What fun to eat at a vintage Italian restaurant, a dark and cozy place with red checkered tablecloths, raffia-covered Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling, lollipops to pick up when you leave and free matchbooks.
This is 70-year-old Miceli's in Hollywood, the perfect setting for a tasting of Chiantis, none of them wrapped in raffia. These were the wines of Tuscany's Castello di Albola, an estate in Radda in the heart of the Chianti district. Two are on Miceli's wine list, a Chianti Classico and a Chianti Riserva.
Winemaker Alessandro Gallo came to the tasting, which started with Chianti Classicos from 2015 and 2016. After these came Riservas from 2012 and 2014--Riservas are made from the best grapes in the vineyard, Gallo said. (Sangiovese is the main grape for all Chiantis. Small amounts of other approved grapes are allowed to be blended in.)
After these came the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Santa Caterina 2013 and 2015, the first single vineyard wines from Castello di Albolo to be sent to the United States, Gallo said.
The wines range in price from around $16 for the Chianti Classicos and $18 to $21 for the Riservas to $90 for the Santa Caterina Gran Selezione Chiantis.
It was glorious to taste such wines with old school Italian food, starting with the antipasto plate above.
And fritto misto, an assortment of fried squid, fish and zucchini.
There was Caesar salad too.
Then, three types of pizza. This one is vegetarian.
This meaty pizza included pepperoni and Italian sausage. Another pasta was topped only with cheese.
The "dessert" was Castello di Albola's luscious sweet Vin Santo rather than the tiramisu, canoli or spumoni from Miceli's menu. Made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, it's "an unusual wine," Gallo said, and one that can age for years. This was the 2006 vintage.
With it here is Miceli's double espresso, the perfect way to end a hearty Italian lunch.
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