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