Osso Bucco with a big red

I bought a bottle of Sensia 2009 Tempranillo recently. The wine merchant said I’d be impressed with the strength and balance of this robust red made from old growth tempranillo from Ribera del Duero. By blending 85% old growth tempranillo with 15% of a 2007 Crianza the bodega have created a voluptuous red with a nose of deep blackberry, exotic spices and new american oak, well balanced although quite alcoholic at 14.5%. It needs some big flavours to complement it- perhaps game or a meat pie.

It sat under the stairs for a week or two until we had some fine gentlemen round for a dinner of Osso Bucco, and I wondered if it would sit well with the richness of this classic italian dish made with white wine.

Osso Bucco is a steak cut across the leg of a veal calf. Nick from Gordon’s family butchers in Bradworthy sourced some sensitively reared, local veal for me. (No calves kept in dark crates here) and sold me some choice cuts with a good piece of marrow bone surrounded by a thick piece of veal. This is a slow cooked dish with the classic italian base of onion, carrot, celery and garlic sweated down with the browning meat and then the addition of almost half a bottle of reasonable white, 2 or 3 bay leaves and then the meat covered with stock or water and simmered for up to 3 hrs, or until the meat is almost falling off the bone. The secret of a good presentation is to keep turning the meat every twenty minutes or so, being very careful not to break it off the bone. At the end of cooking remove the meat carefully, keep warm and reduce the liquor until it is a glossy delicious sauce. The marrow from the bone is particularly delicious with the rissotto.

Osso Bucco is traditionally served with Rissotto Milanese, which is a soft delicate rice dish flavoured generously with saffron. This makes for a weighty meal, so I tempered it with some pan wilted spinach lifted with the finely chopped zest of a lemon.

The Sensia went perfectly with the meal- an opulent mix of purple and gold with great aromas from both wine and food.