Recordi e Vineria

“Tuscans like wine as much as they do food, so in every town and city in the region there is a vineria – a local neighborhood place where people met, but instead of offering food they have wine.  When I was a kid I used to go with my Grandfather in the morning to his favorite vineria, where he would have what is called a cicchettino – a small shot of wine guaranteed to make you feel good all day. For the most part, Tuscans apply the concept of seasonality to their wine as well as to their food, drinking white or rose wines in the summer and red in the winter. Maybe this applies to everyone and not necessarily just to the Tuscans. I personally don’t think red wine goes with only certain dishes and white wine with others. It is the body and the bouquet of the wine that are important. I don’t have any problem drinking a young red wine with Cacciucco; and in the summer I like a white wine with Ossobuco.”

Pino Luongo “A Tuscan in the Kitchen”