Celebrating Mom

Mother’s Day is always a special day, especially for our family since we have mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers to celebrate with  After all where would we be if it were not for our moms? Carol’s mom, Grammy as we call her, is 96 and still going strong was in attendance.  Unfortunately my mom, Nanny as she is known, and is 90 years young, was a bit under the weather and did not join us this year.  We missed her presence but the grandkids called her and made her day. 


My daughter Lisa and son-in-law Andy started a tradition a few years ago of hosting a Mother’s Day Brunch followed by dinner at their home in Florham Park, NJ.   It has become a great tradition that Carol and I look forward to every year.   We deviated last year from the tradition (can’t remember why) but we got back on track this year.  Lisa and Andy are wonderful hosts and they do a great job in making the day a special one for family and a few special friends who attend.

Uovo in Purgatorio

Andy and I man the stove and cook fresh eggs to order for everyone.  The egg choices include scrambled, sunny-side up, over easy, make-your-own omelets and Uova in Purgatorio (Italian Eggs).   A bit more on Uova in Purgatorio.  This is a classic Italian peasant dish.  Eggs cooked sunny-side up in a spicy fresh tomato sauce and served with toasted Italian Panella bread.  I usually make it with duck eggs, but alas this year we settled on regular chicken eggs.  This is good as eggs can get.  Two of my favorite foods on the planet are eggs and fresh tomato sauce.  When combined in the same dish it is orgasmic.  One taste and I am sure you will agree.

Zucchini & Tomato Pie

Bacon, breakfast sausages, hash browns, & Gene's cornocoppia fruit salad accompany the eggs.  This year my lovely wife Carol made a delicious Zucchini & Tomato Pie (sort of a quiche) to add to the offerings.  It was delicious and you can bet it will become staple at future Mother's Day brunches.

To drink with this great brunch I brought three white wines from Italy for us to enjoy.  Everyone began with  2000 Bellavista Grand Cuvée Pas Opere, a dry sparkling white made from 100% Chardonnay grapes.  This is a beautifully rich and full-bodied champagne-styled wine from Franciacorta, Italy.  I love it by itself, while my ladies prefer it as a Mimosa mixed with fresh orange juice.  In either case it was delicious.  Bellavista also makes a gorgeous Brut Rosé.  I paid about $40 a bottle 5 years ago.  Probably more today and unfortunately not easy to find, but if you can find some, I am sure you will enjoy the wine.


For those who did not want to stay with the Bellavista there was a wonderful 2010 Testalonga Bianco Vermentino Dolceacqua.  Made by Antonio Perrino in Liguria from the Vermintino grape, it is a wine lover’s wine, i.e. is not a wine for everyone..  The wine sees extended skin contact, which imparts an almost funky, muted straw hue to the wine.   On the palate it is peppery and complex and seems to evolve forever in the glass as you drink it.  I find it to be a wine that is hard to stop drinking.     $27 at Chambers Street Wines, NYC.   From this same producer is Rossese Di Dolceacqua, a red wine made with the Rossese grape.  Like the white it is peppery on the palate and reminds one of a Poulsard from the Jura.  $30 and also at Chambers Street Wines.


The third white was the ever-present 2010 Ceretto Arneis Blanghe, Carol’s favorite wine.  The 2010 vintage drinks beautifully.  A little spritz on the first sip, the wine is pure, clean and delightful on the palate.  A much better option in my opinion that Pinot Grigo.  $20 and widely available.

Brunch Wines

Bivio Manicotti

After brunch we took advantage of the gorgeous day Mother Nature provided us and sat outside to digest our food and sip our wine while we engaged in idle conversation and relaxation until dinnertime.  Dinner of course was macaroni (know as pasta today) and gravy (sauce today) with meatballs, spareribs and sausage.  For the macaroni this year we had remarkably light (if you did not eat them quickly they would have floated off your plate) and tasty Manicotti.    I wish I could say that I made them as they were absolutely off the chart, but alas I did not.  They were made by Tommaso Colao, owner of Bivio Pizzeria in Little Falls, NJ.  I was very fortunate to get them as they are not a menu item at Bivio.  I had the opportunity to taste them twice before when Tom had made them for special occasions.  I asked him, begged might be the more appropriate word, if he would make a batch for me for Mother’s Day.  You can imagine my joy when he agreed…and I wish you could have seen the joy on the faces of everyone who ate them that day.  They were simply magnificent.  I hope to convince Tom to add them to his menu at some time in the future.  BTW, if you did not read my post Bivio e Brovio in November of last year, click here  to check it out as his Pizza is the best this side of Naples, Italy.

Pasta this good needs a great red wine and fortunately we had two of them.  I brought a magnum of 1997 Teobaldo Cappellano Barolo Pie Rupestris which I decanted for 6 hours. This was truly a classic old world Barolo with a nostalgic earthy bouquet, soft tannins and gloriously pure fruit on the palate. The wine was round and delicious with a lengthy and elegant finish. Definitely a wine with soul.   My only lament is that it was my last bottle and I have been unable to locate any more anywhere.  

My good friend Gino brought along another fabulous Barolo, this one a 2003 Francesco Rinaldi & Figli Barolo Cannubio.   Even though 2003 was a slightly lesser vintage in Piedmonte, this bottle was superb and is a great example of what a great winemaker can do is lesser vintages.  The wine was very similar to the Cappellano with soft tannins and wonderful purity on the palate.  While it finished nicely, it lacked the elegance of the Cappellano.  $58 at the Pluckemin Inn Wine Shop, Bedminster, NJ.


Happy Mother's Day to all you moms who may read this post.  We love you.


Saluté


Mark

HANJ Wine Dinner

For the past 15 or 20 years I have hosted a Gourmet Wine dinner to benefit the Hemophilia Association of New Jersey.  They are a remarkable group of people who do an awesome job in supporting the hemophilia community of NJ.  This year’s event netted more than $40,000.00 for the association.  The event was held at Il Capriccio Ristorante, Whippany, NJ on Monday evening, May 7, 2012.  Eighty-three people enjoyed the great food prepared by Tony Grande and his son Natale, and enjoyed the magnificent wines of Giuseppe Quintarelli.  Readers of this blog know how I feel about these wines.  I always have wanted to do a wine dinner that featured all of his wines and since he passed away in January of this year I felt that now was the time to honor the man and his legacy.  I served every wine he makes, with the exception of the dessert wine Amabile, which I served last year.

Tuna Tartare

Cappellini w/ Meatball 

We began as always with a cocktail hour that featured an amazing assortment of hot & cold appetizers served butler style. The appetizers, which seemed to never stop, were comprised of a of pristinely fresh Tuna Tartare, scrumptious Tomato Bruschetta, Mozzarello di Buffula tomato skewers drizzled with fresh Italian Olive Oil, Arancini di Riso (fried risotto balls), succulent Baby Lamb Chops, wonderfully moist mini Meatloaf with mashed potatoes,  Mini “Flying Meatballs” with Cappellini, tender and flavorful mini medallions of Chicken Parmigianno, and superb mini Mac N Cheese.

Pared with the appetizers were two gorgeous wines, 2009 Huet Clos du Bourg Sec and 2007 Quintarelli Primofiore.  Huet is in a class with Quintarelli, producing absolutely stunning Chenin Blancs from the Loire Valley of France.   This wine, still very much in its infancy, had remarkable balance, was full-bodied with a subdued oily richness that tantalized the palate and finished with an earthy elegance.  While it is hard not to drink now, 3-5 years of cellaring will be rewarded.  Beyond that it should last for another 50 years at least.   $30. 

Primofiore & Clos du Bourg Sec

One might say that Primofiore is Quintarelli’s entry-level wine.  Whatever class you put it in it is a terrific wine at a very reasonable price.  The wine is made by gently pressing the remaining grape matter after the free-run juice is siphoned off for the higher end wines such as Valpolicella and Amarone. It is like drinking a baby Amarone. The wine was full of young fresh fruit that was beautifully balanced, and had a nice muted peppery palate and a clean finish. About $40.

Once seated we enjoyed our first course, Gamberetti, Calamari e Cannellini.  This was a harmonic combination of shrimp, squid & cannellini beans in a brandy cream sauce.  With this course we enjoyed Quintarelli’s only white wine; 2008 Secco Ca del Merlo Bianco.  Many of the attendees were unfamiliar with this wine, but were oh so delighted to learn of it and partake of it. It is a blend of Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Saorin (believed to be a clone of the Tokay grape). Garganega is the 5th most widely planted white grape in Italy and the main grape used in the production of Soave (it constitutes 70-100% of the blend).   The wine was very elegant and soft on the palate with hints of citrus.  It finished rich and clean.  $35.

Next up was the pasta course, fresh Orecchietta Pasta al Passato di Pomodoro con Melenzane e Ricotta (homemade “little ears” with a sauce of tomatoes, eggplant and Ricotta cheese).  The dish similar to the Sicilian pasta, Penne alla Norma, was simply wonderful.  We enjoyed Quintarelli’s two Valpolicellas with the pasta.  In one glass there was the 2002 Quintarelli Valpolicella.  Made from a blend of Corvina, Molinara and Rondinella grapes this vintage is classic Quintarelli.  A gorgeous dark garnet hue with an almost indescribable dry/sweet balance, the wine simply mesmerizes the palate.  The wine soars with pure and harmoniously balanced fruit and finishes with a candied elegance.  What a wine.  $65.  Alongside this beauty was the 1986 Quintarelli Ca del Merlo Rosso, a single vineyard Valpolicella named after a plot of land where a large Merlo (bird) sat perched on a tree overlooking the hillside. It differs from the regular Valpolicella only in that the grapes come from this one specific site and thus the terroir and its influence on the wine are unique.  Tonight this bottle took a back seat to the 2002 Valpolicella.  It tasted old and tired compared to the 2002 and to the bottle I had and wrote about in March.  It was the most controversial wine of the evening, with many adoring it and many less than enthusiastic.  As I have some in my cellar, I will report on this vintage in upcoming posts.  $100.

Our entrée on this gala evening consisted of Costoletta di Maiale Biologico Arrosto (Berkshrie Pork Chop oven roasted with rosemary & Santa Teresa lemon in a light demi-glaze).   This was paired with a flight of three of Quintarelli’s finest wines, 2002 Rosso del Bepi; 2000 Amarone; and 1998 Alzero.  It is not often that you will find three glasses of world class wines sitting in front of you simultaneously as we had tonight.  There are but three words for these wines, “Oh My God”. 

L to R, Rosso di Bepi, Amarone, Alzero

Let me begin with the  Rosso di Bepi.  This is a wine that is only made in vintages when Giiuseppe feels that the grapes do not meet his strict standards to be labeled Amarone. Thus he declassifies the wine and calls it Rosso di Bepi. It is in fact his Amarone at ½ the price.  The bouquet that flowed from the glass energized the senses to what you were about to taste.  Rich, balanced and pure on the palate, the wine soared from the glass and prepared your palate for the Amarone that sat waiting in an adjacent glass.   

On to the 2000 Amarone.  Wow.  If there is such thing as a perfect wine this may be it.   This was just spectacular, exploding on palate with an incredible rich and balanced sweetness.   The wine continued to evolve with every sip.  It was round, lush and delicious with a finish that almost brought tears to my eyes.  Opened 7 hours prior to drinking (as were all the wines except the whites), this was a memorable wine.  Quintarelli also made a riserva Amarone “Selizone” in 2000 that I have had and while very good, at the moment is not really a match for this “normale” wine.  $300.

The final wine in this flight, also memorable and perhaps also perfect, was the 1998 Alzero.  Made in the Amarone-style, it is mostly Cabernet Franc with a small bit of Merlot.  It has incredible balance with amazing length.  Like the Amarone it soars from the glass and evolves with each sip.  The wine is only made in exceptional vintages and is a wine every serious wine drinker should experience.

Before we enjoyed our dessert and dessert wine we refreshed our palate with Insalatine di Campo all’Aroma di Tartufo, a salad of field greens in a truffle vinaigrette. 

1997 Guiseppe Quintarelli Recioto della Valpolicella was the final wine of the evening.  The wine brought new meaning to the adage “going out in style”.  This amazing sweet dessert wine paired magnificently with the homemade Cannoli alle Mandorle (Almond Tuille Cannolli).  Recioto refers to the extending lobes of a grape cluster that appear as "ears" at the top of the cluster. The exposed grapes on the "ears" usually receive the most direct sunlight and become the ripest grapes on the cluster.  What Quintarelli does with these grapes is magical.  The initial sip reminds you of a great vintage port.  Subsequent sips tell you that you are being transported to another dimension of sweet dessert wines.  The wine was simply profound with an understated complexity, impeccable balance and a long and sensuous finish.  $175 per 350ml bottle.


It was simply a fantastic evening with the wines showing beautifully.  My sincere thanks to Tony and Natale Grande and the Il Capriccio staff for their great food and service, to Brian Hider, Wine Director for the Pluckemin Inn for getting me the wines at a very reasonable price & for and adding his comments & knowledge about the wines, to Chris Cree, MW for his comments & knowledge also and to Gene Urban, Mater of Photography, for memorializing the evening on camera.  To view this incredible evening, Gene uploaded an incredible slide show of the event.  Please click here to view it. Thanks also to my wine loving friends for their support.

Me, Brian Hider & Chris Cree

Tony & Natale Grande

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not give a very special thanks to Giuseppi Quintarelli and his wines.  He was a special person who took an enormous amount of pride in what he did.  Had you been present tonight and tasted these wines, you would understand that these are not just idle words.  Speaking of words, In his own words Giuseppe says, ""Our traditional methods and savors must not be abandoned or forgotten. More than anything else, one can never force nature. One must be calm, have the right method, and have a lot of passion." -Giuseppe Quintarelli 

Finding Quintarelli wines can be a challenge.  Three very reliable sources for his wines are   The Pluckemin Inn Wine Shop, Bedminster, NJ., De-Vino Wine Boutique, NYC, and NY Wine Warehouse, NYC.


Saluté

Family, Food & Wine...Life is Very Good

I really look forward to the weekend because Carol and I usually get to have dinner with our family.  This past Saturday night my girls and their families joined Carol, Carol’s mother and I for a very good meal at Rare, The Steakhouse, Little Falls, NJ. Rare is owned by Gregorio Polimeni who is also the owner of Il Tulipano, the wedding and banquet facility in Cedar Grove, NJ. Rare specializes in steaks and chops but also includes some of the Italian classics from Il Tulipano when it was an ala carte restaurant. I began with a half dozen pristinely fresh oysters from British Columbia. These fresh and briny crustaceans went very well with a 2009 Patrick Piuze Chablis Montée de Tonnerre. This is a spectacular Chablis from this new and up and coming producer. The wine is clean and fresh on the palate with wonderful acidity and purity. 2009 was a great vintage in Burgundy and the wines will age well for years to come. According to Mr. Piuze, his main intention is to make a real difference between "wine grower" and "winemaker". He doesn’t own any vineyard but has a strong influence as a counselor for the wine growers. He established a trust building approach and a long-term partnership towards wine growers. This philosophy enables him to pick the best lots in Chablis, most of them of very old vineyards, to collect high quality grapes.  I have had a few of his wines and each has been spectacular.  These are very high quality and affordable wines that are worthy of purchase if you are a Chablis fan.  $45. NY Wine Warehouse, NYC.

I am not a big steak eater, meatloaf is more up my alley, but I must admit the NY Sirloin at Rare is a dish I look forward to a few times a year.  It is always cooked the way I like it, medium rare.  When combined with some of the fantastic side dishes such as Mac N Cheese, Craime Freche Mashed Potatoes and frizzled Onion Rings you cannot go wrong.  Other entrées included Filet Mignon, Short Ribs of Beef and Penne alla Vodka.  No one was disappointed.  I brought along a magnum of 2007 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Mon Aieul which drank beautifully.  2007 was a monumental vintage in CDP and Usseglio ia a great producer.  This bottle had a great sense of place, was balanced and pure on the palate with a lengthy finish.  My son-in-laws could not stop raving about (or drinking) the wine.  According to RP it is a perfect wine to which he awarded 100 points.  Alas I do not agree. $90 for a 750ml.  NY Wine Warehouse, NYC.  

On Sunday night, Carol and I tried a new spot, Anthony David’s in Hoboken, NJ.  I had read about this very popular BYOB Italian restaurant a few years ago and so we decided to try it.  We were glad we did.  The food, with the exception of one dish, was of very good and skillfully prepared.  The appetizer choices here are interesting.  You can build an antipasto platter of 4, 5 or 6 choices from lists of artisan cheeses, vegetables and cured meats.  We selected Deceaur du Jura, a soft cheese from the Jura region of France, roasted zucchini, stuffed peppers, roasted peppers and grilled artichokes for our antipasto.  We complimented this with Grilled Asparagus with a sunny side up egg, prosciutto, grana and truffles.  While all were good, the  highlights were the zucchini, cheese and asparagus.  

With the appetizers we enjoyed another Chablis Montee de Tonnere, this one a 2005 Raveneau bottling.  Many consider Raveneau, myself included, to be the finest producer of Chablis in all of Burgundy.  The Montee de Tonnerre, their largest Premier Cru vineyard, is a wine that tantalizes the nose with apples and citrus while imparting a balanced minerality and wonderful purity on the palate.   The finish is elegant but a bit short due to its youth.  This is a great wine in the making that should last for another 10 to 15 years.  $155. NY Wine Warehouse, NYC.  

We both decided on pasta for our main course.  Carol had a lovely dish of Rigatoni with an Eggplant Bolognese & ricotta cheese.  Sort of like the Sicilian pasta dish, penne all a Norma.  She enjoyed every morsel.   I ordered Cavatelli with Braised Spring Rabbit, olives and capers.  The dish sounded great and looked terrific, but alas the sauce tasted old.  Our eager to please waiter quickly replaced that dish with a very nice dish of Bucatini with chills, pancetta & fresh mozzarella.  The Bucatini were cooked perfectly al dente and the tomato based sauce was sweet and delicious.

With the pasta I drank a 1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo that was superb, thankfully.  I say thankfully because myself and others have been finding a lot of inconsistencies with this vintage lately.  On 3 previous occaisions in the past few weeks each bottle was badly oxidized.  This bottle however had a great sense of place, complexity and balance and a lengthy  and elegant finish.  I recently opened a bottle of the 1998 vintage of this wine and I am happy to report that it too drank very well.  Finding these vintages will be a challenge and expensive.  The 2005 vintage which is available and can be found at DeVino Wine, NYC, The Pluckemin Inn, Bedminster, NJ and the NY Wine Warehouse for around $100.

We finished our meal with Homemade Bourbon Glazed Donuts, sort of like Zeppole.  They were yummy.

Saluté

Mark

The Loire Valley

This past Wednesday evening our monthly wine group gathered for dinner at Il Capriccio Ristorante in Whippany, NJ. This month I was in the cue to supply the wines for the evening. I think I mentioned previously that each month one member is responsible for the wine and another is responsible for the dinner. With the exception of the last wine I selected the Loire Valley for the wines. I am a huge fan of wines from this region of France. The principal grapes of the region are Chenin Blanc (white) and Cabernet Franc (red). Each wine showed beautifully which made for a great tasting.

A few in the group were not very familiar with Loire Valley wines, thus I was very happy that they really enjoyed them and I am happy to report that the next day some of them went out and purchased some of the wines we drank.

Loire Valley wines do not receive a lot of ink from most of the top wine critics and as a result they are not as well known and therefore they remain very reasonably priced. I for one hope this trend continues as I have many delicious wines in my cellar from the region that are under $30 a bottle.

Chenin Blanc is probably my favorite white grape and Cabernet Franc is one of my favorite reds. The Chenin Blanc grape possesses high acidity, which means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to stunning dessert wines.

Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon and in my opinion results in a more feminine and elegant wine than the latter.

We began with 2006 Clos Rougeard Saumur Brézé Chenin Blanc from the small commune of Saumur in the Loire Valley. What a terrific wine that is just entering its peak drinking window. It has a gorgeous crystal clear yellow hue along with a pure citrus bouquet that is deep and complex. On the palate the wine has a sensuous viscosity, is beautifully balanced and full-bodied. The wine keeps evolving with each sip and has a long finish. Built for age this wine will last for another 25 years.

Clos Rougeard is owned by the Foucault brothers. The estate has attained cult status. Every Michelin three-star restaurant in France hustles to get a small allocation. While it is rarely found in America, you can get it at 56º Wine, Bernardsville, NJ for about $70 a bottle.

On to the Chinon, another small commune in the Loire Valley, for 2007 Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grezeaux, Cabernet Franc . Bernard Baudry is one of the newer stars of the Chinon. Les Grezeaux is his top cuvee. The vines for this wine are up to sixty years old, Baudry's oldest, and are hand harvested at a yield of 40 hl/ha. They are fermented in cement, but then sees typically a year of barrel ageing, in wood which is between one and five years old.

This bottle had a gorgeous nose of berries that soared from the glass. On the palate it displayed an earthiness that encompassed ripe fruit and wonderful complexity. Like the Breze, the wine kept evolving in the glass. Tannins were soft and allowed for a lengthy elegant finish. This wine will benefit from a few more years in the cellar and last for another 20. The price, hold on to your hat, $25. An amazing value. Chambers Street Wines, NYC.

Back to Clos Rougeard for the 2005 Clos Rougeard Samur-Champigny, Les Poyeux Cabernet Franc. This is a stunning wine in the making. While it drank beautifully tonight it will benefit immensely from another 3 or 4 years in the cellar. Aged in older barrels, the oak is beautifully integrated. The earthy bouquet soars from the glass. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, with great fruit and a long elegant finish. $80 at 56º Wine, Bernardsville, NJ.

We then returned to the Chinon, this time for 1989 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses Cabernet Franc. Another absolutely stunning wine with a deep earthy bouquet, a full-bodied, complex and focused palate. The finish is long, elegant and earthy. A Round and delicious wine with a great deal of soul that is drinking beautifully at the moment and should continue to do so for some time.

Les Picasses, is the most classic and age worthy wine from the domaine. It comes from a limestone terroir, where the vines have reached a respectable fifty years of age. The fruit is hand-harvested and the final yield is typically in the order of 30 hl/ha and after fermentation, which is carried out in stainless steel controlled to less than 30°C, followed by a maceration of 25-30 days, the wine that results goes into large foudres where it will rest for between 12 and 14 months before bottling. The 1990 vintage of the Les Picasses is available at $60 a bottle at Amanti Vino, Montclair. NJ. While I have not tasted this vintage yet, it does reside in my cellar. I did however have a bottle of the 2005 Les Picasses yesterday and it was superb. $25 a bottle at 56º Wine.

The final Loire Valley Cabernet Franc was 1986 Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrieres, another absolutely gorgeous wine which hails from the Bourgueil commune in the Loire Valley. The wine drank fabulously. Fully mature on the palate, the wine simply soared from the glass. Rich and complex, it was earthy an elegant with a gorgeous velvety finish. I wrote about this wine in my “New & Delicous Wines” post last month. It was my favorite of the Loire Valley wines of the evening, which is quite a statement considering how well they all drank. $85 at 56º Wine.

My wine of the evening though was the 1997 Quintarelli Alzero Vino da Tavola Cabernet Franc from the Veneto region of Italy. I have had this wine on numerous occasions over the past 5 years and it always blows me away. It is simply one of the most memorable wines I have ever tasted and probably will ever experience. It embodies purity, balance, depth, richness, etc. etc. etc. The wine keeps evolving and soaring from the glass as you drink it. Round, complete and delicious is perhaps the best description of the wine. This is wine that loves to be decanted. I decanted this bottle for 7 hours and it continued to evolve as we drank it. In fact I would venture to say that if you opened this a day before drinking you will be richly rewarded. I was fortunate to pick this up a few years ago for less than one-half the $350 - $400 price you will have to pay today. Yes it is expensive, but if you wish a special wine for a special occasion, this is it. De-Vino Wine Boutique, NYC. You may also find it at The Pluckemin Inn Wine Shop, Italian Wine Merchants or NY Wine Warehouse, although their web sites did not show the wine in stock at the moment.

Let me not forget the food, which complimented these great wines perfectly. Tony Grande’s son Natale was at the helm in the kitchen this evening and he performed at a level that was the equal of the wines. .

Chef Natale prepared two homemade pastas. Jim and I had the Cavatelli in a sauce of Stracciatella di Bufala (a cheese produced from the milk of water buffalo) with crumbled Italian Sausage. This was a tour de force. The cheese is almost like a cream cheese and in combination with the sweet sausage and perfectly cooked pasta the dish was devine.

The others opted for Maccheroni alla Chitarra con Bottarga. Homemade, guitar string formed pasta in light “Aglio e Olio” with gray mullet roe, Calabrese peperoncino & pistachios. I have had this dish on many occasions and can attest to its deliciousness.

Main courses consisted of Rack of Lamb “in Salsa Balsamica”. The lamb is prepared in a tangy Balsamic vinegar reduction, sprinkled with pink peppercorns, and served with stuffed roasted tomato and carrot puree.

Lolly Pop Beef Short Ribs “Stracotto”. Slow cooked bone-in “Piemontese” beef short rib “Al Vino Rosso” served with risotto alla Parmigiana with English peas.

Ahi Tuna “Tre Pepi”. Rare cooked peppercorn encrusted Ahi tuna in a creamy brandy sauce over sautéed seasonal vegetables.

All were equally delicious. Espresso finished a perfect evening.

In closing I’d like to encourage you to try the wines of the Loire Valley if you have not had any in the past. Along with the producers mentioned here additional favorites that are very reasonably priced are Gaston Huet, Francois Pinon and Phillipe Foreau.

Saluté

Lunch at the Pluckemin Inn

This past Thursday, along with good friends Emil & Gino, I had lunch with Brian Hider, Wine Director at the Pluckemin Inn in Bedminister, NJ. Emil introduced me to Brian about a month ago when I was searching for Giuseppi Quintarelli wines for my annual Hemophilia Association of New Jersey gourmet wine dinner fundraiser. I have had the pleasure of working with this incredible organization for more than 20 years and they do a phenomenal job supporting New Jersey's hemophilia population.

I have always wanted to do a wine dinner that featured the wines of Giuseppi Quintarelli. Finding the wines is not always easy. As you know from a previous post, Giuseppi passed away in January, so I felt this was the perfect time and the perfect occasion to honor the man, his legacy and his wines and raise money for an incredible organization. Thanks to Brian I was able to find the wines I wanted and at a good price. The dinner will take place on May 7th, 2012 at Il Capriccio Ristorante in Whippany.

Brian not only oversees the restaurant’s wine list, but he is also responsible for the inventory for the Pluckemin Inn’s retail wine shop. Both lists are extensive, well thought out and reasonably priced. In my opinion both the restaurant list and the retail shop inventory are amongst the finest you will find not only in New Jersey but in all of the USA.

I found Brian to be a very articulate, knowledgeable wine person with a very warm demeanor. His passion for wine is evident from the onset and is evident in both his wine by the glass selections as well as bottle selections. On this day he was a most graceful host who treated us to three spectacular wines to enjoy with our lunch.

2000 Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino. In my opinion Poggio di Sotto is in the same league with Gianfranco Soldera when it comes to traditionally crafted Brunello di Montalcino. Made from 100% Sangiovese Grosso grapes this vintage is drinking very nicely at the moment. It is nicely balanced on the palate with an enticing bouquet and a round and elegant finish. $100

2001 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. I wrote about this fantastic wine in a previous post. This bottle was equally as stunning as the previous bottle. I initially thought the bouquet was a Burgunday but as the wine opened there was no mistake that it was an elegant CDP. As the wine evolved in the glass the bouquet became intoxicating. On the palate it was pure, complex and completely round with a monster finish. While CDP law allows for the use of all 13 grapes indigenous to the region, Rayas is made from 100% Grenache. This wine is what CDP is all about. $150.

The final bottle Brian treated us to was a 2003 Huet Clos du Bourg Moelleux 1ere Trie. From the Loire Valley this 100% Chenin Blanc white was stupendous. Readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of Huet wines and the Chenin Blanc grape. I have many vintages in my cellar. Alas I had not had this vintage of the Moelleux 1ere Trie. The wine was pristinely pure on the palate with a delicious mid-level sweetness and a ripe, rich finish. 2003 was not a very good year in the Loire Valley, but wine maker Noel Pinguet turned out just magnificent wines including this gem. Huet wines seem to age forever. And the more they age, the better they get and the more valuable they become. Upon release they are very inexpensive. I recently purchased some of the 2010 vintage (terrific vintage) for under $30 a bottle. This wine will last for many decades. The 2003 is priced at $48. BTW, Brian will be happy to sell you the 1921 vintage of this wine for a mere $1,160 a bottle. See what I mean about increasing in value.

Along with these great wines we enjoyed a couple of pizza thin crusted pizzas, Margherita and a white pie with mozzarella and prosciutto.. We then all opted for the Plucky Burger, juicy and cooked to a perfect medium rare and served with fresh cut fries, they had us licking our chops. We also decided to sample a Porchetta sandwich, which we had cut into three pieces. It was comprised of thin sliced Italian roast pork, broccoli rabe and aged provolone. It was delicious.

If you have never been to the Pluckemin Inn for Dinner, put it on your bucket list. And for wine allow Brian to pair your dinner choices with the wine. You will be glad you did.

Saluté

Better Late Then Never - Super Bowl XLVI

A bit late, but I would be remiss if I did not write about my annual Super Bowl party. It was once again a lot of fun and especially enjoyable to the Giant fans at the party. Unfortunately my Jets didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, but I was happy a local team won.

Like last year each person brings a dish, I pop open multiple bottles of wine and we have a great time. The menu was similar to last year with a couple new additions. Returning from last year were my Meatball Sliders,Gene’s Pulled Pork, Bill’s Cole Slaw, Tina’s remarkable Eggplant Caponata, Mixed Salad (this year prepared by Emil) and the delicious Italian Pastries from Vaniero’s Bakery in NYC, compliments of Peter & Amilia.

New to the table this year was Cosmo’s spectacular Vitello Tonnato and a terrific assortment of Italian sandwiches that Frank brought along from his son’s restaurant Frank Anthony’s, Verona, NJ.

As for the wines there was certainly no shortage. We stayed in Italy with the exception of one of the desert wines. To begin with we enjoyed a 2001 Ronchi di Cialla Ciallabianco from magnum. A blend of Ribolla Gialla, Verduzzo Friulano & Picolit, this crisp white is a joy to drink. It has good acidity and balance on the palate and a pure and clean finish and continues to evolve in the glass with each sip. $55 for a 750ml bottle at 56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ.

The other white opened, what else, my wife’s favorite a 2010 Ceretto Arneis Blanghe. This wine never disappoints. Widely available at about $20 a bottle.

We thought we would start the reds in grand style with two of Piedmonts most renowned wine makers, Bartolo Mascarello and Bruno Giacosa. We began with a 1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo. Readers of my blog know how much I love Mascarello’s wines. They are the epitome of old world Barolo. Alas this bottle was a bit of a disappointment. Decanted for 3+ hours, it had a lovely translucent brick red hue and an earthy bouquet in the glass. While there was a bit of oxidation upon opening, which blew off after an hour of decanting, the wine never really fully blossomed. It was flat and dull on the palate and not very enjoyable to drink. The wine seemed very tired. $120. De Vino Wine Boutique, NYC. NY Wine Warehouse, NYC.

Our bad streak continued with the 1997 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja that we opened next. If the Bartolo was tired, this one was exhausted. The fruit was completely gone and there was no finish at all. It was really undrinkable. It was a shame as I have never before been disappointed with a Giacosa wine. There is always a first time I guess.

We had better luck with the 1996 Eraldo Viberti Barolo. Viberti is a small Barolo producer from La Morra. His wines usually possess a nice elegance on the palate and are relatively inexpensive. This bottle had an earthy bouquet and was nicely balanced. However, it lacked depth and had a weak finish. I did not decant this bottle and I think that I paid a price for not doing so. $57 at De Vino Wine Boutique, NYC.

Next in our glasses was a modern style Barolo from Roberto Voerzio, his 1996 Barolo Brunate. A big Barolo that is dominated by French Oak (Barrique), which I felt masked the fruit quite a bit. The wine is aged in a combination of 1/3 new and 2/3 used French oak barriques for two years, and it is refined for one year in tank before being bottled. If you like California reds and Super Tuscans, you will love this wine. Not cheap. Expect to pay around $200 per bottle if you can find any.

The next wine, 2010 Testalonga Rossese Di Dolceacqua has become a favorite of mine. From Liguria, a coastal region that extends along the Mediterranean coast from Tuscany to the boarder of France, the wine is made from the Rossese grape. It has a gorgeous peppery palate that reminds me of the Poulsard grape from the Jura. Very clean on the palate it finishes with length and elegance. Antonio Perrino is the owner/winemaker and he is considered the best in this region. Production is very small. At about $35 a bottle it is a fantastic bargain. Chambers Street Wines, NYC.

Next up was a Barolo from Luciano Sandrone. The first bottle a 1996 Luciano Sandrone Cannubi Boschis was corked, so I opened a 1999 Cannubi Boschis. I have to say that Sandrone is my favorite modern style Italian winemaker. His wines are not dominated by oak. He only usese 10% new French Oak and uses the larger 500 liter French barrels. As a result I find his wines rounder and purer on the palate. This bottle had wonderful balance and complexity. It was delicious. $150 if you can find it.

We then moved to Tuscany and enjoyed an absolutely mind blowing 1998 Soldera Case Basse Brunello di Montalcino. You have heard me praise the Brunello of Giancfranco Soldera before and with good reason. His wines are so artfully crafted that they leap from the glass, throw a party on your tongue and warm your esophagus as they descend into your tummy. The 1998 normale (yes he also made a riserva in 98) is an amazing wine. I have had it on 4 occasions over the past 3 years and each time the wine was magnificent. Grapes The Wine Company recently had a special of this wine for $139, which is less than half of what you will pay now. The wine is worth every penny it will cost you to own some.

About 225 miles Southeast of Mantalcino is the town of Torano Nuovo in the Abruzzi region of Italy, home to another of Italy’s top traditional wine makers, Emidio Pepe. Emil was very generous and brought along a bottle of 1974 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo for us to enjoy, and did we ever. This was the epitome of an old world, terroir in your face bottle of wine. This is not a wine for everybody. It is pure barnyard earthiness on the nose and palate. As it sits in the glass it transforms and evolves with each sip. Made from 100% Montepulciano grapes, this bottle was just spectacular. $180 at Grapes The Wine Company, NY. BTW, the 2000 and 2001 vintages of this wine are drinking beautifully at the moment and are priced in the $60 range.

One of the few wine makers who can follow Soldera and Pepe is Giuseppe Quintarelli, thus we finished with a 2002 Giuseppe Quintarelli Rosso del Bepi and a 2002 Giuseppe Quintarelli Primofiore. As I have written about both of these wines in previous posts I will keep my comments short and sweet. Wow! Wow! Wow! Both drank with elegance and can be found at De Vino Wine Boutique, NYC and The Pluckemin Inn Wine Shop, Bedminster, NJ. $130 & $42 respectively.

However we were not quite finished yet. For the grand finale we opened two legendary dessert wines and drank them side-by-side. Gino brought along a 2002 Chateau d’Yquem and I opened a 1990 Quintarelli Bianco Amabile del Cere Bandito. Both wines were great, but for me the Amabile blew away the d’Yquem. The fruit of both wines soars on the palate, but the medicinal botrytis finish of d’Yquem comes in a distant second to the fruity, sweet, rich and intoxicating finish of the Amabile as far as I am concerned. The amber beauty on the left is the Amabile.

A perfect ending to a great day.

Saluté

Les Cinque Arias

The aria is the highlight of any opera. It is a number that is usually performed solo because it stands on its own. This was very much the experience our wine group had with the 5 bottles of wine we drank this past Monday when we gathered at Osteria Giotto in Montclair, N.J. Howard, who was in the cue for the wine, did a magnificent job in his selection of 5 absolutely stunning wines from Italy, each of which had a magnificent aria of its own to sing.

Osteria Giotto is in my opinion one of the top Italian restaurants in all of New Jersey and has been since it opened a number of years ago. Owners/chefs Roberto Pantusa and Luca Valerin met and worked at the Michelin starred San Domenico Ristorante in Imola, Italy. They learned their trade extremely well. Their food is authentic, fresh and prepared with great care and skill. Tonight I cleaned up every morsel of my appetizer of Tripe served over grilled Polenta. I must tell you that I have never been a fan of tripe. I always found the consistency in the mouth to be chewy and very unappetizing until I tried Luca’s tripe a few years ago. His preparation of the dish is the antithesis of my previous experience. Following his mother’s recipe, he cuts the tripe into small pieces and stews it in a delicious tomato sauce that contains a bit of cinnamon until it is meltingly tender. The flavor simply explodes in the mouth.

For my main course I had Cavatelli pasta in a Tomato & Basil sauce. Simplicity itself. The combination of the perfectly made sauce with the freshly made (on the premises) & perfectly cooked Cavatelli must be tasted to be appreciated. Additional dishes that were enjoyed included Tuna Tartare, Veal Milanese alla Holstein (served with 2 friend eggs on top) and the above-mentioned Cavatelli in a sauce of eggplant, crumbled sausage and plum tomatoes. Each dish received applause from the group and were great matches for the wines.

As for the wine we began with a terrific 1997 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano. We drank this right out of the bottle with no decanting and it really sang. It had a beautiful earthy bouquet with vibrant young fruit. Balanced, complex and pure on the palate, the wine finished with length and elegance. In my opinion the wine has entered it’s drinking window and can be enjoyed for at least another 15 to 20 years. $160 at The Rare Wine Company, Sonoma, CA.

The next bottle to be opened was a 2000 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. I am a big fan of Pepe wines, especially the 2000 vintage. I have not had the vintage in couple of years, but will return to it very shortly as this is drinking beautifully at the moment. The wine was full of terroir and is just a beautiful expression of old world style wine making. Great color and balance, with a lush finish, it absolutely soared from the glass. This wine will last for decades, however finding this vintage may be a challenge. The 2003 is available at Wine Legend, Livingston, NJ and DeVino Wine Boutique, NYC for around $55.

Our rhapsodic evening of Italian red wine continued with a 1998 Soldera Case Basse Brunello di Montalcino. In my opinion there is no better wine maker of Brunello di Montalcino than Gianfranco Soldera. His wines are the essence of what a great wine is all about. I have had this vintage on several occasions and it once again soared. This is a wine to be sipped and enjoyed over a couple of hours. It continues to evolve in the glass with each sip better than the previous one. This is a completely round wine with soul. Its elegance reminds me of a great French Burgundy. Expect to pay upwards of $250 a bottle.

The next wine, a 1999 Giocomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia, is an absolutely stunning wine in the making. The wine exhibited fantastic purity of fruit, was full-bodied with great complexity on the palate and finished with elegeance and length. Still a baby give this another 5 to 10 years in the cellar and you will be amply rewarded. $190. The Rare Wine Company.

The final wine of the evening was our old friend Giuseppe Quintarelli Rosso del Bepi 1999. I wrote about this wine in my post Tony’s Barolo Birthday last month. My comments then are applicable now, “…soared from the glass, tantalized the palate with its lush, pure fruit and finished with great length". As I reported previously, Rosso del Bepi is only made in vintages when Giiuseppe feels that the grapes do not meet his strict standards to be labeled Amarone. Thus he declassifies the wine and calls it Rosso di Bepi. It is in fact his Amarone at ½ the price. About $130 a bottle. De-Vino Wine Boutique, NY Wine Warehouse, Italian Wine Merchants, NYC.

We concluded a wonderful evening with espresso, cappuccino and Luca’s marvelous Millefoglie. This magnificent dessert is made with delicious vanilla custard layered between 3 layers of puff pastry.

The general consensus was that the wines of the evening were the Emidio Pepe and the Soldera, with the vote for the top one split between the group. However each wine on its own was terrific. This was simply a great tasting.

A final note, these wines are a bit expensive to acquire now, which is why it is wise to purchase wines from these producers upon release when the price tag is much more affordable. Cellar them and then enjoy them as they mature.

Howard, thanks again for a great selection of wines.

Saluté