La Cappuccina in an Agriturismo in Cureggio in northern Piemonte. They have a farm, restaurant, make their own cheese from the milk from their goats, everything is made in house from scratch, perfect spot for us to visit and work. We were welcomed when we arrived at La Cappuccina by 2 giant German Shepards that were fairly scary at first sight. Turned out they were 2 of the friendliest dogs I have met, but you never know... We arrived at La Cappuccina on theTuesday before Thanksgiving. The restaurant is closed Sunday-Wednesday, we did not work on Thursday because of Thanksgiving (I posted pictures of our feast before). We arrived into the kitchen at 1:30 in the afternoon. I was immediately put on roasted potato duty for a 50 person party that evening. The menu consisted of a Roasted Rabbit Terrine wrapped in Lardo and served over a fennel and cabbage salad, cauliflower Sformato with Bagna Caoda (classic Piemontese sauce made from anchovies, garlic, olive oil, milk, and a touch of flour) Braised beef Agnolotti with a beef jus and butter, brasato di manzo with roasted potatoes, and gelato with a warm Zabaglione sauce. We were given much more meaningful tasks at La Cappuccina than at Zamboni. It was a very small kitchen, just 3 of us to start, then one more cook came later on. The food was very good. Simply done, very flavorful ingredients that are not overthought, and showcasing the freshness. The following days menu was all the same, a set menu for the entire week. It was a very nice menu and well executed by the staff.
Le Piane- Many of you already know Christoph of Le Piane in Boca from the dinner at Tomasso a few months ago. Christoph invited us to see the vineyard after the dinner, so we did not hesitate to take him up on that offer, any chance to taste Le Piane wines. The town of Boca has an interesting story. Back in the 50's it was a giant growing region for wines, and the landscape was very similar to Barolo which is covered with vineyards that stretch as far as the eye can see. Nowadays many of the wonemakers have moved on. There are only 11 producers in all of Boca, a big jump from the 3 that were there when Christoph took over the winery in 1998. The entire landscape now has overgrown forrests where the vineyards used to be. This almost became a non wine growing region, but it would be a shame. The wines that are produced at Le Piane are very impressive and the landscape that is being tended to is beautiful. We spent about 4 hours with Christoph driving up and down the vineyards, visiting the cellar, and tasting his wines and the wines that the estate produced before he took over. We even got to taste a Passito wine that they are playing around with and may be released into the market in a couple years. Anybody who has the chance to visit northern Piemonte must go visit Le Piane. They also have a apartment available for rent which is the picture on the label. There is so much more to add to both these experiences, but I want to save some of the dialogue for when we are back and can talk rather than type. Right now we are in Barolo, and we head to Asti in two days to work at Campanaro with Duilio for a week. Hopefully I can update then on some of the wineries visited here including Erbaluna, Vajra, Ascheri, & Deltetto.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Zamboni, Bella Vista, Switzerland
Well, I have really not been doing my part in keeping up with this blog, but this is our last morning at La Cappuccina, we head down to Asti in a couple hours and I don't know what our internet service will be like for the rest of the trip, so I will try to squeeze a lot into this post.
1. Trattoria Zamboni: We stayed at Trattoria Zamboni in Arcugnano, just outside of Vicenza for one week. We worked from 10:00am-midnight 3 days while we were there. The ingredients used were interesting. The first day we worked, we went out the garden and picked a wheel barrel full of Broccoli, cleaned it all, prepped, blanched, etc. so we thought we were in for a local chef's dream. We butchered some local Guinea Fowl, and Ducks, a large amount of each. It seemed as though they were going to have 100 people for lunch and dinner everyday with the amount of prep we did for each item.. They used some very fresh ingredients, but then they froze everything in small batches and thawed it out during service. The meat, vegetables, fish, everythins was prepped in large quantities then frozen. The meat was from Argentina & Ireland, they got in fish once/week, vegetables were once/ week, etc etc. It was an interesting method, it seemed as though they cared about family meal more than serving customers. Family meal happened everyday at noon and 6:00pm. There were about 10-12 employees, we all sat down together with wine, pasta, meat, vegetables, beer, dessert each meal. Each meal lasted about an hour, then we went back and got ready for service which was a bit like a fire drill. They had parties of a certain number of people, but as each course went out, they did not count out plates, food was plated until they were told that everyone in the dining room was fed. Very disorganized. They were, however, very friendly and let us in to their family as though we were one of them. They spoke in a specific dialect for the area of Veneto, and nobody spoke English, so it was very tricky to understand anything for the first few days. It is difficult for Italians to understand them, so you can imagine how we were. There were a few good dishes that I got from there. There was a Mascarpone and Gorgonzola whipped chese on a crostino, a roasted Guinea Fowl leg, and a Pappardelle pasta with ground rabbit, dried tomatoes, and black olives. The biggest thing we got out of Zamboni was the feeling of family comes first, work is just something that also has to be done. A far different atmosphere than we are used to.
While we were at Zamboni, we had the opportunity to visit some other places in the area. We went to Venice for a day and did the tourist thing. We spent a couple days in Vicenza, Verona, and some of the surrounding lakes. We also had an appointmet set up at Bella Vista in Franciacorta. We were looking forward to this the whole trip, anyone who has had the Bella Vista at Panzano or Tomasso knows exactly why. It is one of our favorite bubblies in the world. The estate was gorgeous, very large, much bigger scale than you would imagine from a wine that is so good. They make over 1 million bottles of wine every year, and they are all of amazing quality. The tour was a bit overwelming trying to piece together how they keep track of everything. The cellar went on for miles with bottle after bottle on racks just calling for us to drink them. Alberto Chioni was the tour guide/taster. He told us of the history of the company, the strict Franciacorta guidelines, showed us the "Beautiful View" (Bella Vista) which was somewaht less impressive with the fog that blanketed everything. Then we shared a bottle of the Brut. Alberto said that the worst tasting Bella Vista is always drank there, because it is taken directly from the cellar whereas anywhere else has more time to age. Bella Vista is a sparkling wine that gets better with age because of its complexity. We didn't listen, it tasted just as amazing as we always remember it.
The Switzerland border is only about an hour from where we are staying now, so we took a trip out there last Wednesday because I had never been there. We drove across the border, literally without stopping. Border laws are slightly more laid back in Europe than in the US. We were met there by the Swiss Alps. Absolutely Amazing. The range went on as far as you could see, and the mountains were all covered by snow. It was a perfectly sunny day, so we could see everything very clearly. Everywhere you looked seemed like the most beautiful view in the world. We must have overdone it with the pictures because everything looked like a postcard. Of course, when you look at the pictures they are pretty, but do not do the views any justice. We drove all the way to Zermatt, which looked on the map to be the biggest city close to the border of Italy. We arrived at the foot of the Mountain which led up to Zermatt and began to climb up following the GPS' directions. The roads were very narrow and windy, and not much traffic, only a few cars here and there, but mostly golf carts. We got to the top and started looking for a place to park. There was not a single parking place in the whole town. It's not that they were all taken, there were not other cars...anywhere. Everyone in the streets was looking at us like we were crazy, but we get that everywhere we go, so thought nothing of it. We did the loop through the town and started to exit to maybe find parking further down. There we were greeted by a Swiss Police Officer who set up a road block. Apparently driving in the town of Zermatt is strictly prohibited and the signs (in swiss german) told us so before we entered. He was a bit amuzed by us and our complete ignorance, but that did not protect us from having to pay a 70 euro fine ($105) cash before we were allowed to leave. It was only humerous about 20 minutes or so after we had been driving away. We decided we just wanted to stop for lunch and head back. Apparently in Switzerland, everything closes and you cannot get any food after 1:00. that was not in our favor considering it was now 3:00. We stopped and had a beer, went to the grocery store and bought some local salami, and chocolate that we ate in the car, then climbed the Alps all the way back to Italy with our tails between our legs. The view was a bit less magestical during the beginning of our 2 hour drive back through the Alps, but again, the breathtaking sights overwhelmed us and the fine and hunger were mere afterthoughts. I posted some of the pictures, but they in no way paint the whole picture. I have to wrap it up now, we are packing up our things thie morning and heading down to Asti. We have an appointment before that at a gorgonzola factory, then we are off to Noceto Michelotti, followed by Erbaluna, Falstaff, Vajra, Campanaro, Enotecca Bisson, and anything else we can find in between before we head back to Umbria for Christmas with the family. The next time we have internet I will update on our visit to Cappuccina.
1. Trattoria Zamboni: We stayed at Trattoria Zamboni in Arcugnano, just outside of Vicenza for one week. We worked from 10:00am-midnight 3 days while we were there. The ingredients used were interesting. The first day we worked, we went out the garden and picked a wheel barrel full of Broccoli, cleaned it all, prepped, blanched, etc. so we thought we were in for a local chef's dream. We butchered some local Guinea Fowl, and Ducks, a large amount of each. It seemed as though they were going to have 100 people for lunch and dinner everyday with the amount of prep we did for each item.. They used some very fresh ingredients, but then they froze everything in small batches and thawed it out during service. The meat, vegetables, fish, everythins was prepped in large quantities then frozen. The meat was from Argentina & Ireland, they got in fish once/week, vegetables were once/ week, etc etc. It was an interesting method, it seemed as though they cared about family meal more than serving customers. Family meal happened everyday at noon and 6:00pm. There were about 10-12 employees, we all sat down together with wine, pasta, meat, vegetables, beer, dessert each meal. Each meal lasted about an hour, then we went back and got ready for service which was a bit like a fire drill. They had parties of a certain number of people, but as each course went out, they did not count out plates, food was plated until they were told that everyone in the dining room was fed. Very disorganized. They were, however, very friendly and let us in to their family as though we were one of them. They spoke in a specific dialect for the area of Veneto, and nobody spoke English, so it was very tricky to understand anything for the first few days. It is difficult for Italians to understand them, so you can imagine how we were. There were a few good dishes that I got from there. There was a Mascarpone and Gorgonzola whipped chese on a crostino, a roasted Guinea Fowl leg, and a Pappardelle pasta with ground rabbit, dried tomatoes, and black olives. The biggest thing we got out of Zamboni was the feeling of family comes first, work is just something that also has to be done. A far different atmosphere than we are used to.
While we were at Zamboni, we had the opportunity to visit some other places in the area. We went to Venice for a day and did the tourist thing. We spent a couple days in Vicenza, Verona, and some of the surrounding lakes. We also had an appointmet set up at Bella Vista in Franciacorta. We were looking forward to this the whole trip, anyone who has had the Bella Vista at Panzano or Tomasso knows exactly why. It is one of our favorite bubblies in the world. The estate was gorgeous, very large, much bigger scale than you would imagine from a wine that is so good. They make over 1 million bottles of wine every year, and they are all of amazing quality. The tour was a bit overwelming trying to piece together how they keep track of everything. The cellar went on for miles with bottle after bottle on racks just calling for us to drink them. Alberto Chioni was the tour guide/taster. He told us of the history of the company, the strict Franciacorta guidelines, showed us the "Beautiful View" (Bella Vista) which was somewaht less impressive with the fog that blanketed everything. Then we shared a bottle of the Brut. Alberto said that the worst tasting Bella Vista is always drank there, because it is taken directly from the cellar whereas anywhere else has more time to age. Bella Vista is a sparkling wine that gets better with age because of its complexity. We didn't listen, it tasted just as amazing as we always remember it.
The Switzerland border is only about an hour from where we are staying now, so we took a trip out there last Wednesday because I had never been there. We drove across the border, literally without stopping. Border laws are slightly more laid back in Europe than in the US. We were met there by the Swiss Alps. Absolutely Amazing. The range went on as far as you could see, and the mountains were all covered by snow. It was a perfectly sunny day, so we could see everything very clearly. Everywhere you looked seemed like the most beautiful view in the world. We must have overdone it with the pictures because everything looked like a postcard. Of course, when you look at the pictures they are pretty, but do not do the views any justice. We drove all the way to Zermatt, which looked on the map to be the biggest city close to the border of Italy. We arrived at the foot of the Mountain which led up to Zermatt and began to climb up following the GPS' directions. The roads were very narrow and windy, and not much traffic, only a few cars here and there, but mostly golf carts. We got to the top and started looking for a place to park. There was not a single parking place in the whole town. It's not that they were all taken, there were not other cars...anywhere. Everyone in the streets was looking at us like we were crazy, but we get that everywhere we go, so thought nothing of it. We did the loop through the town and started to exit to maybe find parking further down. There we were greeted by a Swiss Police Officer who set up a road block. Apparently driving in the town of Zermatt is strictly prohibited and the signs (in swiss german) told us so before we entered. He was a bit amuzed by us and our complete ignorance, but that did not protect us from having to pay a 70 euro fine ($105) cash before we were allowed to leave. It was only humerous about 20 minutes or so after we had been driving away. We decided we just wanted to stop for lunch and head back. Apparently in Switzerland, everything closes and you cannot get any food after 1:00. that was not in our favor considering it was now 3:00. We stopped and had a beer, went to the grocery store and bought some local salami, and chocolate that we ate in the car, then climbed the Alps all the way back to Italy with our tails between our legs. The view was a bit less magestical during the beginning of our 2 hour drive back through the Alps, but again, the breathtaking sights overwhelmed us and the fine and hunger were mere afterthoughts. I posted some of the pictures, but they in no way paint the whole picture. I have to wrap it up now, we are packing up our things thie morning and heading down to Asti. We have an appointment before that at a gorgonzola factory, then we are off to Noceto Michelotti, followed by Erbaluna, Falstaff, Vajra, Campanaro, Enotecca Bisson, and anything else we can find in between before we head back to Umbria for Christmas with the family. The next time we have internet I will update on our visit to Cappuccina.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
Although there is no Thanksgiving in Italy, we did our best to make it seem like the traditional holiday. We did not have a cooking source, so we were limited to whatever we could find at the local supermarket. We got a roasted Chicken, sliced turkey from the deli, potato salad, ribes rosso (which looked and tasted like fresh cranberries) a salad, lipini beans, apple tart, bread, plenty of vino novello and prosecco. I was attempting to watch football highlights on my computer, and we were able to video chat with the family during our "Thanksgiving Feast". We had a really nice holiday, and were happy to share it with everyone that we were able to speak with. Now it is back to working. We start at La Capuccina tonight, hopefully I will have a chance to catch up blogging on Trattoria Zamboni, Bella Vista, Switzerland, to name a few. Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Finalmente, internet! Allora
November 18
Well then, another day goes by and I am another day behind on blogging. By the time I am able to post this, my time at Trattoria Zamboni will be finished. As of now, our first day of working is tomorrow. but first things first.
1. Il Palagio in the town of Panzano in Chianti. We arrived in Panzano and called Monia Paccini, the owner of Il Palagio who offered us a room in her B&B for the evening. We finally found where it was, and were welcomed by her mother-in-law who gave us our room key. Our tasting was pushed off a day because of the Olive harvest, so we has the rest of the day to explore. Got some local cheese, salami, some antipasti, and a loaf of bread and our dinner was set. Our room was high in the hill of Panzano which overlooked the amazing rolling hills of Chianti. Again, a view that pictures do not do justice. On to the tasting...Monia met us in the kitchen of the B&B where she had prepared our breakfast. We spoke with her over breakfast for the better part 2 hours sharing one another's passion for great food and wine and how much appreciation we had for all the hard work that goes into it. Turns out that Monia has dined at Tomasso before, and told me it was one of only two Italian restaurants in America that she was impressed with (she would not tell us the other one). After breakfast it was off to the cellar for the tasting with Monia's assistant, Antonella Petroni. She gave us a proper tour and a brief history of the land, which was ownder by the family for a few generations. Monia's father was running the winery when he passed away when she was too young to take over the business. The land was rented out for many years until Monia was old enough and knowledgable enough to take it over, which she did about 10 years ago. She is making some very good Chianti, and the Olive Oil is amazing as well. We tasted the '06 and '07 classico versions, the '06 riserva, and the IGT which is a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot. The '06 Riserva really stood out in my eyes. It has great dark fruit/cherries, blackberries, etc with nice floral aromas and a good acid/tannin balance. The IGT was aged in French New Oak and sure did taste like it. Very big and tannic with a heavy Oak flavor, it was good, but definately would have benefited from a nice fatty piece of meat. Il Palagio is definately a place worth visiting if you are ever in the Chianti region of Tuscany and they have amazing accomidations from the B&B that we stayed at to the full apartments in the middle of the vineyard and Monia will be right there to guide you along when she is not out in the vineyard harvesting, picking Olives, cooking breakfast, hosting cooking classes with two local chef friends, and, oh yeah, raising her 3 year old daughter.
2. Our dinner with Mr. John Matta, owner of Vicchiomaggio. We did the standard tour that everyone who visits the Castello (Castle) gets, and tasted some of the better known varieties (Ripa delle Mandorle, San Jacopo, Agostino Petri) with one of the employees which are all exceptional...but our visit really began when we me John for dinner at the restaurant downstairs from where we were staying. His Chef, Fabbio Marrone, was preparing some classic Tuscan dishes to pair with the wines. It was the 3 of us at one table and a couple staying there as well at their own table. Very intimate setting
The food: Bruschette with the "new oil" which was pressed a few hours before we tasted it (the first taste for John this year as well) Very spicy, strong flavor that comes from the new oil when it is first pressed, over time it loses that spiciness and the result is a more rounded oil that we are all used to. The new oil is hands down a much better choice on Bruschetta, but not to cook with because it can be overpowering. Next we had a Pumpkin Risotto, pretty standard presentation from a Risotto. Third course we had Pumpkin and Potato filled Tortelli with a very fresh tasting Sage and Butter sauce. The secondo was brasato di manzo al chianti classico (Beef braised in chianti) which was very tender and the sauce was the braising medium all pureed together which was very thick and intensly flavored. We then has a tasting of local cheeses, followed by biscotti with vin santo.
The Wine: With dinner we tasted all of the Riserva's Vicchiomaggio had to offer, and they didn't suck! Each one was better than the next, different vintages, blends, etc. Basically John was showing us his arsenal.(they are much better to taste than to read what I have to say about them) The one that we will not be forgetting in this lifetime was the FSN100% Merlot IGT (FSN are John's father's initials) that was paired with the braised beef. IGT is basically the lowest level of restrictions, so it is up to the winemaker to decide where they want to take the wine. As a result, many IGT's are pretty bad, but this was definately not one of those. It had a velvety elegance to it with hints of Vanilla from the Oak and got better and better as we drank it and it had some time to open up. I helped myself, with Mr. Matta's permission of course, to a couple of refills. John had to leave to pick his wife up at the airport, so Emily and I ended the night chatting with Fabbio, who spoke English very well, and our server, who could say hello. It was a wonderful evening, and we finished it by taking one of the 1/2 full bottles to our room which was, did I mention, in a Castle which also didn't suck.
3. Last one for now... Villa di Corlo,( http://www.villadicorlo.com/ ) Lambrusca and Balsamic. Antonia, owner of Villa di Corlo met us for a quick tour and tasting. We had a couple that we were familar with, but the rose, Lisanda (a combination of her daughter, husband, and her names) was outstanding. Very well balanced, fruity, tannic, acidic, and bubbles, you can't got wrong. We ended up getting another bottle which we just drank a few nights ago. The Balsamic was interesting, it was in the upstairs of the house the family uses in the summer. I use the word house, but you could host an army in this place. we tasted a 7 year old, 60 year, and 140 year old. The 60 was the best for me, was velvety, thick, but not too thick, nice sweetness and acidity. It was beginning to get dark when we were tasting in the attic, and Antonia was very excited to show us the vineyard, so she raced to her car and nearly lost us as we trailed behind. We drove down the windy roads and eventually came to what looked like a driveway. This thing never ended, we followed for few miles it seemed up a dirt road filled with thick fog, and all we could see were the tail lights of the car we followed. We finally made it to the vineyard, but the view was not ideal. The thick fog blanketed the vineyard, and we we left with a long drive and no view. She then invited us to their home to show us the cellar they had in the winter home. This place was twice the size of the summer home and completely secluded from everything. As we walked in the house we realized that her husband is an avid hunter. The walls were stuffed with trophy's of past hunts... deer, anteloupe, zebra, eagles, hawks, falcons, a lion, every animal in the region, and many from Africa, literally, lined the walls. Zebra skin floors, ducks, geese, etc. etc. etc.... kinda creepy, we enjoyed seeing everything, but when it was time to go...we were ready. A bit intense.
We have now arrived at La Capuccina, an Agroturismo in Cureggio, Piemonte. Tomorrow we will take a drive to Switzerland, which is only 2 hours from here, Thursday we will attempt to have as close to a Thanksgiving here as possible with just the 2 of us and no cooking source in our room, then Friday we begin working here in the restaurant. We just finished a week at Trattoria Zamboni, which I will update you on in the upcoming days. Internet access is up and running, so we have some catching up to do. I did not have the time to proofread this post, because 1:00am is rapidly approaching and we are up early for out voyage tomorrow, so ignore any glaring errors. Until next time, ciao
Well then, another day goes by and I am another day behind on blogging. By the time I am able to post this, my time at Trattoria Zamboni will be finished. As of now, our first day of working is tomorrow. but first things first.
1. Il Palagio in the town of Panzano in Chianti. We arrived in Panzano and called Monia Paccini, the owner of Il Palagio who offered us a room in her B&B for the evening. We finally found where it was, and were welcomed by her mother-in-law who gave us our room key. Our tasting was pushed off a day because of the Olive harvest, so we has the rest of the day to explore. Got some local cheese, salami, some antipasti, and a loaf of bread and our dinner was set. Our room was high in the hill of Panzano which overlooked the amazing rolling hills of Chianti. Again, a view that pictures do not do justice. On to the tasting...Monia met us in the kitchen of the B&B where she had prepared our breakfast. We spoke with her over breakfast for the better part 2 hours sharing one another's passion for great food and wine and how much appreciation we had for all the hard work that goes into it. Turns out that Monia has dined at Tomasso before, and told me it was one of only two Italian restaurants in America that she was impressed with (she would not tell us the other one). After breakfast it was off to the cellar for the tasting with Monia's assistant, Antonella Petroni. She gave us a proper tour and a brief history of the land, which was ownder by the family for a few generations. Monia's father was running the winery when he passed away when she was too young to take over the business. The land was rented out for many years until Monia was old enough and knowledgable enough to take it over, which she did about 10 years ago. She is making some very good Chianti, and the Olive Oil is amazing as well. We tasted the '06 and '07 classico versions, the '06 riserva, and the IGT which is a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot. The '06 Riserva really stood out in my eyes. It has great dark fruit/cherries, blackberries, etc with nice floral aromas and a good acid/tannin balance. The IGT was aged in French New Oak and sure did taste like it. Very big and tannic with a heavy Oak flavor, it was good, but definately would have benefited from a nice fatty piece of meat. Il Palagio is definately a place worth visiting if you are ever in the Chianti region of Tuscany and they have amazing accomidations from the B&B that we stayed at to the full apartments in the middle of the vineyard and Monia will be right there to guide you along when she is not out in the vineyard harvesting, picking Olives, cooking breakfast, hosting cooking classes with two local chef friends, and, oh yeah, raising her 3 year old daughter.
2. Our dinner with Mr. John Matta, owner of Vicchiomaggio. We did the standard tour that everyone who visits the Castello (Castle) gets, and tasted some of the better known varieties (Ripa delle Mandorle, San Jacopo, Agostino Petri) with one of the employees which are all exceptional...but our visit really began when we me John for dinner at the restaurant downstairs from where we were staying. His Chef, Fabbio Marrone, was preparing some classic Tuscan dishes to pair with the wines. It was the 3 of us at one table and a couple staying there as well at their own table. Very intimate setting
The food: Bruschette with the "new oil" which was pressed a few hours before we tasted it (the first taste for John this year as well) Very spicy, strong flavor that comes from the new oil when it is first pressed, over time it loses that spiciness and the result is a more rounded oil that we are all used to. The new oil is hands down a much better choice on Bruschetta, but not to cook with because it can be overpowering. Next we had a Pumpkin Risotto, pretty standard presentation from a Risotto. Third course we had Pumpkin and Potato filled Tortelli with a very fresh tasting Sage and Butter sauce. The secondo was brasato di manzo al chianti classico (Beef braised in chianti) which was very tender and the sauce was the braising medium all pureed together which was very thick and intensly flavored. We then has a tasting of local cheeses, followed by biscotti with vin santo.
The Wine: With dinner we tasted all of the Riserva's Vicchiomaggio had to offer, and they didn't suck! Each one was better than the next, different vintages, blends, etc. Basically John was showing us his arsenal.(they are much better to taste than to read what I have to say about them) The one that we will not be forgetting in this lifetime was the FSN100% Merlot IGT (FSN are John's father's initials) that was paired with the braised beef. IGT is basically the lowest level of restrictions, so it is up to the winemaker to decide where they want to take the wine. As a result, many IGT's are pretty bad, but this was definately not one of those. It had a velvety elegance to it with hints of Vanilla from the Oak and got better and better as we drank it and it had some time to open up. I helped myself, with Mr. Matta's permission of course, to a couple of refills. John had to leave to pick his wife up at the airport, so Emily and I ended the night chatting with Fabbio, who spoke English very well, and our server, who could say hello. It was a wonderful evening, and we finished it by taking one of the 1/2 full bottles to our room which was, did I mention, in a Castle which also didn't suck.
3. Last one for now... Villa di Corlo,( http://www.villadicorlo.com/ ) Lambrusca and Balsamic. Antonia, owner of Villa di Corlo met us for a quick tour and tasting. We had a couple that we were familar with, but the rose, Lisanda (a combination of her daughter, husband, and her names) was outstanding. Very well balanced, fruity, tannic, acidic, and bubbles, you can't got wrong. We ended up getting another bottle which we just drank a few nights ago. The Balsamic was interesting, it was in the upstairs of the house the family uses in the summer. I use the word house, but you could host an army in this place. we tasted a 7 year old, 60 year, and 140 year old. The 60 was the best for me, was velvety, thick, but not too thick, nice sweetness and acidity. It was beginning to get dark when we were tasting in the attic, and Antonia was very excited to show us the vineyard, so she raced to her car and nearly lost us as we trailed behind. We drove down the windy roads and eventually came to what looked like a driveway. This thing never ended, we followed for few miles it seemed up a dirt road filled with thick fog, and all we could see were the tail lights of the car we followed. We finally made it to the vineyard, but the view was not ideal. The thick fog blanketed the vineyard, and we we left with a long drive and no view. She then invited us to their home to show us the cellar they had in the winter home. This place was twice the size of the summer home and completely secluded from everything. As we walked in the house we realized that her husband is an avid hunter. The walls were stuffed with trophy's of past hunts... deer, anteloupe, zebra, eagles, hawks, falcons, a lion, every animal in the region, and many from Africa, literally, lined the walls. Zebra skin floors, ducks, geese, etc. etc. etc.... kinda creepy, we enjoyed seeing everything, but when it was time to go...we were ready. A bit intense.
We have now arrived at La Capuccina, an Agroturismo in Cureggio, Piemonte. Tomorrow we will take a drive to Switzerland, which is only 2 hours from here, Thursday we will attempt to have as close to a Thanksgiving here as possible with just the 2 of us and no cooking source in our room, then Friday we begin working here in the restaurant. We just finished a week at Trattoria Zamboni, which I will update you on in the upcoming days. Internet access is up and running, so we have some catching up to do. I did not have the time to proofread this post, because 1:00am is rapidly approaching and we are up early for out voyage tomorrow, so ignore any glaring errors. Until next time, ciao
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Still to come....
Having limited internet access has interfered with my ability to update, and I do not have much time right now because we are about to get in the car and drive to Trattoria Zamboni near Vicenza in the Veneto where we will be working for at least the next week. There are a few things that I have to tell you about, but this will act as the teaser...
1. The amazing Monia Paccini of Il Palagio in the town of Panzano
2. Our evening with John Matta of Vicchiomaggio (Ripa delle Mandorle) and his 100% Merlot IGT paired with Brasato di Manzo in Chianti
3. Bubbles with Antonia at Villa di Corlo, followed by our evening in Bologna
A lot to cover, I know, but hopefully our next stop will give me the ability to post, and update some pictures. Until then, ciao
1. The amazing Monia Paccini of Il Palagio in the town of Panzano
2. Our evening with John Matta of Vicchiomaggio (Ripa delle Mandorle) and his 100% Merlot IGT paired with Brasato di Manzo in Chianti
3. Bubbles with Antonia at Villa di Corlo, followed by our evening in Bologna
A lot to cover, I know, but hopefully our next stop will give me the ability to post, and update some pictures. Until then, ciao
Friday, November 13, 2009
1 day late!
November 13th
Emily has finally begun her blog, please visit http://passionforward.blogspot.com to see what she has to say.
Today we are staying at castello vicchiomaggio in greve as guests of John Matta, the owner and winemaker. We have a tour in an hour, and dinner with Mr. Matta this evening. I will
Emily has finally begun her blog, please visit http://passionforward.blogspot.com to see what she has to say.
Today we are staying at castello vicchiomaggio in greve as guests of John Matta, the owner and winemaker. We have a tour in an hour, and dinner with Mr. Matta this evening. I will
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pacina
You will have to excuse my English, because we now do not speak properly in any language. Our Italian is getting better, but still at the beginner stage, and we speak broken English to each other when we do not know the words in Italian. It is quite amusing. We left Pacina this morning, and headed towards Panzano in Chianti. Stefano and Giovanna, owners of Pacina, met us there yesterday afternoon and we got a tour of the Estate, tasted some wines and the new olive oil, then they showed us to our room. They let us stay in an apartment on the property that overlooked the rolling hills of Chianti. The view was amazing, and the pictures we took do not do it justice. The harvest this year is complete, and now the olives are being picked for Oil, and the 2006 vintage is being bottled, so they are still very busy at the vineyard. The apartment had a kitchen, fireplace, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a heated pool below us, a big upgrade for the hotel room in Siena we stayed at the night before. Once we were settled in, we drove around the town of Castelnuovo Berardenga where we came across Felsina, another popular wine we have at Tomasso and Panzano. We dropped in there and also received a tour of the cellar, the vineyards, and the majority of the porperty. The, of course, more tasting. We tasted everything from the I Sistri white to their Grappa, and everything in between. We did not have an appointment with them, but they were very happy to see us anyway. We decided to stay in for dinner, and utilize the kitchen. We lit a fire and toasted bread for bruschetta over the fire for our antipasto, locally made pasta that we tossed with white anchovies, grape tomatoes, and olive oil, we roasted 2 pork shoulder steaks over the fire and fennel roasted in the oven, afterward we drank way too much wine while tending to the fire, my headache this morning told me so. We had a great time. Today we drove through the windy roads of Tuscany and made it to Panzano for lunch this afternoon. We have a tasting set up at Il Palagio tomorrow morning, then we are heading to Vicchiomaggio in Greve until Saturday. It is difficult to write about everything we are experiencing, but I will stop now because I am rambling, please leave comments if you wish, it's good to hear from everyone, ciao
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Piove Piove Piove
Sunday morning, another rain filled day! It has rained almost everyday since we got here, of course everyone says the weather was beautiful up until we got here. We had a wonderful dinner last night at Sergio Mottura's estate. While preparing the meal, we tried some bruschetta with the freshly pressed Olive Oil. The oil was delicious, very peppery, spicy, and a bit frizzante because of how recently it was pressed. We started the meal with "Strochetti" a very tasty chicken broth with a mixture of eggs, parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs mixed in. The next course was a Bucatini al'Amatriciana, classic dish from outside of Rome, made exactly how we make it at Tomasso with Guanciale, Peperoncini, White Wine, and Tomatoes. For the main course, we had roasted Duck. The Duck was raised here by Allesandra Mottura, who recently became a vegetarian after having to kill the Ducks for dinner. They were stuffed with sauteed organs, potatoes, fresh rosemary, dried black olives, and fennel seed, roasted and served with rosemary roasted potatoes. Finally we had seared cauliflower cooked with white wine and red wine vinegar. For Dolci, we had Sergio's favorite, pureed chestnuts (first of the season) cooked in milk with some sugar and vanilla, covered with whipped cream and cocoa powder. With the Muffo sweet wine, it was a perfect pairing. We are waiting to hear from the people of Pacina winery in Siena, which is hopefully our next stop. Until then, we are going to enjoy the small towns in the area of Civatell d'Agliano and see where our day will leave us. Ci Vediamo Dopo.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
In Italia
We arrived safely in Italy on Tuesday morning. There is no internet connection where we are staying now, so I am not able to update very often. Today Emily and I visited the small town of Amelia in Umbria near where we are staying. We have been before, so it was very familiar, but still nice to see the beautiful countryside where Emily's family lives. Tomorrow we are off to get our rental car, and visit a few small towns in the area of Viterbo. Friday we are going to a small Olive Oil company that presses all of the olives for the residents of Amelia. Saturday it is off to Sergio Mottura where I will be teaching a small cooking class before dinner. I must go now, we finished dinner with the family and we must get back and attempt to understand more Italian!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Italia Fall '09
Emily (my wife-to-be) and I are looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. 70 days traveling throughout Italy with nothing but our rented car (hopefully large enough for me to fit in) relying on people we barely know, or have yet to meet to guide us. The goal is to become "entrenched in the culture," learn everyday, meet great people who produce great food and wine, and ultimately bring as much knowledge about the true Italian lifestyle back with us, so we may share it all with you. We have always talked about traveling in Italy since we met nearly 6 years ago, but the time has finally come. We are excited for quite an adventure, mostly since neither of us has any sense of direction, but with the help of maps, GPS, and luck, it will be 70 memorable days worth following. We officially leave the country on November 2nd, and will be reconnecting with the Fabbrizi family, Emily's cousins, who graciously hosted us on our last visit. After a few days of visiting we will be off to our old friend Sergio Mottura's, who many of you may have met during our wine dinner at Tomasso last year, and the trip begins. Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Friuli, Piedmont, Alto Adige, and Liguria, I will keep you posted as often as possible. No need to worry about dining at Tomasso while I am away, Chef Jeff Pond and Sous Chef Danielle Sprague will be at the controls and undoubtedly wowing you in my absense. (hopefully they will allow me to return) So enjoy, and get ready for our January 31st dinner at Tomasso highlighting the food and wine experienced along the way!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
