Italian Wine Society Newsletter

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Events:

Our next event will be held at Turning Stone Resort in Oneida on May 7th.
Information will be forthcoming and posted on the Upcoming Events page on the
website: www.lordinedellavite.com .

Our most recent dinner was hosted by Barbara Rothermel and Jeanie Scarzafava on Sunday, March 8th, at Nicoletta's Restaurant in Cooperstown. We had a terrific
turnout with 47 members and guests in attendance. Attendees enjoyed Villa Jolanda Prosecco and a 2007 Zenato Lugana with delectable appetizers of Bruschetta Nicoletta and lightly breaded pan-fried artichoke hearts with a lemon garlic dipping sauce.

The five course meal was beautifully presented and delicious, with a starter of
handmade ravioli in a light basil cream sauce, followed by mesculin greens with red pear, walnuts and asiago cheese. Lobster tail with lemon butter caper sauce and grilled asparagus was then followed by the main course of grilled marinated
tenderloin of veal and pepper-crusted filet mignon with roasted red skinned
potatoes. Dessert was a choice of chocolate tort or coconut butter cream cake and
coffee.

Members brought their own wines to share, with the most notable Super Tuscans being a 2001 Marchesi Incisa della Roccheta Sassicaia brought by member John Romano, and a 1988 Tinscvil Castello di Monsanto - Vino Da Tavola Di Toscana from the cellar of John Scarzafava. Ripasso was enjoyed at the table of Curator Marie Lusins-McLachlan and Terry Robards explained the double fermentation technique used to create this wonderful wine - the word ripasso actually meaning to do over again.

One new member, Violet Morris, was inducted into the society with Curator AnnaMarie Lusins-McLachlan and Curator Emeritus Johannes Neckermann officiating the ceremony. Founding Curator Emeritus John Scarzafava, along with Neckermann and Lusins-McLachlan, also made a special presentation to founding member Terry Robards on behalf of the Italian Trade Commission in recognition of his noteworthy support of the wines of Italy in America.

Wine Focus: Barolo
by Julie Robards

Our wine focus this quarter is on Italy's Noble Red Wine - Barolo. Considered by
many to be the most majestic of Italian wines, Barolo has been called The King of
Wines and the Wine of Kings.

Barolo wine had its beginning in the early 1800s when Marchesa Colbert Giulietta
Falletti, a French woman by birth, brought Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wine from the ancient grape variety Allobrogica - now known as Nebbiolo. Along with Camilo Cavour, who later became Conte di Cavour (the first Italian Prime Minister), they worked to create what was the beginning of modern wine making in the Piedmont region. In the mid 1800s, the Falletti-owned Marchesi di Barolo became the first estate in Italy to vinify Nebbiolo into the dry red wine we know and love today as Barolo.

The Nebbiolo grape is highly sensitive to terrain but relatively resistant to frost,
dampness and mist. It prefers soil with high concentrations of chalk and marl - a
lime-rich mudstone. Nebbiolo is one of the first varieties of grape to bud in spring
and the last to ripen in mid to late October. Because the grapes need sufficient
warmth to develop the sugars and fruit flavors that balance its natural high acidity
and tannins, vineyards are often planted in the most favored sights on south and
southwestern facing slopes.

Traditional style Barolo wine requires a three-week maceration period (fermenting
the juice and grape skins together), then aging in large casks for three to five
years before bottling. This results in a tannic, austere wine that requires
cellaring of fifteen years or more to develop. Modernist methods of production
employ a shorter maceration time of ten days and aging in small, new French oak
barrels called barriques. The result is a softer, less tannic wine that requires
less aging.

Traditional Producers:

Bruno Giacosa: Look for his 2001 Falletto for long-term storage - about $150 and the
2004 at about $300. Giacosa is arguably Italy's greatest producer. His Barbarescos
are equally tremendous.

Giacomo Borgogno: A well-established Traditionalist with excellent values. The 1996
Riserva is restrained, structured and an especially good buy at about $60.

Modernists:

Luciano Sandrone: An acclaimed producer of two Barolos. The Cannubi Boschis is the
ultimate of the Modernist style but expensive. The 2000 sells around $150 and a
2004, reported to be a very good vintage, can be found for about $200.

Domenico Clerico: A leading Modernist and producer of Ciabot Mentin Ginestra, a well
balanced example of a single-vineyard wine. The 2001 is about $85.

Mauro Sebaste: 2004 Barolo Monvigliero was recently awarded 94 out of 100 by Wine Advocate: Wine Spectator.  A wine with wonderful purity of fruit with an underlying mineral characteristic. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and a long finish. Best after 2011.
About $40

Best Buys :

Barolos and Barbarescos are usually among Italy's most expensive wines, but one
producer is offering them at bargain prices relative to the others. Villadoria,
located in the Piedmont hub of Serralunga d'Alba, is undercutting the market with
its Barolo 2004 at around $31 and its Barbaresco 2004 at under $20. Bricco Magno
2003 is a bargain at about $19. Many from other producers are easily double these
prices. The Villadoria style is forward and generous, with moderate tannins and
up-front fruit. The current vintages are not yet at peak maturity, but these wines
can be drunk now with ample pleasure. They are superb with all red meats, poultry,
game and most pastas.

LDV Recipe

Our LDV recipe this quarter is a traditional Piedmonte dish called Stufato Al Barolo - Beef Braised in Barolo. It comes from the cookbook, Lidia's Italy , by Lidia Bastianich, owner of Felidia's Restaurant in New York City . You will need a heavy six quart saucepan, Dutch oven or enamel cast iron covered pan for braising. To make the dish more affordable, use one of our Best Buy recommendations in place of the more expensive Barolo

Stufato Al Barolo - Beef Braised in Barolo

Ingredients:

5 lb. boneless beef roast, chuck or bottom round - trimmed of fat

2 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions - peeled and quartered

3 big carrots - peeled and cut in 2" wedges

4 big stalks of celery - cut in 2" chunks

6 plump garlic cloves - peeled

2 branches fresh rosemary

6 large fresh sage leaves

¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. whole black peppercorns

1 ounce dried porcini slices - about 1 cup loosely packed

2- 750 ml. bottles of Barolo

2 cups beef stock

Heat oven with rack in the center at 250 degrees. Season all surfaces of the beef
with 1 tsp. salt. Pour olive oil into pan and set over medium-high heat. Lay the
roast in and brown it on each side for a minute or two, without moving, until
caramelized all over. Remove to a platter.

Still over medium-high heat, drop in the cut vegetables and garlic cloves, toss to
coat with oil, and spread out in the pan. Drop in the rosemary, sage leaves, grated
nutmeg, peppercorns, dried porcini and remaining salt and toss together. Cook for
three or four minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up the browned meat bits on
the bottom of the pan, just until th vegetables soften, then lower the heat.

Push the vegetables to the sides, and return the roast to the pan, laying flat on
the bottom. Pour in the two bottles of wine and any meat juices that collected on
the platter. The roast should be at least half submerged - add beef stock as needed.

Cover the pot and heat until the wine is steaming but not boiling. Uncover the pan,
and place it in the oven. After 30 minutes, rotate the roast so the exposed meat is
submerged in the braising liquid. Braise this way, turning the mat in the pan every
30 minutes for about three hours, until fork tender. The liquid should not boil, if
it does, pour in some cold water to stop the bubbling and lower the oven
temperature.

After 2 ½ hours or so - check the beef with a meat thermometer. When its internal
temperature reaches 180 degrees (it should be easily pierced with a fork) take the
pan from the oven. Remove the meat to a platter, with intact carrot and celery
pieces to serve as a garnish.

Skim any fat from the braising juices, heat to a boil and reduce to a saucy
consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Pour through a sieve set over a clean
container. Press in the juices from the strained herbs and vegetable pieces. Pour in
any juices from the meat platter and season the sauce to taste with salt and freshly
ground black pepper. ( If you choose to delay serving - put the meat and vegetables
in the sauce to rest and cool for a couple of hours or overnight).

To serve, slice the meat crosswise ( easier when it's cool). Pour a shallow layer of
sauce in a wide skillet and lay the slices in, overlapping. Heat the sauce to
bubbling, spooning it over the beef, so the slices are lightly coated. Lift them
with a broad spatula and slide onto a warm platter, fanned out. Heat the carrot and
celery in the sauce too, if you saved them and arrange on the platter. Serve with
heated sauce.

To submit recipes, news and photographs for inclusion in the LDV quarterly
newsletter please contact Julie Robards at lordinedellavite@frontiernet.net.

Or send information to: L'Ordine Della Vite Newsletter c/o Julie Robards

PO Box 117, Upper Jay, NY 12987.

As spring dawns and summer approaches I am reminded of the quote by the great
Italian scientist Galileo, " Wine is sunlight, held together by water."