Una Serata da Leoni

I Normanni Falanghina 2004
Castello di Verduno Verduno Basadone 2004
Livio Sassetti Rosso di Montalcino 2002
Castelli Martinozzi Rosso di Montalcino 2001
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Rabajà 1997
Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 1995
Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs NV

Last night, an old friend from college days, Steve Samson, and his friends Debbie and Mike came over to cook up some food and drink some Nebbiolo. Steve and I met during our junior year abroad in Italy. Since that time (so many years ago), he has enjoyed a remarkable career in cooking, studying and working in Italy and New York, and ultimately becoming the executive chef of Valentino in Santa Monica, one of the country’s premier Italian restaurants, with one of the world’s most remarkable Italian cellars.

Steve is a world-class chef and I knew that the dinner would be worth remembering, a true serata da leoni, an evening for the lions (a reference, in my world, to the Italian title of the great surf flick Big Wedsnesday, Mercoledì da leoni in Italian).

Our mutual friend Puddu from Bologna writes: "as the roman would say ‘ammazza che magnata’!!!"

The bright, approachable Falanghina, a white grape from Campania (Southern Italy), paired perfectly with the seafood. The wine’s acidity stood up nicely to the richness of the avocado and the sweetness of the apples.

Seared Scallops served over Purée of Jerusalem Artichokes
with Hazelnuts sautéed in Butter and Mandarin Oranges

Perhaps Italy’s smallest appellation, Verduno (Piedmont) is made from the rare Pelaverga grape, an aromatic, spicy red that goes great with food. The wine was light but sturdy enough to match nicely with the fatty scallops (the Verduno township also produces Barolo).

Above: Chef Steve Samson rolls out the dough for his stuffed pasta.

Chef Steve writes that "there’s no cream in the tomato sauce. I blend it on high and add EVOO [extra virgin olive oil] while blending. The emulsification of the oil gives it the light color."

The 2002 vintage was a poor one for Central Tuscany. Many producers in Montalcino did not make Brunello (or they made less than usual) and used their top fruit for their Rosso. I’ve really enjoyed Sassetti’s 2002 Rosso (his Brunellos are, in general, a little too expensive for me, but I found this Rosso at a good price). Although we enjoyed it with the stuffed pasta, we all agreed that the more traditional Castelli Martinozzi Rosso 2001 was better (see below).

Martinozzi’s wine are among my favorites. His vineyards are in Santa Restituta, one of the highest subzones in Montalcino and close enough to the western coast to benefit from superb ventilation (the altitude cools the grapes at night during summer, thus allowing them to ripen more slowly; the ventilation helps to keep the fruit dry, thus reducing rot). He uses no barrique for this wine: it reminds me of the wines I began to drink in Montalcino in the late 1980s, before the modernist craze took off there. Martinozzi is the real deal: grapes + earth = wine. (Although, when I interviewed him recently, he told me that he does barrique his Riserva wine, as per the tastes of the Swiss and German markets, he said.)

In a recent Wine Spectator Piedmont vintage guide, the authors recommended holding your 97s and drinking your 96s. As for my cellar, my 96s are still under lock and key and I’m just beginning to see the 97s show their stuff. The vintage saw a very warm summer and the wines are already coming around. I decanted this bottle early in the evening. There’s not much I can say: 1997 single-vineyard Produttori Barbaresco is one the best I’ve ever tasted. I love this juice.

I’ve been lucky enough to taste older vintages of Giacomo Conterno’s wines on a few notable occasions (including a luncheon, at my old job, where I poured a vertical of his famed Monfortino from the 1950s; another was a 1971 shared with me by sommelier Bob Franco of I Trulli). I opened and decanted this bottle at the very beginning of the evening and by the time I served it, it was pure hedonist indulgence. As Murray Moss (one of my new bosses) noted to me the other day a propos a nineteenth-century ceramic figurine that he adores, I wouldn’t want to exist in a world without Giacomo Conterno’s wines. I’m sure the 1995 would have had many years ahead of it, but after decanting and a few hours of aeration, it was simply gorgeous.

Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs NV
After so much great wine, the evening ended in true Italian style: some bubbles and a song, a true serata da leoni.

A hearty thanks to Steve Samson for sharing his culinary wizardry.