control our inputs. We source much of our produce, seafoods, and meats from organic and/or sustainable producers. As one example, we’ve recently put steelhead trout on our menu, both because it tastes great and because it’s more sustainable than some salmon. Likewise, much of our produce comes from organic farms throughout the state of Washington and Oregon, especially this time of year.

Of course, getting in organic and local produce is great, but the most sustainable way to get food is to grow it yourself! As we have for quite some time, we’re getting some of our fruits, vegetables, and herbs from our own garden just a block away. You can read a bit more about the garden here, but with just about everything ready to pick and eat it’s a true delight.

Still, even when we get in beautiful, fresh, local, organic foods, some of it doesn’t quite get used up. Several years ago, Serafina was one of the early participants in a city-wide composting effort, spearheaded by CleanScapes. As a result, almost all of our organic waste is now composted, meaning you don’t have to feel even a shred of guilt if for some reason you can’t quite finish that last bite or two of your dinner!

Additionally, we’ve been partnered since last year with General Biodiesel. They take our leftover kitchen oil and turn it into biodiesel, saving thousands of tons of carbon emissions every year.

Before it even became a law, we’ve been using recycled and bio-degradable to-go containers as a way to limit our contributions to landfills. Even then, we only throw away what we can’t possibly compost or recycle, and thankfully that ends up being a fairly small part of our total “waste.”

So next time you come in for brunch, lunch, or dinner, take pride in the fact that you’re frequenting a restaurant that takes sustainability seriously.

There are of course an almost infinite number of uses for a glass pour, but here are a few of the most common:

-As a way to taste a variety of different wines and styles. At Cicchetti in particular, this is a strong application of the glass pour. With a large number of unusual and esoteric grapes and blends on display, ordering several different glasses allows you to experiment with lesser known varietals, and maybe even pick up a new favorite or two. Additionally, since the food is more free-flowing, wine flexibility is a big plus. The same principle can of course apply at Serafina, but the glass pour list there has a few more recognizable names.

-To please different palates. While of course our bottled wine list offers far more variety, getting the entire table to agree on a bottle or two can sometimes be a hassle. The glass pour list gives each guest more room for individual preference. Additionally, it can often be nice to start with round of glass pours, then move into a bottle of wine. This allows those who enjoy sparkling wines, whites, roses, and lighter bodied reds a chance to indulge that preference, while bringing in the heavy hitters later in the meal when the food starts ramping up.

-Along those lines, a glass pour can also serve as a nice transition. Say you started your meal with a beautiful aperitif cocktail, but don’t necessarily want to jump right into that 1999 Produttori Barbaresco. A nice glass of wine with your antipasti can warm the palate up properly, allowing you to coax every last enjoyment out of your bottle of wine.

The glass pour is your friend

In short, the glass pour is a surprisingly powerful tool, and far more versatile than many give it credit for. However, they generally come up a bit short when it comes to full-bodied and complex red wines. Because a high-quality aged red is generally a bit temperamental, they just don’t hold well in the glass pour format. If you’re craving a big-boned Brunello, Barolo, Barbaresco, or a complex Cabernet Sauvignon, you’ll have to turn to the bottled list. The one exception is the Wine of the Week, which can often be a slightly more powerful wine.

So hopefully you’ll now be able to approach the Serafina and Cicchetti glass pour lists with more confidence and a better understanding what their functions are. Good luck, and good drinking!

We’ll be part of Cooking with Class again this year, a fundraiser for Providence Heritage House at the Market and Providence ElderPlace, both of which assist low-income, frail elderly. It’s a fun event for Chef Dylan Giordan as he gets to choose a recipe to teach to his “students.” They then eat what they produce with Chef and enjoy it with a wine paired specifically with his dish. This year, Chef Dylan is making ricotta gnocchi with pancetta, pine nuts and sage. His dish will be paired with Kestrel’s 2009 Rose. The event takes place on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, at Salty’s on Alki in West Seattle. The cost is $125 per person and includes the opportunity to cook hands-on with Chef Dylan and two other chefs, the food, wine and appetizers and a chance to try out a variety of wines and Pike Brewing Co. beer at the tasting table. Get more details, register and pay online at www.seattledining.com/cwc. Hope you can make it!