Red Wine with Chicken? Well Yea, Almost Anytime

The conventional wisdom of white wine with chicken and fish and red with meats is so old school. Light, Medium, even full bodied red wines are fabulous with inspired and richly flavored chicken dishes. Here is an Italian combo you will love.

The Wine: Castello Monaci Salice Salentino Liante $$

The Food: Country Italian

The Place: Home this night, with are hearts in Salice Salentino, Puglia.

A wonderful trip to Puglia and the city of Lecce was the beginning of a grand love affair with wines of this region.

While not enjoying the spotlight of Tuscany, Piedmont or Sicily, the wine makers here have a long rich history of making fabulous wines with the uniquely satisfying indigenous grapes of the region.

This wine made of Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera di Lecce , named after the Liante or “Wind of the Levant”, the brisk winds that blow over the Adriatic and into Puglia, icy in winter, hot in the summer, has bright flavors of wild black cherry, dried plum, rust, balsamic vinegar and straw and as it opens vanilla, mocha, prune that court and marry perfectly with a dinner like this.

Goffle Road Poultry Farms chicken, brined in sea salt, fresh thyme and brown sugar, then browned in butter and thyme. Brussels sprouts roasted with fresh rosemary and sliced garlic. The pasta, Delverde penne with a sauce of mushrooms, onions, thyme, white wine and chicken stock.

Salice Salentino is a small town and DOC wine region on the Puglia peninsula, “heal of the boot”, of Italy. Here legions of peoples have dwelled and shaped the culture, from the Greeks, to Romans, Lombards, Byzantines, Turks, Spanish (Aragonese), and Venetians, until the Puglia became a part of a unified Italy in the 19th century.

Castello Monaci has roots that go back to the 1700’s when the main building was constructed as ruled by the Catasto Onciario of Salice Salentino. The name “Monaci” comes from a settlement of Basilian Monks in the the communes of Salice and Guagnano. It was originally a place of worship and meditation.

Lina Memmo, whose family has owned the estate since the 19th century, and husband Vitantonio Seracca, see to the fine quality of their wines along with Oenologist Sergio Leonardo to create wines “disegnati dal sole - crafted by the sun.”

“Castello Monaci makes a range of beautiful wines that highlight the unique qualities of Apulia’s indigenous varieties.”—THE WINE ADVOCATE

“Castello Monaci is an excellent source of value wines.” —THE WINE ADVOCATE

“Castello Monaci could well be considered a model for winemaking in Apulia.” — GAMBERO ROSSO