Back in 2007, while working at the Westin Excelsior and Grand Hotel in Florence, I had the amazing chance to sample two deities of food and wine: freshly hunted white truffle paired with a glass of Sassicaia wine. I still remember it vividly to this day: the deep scent of earth, wet leaves and forest that bedazzled us as the carefully wrapped truffle passed by on its way to the kitchen. The Chef, Fabrizio, simply whipped up a steaming plate of freshly cut spaghetti, tossed some shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and carefully sliced thin slivers of white-brown truffle delight onto our plates. Giuseppe, the sommelier, carefully decanted the Sassicaia and poured each of us a glass. The setting was far from romantic: a neon lit staff canteen with uncomfortable chairs. The experience however, was otherworldly. The scents of late fall walks on a foggy tree-lined mountain, the earth covered with damp leaves and the decay of winter knocking on the door. The smell of wine stained barrels stacked in a small Tuscan shed, the bright notes of crushed sour cherries and berries, thyme and sage in bundles, shards of schist and an ethereal whiff of blooming flowers. It was like a tango on the tip of our tongues, a passionate love affair between the pasta, the oil, the truffle and the cheese soaked up in the ruby red juice of the pickiest fruity and finicky grapes. A battle of class, the sweet taste of desire, attraction and rejection. With both parties holding up as winners, gracefully mingling together as the pair that was meant to be. Thank you Tuscany, for showing me some of your most intricate beauties, and allowing me the honor to enjoy the best food & wine pairing ever.

Heavenly Sassicaia – Photo by Naotake Murayama