Spent last week in Rome and Venice with Marcia and my nine year old daughter Olivia. Had a great time, despite the agenda of cramming all that classical kultchur into Olivia.
Between visits to masterpieces of western art & architecture we had to, regrettably, stop for meals, so a measure of wine was consumed, though few notes were taken. Almost all were white, thanks to the heat.
What stood out for me at our little domestic lunches and dinners was how wine in Italy is treated like another food group, and a carafe at the table is almost de rigueur (or de rigore), the decanter’s anonymity making its contents an even more appropriate visual foil for the label-free food. While the same could be said for a few other countries, the experience drove home to me how wine is generally treated, at restaurants on this side of the Atlantic, like some kind of highbrow experience (and priced accordingly) instead of a natural gastronomic companion, like bread and butter.
On day one, lunch at Alfredo della Scrofa, the venerable Roman pasta restaurant, home of the amazingly buttery yet light Fettuccine all’Alfredo (also known as Triplo Burro):
2007 J. Hofstatter De Vite Vigneti delle Dolomite (Trentino Alto Adige) IGT 13.0%
Surprisingly tropical nose of guava and citrus. Refreshing, but could use a bit more acidity. Finish has a pleasant bitterness that makes up for some of the missing acidity.
We stayed at a friend’s house just outside Rome, so on day two I brought home for dinner a bottle each of:
2008 Jermann Sauvignon Blanc Friuli DOC
Refreshing, citrusy and tropical, almost kiwi, but could use more acidity.
2004 Massolino Barolo DOCG
Approachable and tasty, though showing a bit too much vanilla at the moment. Perhaps it will fall asleep and wake up less oaky in a few years. But what happened to all those Barolo tannins?
In Venice, on day four, we had several glasses of delicious white fragolino at Enoteca Cantinone in Dorsoduro, my favorite local wine bar. The accompanying cicchetti were delicious, especially the ones made with buttered cod paste, horseradish parmesan paste, and a roll of artichoke and creamy mozzarella.
On day five we had an excellent dinner at Osteria Santa Marina in Castello, recently praised by the NYT, with Olivia’s assorted dessert plate being the highlight. After prior consultation with Hoke, I chose a ribolla gialla from Slovenia:
2006 Primosic Ribolla di Oslavia Riserva 13.0%
Exotic mineral and white flower aromas, unfortunately smothered by powerful vanilla. Complex in the mouth, more sweet than acid, with a light compensating bitterness. Alas, the oak remains overpowering, to a degree similar to a Planeta chardonnay I had recently. Very fine material, but in a style I am moving away from.
On day six, at Trattoria Da Romano in Burano (revealed to us by the Venice installment of Anthony Bourdain TV series), I ate simply the best risotto of my life.
2008 Inama Soave Classico 12.0%
The waiter assured me this was not oaked but I got a fair amount of oak, with attractive mineral and white flower notes. Nice acidity, with a pleasant mineral ting, but ultimately too much oak for me, though Marcia was cool with it.
At Ristorante Agli Alboretti in Dorsoduro, for years my favorite Venetian restaurant, we had a mediocre dinner with a dear local friend Taddeo Zuccheri. Apparently the long-time chef changed nearly two years ago, right after our last visit. Pecato! The wine list had some interesting choices, including several Gravners and Radikons that I am curious about, but the sommelier talked me into picking this organic (or biodynamic) wine I had never heard of:
2005 Kante Malvasia Friuli Carso DOC 13.0%
From 1000ml bottle. Deliciously saline nose, with hay and white flowers. Unusual, like muscadet on steroids. Mouth confirms nose, with more salt than I have ever experienced in a wine (like sea breeze). Body was a bit light, shudda been thicker, where’s (natural) micro ox when you need it?
The gastronomic highlight of our week came on day seven, our last, at Da Ivo, an old school (and expensive) restaurant not far from Piazza San Marco where I have always eaten well, but never this well. The combination maitre/waiter/sommelier began to treat us with respect after I exclaimed the magic word (Soldera) while reading the wine list and expressed to him my distaste for Frescobaldi & Banfi, etc. Though I picked a humble Pieropan, he brought us two other wines to taste as well as a plate of truffled cold cuts that were to die for. I had the osso-bucco with polenta and Marcia and Olivia both had superb risottos.
2008 Pieropan Soave Classico DOC 12.0%
Muted aromas of citrus and white flowers. No oak. Nice and dry, quite acidic. Simple, but functional.
2006 Quintarelli Bianco Secco Veneto IGT 13.0%
Oak vanilla and white flower aromas. Lovely body, on the sweet side, with caramel. A bit too much oak and sweetness, but has impressive mouth feel.
2007 Ca dei Frati “I Frati” Lugana DOC 13.5%
Had never heard of this producer but this was my favorite of the three. Exotic nose, very perfumed, with jasmine standing out. Some sweetness, discreet oak, quite lovely. Waiter said it was chardonnay, but research shows Lugana to be a varietal. Should seek this wine out.
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