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Sololio -- the Discovery of Olive Oil

Just a quick note to let you know I'll be reporting on the Extra Virgin Olive Oil SOLOLIO exhibit I attended today in Riva del Garda, Trento.

I had a chat with Marco Oreggia, who is the scholar of all things related to Olives and Olive Oil! He did write the book on it --Flos Olei 2010 - I Migliori Extravergine del Mondo.

Trabucco Winery

I know, of course, that in Campania only one vulcano is very famous in the world and it is Vesuvius, the small giant on the bay of Naples.
It is great, and great are the wines made by its grapes: Lacryma Christi, first of all, but also Catalanesca (not yet famous, but . . . .wait !)
But now I would like to talk about a different and less famous vulcano: the vulcano of Roccamonfina.
While Vesuvius is only sleeping, Roccamonfina is turned-off completely.
Roccamonfina vulcano is a the north-west edge of Campania felix and its ground, obviously, is very good for grapes.
This is the best place for the ancient wine named Falerno, such an ancient wine that it was the most famous and precious wine for the ancient Romans and, particularly for the poet Orazio whose holiday farmhouse was located here.

A couple of days ago I "met" two great wines, both made by the young and clever winemaker Nicola Trabucco.
The first one is "Rapicano 2007 Falerno del Massico": aglianico 80% and piedirosso 20%. Aglianico grape to build the backbone of the wine and piedirosso to give the nice and sweet stroke in the glass. A very elegant wine, strong but not rude: elegant and with a velvet touch.
The second one is "Erre 2007 Falerno del Massico": quite similar to Rapicano but a bit less elegant and easier to drink.
Both are good to match with red meats and aged cheeses.
Two great Falerno and very honest prices. Here, in Italy at the winery, the price of Rapicano is 15 € and Erre is 8 €

Winery is TRABUCCO at Santa Croce di Carinola, close to Roccamonfina

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Cruasè: when Pinot noir becames pink

Often we like to say and wish: "Drink Pink, Think Pink !".

Well, now we have a further reason to drink pink and therefore think pink, also.

In fact, from the grapes of Pinot Nero located in the gorgeous area named Oltrepò Pavese, a new sparkling wine was created, pink its color, Cruasè its name.

The word Cruasè is the merge between the word crù and the word rosè.

Crù, as you know, means the best part of a vineyard, where the grapes are well oriented and the ground is particularly nutricious.

Rosè is the smooth word to mean pink when in Italy we talk about the colors of the wine.

Cruasè is a DOCG wine and its process is the classic method.

abstracted by Vincenzo D'Antonio from Italia a Tavola daily

The guides to the Italian restaurants

With the "red" Michelin, the great festival of the guides 2010 of the Italian restaurants, finished.

First of all it was the guide of Espresso (the awards are the hats, from 1 to 4), then Gambero Rosso (forks, from 1 to 3, but also shrimps from 1 to 3), finally, last but not least, Michelin (stars, from 1 to 3).

Now, please let me do that, I want to declare which are, in my personal opinion, three lovely Italian restaurants where a dinner means really a delightful experience of the true Italian cooking.

The order of these three is not a rank.

In Marche, at Loreto, the restaurant is ANDREINA.
The chef is Errico Recanati, a very clever chef.

In Campania, at Vairano Patenora, the restaurant is VAIRO DEL VOLTURNO.
The chef is Renato Martini, a young very clever and famous chef.

In Romagna, at Cattolica, the restaurant is LOCANDA LIUZZI.
The chef patron is Raffaele Liuzzi, a creative and famous chef.

Italian chef in New York

On January of next year (by the way; next year is sooner than you think!), a wonderful piece of Italy - the area named Lombardia, in Northwest Italy- will come to NYC to delight the people, allowing them to taste and enjoy the true typical food of Lombardia and to sip its local wines.
It will be a big event and further news will be published soon.
Let's stay in touch !

Veneto, Vicenza, Durello

Have you ever visited Italy ?

Oh, yes, I presume.

Well; have you ever visited Veneto ?

You will likely reply YES because you have visited Venice and only Venice but, please believe me, Veneto is a wonderful area between ground and sky is more and more than the unique masterpiece of the world named Venice.

Take your time, leave at home any hurry and please, come here and travel this area in a slow way; let's begin our trip in one of the most magnificent areas of the sweet and beautiful Veneto.

Yes, it means, in other words, that we are in Vicenza and in its surrounding area.

Vicenza is the town where Palladio showed how clever he was.

And many country houses designed by Palladio are available for visits also along the river and in the middle of the sweet hills.

The sweet hills who divide the Vicenza area from the Verona area are named Monti Lessini.

Do not miss to visit this area and forget the clock.

Also the time forgot its clock and here it is magical to be reminded of fifty years ago.

This delightful area is, so to speak, the headquarter of a not yet well-known local grape: durella.

And from durella a great wine is made: Durello.

Oh, how great is this hidden treasure among the local wines.

The best result of the grape durella, in our opinion is the Durello spumante classico, a very characteristic sparkling wine made using the classic method, the method of champagne and like the other more famous Italian sparkling wines as Trento DOC, Prosecco DOCG, Asti DOCG and Franciacorta DOCG.

Local people like to describe this wine as the wine drunk by Romeo and Juliet.

It is not an historical mistake because it is true that this wine exists from more than nine centuries ago and to imagine Romeo and Juliet while sipping this wine during their attempts to be lovers is very funky.

We imagine that in the hand of Juliet the sparkling wine Durello seems as a young boy whose desire is to be liked and loved and it manages to perform in this way.

In the meantime, in the hand of Romeo the glass with Durello seems as an elegant and smiling girl whose aim is to be deeply charming and it manages, also !

It is the true plus of this unique wine: easy to drink and elegant, ready to match with local cheese and able, also, to live alone for the happiest aperitivo.

We enjoy Durello and our strong tip for your next trip to Italy is to not miss this magical area: Vicenza and its hills and, therefore, its great and unique Durello.

Prosit !

Contessa Ferrara, the masterpiece of Aglianico

We are in the inner part of Campania where the hills are the gorgeous framework for olives and grapes and olive oil and wines are wonderful and very characteristic. Here, among these hills, in the historic center of a small town along the river Volturno, there is the ancient Castello Ducale.

This Castle allows us to step back into the past, making a jump back to six centuries ago.
The patron, Mr. Antonio Donato is a country gentleman and his way to receive the guests is genuine and charming.

The few rooms are quite comfortable, the dining room is ready for delightful typical dinners where the meals are made only with local food: lamb, first of all. The breakfast is a very lovely experience, and here you learn that time has should be spend in a slow way.

The cellar of the Castle deserves a visit and Mr. Antonio will be glad to explain you the roots of this cellar and the actual equipment, also. In the oak, the red wines are smoothly sleeping.

Among the red wines that the winemaker Antonio makes, you cannot miss to enjoy to sip his masterpiece: Contessa Ferrara, in October will be ready the wine harvested in 2006.
The grape is Aglianico: Aglianico 100%. Yes, but a unique breed of Aglianico, named Aglianico amaro: very charateristic, this grape grows only here and only Mr. Antonio uses this grape to make this great red wine. Its color is the color of the ancient brick, the smell is a path to run in your memory the fruits of the fall, in the mouth of this wine is smooth as silk and never it hurts you. Which is Contessa Ferrara ? It is a true gentleman dressing his velvet jacket, not shaking hand to Ladies, but kissing her hands and never using a loud voice.

I like it.

The best way to appreciate Contessa Ferrara is in a foggy evening, outdoors it is already cold enough, the fireplace is suggesting the good atmosphere and your best friends are with you.
The right glass, Contessa Ferrara in this glass, and a well cooked lamb on the table.
Prosit !

The Lacryma Christi Days

Do you know that in Italy we have some excellent earth whose origin is from a vulcano? These grounds are rich in minerals and are, therefore, very good to grapes. Yes, we have several and the most important are Etna in eastern Sicily, and Vesuvio in western Campania.

I would like to introduce you to a few wines made in Vesuvio. The most famous wine made in Vesuvio is called Lacryma Christi in its white and red colors.
To tell you the truth, the Renaissance of Lacryma Christi is made by two great families of Campania winemakers: Mastroberardino in Irpinia, both brothers Antonio (Mastroberardino) and Walter (Terredora), and Martusciello in Campi Flegrei (Cantine Grotta del Sole).

Every local winemaker should thank them as they managed to give a new image and better content to this wine whose skills, otherwise had been only a lesser quality.
Let's make now our trip around Vesuvio and let's begin from the hill towm named Ottaviano. A very ancient town whose origins are from the ancient Rome, the 'gens Octavia' and therefore the emperor Augusto. Here he died.

The first two wineries we visit belong to the same family root: Romano.
One is Romano Fioravante and we liked his white and his red.
By the way, the white is a blend of caprettone and falanghina; the red is a blend of piedirosso and aglianico. Here the red is aged in barrique.

The other Romano, Michele, has the smart help of his daughter Gemma and Gemma is the name he gives to some of his best wines. All the grapes of this winery grow in the area of the National Park of Vesuvio.
In this white, falanghina is 15% and its color is an elegant and pale yellow. Let's choose to enjoy it with a great spaghetti alle vongole - oh my God !
This red Lacryma Christi has also a small percentage of a very local grape olivella, but is predominately piedirosso with a bit of aglianico.
The best marriage, in my opinion, is to serve it with the aged cheese provolone del monaco and strong salami coming from Calabria.

From Ottaviano now we travel to Terzigno where we are guests at Villa Dora.
We are now in the "Ager Pompeianus" in the National Park of Vesuvio. Here we discover and meet two great wines, both red: Gelsonero and Forgiato. Let's pretend that they are two brothers. Well, one goes to play soccer before he has finished his homework and he is in a big hurry to play; the other goes to play soccer too, but before going he takes great care to be ready for the next morning at school. This is a joke to mean the different charateristics of these two wines. The first one is Gelsonero and the second one is Forgiato.

Now, let's drive from Terzigno to Boscotrecase. Here we visit the ancient winery Sorrentino, older than one century. Actually the patron is the young and clever Giuseppe and his wise father Paolo helps him.
Three great wines. The white is Vigna Lapillo, made only by coda di volpe grapes. The pink is simply named Rosato and its grapes are exclusively piedirosso. An elegant wine, my God and we'd like to match it with the frittura di paranza (fried fish) and the local olive oil. The red is Vigna Lapillo Rosso: a small masterpiece.

Now we drive to Portici, almost on to the coast. Here we visit the winery Cantine Scala, managed by Antonio and Maria Palomba with the useful help of their mother Maria Scala.
Their white receives also the grapes greco. It is perfect with simple dishes of local fresh fish. The red, really, it is red only because of its color. But, it is so fresh, so ready to sip, and so immediately nice that it seems a white wine. It has also a bit of the local grapes palombina.
It matches with rich soup of local fresh fish and it is a very great marriage - my God !

Last step now, from Portici to the small hill town named Massa di Somma.
Here we meet a very local white grape catalanesca whose wine is simply named Catalanesca. A young wine, exceptionally nice to drink. We already talked about its sweet version.
The Vesuvio is beginning, finally, to offer us great wines and they deserve to become really well known to the correct lovers of very good wines.

Prosit !
Vincenzo