2023-07-29 07:52:10
Five wines, a single denominator: passion. Of those who produce them, of the people who live in the territories where they grow, of the stories hidden behind those labels, often the result of ancestral inheritances. This week’s menu is sapidity, soft fatness, sweet contrasts. Flavors with great personalities, from anchovies to ricotta to spices. This is why in choosing the wines we have drawn from the feelings and warmth of the earth. Any examples? Salento, a paradise of sun and intensity. The Maremma, disheveled and free (squared, two wines from the homeland of the cowherds). The Languedoc, ambitious and proud. Champagne, refined and romantic. Liguria, rocky and heroic.
Quiche with ricotta and cherry tomatoes
Quiche with mint ricotta and cherry tomatoes by Eleonora Cozzella 24 July 2023
Let’s start with our appetizer. The savory fatness of the ricotta, the mentholated note, and the acidity of the tomatoes: such an explosive mix needs a solid wine, which synthesises a rich dish with different nuances. We borrow it from Tuscany, especially from Maremma, a wild land of sea, pine forests and hills, always ready to welcome curious and emancipated palates. Interpret this spirit Belguardo V Vermentino Superiore Maremma Toscana Doc, new born in the Mazzei house. Not only a fabulous cru of Vermentino, but above all the result of a research project, the result of two clones from Corsica and two others from Sardinia. Complex, savory, mineral and persistent in the mouth, it caresses the palate taking all the complex sensations of this rich appetizer by the hand. For a lunch by the sea that does not give up on intense flavours.
Spaghetti with butter and anchovies
Spaghetti with butter and anchovies by Eleonora Cozzella 25 July 2023
An act of love towards Colombine, one of the 5 daughters of the vigneron. The Champagne Expression is the first cuvée from Maison Geoffrey, based on 35% Pinot Meunier, 35% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay: freshness and structure. A marriage born from the union between the current vintage and the “reserve perpetuelle”, launched in 1970. The balance, the depth, the surprising freshness and the persistent perlage make it the perfect companion for a tasty dish with a fat component well-defined as spaghetti with butter and anchovies. Ripe and fragrant at the same time, it lends itself to a table aware of its potential, without renouncing the refinement that starts from the bouquet, characterized by notes of apple and hints of vanilla.
Chicken tacos
Lara De Luna’s chicken tacos 26 July 2023
Let’s go back to Italy and pay homage to the summer with a leap into the heart of Salento, a land of strong traditions, from the flavors of the cuisine to the rhythms of folklore. Here, in the Tarantino area, there is a winery which, between districts, villages and plains, extends from the Ionian Sea to the Adriatic Sea. In the vineyards of Campi Deantera (in San Giovanni, Taranto), so loved by winemakers, the Susumaniello grape grows, which gives life to a passionate, tasty, atavistic red: Stadera Susumaniello Salento Igt. A generous vine, so abundant in proliferation that it owes its name to the fact that the somarello, in harvest time, was loaded with abundant bunches. The aging in French and American oak barriques for 6 months gives structure to the glass, making it suitable also for robust dishes, without excesses, and above all fanciful. The combination will be even more interesting if you add a sprinkling of chili pepper to the dish. Before drinking it, smell it: floral and cherry aromas, small spices, delicate balsamic notes. And let it swirl: opening it will give you more acute sensations both on the nose and on the palate.
Barcelona Xatò salad
The Barcelona Xatò salad by Lara De Luna July 27, 2023
Let’s stay on the Mediterranean coast for the pairing with the Xatò salad which comes from Barcelona: a delicious set of seafood ingredients ranging from cod to anchovies, from tuna in oil to hazelnuts. And here comes a fresh and fruity white from the South of France: il Viognier from Domaine de la Baume, in Languedoc. We are in the small hamlet of Servian, nestled between Béziers and the medieval town of Pézenas. Here a fascinating vineyard opens up for its colors and history, where the Viognier grape finds its more fruity and cheeky side. What it takes to contrast and play down the rebellious soul of the Catalan salad. A sauce, the Xatò, which has wine (so to speak) in its blood and above all in its name, which refers to a small tap that was placed in the barrels (“aixetó”) to try the first wines after the harvest.
The rice cake
Eleonora Cozzella’s rice cake 28 July 2023
The sweet and delicate finish with rice cake calls for something really special. A wine from other times, which evokes that sugary and carefree cuddle made of affection, slowness, beauty. Here then appears a gem of Liguria, lo Sciacchetrà Amphora of Possa. A powerful wine, which is not in a hurry, on the contrary, which rests without a clock in the peace of the terracotta amphorae, after drying. A time in which it has the opportunity to release great aromas of ripe yellow fruit, dried figs and candied citrus fruits.
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