Wine Pairing from “A Casa Come al Ristorante,” May 25, 2020
Partly to practice my Italian, and mostly because I like Italian food and wine, I’ve been listening to Decanter, a program devoted to food and wine on Italy’s RAI Radio 2. Fede and Tinto are the hosts and Andrea Amadei is a wine expert who also appears on the show. During the pandemic, each broadcast has featured an Italian chef who presents a recipe that listeners can prepare at home, and then Andrea Amadei describes an Italian wine to pair with the recipe. I found that the wines weren’t the ‘usual suspects’ found here in the US, and the descriptions were interesting and often amusing, so I extracted the audio and created English subtitles.
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: La Scolca Gavi Black Label
Tinto: That was Marvin Gaye here at Decanter on RAI Radio 2, Sexual Healing. A great freshness in this song we listened to, like the great freshness in the dish by Aurora Mazzucchelli. Andrea, Fede, who knows what wine we’ll use?
Fede: Let’s call on Andrea, emphasizing the fact that along with Aurora Mazzucchelli, we’ve had Isa Mazzocchi, Antonella Ricci, soon the great Caterina Ceraudo from Calabria, and then (Antonia) Klugmann who by the way is considered one of the great chefs, as well as participating for a year on Master Chef, and then still other women that we’re looking for, (Rosanna) Marziale.
Andrea: Yes, yes, exactly, tomorrow.
Fede: And many, many, many others. We have the desire to make this journey with only female chefs, who are truly exceptional, as we also understood from this recipe that was presented today. The wine pairing, what is it?
Andrea: So vegetables and fish, guys, so a white. However, there’s a problem. We have bittersweet, and what pairs with bittersweet? The Sicilians teach that with caponata you use Marsala. Whatever, Marsala with this dish is a bit too strong because there’s a marked oxidation. But there’s a white wine that tends to have those notes, a bit oxidized, that recalls walnuts and almonds in the mouth, which matches very well with these flavors. It’s a wine that they make in the north, specifically between Liguria and Piedmont, where they meet. There’s a town called Gavi. The local grape is called Cortese, a white grape that ages very well and in which, the first year you uncork the bottle, you find a floral fruity, wine, though with a nice freshness, a nice minerality, then growing over time, because wine changes, just as we do, it acquires these aromas that I mentioned before of dried fruit that pair perfectly with this dish. It was a grape that until the 50s was never considered, they used it to make Vermouth in Piedmont, or it was used to make basic Spumante of dubious quality. Instead, the Soldati family from the beginning of the 20s had begun to rescue this varietal and realized that it aged very well. So in addition to still wines like this Black Label that I’m recommending for pairing with this dish, they have also worked with the champagne method which has given fantastic results. So the grape is Cortese. I like that a lot as it also describes the winery that produces it (courteous). They say it’s a wine with the soul of youth because it always stays fresh, but with the heart of an adult because in the end these aromas are complex and unique.
Fede: Also, the term “cortese” is beautiful to give to a grape.
Tinto: Mamma mia, it sounds beautiful.
Fede: Like saying elegant. We like it, an elegant wine or a courteous, kind wine.
Andrea: Affable.
Fede: Perfect for the simplicity and kindness of Aurora Mazzucchelli. I’d say it’s a perfect pairing with this wine from the cellars of the great Mario Soldati, Soldati, Soldati.
Andrea: Great, really great.
Fede: La Scolca. Thanks, thanks Andrea, an optimal pairing.
