Wine Pairing from “A Casa Come al Ristorante,” May 18, 2020
The subtitles are an approximation. In addition to my inevitable translation mistakes, it is sometimes hard for me to make out what they’re saying, especially when they talk over each other. Any suggestions or alternative guesses are appreciated.
Wine Pairing: Alto Adige Voglar Sauvignon Blanc
Fede: And now it’s the moment for choosing the wine, for this exact motive, to go with the dish given to us by the eminent Elio Sironi, our guest here at Decanter, his risotto with asparagus.
Andrea: As you know, Fede, the technique I use for pairing is to contrast the main flavors and tactile sensations that are in the dish, with those we will find in the wine. So in the risotto, we have fat from the burrata and the oil that make the risotto creamy, and a sweetness given by the authentic rice, so in wine we need a bit of freshness, which is a term sommeliers use for acidity, and a little savoriness. Then we move to the aromas, but instead we try to match them, so we’ll find the same aromas in the dish that we have in the wine. With that reasoning, the choice falls on one of the best Sauvignon Blancs that we make in Italy. You know the zones for this varietal are the least known and appreciated in Italy. They are in eastern Fruili with its Collio Friulano, and the eastern hills of Alto Adige. Tonight we go to Alto Adige and use a beautiful Voglar Sauvignon Blanc. “Voglar” means “hearth” and is the name of this terraced vineyard where they practice heroic viticulture, and this is a fantastic wine. It grows on the limestone soils of the Dolomites so there’s a nice minerality, a nice freshness in the mouth, and then the aromas of the Sauvignon Blanc, a semi-aromatic grape, are a bit green. They recall celery, they recall aromatic herbs, the thyme. Since there’s basil in the dish, it closes with a little sweet almond, and then, despite the cold climate, it brings out these tropical scents of passion fruit. I think this pairing works very well.
Fede: Very good, very good. It’s called Voglar. By the way, asparagus has that ‘collateral effect’ that we all know about, that you also find in Sauvignon Blanc…
Andrea: Yes, yes.
Fede: Think about that scent you encounter the next day after you wake up in the morning.
Andrea: Right.
Fede: You also find it with that wine because it’s typical of Sauvignon Blanc.
Andrea: You know, now there’s another term to describe it, before it was called cat pee. Now, to be a bit more elegant it’s called…
Fede: Asparagus.
Andrea: …boxwood.
Fede: Ah, boxwood is also the odor of asparagus. Very good, a perfect pairing I would say. It’s great because this dish, which you can find on our website, decanter.rai.it, along with many others, is easy to replicate, with an apt pairing from Andrea Amadei, you can find either one, or a wine I use for pairing called Tacco Rossa. Remember it because it’s the wine for the next recipe.
