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How to Pair Great Barolos with Food

You have a pricey bottle of Barolo. You splurged to buy it, or maybe a generous friend gave it to you.

What kind of food should you pair with it? Nothing spicy or sweet, because you don't want to overpower the elite flavors. 

For inspiration, see what Spago in Beverly Hills served at a tasting lunch for the Barolos of Fontanafredda. These were prestigious wines, ranging in age from 1996 to 2015 and in price from $54 to $165. Most were current releases. A couple were library wines.

Barolo is made from the Nebbiolo grape and comes from Piedmont. The wines tend to be high in tannin and lend themselves to long aging. They are powerful and partner well with substantial food, and so Spago's lunch was rich and hearty.

First up was mushroom and leek risotto with Parmigiano. This came with the two youngest wines, the Barolo Serralunga d'Alba 2015, which was the first single village Barolo produced since 1988. And the Barolo Fontanafredda MGA 2013.

An MGA is a specific production area within a municipality in the Barolo appellation.

A really big dish, fit for big wines, was grilled côte de boeuf, sliced and ranging from rare to well done, accompanied by a bacon-potato terrine. The sauce was an Armagnac-peppercorn emulsion.

If you didn't eat beef, the alternative was seared Scottish salmon with roasted root vegetables, wild mushrooms, bacon and a mushroom emulsion.

The four Barolos now poured started with the Barolo Vigna La Rosa 2011 (at the top), from one of the first vineyards in the Barolo area. The 1996 Vigna La Rosa, a library wine, came from the same vineyard.

These were followed by two Fontanafredda Barolo riservas, from 2010 and 2000. The 2010 wine was the highest priced wine at the tasting.

The 2000 was a library wine and so it had no price.   

The same Barolos continued through dessert, which wasn't a sugary concoction but a wedge of flora chèvre--goat cheese. The only sweetness came from chestnut honey on the crumbs around the cheese. The bread contained nuts and dried cherries. 

An additional wine came at the beginning, a sparkler to welcome guests and ease their way into the Barolos to come.

This was the Contessa Rosa sparkling rosé 2012, made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay with a dash of 1967 Barolo added after the second fermentation in the bottle.

Rosy goat cheese beet crackers were served as the sparkler was poured.

Also bacon en croûte.

And smoked salmon on a crust.

Guests had come to taste and study, not to drink as much as they could, although wines of this quality certainly tempted one to do that. This is why so much wine remained in the glasses as lunch ended and they departed.

During the lunch, chief winemaker Giorgio Lavagna (above) commented on the wines. Lavagna spoke in Italian, and Chiara Destefanis of Fontanafredda translated. Co-host was Bethany Burke of Fontanafredda's importer, Taub Family Selections.

Fontanafredda is situated on 250 acres in Serralunga d'Alba. As of the 2018 harvest, it is the largest certified organic company in Piedmont.

A Guide to Italy's Pinot Grigio

I just finished the last bottle of my favorite Pinot Grigio, from Mosby Winery in Buellton.

Mosby specializes in Cal-Italian wines produced from estate-grown grapes, and this Pinot Grigio was a beauty, citrusy, acidic, loaded with flavor and as good as ever, although the vintage date was 2012.

Sadly, I don't see Pinot Grigio on the winery website any more, so I guess this was my last encounter with this lovely wine.

(Update: Good news. The wine isn't gone. It's so popular it has been sold out. Mosby will release Pinot Grigio again next year.)

To learn more about this popular wine, I signed up for a Pinot Grigio seminar when the Simply Italian Great Wines U.S. Tour came to Los Angeles.

The seminar was sponsored by the new Consorzio Tutela Vini D.O.C. delle Venezie, representing an appellation formed just two years ago. 

Delle Venezie, I learned, is the largest Pinot Grigio producing area in Italy and the world. It incorporates three territories, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino and Veneto, located between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. 

Consorzio rules include limiting production to improve quality. The wines must be 85% Pinot Grigio, with the remaining 15 % composed of approved non-aromatic grapes. 

The Italian style of Pinot Grigio is high in acidity and minerality but lower in tropical fruit. "The level of acidity and freshness set it apart," said Laura Donadoni, who led the seminar with Nazareno Vicenzi of the Consorzio, which is the largest in Italy.

The Pinot Grigio grape thrives in a cool, temperate climate and not in hot areas, so wines produced in warm areas are not typical, Donadoni said. In France, Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) is harvested later, and the wines are more similar to a Chardonnay, she said.

Italy grows the most Pinot Grigio in the world (43%) followed by the United States (15%). The USA is also the largest export market for Italian Pinot Grigio (37%). The wine is so popular that it is grown almost everywhere, even in tiny Moldavia (4%).

While the experts talked, seminar participants tasted eight examples, all reasonably priced. If you want to get an idea of what Pinot Grigio, Stile Italiano, should taste like, start with these:

Kris Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, from Kris Winery, which has produced quality Pinot Grigio since 1993. The wine is dry, with a citrusy nose and bright acidity. It aged several months in stainless steel before bottling. 

Voga Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018. This one is from Enoitalia S.P.A., the largest privately owned winery in Italy. It's delicate in the mouth and with hints of ripe peaches, apples and vegetables. Serve it with pasta, white meat and fresh cheeses. 

Ai Palazzi Dorsoduro Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, from Masottina winery. The wine was  fermented with select yeasts in steel tanks for 6 months, followed by 3 months in the bottle. It's complex, with layers of flavor, and can go with richer foods. 

Kroger Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, from Cantina di La-Vis e Valle di Cembra, S.C.A. Grown by a cooperative in the Adige Valley, it's made from 100% Pinot Grigio. The production is small, just 8,000 bottles a year. 

Cadis Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, a more ripe style of wine from a hillside vineyard. Nice with risotto, grilled fish and sushi. The winery, Cantina di Soave S.A.C., was founded in 1898.

Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C.2018, a delicate wine more on the floral side, good to serve with lighter dishes including fish, eggs, pasta with vegetables and white meats. This wine blends in 5% Chardonnay. The winery is Nosio S.P.A. 

Villa San Martino Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, from the winery Cantina di Bertiolo S.P.A. As you taste it, think of grapefruit, white peaches and aromatic herbs. It's a good choice for Asian dishes.

Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C. 2018, from Bidoli winery. This wine has a delicate pinkish color and the tactile sensation of a rosé wine. It can accompany pizza and other tomato dishes that don't usually go with white wines. 

And if you want to try a California Pinot Grigio that's readily available, pick up this one from San Antonio Winery. It's fresh, light and lovely, made from Monterey County grapes.  I bought it at the tasting room in downtown Los Angeles, but if you can't get there, you can order it online, through the San Antonio Winery website. 

Travaglini--Nebbiolo at Its Best

This beautiful pale sparkler is made from a red wine grape--Nebbiolo. 

It's the Nebolé 2013, produced by Travaglini, a family-owned Italian winery that specializes in this grape.

Only the tips of the bunches are used for Nebolé, said Cinzia Travaglini (above) at a tasting and luncheon at Angelini Osteria in Los Angeles. These are greener and higher in acid, while those closer to the vine are better for red wines, she said.

Founded in the 1920s by Clemente Travaglini, the winery is located in Gattinara, a small area in northern Piedmont. It's the largest producer there, although just 52 of its 59 hectares (146 acres) of land are under vine.

Cinzia Travaglini runs the daily operation, and her husband Massimo Collauto is the head winemaker. Their daughter Alessia, at left, took part in the presentation in Los Angeles along with her mother. 

The area's rocky, mineral-rich soil produces elegant, easy to drink wines, Cinzia Travaglini said. For the Travaglini winery, this means only Nebbiolo, six of which were poured at the tasting, from young to library wines. 

The youngest was the Nebbiolo Coste Della Sesia DOC 2017, aged in stainless steel for 4 months and then in Slovenian oak for 10 months. Recommended for starters, pastas and roast meats, it paired well with the first course, an insalata caprese.

The next youngest was the Gattinara DOCG 2015 followed by two wines from 2013, the Gattinara Tre Vigne DOCG, which blends grapes from three vineyards, and the Gattinara Riserva DOCG from Travaglini's oldest vineyards. 

Two pasta dishes were now on the table, lasagna verde, made with green lasagne noodles and beef and veal ragu, and bombolotti alla Norma, large tubular ridged pasta with eggplant, tomato, basil and dried ricotta. 

Next came wines from two great vintages, the Gattinara Riserva DOCG 2009, made with the choicest grapes from the oldest vineyards, and the Gattinara Tre Vigne DOCG 2006 (above), a three-vineyard wine aged four years in Slovenian oak.

During the last year, part of the 2006 wine was removed, aged separately and then blended with the remaining wine, which then rested in the bottle for 10 months. Both of these are in limited availability. 

To go with wines of this caliber, Angelini offered a choice of grilled branzino filet (above), organic chicken or grilled hanger steak.

Alessia Travaglini explained that at first the emphasis at Travaglini was on quantity. Then her grandfather, Giancarlo Travaglini, switched the focus to quality. 

The last wine poured was his final project, Il Sogno 2014, which means The Dream. For this wine, Travaglini designed a special bottle that could capture sediment inside as the wine was poured.

Rather than crushed fresh, the grapes were dried for 100 days until half the moisture had evaporated. The sugar content is higher than in the other reds, but the sweetness is moderate (4.2%), and Il Sogno could go with red meats as well as aged cheese and, at the end of the meal, dark chocolate.

At Angelini Osteria, dessert was a cheese plate.

And a platter of housemade biscotti.

The wines in the photo were those served at lunch. Travaglini exports 65% of its production, and the United States is the main export market. Company policy is to maintain a good price point as well as quality, Cinzia Travaglini said. 

The Nebbiolo Coste Della Sesia DOC 2017 is a reasonable $21. The Gattinara DOCG 2015 is $33, and the prices rise from there to what one would expect for the dream wine Il Sogno, $128.

Any Time's the Right Time for Prosecco

Pizza and Prosecco. Is this a match made in heaven?

No, it's a match made at Eataly in Century City. 

The occasion: a Prosecco master class conducted by Luigi Capasso of Eataly's beverage operations.

The class reviewed eight Proseccos paired with pizzas from Fabio Ugoletti, Eataly's chef de cuisine. 

They weren't Neapolitan style pizzas but pizza romana, thick-crusted, crunchy at the bottom and soft inside. The dough for pizza romana is more moist and baked at a lower temperature than Neapolitan style pizza, Ugoletti said.

Unlike individual Neapolitan pizzas, pizza romana is large and long, meant to be cut into multiple servings.

Ugoletti (above) brought out five, with savory, sweet, earthy and bitter toppings designed to show how well Prosecco pairs with a variety of flavors.

Meanwhile, Capasso explained that Prosecco isn't just a popular sparkling wine but a tightly controlled product, named for the region in northeastern Italy where it is produced.

Bright and fresh, it's less expensive than classic Champagne, delivering quality at a reasonable price.

In 2018, 464,000,000 bottles were produced, of which 75% was exported. Slightly more than 20% of this went to the United States, the second largest export market.

Here are more Prosecco facts from Capasso:

The dominant grape is Giera, a semi-aromatic variety. Legally, Prosecco must be 85% Giera. The remaining 15% can be from a variety of approved grapes.

Prosecco is at it's best one year after harvest, but don't wait longer than two years to drink it.

There have been bogus Proseccos on the market. To make sure you have the real thing, look for Prosecco DOC on the label and the state mark and seal. Above is an example.

Each of the wines poured at the class tasted slightly different, some a little sweeter, some more aromatic or acidic, but all paired well with the pizzas.

They were Zonin Brut, Valdo Brut, Le Contesse Brut, Villa Sandi Il Fresco Brut, Torresella Extra Dry, Villa degli Olmi Extra Dry, La Marca Extra Dry and Mionetto Organic Extra Dry.

The first pizza was topped with calamari, clams, mussels  and shrimp.

Next came pizza with burrata, mortadella and pistachios.

If any flavor could challenge a wine, it would be the bitterness of radicchio on this pizza. But the Proseccos could handle it. Asiago cheese and walnuts helped to counteract the bitterness.

Truffles dominated this pizza. On top are zucchini and zucchini blossoms.

The most unusual was a sweet pizza with wildflower honey, Pecorino cheese and black pepper. This would be perfect for a sunny summer brunch.

As Capasso said, the balance of sugar and acidity makes Prosecco perfect with different cuisines and at any time of day. It's "something fun to drink."