Mostarda Cremonese at an otherwise forgettable restaurant in Valpolicella.
The one gastronomically (but not altogether) disappointing meal of the trip so far. But what a photo op!
Monthly Archives: February 2011
The best trattoria in Valpolicella?
Need more be said here? Run don’t walk to Trattoria Caprini in Torbe (Valpolicella).
Quintarelli and an incredible day of tastings in Valpolicella
Our first tasting appointment yesterday was in the cellars of the legendary Valpolicella winery Quintarelli in Negrar. Amazing, on so many levels… simply stunning wines (you don’t need me to tell you that)… There will be a proper post dedicated to the illustrious flight of wines shared with Tracie P, Alfonso, and me (and you might be surprised by what I found out about the 1998 Alzero). But the 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella… wow… one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted…
Next came L’Arco, with owner Luca Fedrigo, who worked with winemaker Giuseppe Quintarelli in the latter’s cellar from the age of 17 to 27 before starting his own winery (he’s now 33). I met Luca in Austin in 2009 and was floored by the elegance and freshness of his wines. I believe that he is the best young winemaker in the appellation (by far) and his traditional-style wines — made proudly in the style of his mentor, aged in large cask — are phenomenal. They’re not easy to find in the U.S. but if you want to know what REAL Valpolicella wines taste like, seek them out…
Our last visit of the day was at Monte dei Ragni, where Zeno Zignoli (right) practices radical biodynamic and organic farming. Zeno is an “off the grid” character and winemaker. I met him thanks to the young Paduan student Andrea Fasolo (left) whom I met through blogging.
The “three different faces” of Valpolicella winemaking formed a 180° arc and were all fascinating in their own right.
But the face that stole my heart yesterday was this one:
The new wave of Italian pizza at I Tigli in San Bonifacio
For dinner, we ended up at Angiolino’s brother-in-law Simone Padoan’s super hip pizzeria I Tigli in San Bonifacio (Verona), where the new wave of Italian pizza finds one of its epicenters.
The pizzas (which don’t resemble Neapolitan pizza) are served family-style in wedges. This was the most “classic”: mozzarella and tomato sauce.
Raw bream with puntarelle (Roman chicory) and pomegranate seeds.
Raw shrimp with artichoke and blood orange.
Battuta (steak tartare).
We drank this wonderful skin-contact Don Chisciotte 2007 Fiano, a wine I had read a lot about but had never had the chance to taste.
We’re headed out know to a busy day of tasting in Valpolicella and then dinner with Italy’s top wine blogger Mr. Franco Ziliani. Stay tuned… Gotta run!
A new friend in Angiolino Maule and the future of Natural wine in Italy
Have you ever tasted a wine that thrilled you so completely and moved you so deeply that you felt compelled, as if by some magnetic force of the earth, to seek out the winemaker and vineyards where it was grown?
After first tasting his wines last year, that’s how I felt about Angiolino Maule and La Biancara, his family’s estate.
Two weeks ago, I called Angiolino out of the blue and asked him if I could bring Tracie P and Alfonso to taste with him (Alfonso arrived yesterday in Italy for the COF2011 project.)
Even though he didn’t know me from Adamo, he agreed to let us come and taste. Before we knew it, there was a sympathia and it didn’t take long to discover that we have a very close and dear friend in common, Veneto jazz great Ruggero Robin.
Angiolino’s wines are simply stunning, literally mind-blowing… We toured his growing sites, tasted, and talked about his new university research projects and his quest to bring hard science into the fold of the Natural wine world. And he revealed some of his breakthroughs in vinification without the addition of sulfites (more on that later).
Although the village is dominated by industrial, commercial winemaking, some of the upper slopes of the township of Gambellara in the province of Vicenza (above) are still blessed by gorgeous vineyards alternated with untamed woods. One of the most intriguing landscapes of my beloved Veneto.
So much to tell, so much to share… but it will just have to wait as Tracie P, Alfonso, and I head out for another day of tasting…
The best restaurant in Italy? Le Calandre in Padua
It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments: for the one night where we hadn’t already planned where to eat, we dined at Le Calandre in Padua — a 3-star Michelin restaurant.
tagliolini di mozzarella
the texture of the julienned mozzarella released unexpected flavors from the plastic cheese
scampi tostati con “formaggio fresco” di latte di fave, radicchio di Treviso e mele
toasted langoustines with a “fresh cheese” of fava milk, radicchio trevigiano, and apples
battuta di carne cruda piemontese al tartufo nero
as instructed by our server, you wrapped the nuggets of raw beef in the shaved truffle, served on a piece of bark, and then dipped them in light beaten-egg sauce
cappelli liquidi di brodo d’oca all’arancia
these were cappelletti filled with an orange-goose broth, like soup dumplings
cannelloni croccanti di ricotta e mozzarella di bufala con passata di pomodoro
crunchy cannelloni filled with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella with tomato sauce
risotto di zafferano con polvere di liquirizia
saffron risotto with licorice dust
maialino di latte arrostito, salsa di senape e polvere di caffè
roast milk-weaned suckling pig, mustard sauce and coffee dust
proiezioni al cioccolato
dessert came with a mini-screening to complement the physical sensations
Many believe that Massimiliano Alajmo is the best chef in Italy today. He might very well be. Le Calandre was a fantastic experience… And for however experimental and avant-garde his cooking, the flavors were pure Italy… A stunning and thrilling evening, full of sensual surprises…
Nota bene: Le Calandre is not a cheap date (THANK YOU GOSSIP GIRL!). But you can order à la carte and there are a lot of very reasonably priced, wonderful wines on the list, like this Malvasia Secca dell’Emilia by Donati, one of my favorite producers. Natural and wonderfully stinky and crunchy, lees-aged, bottled fermented… Perfect with the wide range of flavors…
Lunch at home with the Nonino family
Conversation over lunch in the home of the Nonino family (the first family of Italian distillation) ranged from encounters with Marcello Mastroianni, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Luigi Veronelli to the (literal) renaissance of native grape varieties in Friuli. I was THRILLED to be invited for lunch in their home, a fascinating family with a fascinating history. That’s daughter Cristina and father Benito above. They served an aperitif of Amaro Nonino on the rocks with a slice of blood orange.
There’s so much to tell about our confabulatio and there will be time for that… in the meantime, the bean and potato soup — with barley, chestnuts, and bits of melt-in-your mouth bacon fat, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with freshly cracked pepper — was an amazing confluence of flavors and textures. A rustic, powerfully sensuous dish…
Stewed goose thigh was o so tender and delicious with polenta and cabbage. Benito thanked us for coming, noting that they feed him better when there are guests. They’re a very colorful bunch and the hours we spent together were literally marvelous.
This was definitely one of the most fascinating visits so far but the tale of what was told yesterday will have to wait…
Amazing seafood and fun times in Trieste…
Before leaving for Italy, Tracie P expressed a desire to visit Trieste and so we headed there yesterday for dinner with Giampaolo Venica and wife Chiara and brother and sister prosciutto-makers Andrea and Monica d’Osvaldo to eat at the classic Ristorante al Bagatto.
The food was fantastic, the wine wonderful (Zidarich Vitovska 06 and 08, the 08 the stunner), the laughter and conversation super fun…
Now, THAT’s a fritto misto!
But when an Italian mother calls her son (in this case, Andrea), everything gets put on hold!
The most stunning wine so far…
was this 1998 Venica & Venica Collio Sauvignon, shared with us yesterday over lunch by our good friend Giampaolo Venica…
Gently oxidative nose, ripe and deliciously overripe stone fruit flavors, and rich texture in this nearly 13-year-old bottling of Sauvignon. Paired with this wine, paper-thin slices of D’Osvaldo guanciale and crusty bread bordered on the oneiric…
My baby loves her some Prosciutto d’Osvaldo!
It was with utterly ineffable joy that I witnessed Tracie P experience her first taste of Prosciutto d’Osvaldo — arguably the top “cult prosciutto” of Friuli — last night at Valter Scarbolo’s Frasca in Pavia di Udine last night.
In Italian, you might say that both of us are prosciutto-dipendenti (prosciutto-addicted) and sadly prosciutto-deprived when at home in the U.S., where good prosciutto often makes the Atlantic-crossing but is then tragically missliced (is that a neologism?).
Conversation on the ideological nature of restaurateurship with Valter was almost as thrilling as his food, like this artichoke soup, made with Apulian artichokes, a touch of creamed potatoes (no cream) to impart the desired texture and consistency, and garnished with a butterflied shrimp from the Adriatic.
Fricorgrasm, anyone? No time today to discuss the nuances of potato and Montasio frico this morning. But let it suffice to say that more than one o my G-d was uttered.
I love the way the Friulians (unlike the Veneti) use onions (in this case and braised chicory in others) to dress their boiled salame with grilled polenta.
There’s so much more to tell but it will just have to wait. Off to Collio this morning and then Trieste. Stay tuned…
Do Bianchi 