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Proper way to serve a chianti?

I'm trying to get into the world of red wine connnoisseurship. I have a friend at my church who owns a wine shop and I fell arse backward into a 2001 bottle of chianti.

What kind of wine glass should I use? And at what temperature should I serve it at? What food goes well with it? (with the exception of fava beans and liver) :001_rolle
 
Serve just below room temp, any kind of glass with a stem is fine. Good chianti goes well with any pasta with a meaty sauce e.g. bolognaise but especially with lasagne.
 
I'm one of the aforementioned Riedel-o-philes. It may sound like BS, but the difference those glasses make will amaze you.

It may sound counter intuitive for a lighter bodied wine, but the acidity and slight "saltiness" of chianti go extraordinarily well with a simply prepared steak.

What kind of Chianti do you have?
 
I can't believe nobody's suggested some fava beans and a nice liver...

Damn -- you beat me 15 minutes.....
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I think it depends on if it comes in a basket. If it comes in a basket, mason jars, or old wine bottles with the tops cut off. Make sure to put out some candles jammed into empty wine bottles.

If no basket, whatever you usually use for red wine is fine. While I'm sure using the "proper" glass makes a slight difference, I would rather spend the money on more wine than on several dozen different glasses. Wide-bowled glasses with sides that curve in toward the top for reds, straighter-sided narrower glasses for whites. That should be sufficient, unless you start getting into collecting wine, cellaring it, and so forth.
 
I'm one of the aforementioned Riedel-o-philes. It may sound like BS, but the difference those glasses make will amaze you.

It may sound counter intuitive for a lighter bodied wine, but the acidity and slight "saltiness" of chianti go extraordinarily well with a simply prepared steak.

What kind of Chianti do you have?

Dellatorri, 2001.
 
Ah Chianti. Always knew it as Vino Collapso when I was young and drank too much. The ones I could afford then were definitely best served in a jam jar as someone has already pointed out!

There are some rather nice ones around these days.

Gareth
 
I don't know Dellatorri, but 2001 was a great year for Chianti.
I look forward to hearing about it.

Sorry for not getting back. Busy, busy, busy!

I will probably review this wine later on in the Reviews section of the forums.

I found this to be a good wine. I drank it mostly from my wide rimmed glasses, so it had plenty of room to breathe. I found it went well with Italian dishes, and took to anything that had garlic in it quite well.

Fruity, with some dry, vanilla tones. Finish was clean.

This is certainly better than the bottle of 2004 Beaujolais-Villages Domaine des Nugues that I got this week. While I didn't find it dry, it has this flavor reminescent of dirt in the opening. Very weird. Unpleasant.
 
I like Riedel glasses and have a few but much of their view is BS when it comes to styles and the appropriate glass. That said I wouldn't want to be without their Bordeaux, Champagne, Chardonnay, Riesling and Single Malt glasses. But getting back to your question, if your Chianti is a mediocre one drink it out of a jelly glass or french cafe glass. If it's a top notch Reserve, drink it out of a Reidel Bordeaux.
 
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