Gambero Rosso Wine Travel Food - February 2015

WINE

T R AV E L

FOOD

N.82 www.gamberorosso.it

Florence DOWN TO EARTH

AMARONE

BERE BENE

GRANA PADANO

ALFREDO'S STORY

Anteprima 2011 A bright year

Best buys Ligurian wines Under 10â‚Ź

Master artisans Inimitable classic flavors

A culinary icon all over the world...except in Italy

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Tasting Menu 16 | AMARONE 2011: RIPE, LUSH, AND LONG-LIVED WINES The Veneto’s great success story, a wine that seems impervious to fiscal crises. We taste luminous Amarone labels of 2011 and we revisit 2000

46 | ALFREDO’S STORY Why one of Italy’s most iconic dishes is known everywhere ...except in Italy

50 | THERE IS GRANA AND GRANA We tasted and chose artisanal versions of Italy’s most popular and inimitable cheese

34| COVERSTORY. FLORENCE THE ART OF STREET FOOD In the same city, great Renaissance art treasures and a love of organ meats. Florence is the home of lampredotto, i.e. tripe

62 | PAIRING LAB: MEATBALLS & MORELLINO Matching wines to rustic, satisfying meatballs.

Fragrant, medium-structured wines win out

28 | LIGURIA: SMALL PLOTS, GREAT WINES Best bottles under 10 euros

74 | ZAK THE BAKER, MIAMI’S FAMOUS BREADMAKER How an Italian village oven helped Zak Stern find his mission in life

WHAT’S COOKING WHAT’S COOKING

Ins and outs

BY LORENZO RUGGERI

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his month we immerse ourselves in Florence, a city that, despite an astonishing flow of tourists – 13 million in 2014, including visitors to the entire province – is able e to open itself to the world without betraying its true nature, but instead, reshaping its own offerings of food, wine and culture. Last year the San Lorenzo market opened an upper floor with a completely new look and mission. Street-food providers multiply. Wine bars flourish. If you are a committed wine fan, at least one time in your life, make a visit to Enoteca Pinchiorri. Although for Florence, the flow is inwards, when we move to the province of Verona, we witness an outward flow: almost 13 million bottles of Amarone were sold in 2014.

Over 80% went abroad. We attended Anteprima Amarone to report back to you about the best bottles we tasted among

9 international@gamberorosso.it the 2011 vintage labels. We found ripe, sexy and lush wines.

Abroad, the denomination seems to be crisis-proof. The German, American and Russian markets appear to be constantly growing, but Italian sales are slowing down. Besides the two subjects outlined up to this point, there’s also a parasitical phenomenon we are fighting. Called “Italian sounding,” it refers to widespread imitating of Italian products.

These items may look and sound Italian, but their taste is often an insult to the original. The only way to defeat these counterfeiters is to promote deeper consumer understanding of the products.

This time we tell the story of one of the most imitated Italian products of all, grana padano.

We present skilled artisans, explain the grainy texture of the cheese and sample its distinctive versions. We did it with the same attention we would pay to a vertical tasting of Masseto.

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LETTER FROM SYDNEY

Australian Shift

BY LARA CARATURO

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espite our geographical distance, Italy’s food and wine culture has a loyal outpost in Australia; thanks to the postwar boom of Italian immigrants who brought their culinary traditions with them. Australians are obsessed with espresso coffee. Spaghetti Bolognaise, lasagne and pizza are now staples of the Australian diet.

More recently, Australians have begun to understand that there is no such thing as an “Italian� restaurant, via the emergence of regionally focused menus such as the pioneering Sardinian Pilu at Freshwater in Sydney.

While interest in Italian wine took longer to develop (due to vinous patriotism) there is now a younger generation of consumers who are more open-minded and adventurous and willing to try new and exotic wines from around the world, especially Italy.

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his all comes at a time when the local Australian wine industry faces a myriad of challenges; a drop in profitability for grape growers, a rise in the stock to sale ratio, and the challenge to rebuild exports to pre-GFC levels. At the time of writing the 2015 vintage has only just begun, but as in recent years, early harvests are predicted across the country due to high temperatures; cool climate regions such as Canberra District are expecting the earliest vintage on record. Another consequence of continued high

annual temperatures each summer has been the outbreak of bushfires; this year the Adelaide Hills suffered severe damage, risking smoke tainted wines.

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nterest in locally grown Italian grape varieties has a relatively short history in Australia (barring a few aberrations such as Best’s winery in Victoria who have had Dolcetto planted at their estate since the 1860’s). Montrose winery, in New South Wales, produced Barbera and Dolcetto in the 1970’s under the guidance of winemaker Carlo Corino; while the 1980’s saw the emergence of pioneers such as Gary Crittenden in Victoria at Dromana Estate, and Mark Lloyd at Coriole Vineyards in South Australia.

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ritical in this era was the vision of family winery Brown Brothers in north-east Victoria, who worked with local Italian tobacco farming families in switching over to grape cultivation when the market for tobacco began to shrink. This led to the King Valley becoming the focus for Italian varietal wines in

Australia, led by family wineries such as Pizzini, Dal Zotto, and Chrismont. Today, there is an ever growing range of Italian grape varieties being planted in Australia. While most plantings are relatively new, and wineries are still learning how to work with these grapes, good examples can be found of Fiano, Pinot Grigio, Arneis, Vermentino, Garganega, Zibbibo, Glera, Barbera, Dolcetto, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Corvina, Montepulciano, Aglianico and Nero D’Avola. This growth in plantings of Italian grape varieties has created a chink in the armour of conformity that still largely defines the Australian wine landscape; in 2014 Shiraz, Cabernet GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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LETTER FROM SYDNEY

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Sauvignon and Merlot accounted for 87% of the red wine crush, while Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon totaled 65% of the white wine crush. Pinot Grigio is leading the Italian charge, ranking 8th for all grapes in the 2014 crush. With imports continuing to rise, Italian wine is riding a wave of growth that showed a 24% increase in 201314. Broad acceptance of Italian wines on local winelists, even in Italian restaurants, is a relatively

recent phenomenon; but the change has been swift and far reaching. Today Italian wines are represented on winelists ranging from the most highly awarded fine tables, through to casual trattorias and Asian eateries. There is now a small band of all-Italian winelists in Australia, often including locally produced Italians varieties; these include in Sydney 121BC Wine Bar, Vini, and Sagra; and in Melbourne Bar Idda (all Sicilian), Merchant and Rosetta. More recently, interest in ‘natural’ and ‘orange’ wines out of Italy has polarized opinion for both trade and consumer, running broadly along age lines. Sydney has had the greatest penetration for these styles, with Gravner and Radikon seemingly having better representation on Sydney winelists than Antinori and Frescobaldi!

SAVE THE DATE

trebicchieri 2015 tour

MELBOURNE 27/02/2015 The Windsor Hotel (The Grand Ballroom) 111 Spring Street Melbourne, VIC 3000

SYDNEY 02/03/2015 Sydney Town Hall (Lower Town Hall) 483 George St (Entry via Druitt Street) Sydney, NSW 2000

LETTER FROM RIO

Do you know Brazil?

BY MARCELO COPELLO

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ith over 200 million inhabitants and per capitawineconsumption of only 2 liters per year, Brazil has enormous growth potential. And if we talk about vinifera wines, the number drops to 0.6 liters per year! Wine is fashionable in the land of the Samba and interests the entire population, which is ascending the social ladder at a rate of about 10% per year for all classes. We also have an important market for luxury goods, with the highest rate of growth of new multimillionaires in the world, already over 200,000.

Many of those are becoming wine aficionados and starting collections of fine and rare bottles.

Our market for imported wines has accumulated growth of about 300% in volume and 500% in value over the last 10 years. In 2014 Brazil imported 81.2 million liters and 324.5 million dollars (over 60% of this is Chile and Argentina).

Italy has a 12% market share, thanks to Lambrusco.

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nother important aspect of our market is the strength of wine tourism. In 2013 Brazilians spent $25 billion in purchases abroad, and certainly a part of this was for wine. Ask the salespersons at luxury wine stores such IN 2014, BRAZIL IMPORTED as Harrods or 81.2 MILLION LITERS AND Lavinia, in cities SPENT $324.5 MILLION like London, Paris, New York, (OVER 60% OF THIS IN CHILE Rome, Santiago AND ARGENTINA). ITALY or Mendoza, HAS A 12% MARKET SHARE, who are your THANKS TO LAMBRUSCO. best customers?

The answer probably will be: "Brazilians". Brazil is a competitive market with more than 30,000 labels from 30 countries. To invest here, keep in mind that the market is young, there is no brand loyalty, you must constantly invest in promotion, education

and forming consumers. Here the media and opinion makers play an important role.

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razil also has an important domestic production of wines, of about 330 million liters (80% nonvinifera wines). The quality and exports of our wines are growing fast, and bubbly, the jewel of the production, is already internationally recognized.

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ine is expensive in Brazil (both domestic and imported), taxes are high, and a bottle of imported wine can cost about 5-6 times its price at origin. The price range of best-selling wines is under €5 (so, if it’s a European wine,

€1 at origin) for off-trade retail, between €5 and €10 for ontrade retail, and below €30 for restaurants. Marketing activities such as events are essential, but remember – there are professional tastings every day in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (the largest consumer markets, where trade and national media are concentrated), so you must be creative and select the appropriate audience. If your focus is consumers or local media, invest in other cities (São Paulo is saturated), especially in the south or the northeast, where consumption is only 0.5 liters per capita and there is a shortage of events.

Ú photo Artyominc GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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NEWS

EYES ON THE STICKER: HERE COMES E ABRUZZO The new association "è Abruzzo"

FRANCIACORTA: THE EXPO’S BUBBLY In Milano’s Expo, open from May to October 2015, great official events will celebrate with sparkling wines from Franciacorta. The bubbly has won the title of Official Sparkling Wine of the Esposizione Universale, an agreement that emerged from a competition pitting the Franciacorta Consorzio against the Lunelli Group, Cantine Ferrari. The winning offer: 380,000 euros plus 80,000 euros more in bottles provided. At this point, there will be no other Consorzio location inside the Pavilion “Vino, a taste of Italy”, to avoid excessive expense. We asked what hopes the Consorzio had for the six months of the fair. “In recent years, our product has been successful on the international market,” said Consorzio president, Maurizio Zanella.

“After the Expo, we naturally hope that our wine and our territory will be better known globally.” We asked Zanella how the individual wineries will participate.

“We plan on an Expo Milano 2015 sticker to apply along with the Consorzio sticker on single bottles sold during the six months of the Expo in Milano.”

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was founded to spotlight and promote the region’s great patrimony of beautiful landscapes – from mountains to Adriatic seashore – bringing together farmers, winemakers, livestock breeders and restaurateurs who offer exceptional products.

The idea began with a group of winegrowers who joined together to guarantee their bottles by means of a new sticker that will go on their labels, but also on the labels of pasta, legumes, olive oil and all authentically, high quality Abruzzese products. “We have to make people understand what the Abruzzo is and what marvels our region holds. Until now, we have been moving on many fronts, but we need to centralize our efforts and aim especially at the wine, food and tourism sectors,” says Adriana Galasso, President of the association.

ITALIAN WINE LAUNCHED ON STOCK MARKET Italian Wine Brands began its adventure on the stock market on a positive note. Since January 29, 2015 is listed on AIM Italia, or Alternative Investment Market.

The new company, the result of an operation promoted by IPO Challenger S.P.A, joins the Giordano Vini (Piedmont) and Provinco Italia (Trentino), with combined sales of 140 million euros and over 40 million bottles (70% abroad).

From a base price of 10 euros, the stock reached 11.45 euros, a rise of 14.5%, closing the day at 10.81 per share. The business model of the first Italian company from the winemaking sector to be quoted on the italian stock market (floating capital of about 62%) is based not on proprietary vineyards, but instead on modern vinification and bottling plants. Marketing is based on a network of international sales through GDO channels (mass distribution) and direct approaches focused on internet and call centers.

Italian Wine Brands include over 150 wine labels and aims, in the words of vice-president Simone Strocchi, to become “an aggregating pole for Italian wine”. Another objective is to expand to include other wine firms and then launch on the principal stock market.

THE OLIVE GROVES OF TEXAS Before 2017, the state of Texas expects to see more than two million new olive trees planted. After price drops in their other oil industry, Texans are investing in a new growth sector: extra virgin olive oil.

Bloomberg reports a 21st century gold rush, with about 70 local landowners ready to plant new olive groves. Recent data show an increment of 500,000 olive trees in the state in 2013; 20 years ago, there wasn’t a single one. Today only 3% of the olive oil consumed in the United States is produced on American soil, most of it in California.

Importing extra virgin olive oil from abroad, mostly from Italy and Spain, costs Americans $1.1 billion annually. According to the Texas Olive Oil Council, the new olive trees will be planted in the southern area of the state, closer to the Gulf of Mexico and less subject to freezing temperatures. Olive trees were grown in the Lone Star State in the 1930s, but only in the late 20th century Texans began to view the oil as a commercially viable crop. As proof of its potential, in Florence, Texas, where the mill house of the family-owned Texas Hill Country Olive Company is modeled after a Tuscan villa, the company won top prizes at the 2014 New York International Olive Oil Competition with its Miller’s Blend and Sola Stella oils.

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NEWS

FOOD SHORTAGES IN THE FUTURE? Over the next 40 years, the world will need more food than in the last 10,000. FAO, the food and agriculture organization of the United Nations, recently released a worrying estimate: to feed the growing population, over the next 40 years the world will need to produce more food than it has over the last 10,000. Private investors seem ready to undertake the business of agriculture, according to the Economist, in a recent article analyzing the new capital attracted to rural development.

Outside investment could curb the present generation’s urge to leave their farms for different, urban lives. One reason they do: their lack of resources to invest in the new technologies and large scale production modern agriculture requires. The moment has come

for large investors to enter the agricultural market, especially in riskier zones with unrealized potential, such as Brazil, Ukraine and Zambia.

Japan now has an enormous indoor farm that proves to be 100% more productive with 80% less waste than conventional farms. In an abandoned Sony factory in the Miyagi prefecture, the largest indoor farm in the world is nurtured

by LED lights in a bacteria-free, pesticide-free environment and harvests 10,000 heads of lettuce each day. A similar system is being built in Hong Kong and will soon be operating in Russia. Indoor farms of the future could technically produce any kind of vegetable.

CULINARY TRENDS OF 2015 New year, new food trends. Factors that will influence the near future seem clear, at least according to the information graphics presented by The Food People, the British agency specialized in the analysis of the principal trends that will shape the international culinary scene. The predictions for 2015 include a map of the cuisines that will dominate tables and conversations as well as a chart (among others) of the dominating flavors in the sweet and savory categories. Among the persistent >>

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fashions is multisensory, emotional gastronomy, a trend that is already successful with critics and public, but even more striking is the growth of the surprise menu, a meal completely entrusted to the chef’s creativity, aimed at amazing the diner, who is not told what to expect. Fermented foods, inspired

by Asian customs, are becoming popular. Mexican cuisine is climbing to the top of the world’s list of hits, especially its street food, which brings the traditional dishes of peasant kitchens to more cosmopolitan clients. The celebrated chefs of the world are enthusiastically opening spinoffs, eating places more informal and relaxed than the original, where quality food is served at approachable prices. Restaurant menus are also becoming healthier, more balanced, and attentive to myriad types of food intolerance without sacrificing flavor. Rich and nourishing broths are reappearing in restaurants, and a vast selection of sauces, dressings and condiments now show up on tables, allowing guests to personalize their plates.

Food will follow us everywhere.

Clothing stores are setting up cafés. gourmet restaurants are in airports, up-market snack bars appear in railroad stations and department stores. At the same

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time, in a trend that has been growing, the barriers are coming down between the dining room and the kitchen in bars, cafés and bistrots. For those who prefer the intimacy of the home, restaurants are increasingly delivering food with the help of proliferating online services.

The public’s search for authentic flavors and genuine products, preferably local, seasonal, traceable and sustainable, has led to the growing success of top-quality artisans. At the same time, the popularity of street food is constantly on the rise, along with natural flavor, ‘primitive’ cooking, homemade dishes and raw foods. If you like strong flavors, 2015 is your year: spicy, smoked, umami and fermented flavors are likely to be everywhere.

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STREET FOOD

Eggplant croquettes A GOOD VEGETARIAN ALTERNATIVE to the more common meatball, eggplant polpette, or croquettes, have solid roots in the Italian south. Eggplant, pecorino and caciocavallo cheeses play starring roles in this delicious and tempting street food.

Pairing: Bianco Maggiore, Cantine Rallo a generous aromatic bouquet that ranges from white flowers to citrus fruit, a crystalline and clean wine, persistent and juicy in the mouth, perfect to pair with eggplant and the fattiness of its melted cheese center.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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Fried anchovies FRIED ANCHOVIES are typical street food in any Italian coastal town. From the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic, from the Ionian to the Ligurian sea, there’s not a port that doesn’t draw small, tender anchovies into its nets. They are cleaned, dusted with flour, dipped in egg and quickly fried, a simple recipe that enhances the goodness of these little fish.

Pairing: Guido Berlucchi, Franciacorta Brut Cuvée Imperiale The light notes of yeast and bread crust join harmoniously with fruity and floral notes in a rich and fragrant bouquet. In the mouth, fullness pairs perfectly with the savory flavor of the fish, while calibrated acidity and vibrant effervescence help clean the palate, leaving a pleasantly citrusy finish.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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Amarone 2011 Ripe, lush, and long-lived

BY LORENZO RUGGERI AND NICOLA FRASSON

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ONE WINE HAS NEVER SUFFERED DURING AN INTERNATIONAL FISCAL CRISIS: ITS IDENTIKIT TAKES US STRAIGHT TO VALPOLICELLA, TO FRUTTAI AND DRYING RACKS.

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eneto is Italy’s leading wine export region, with about 550 million euros invoiced. Amarone accounts for an amazing 350 million euros of this total. Producers have shown their ability to create value, transforming a territory into a vastly attractive brand.

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five-star triumph. Our tasters agreed. They found the wines rich, complex, full-bodied and mature.

T

he vintage year started with a cold, rainy winter. In March, a

surge of higher temperatures led to early blossoming and then flowering in mid-May. July was very hot, but August less so, with temperatures a little below average and no rain at all. Clear skies and little rain characterized September, so the harvest began in the middle of the month in ideal conditions.

The post-harvest weather was

et’s move on to the

equally ideal for natural drying.

tasting. We looked at

It was a year of light, of linear

the 2011 vintage year, a

progress that brought perfectly

very promising one. According

ripe and healthy grapes, rich in

to the Consorzio’s own

sugar and anthocyanins, into

commission, the vintage was a

the fruttai, the drying sheds.

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WINE

D

uring our Anteprima Amarone blind-tasting, we sampled sixty-

six wines, about 70% of which came directly from the barrel.

There were plenty of surprises.

T

he territory of Valpolicella covers

valleys of the communes of

7,000 hectares and is

Sant’Ambrogio, Fumane,

situated entirely in the province

Marano, Negrar and San Pietro

of Verona. It stretches from the

in Cariano. Further eastward

Valdadige on the west to Val

are the valleys of Quinzano and

Tramigna at its easternmost

Avesa, part of what is called

point, almost reaching the

extended Valpolicella. The

gates of the town of Soave.

subzone Valpantena is in the

This large area of vineyards is

valley of the same name; its

itself divided into three parts.

most important center is the

The true zone of Valpolicella

town of Grezzana. Continuing

Classica is in the hills and

on in extended Valpolicella, we come to the valleys of Squaranto, Marcellise, Mezzane, Illasi and Tramigna, with the last two partially overlapping the nearby Soave denomination.

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he grapes (principally corvina, corvinone and rondinella) are

harvested at their ripest and laid out in crates to dry inside well-ventilated rooms called

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fruttai, generally until the month of December. Since the end of the 1990s, dehumidifiers have become common additions to the fruttai, which allows the grapes to dry even when the weather doesn’t favor the process. During this period, the grapes dehydrate, and their aromatic expression matures, giving Amarone a absolutely unique profile of fragrances.

Aging is always in barrels, and each winery decides on the

I

evident sugar residual. The more

the aromatic and flavor

usually more taut and energetic.

expressiveness of the wine are

Finally, there are producers

common. The most traditional

who emphasize the dimensions

approach aims at a strong

of the wine, so a great fruity

expression of the drying process,

component leads into a very rich,

translating into very open and

powerful palate that can support

evolved wines with a fairly

an important sugar residual.

dimensions of these. n terms of style, at least

modern style leaves dried-grape

three different

sensations in the background,

interpretations of

while in the mouth the wine is

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WINE

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Terre di Cariano ’11 Cecilia Beretta/ Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine (barrel) A red of great substance.

The first sensations are spices, pepper, cinnamon, cedar wood, then little by little it opens onto tones of Mediterranean scrub. Solid and energetic on the palate, with insistent tannin, tight but very well extracted; a surefooted tasting progression, flavorful and continuous, without uncertainties right up to the long finish. Rhythm and flavor. Traditional

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. ’11 Cesari An olfactory profile tending towards autumnal sensations of forest floor, licorice and unsweetened cocoa. In the mouth, a display of solid progression, changing pace, offering a steady palate, wellmodulated between tones of aromatic herbs and savory character that gives depth to each mouthful. Finishes on sensations of orange zest and, again, cocoa. Long aromatic persistence.

Traditional 20

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. ‘11 Aldegheri In recent years, this winery in Sant’Ambrogio has shifted gears, changing its production philosophy, and Amarone benefits from this new approach. Aromas are clean on the nose, with cherry and plum tones enlivened by fresh notes of balsam. When tasted, the wine displays solid, powerful body, well governed by acidity, and a very expertly carried out tannic texture.

Traditional Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena Villa Arvedi ‘11 Bertani This large-scale winery in Grezzana, alongside its celebrated Amarone Classico, has been releasing as well this red from the Valpanena subzone. The aromatic profile is not explosive, but rather gradually conquers our attention with notes of cherries well set off by hints of balsam and pepper. On tasting, the wine maintains the same profile, emphasizing more freshness and agility than power. Traditional

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Antichello ’11 Santa Sofia Color is a brilliant ruby shade, fairly pale for the type. The nose is already well-balanced, fragrant and aromatically elegant, with tones of freshlyground pepper, sweet tobacco, and red berries.

On the palate it is already in equilibrium, with creamy tannin, easy drinkability well sustained by acidity. Excellent managing of wood for an Amarone that will give great pleasure, starting now.

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Monte Danieli ’11 Corte Rugolin (from barrel) The olfactory profile displays very ripe but compact red fruit, along with tones of tar and bitter cocoa. The palate offers soft and creamy sensations, important but never heavy structure, welldelineated flavor. Fruit tones return decisively, giving energy to a long finish where the slight sugar residual gives harmony. Good today.

Tomorrow?

Traditional

Powerful

Amarone della Valpolicella ’11 Dal Bosco Giulietta (from barrel)

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Domini Veneti ’11 Cantina Valpolicella Negrar

Stefano Pizzighella and his wife Giuletta founded this little winery high in the hills to make wines of great breadth and depth. This is a very good Amarone, able to carry rhythm and high tension from start to finish. Cocoa, orange zest and anise tones on the nose. Fluid and continuous in the mouth, black berry sensations and a vital, relaxed finish.

Powerful

The Domini Veneti line includes Cantina di Negrar’s premium products, and this Amarone confirms the wisdom of their choices. On the nose, aromatic notes are dominated by sweet, ripe, inviting red fruit, well-framed by hints of bitter cocoa and spices. The wine opens out decisively in the mouth, displaying power, but also rigor.

Powerful GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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WINE

Amarone della Valpolicella Albino Armani ’11 Albino Armani (from barrel) A well-designed toasty, smoky profile that moves gently between earthy tones, pepper and black tea.

Intense, multi-faceted profile.

Concentrated on the palate with tannin still very tight, but able to provide flavor and freshness on the finish thanks to a good balsamic vein. The sample of Amarone Classico Cuslanus of the same year presented to the panel was also good.

Powerful Amarone della Valpolicella Vign.

Di Monte Lodoletta ’09 Dal Forno Romano Dal Forno has given us an Amarone of great concentration, but with a tauter and more elegant profile than in the past. On the nose, the usual volcano of fruit, pepper, medicinal herbs and cocoa appears fresh and inviting. In the mouth, the wine shifts gears and manages to combine its extraordinary power with tension and agility, thanks to savory acidity and an assertive but well-fashioned tannic texture.

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Bonus Track

Amarone della Valpolicella ’11 Falezze Without mincing words: one of the tasting’s most interesting surprises. The wine opens slowly on tones of dried flowers and red berries.

The palate is fully convincing, thanks to a deep savory vein: impetus, energy, and lots of flavor. Nervous and pushy, it has juicy fruit and much contrast. Its drinkability could bring back those who are moving away from this wine type. From Mezzane di Sotto, where soils are particularly rich in limestone.

Modern Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. ’11 Corte San Benedetto (from barrel) The winery in Arbizzano offers an Amarone that never places power on center stage. On the nose, clear notes of healthy, fresh red fruit with spices appearing delicately in the background. In the mouth, the wine opens out harmoniously, full of flavor and graced by a juicy, agile palate.

Modern

Amarone della Valpolicella ’11 Ca' Rugate

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Reius ’11 Sartori

Its brilliant ruby color is noticeably less intense lined up with its companions. A precise, composed nose that plays with tones of red fruit and violets. Creamy, mouth-filling flavor with very fine, elegant tannins and taste development that is both tonic and subtle on the finish. A well-modulated, mid-weight Amarone. When the glass is empty, tones of Mediterranean herbs and toasted almonds return. A convincing wine. Modern

Even with the 2011 vintage, Amarone Reius made by the Sartori family manages to be fully satisfying. The aromatic profile favors pronounced fresh fruitiness that perfectly masks months of drying in the fruttaio. In the mouth, the wine follows the same path, showing itself to be solid, but at the same time agile and energetic on the palate.

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Vigneti Vallata di Marano '11 Giuseppe Campagnola

Amarone della Valpolicella ’11 (barrel) Vigneti Villabella

Beppe leads this winery, always seeking to emphasize not so much the richness and the power of its wines, but rather their details and subtleties. The wine opens on tones of forest floor, roots and licorice, on a background of dried flowers. Fruit is sweet but targeted, with succulent tones of raspberries. Easy to drink, spontaneous and continuous, qualities others in the denomination often lack.

Modern

Modern

The Cristoforetti and Delibori families began their adventure with Vigneti Villabella over forty years ago. Today they are one of the Verona zone’s largest winery. This Amarone offers tones of very ripe red fruit and cherries. The palate shows good aromatic integrity and flavor that opens out well on the finish.

Modern

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WINE

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. ’11 Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Villa Rizzardi’11 Guerrieri Rizzardi (from barrel)

Ascending the Marano valley, we find the Campagnola family’s estate. Their Amarone manages to be both modern and firmly tied to tradition. The color is never too opaque and aromas reveal themselves little by little, leaving fruit in the starring role, with spices and vegetal hints in the background. In the mouth, the wine is dry, dynamic, and extremely pleasing.

An Amarone that plays with ease. The color has an unusual shine, a brilliant medium-ruby shade. The nose is fragrant, with tones of mint, dried flowers and soft, juicy, still-crisp red fruit. A suave, agile and dynamic palate that shades into a finish of sweet spices, a savory note, and a suggestion of freshly-picked raspberries.

Modern

Modern

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Amarone della Valpolicella Valmezzane ’11 Corte Sant'Alda (from barrel)

Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Vigneti di Ravazzol ’11 Ca' la Bionda (from barrel)

The name is changed, but not the substance. Corte Sant'Alda’s Amarone has taken on the name of its valley of origin. Although not yet bottled, it already expresses an intense fruity note enlivened by subtle hints of medicinal herbs. On the palate, its usual grip shows up in savory acidity that never releases its hold, helped by pleasantly rough tannic texture.

The Castellani family’s bottles are for those who seek character and authenticity.

Although its immaturity is evident, Ravazzol reveals its potential, underlined by a superlative aromatic profile in which the usual notes of ripe cherry become crisper and crisper, finding in a hint of balsam and pepper their proper contrast. The palate is solid and energetic, almost light, able to carry along a persistent and savory mouthful. Modern

Modern

AMARONE

Export

66% EUROPE

(80% of production)

OFF EUROPE 34%

GERMANY DENMARK SWEDEN UK

28%

USA 42%

19%

11% 10%

CANADA 34%

CHINA 5%

(Data Inea)

Consorzio

Grapes

(198 wineries)

12.7%

LARGE WINERIES

29%

SMALL WINERIES AVERAGE GRAPE PRICE FOR AMARONE AND RIPASSO

2.4 € 58.2% data provided by Consorzio

MID-SIZED WINERIES

/ kilo

228,000 quintals of grapes produced

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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WINE

Amarone 15 Years later

BY NICOLA FRASSON

A few days before the Anteprima Amarone held at Villa de Winckels, many wineries presented their already-released wines, showing off different vintage years, styles and aging. The most outstanding event was a horizontal tasting dedicated to the 2000 vintage, at the time considered a five-star year. It was like an instant photo of that historical moment, characterized by rapid renovations in many wineries and closer attention paid to the grape-drying process.

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Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. 2000 92

Begali Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Vigneto Ca’ Bianca 2000 93

Extraordinarily healthy, both in its color, still ruby-hued, and in its aromas, dominated by ripe, crisp red fruit and hints of herbs and dried flowers. On the palate, the wine shows great tension and elegance, hiding its opulence behind a dense texture of tannin and acidity. Agile and refined in the mouth.

The position of its vineyards, in a zone that preserves the acidity of the grapes, allows this wine to age with great grip and freshness.

Aromas appear dominated by the fruity and spicy notes of the corvina variety, but the palate reveals perfect fusion between power, energy and precision. Fresh acidity maintains a decisive finish that never tires.

Marion Amarone della Valpolicella 2000 90 Nicoletta and Stefano Campedelli were only in their second year of Amarone production, but their great sensibility in the cellar and their clear vision of this type of wine brought early success. Fruit finds support in an intense note of pepper, thanks to the corvinone grape, which confers a sunny and ripe profile. The palate is pure elegance, with the exuberance of a powerful red wisely shaped by tannins, acidity and savory flavor.

Roccolo Grassi Amarone della Valpolicella 2000 90 This was also one of the first bottles Marco and Francesca Sartori produced, and again in this case, the wine demonstrated all its greatness. Made from grapes of the San Briccio zone, the wine’s aromatic bouquet revealed cherry and nuances of pepper and thyme, a turbine of sensations. On tasting, the wine showed great concentration and at the same time, lightness. Extraordinarily complete and juicy.

Speri Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Vigneto Monte Sant’Urbano 2000 90 One of the great classics of the denomination. The Speri family’s wine was at a great moment in its evolution, expressing notes that were both fresh and mature. Ripe fruit, dried flowers, spices and medicinal herbs shared the stage. In the mouth, this is a premium red, never sweet, with an energetic, authoritative palate.

Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Capitel Monte Olmi 2000

92

Never hurry up the wines that Antonietta, Sabrina and Riccardo produce. They are always slow to reach their most harmonious moment. The tasting of this vintage allowed the lucky tasters to sample a two-phase wine. The first phase is dominated by fruit that begins to show its age, presenting fascinating nuances of green tobacco and Asian spices. The second phase is a tasting dynamic in which the wine seems to lose opulence over the years, replaced by intensity and great elegance.

Tenuta Sant’Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella Campo dei Gigli 2000 89 The Castagnedi family, then at the beginning of their careers, present a 2000 bottle of great intensity and freshness. Traditional notes of cherry and plum contrast vividly with those of spice and cocoa: a nose of great complexity and authenticity. The palate, benefitting from aging in magnum, shows energetic fullness and seems still youthful and in need of further aging.

Trabucchi d’Illasi Amarone della Valpolicella 2000 94 We experienced Giuseppe Trabucchi’s wine in a truly happy moment. Its color was perfect and aromas confirmed its state of grace. Fruit, pepper, cloves and violet scents take turns on the nose, then are deftly echoed in a solid, harmonious palate. The wine’s youthfulness was almost disarming, but it was one of the labels most able to stand up to the test of time.

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

27

BERE BENE: BEST BUYS

Small plots, great wines

Best Ligurian bottles under 10 euros

28

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Instead, seek out small producers who have not yet become very famous. You need also to pay attention to the grape variety. In the lower price range you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find the more expensive Rossese di Dolceacqua, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good Ormeasco (to give an example of a red).

As for the whites, try a bianchetta genovese, since pigato and vermentino are generally more costly.

As for different areas, the affordable wines are more easily found among newer denominations, such as Colline di Levanto and Portofino.

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queezed between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apennine Mountains, with very little flatland, Ligurian viticulture faces authentic challenges. Most vineyards are managed completely by hand, and spaces are so cramped that any economy of scale is impossible. The result is high production costs. Wine prices, given these circumstances, are slightly on the pricier side.

But since Ligurian wine is not particularly well-known internationally, there are many excellent bottles at reasonable cost. To find good labels under 10 euros, our advice is not to look among the releases of the large-scale wineries, except for the cooperatives.

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Bere bene literally means â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;to drink wellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

It is also a Gambero Rosso guide listing good wines for under 10 euros.

In this section of our magazine you will find dozens of labels weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve selected in which quality is joined to very friendly pricing.

Each month weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll visit a region.

Liguria opens the dance with its vineyards poised between sea and mountains.

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BERE BENE: BEST BUYS

Portofino Bianchetta Genovese Ü Pastine ’13, Bisson A long-established Ligurian wine brand, Bisson has always been the great expert on the rare grape varieties of the province of Genoa, producing monovarietal wines from fruit purchased from local growers.

More recently, the winery has become the ambassador of the entire region’s winemaking. Today, from his own vineyards, proprietor Pierluigi Lugano produces a wide range of Ligurian reds and whites. This captivating, fresh white, Bianchetta Ü Pastine, comes from his vines in Sestri Levante, Castiglione Chiavarese and Casarza Ligure.

Ormeasco di Pornassio ’13, Carlo Alessandri Carlo Alessandri’s small family-run winery concentrates on two quality products of Ligurian tradition: wine and extra-virgin olive oil. With vineyards in Bassa (Ranzo) and Alta Valle Arroscia (Pornassio), the winery vinifies both whites and reds with equal success. We have always liked the Ormeasco, a Ligurian clone of the dolcetto variety, made in this winery, for its intense aromas of black berries and for the satisfying fullness of its palate.

30

Muri Grandi ’13, La baia del Sole In almost thirty years of well-organized work and abundant will power, the Federici family has created a winery that now figures among the most important of the Ligurian Levante. Between family-owned property and grapes bought from timetested growers, the winery controls more than 20 hectares of vineyard and produces about 150,000 bottles yearly.

Muri Grandi ‘13, vermentino with the addition of 15% albarola, is an aromatic white (citrus fruit and Mediterranean underbrush), harmonious and persistent in the mouth.

Riviera Ligure di Ponente Albenganese Vermentino Aimone ’13, BioVio Giobatta “Aimone” Vio, with the help of his wife and children, has created a small, functional winery in Bastia d’Albenga. He works exclusively with indigenous varieties: vermentino, pigato, rossese and granaccia.

His six hectares of vineyard, located in Valle Arroscia between Bastìa and Ranzo, on the border between the provinces of Savona and Imperia, are completely

cultivated with certified organic methods. This Aimone is a Vermentino of fine character and good length, with intense floral aromas.

Portofino Bianchetta Genovese Segesta Tigullorium ’13, Cantina Bregante Heirs to a long grapegrowing tradition, with a history that dates back to 1876, Sergio and Simona Bregante are the present-day owners of the winery bearing the family name. At the beginning of the 20th century, the family still owned a winery facing the Sestri Levante beach and a small fleet of boats suited to transporting wine across the Mediterranean. Bianchetta Segesta, from vineyards in the zone of Verici (Casarza Ligure), on the Gulf of Tigullio, has aromas of lemon and a fresh, vibrant palate.

Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato ’13, Viticoltori Ingauni Viticoltori Ingauni, a small cooperative winery, was founded in 1976 in Ortovero for the production and marketing of Pigato, thanks to the energy of its 13 original members. Since then the winery has come a long way. Today it counts almost 200 members and a

large expanse of participating vineyards, stretching from Finale to Diano Marina.

Although Pigato is not the only label now, it accounts for 58% of total production. The 2013 is fresh and easy to drink, perfect as a pairing for seafood.

Mea Rosa ’13, Cantine Lunae Bosoni Among the hills of Ortonovo, Castelnuovo Magra, and the plain that at one time was the site of the ancient Roman city of Luni, Paolo Bosoni and his family have their vineyards, dedicated to making absolutely top quality wines. Mea Rosa ‘13, a Vermentino nero, is soft, flavorful and focused on minerality. Rich in floral notes and hints of berries, it surprises us with its noteworthy length, elegant aromas and mouth-filling flavor. A truly evocative rosé.

Colli di Luni Rosso Rupestro ’13, Il Monticello The winery was founded in 1981 when Pierluigi Neri inherited little more than a hectare of vineyard near Sarzana. For the first years, growth was slow, but after 1992, when his sons Davide and Alessandro took the helm, everything changed. Today, with 10 hectares of vineyard, largely vermentino, Monticello also grows the typical red grapes of the zone. Rupestro, from sangiovese and ciliegiolo, aged in stainless steel vats, offers clean fruit and a green, easy-todrink mouthful.

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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BERE BENE: BEST BUYS

Colli di Luni Vermentino â&#x20AC;&#x2122;13, Conte Picedi Benettini The noble Picedi Benettini family have been in this zone for centuries. They own various estates in the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara, but their vineyards are fairly limited, barely 7 hectares including Villa il Chioso in Baccano di Arcola and Fattoria di Ceserano in Fivizzano, the latter in Tuscany and more suitable for red grapes. Vermentino â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;13 is rich in aromas of white fruit, with hints of broom flowers. On the palate, excellent structure finds a good balance between fatness and freshness.

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Within a very few years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the winery was founded in 2003 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Nerano family has managed to bring Poggio dei Gorleri into the list of Liguriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top producers. A the start, the small dimensions of the vineyards meant they had to buy grapes, but today, with 10 hectares, some owned, some rented, the winery is totally independent. From their vineyards in Diano Marino (in the localities Gorleri and Andora) comes an elegant, fresh Vermentino, characterized by tones of Mediterranean brush and citrus fruit.

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Colline di Levanto Bianco Costa di Macinara â&#x20AC;&#x2122;13, Valdiscalve Valdiscalve was founded in 2003 by Maria Mornata and her husband, Gianni Cogo. They planted four hectares of vineyard on terraces on the heights of Bonassola that had been abandoned for a long time.

Today the winery is a jewel box, with only 2 hectares in production. Costa di Macinara (50% vermentino, 40% albarola and bosco) comes from a tiny plot of land right near the sea.

It displays aromas of citrus fruit and Mediterranean brush, with a fatty feel to its profile on the palate.

Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato '13, La Vecchia Cantina La Vecchia Cantina, founded in 1982 by Umberto Calleri, can justly be considered an historic brand in Ligurian wine. This year, the baton passed to daughter Paola, who will continue to take charge of the little more than 3 hectares of vineyard in Salea di Albenga. The varieties are the zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classic grapes (pigato, vermentino and rossese) with pigato accounting for half the production. The 2013 offers complex notes of rosemary and excellent balance on the palate.

NEXT ISSUE: SARDINIAA FRASSO

ON

Florence

The art of street food TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MASSIMILIANO RELLA

34

Mentioning the greatest treasures of the Renaissance and then talking about tripe may seem like sacrilegeâ&#x20AC;Ś But this is Florence, the reign of organ meats, of lampredotto - cow stomach - traditional, on the street, and in creative, elegant restaurant dishes. And in the best time to visit the city..

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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TRAVEL

A

rt and culture in profusion: the entire world agrees that Florence is one of Italy’s most beautiful cities. But its best food, often outside the tourist routes, it probably known to few. Fine restaurants and street food together make Florence a culinary destination even without its sublime Renaissance masters.

Start off at the celebrated Enoteca Pinchiorri, a temple to good eating and drinking, elegance and substance to the nth degree (but also price), a few steps from the

36

Palazzo della Signoria. Turning the corner towards the Uffizi we find another restaurant now garnering praise, l’Ora d’Aria, owned by chef Marco Stabile.

When Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was merely the mayor of Florence, he often ate here. “One of his favorite dishes,” Stabile reveals, “is fassone beef tartare, marinated in Pilsner Urquell beer with truffle caviar. What is truffle caviar? We make it ourselves with the juice of black Norcia truffles and agar, a natural gelatin extracted from seaweed, then transferred with

a syringe, drop by drop, into cold oil. On contact, little spheres form.” Voilà. Among the chef’s other creations are Stabil’ed Eggs, eggs scrambled with tarese, bacon from the Valdarno, and aged Parmigiano, served on a thin slice of fried eggplant. Seasonality and premium ingredients characterize the Ora d’Aria kitchen. At lunchtime only, the restaurant offers its dishes in tapas form, so guests can sample alta cucina at half the price.

I

f innovative cooking intrigues you, one restaurant must is Santo Graal, owned by Emanuele Canonico, an architect whose design, materials and furnishings are all strictly Tuscan, as is the foundation of his kitchen. Canonico studies each recipe with young chef Simone Cipriani in order to perfect the visual effect of dishes that are already packed with flavor. Among these is “chicken liver like foie gras, with oranges and figs”, cooked in Vin Santo and served between two slices of pan-browned, buttered brioche. “Our innovation was to add orange pulp and fig sauce,” Canonico points out, “for a sweet and sour note that combines well with the strong bitter flavor of the chicken liver.”

Another tempting dish is mussels stuffed with pecorino romano, dried tomatoes, crisp bread and pesto. On the plate, it looks like an impressionist palette.

I

f, however, you want something truly traditional, Florence will win you over to its lampredotto and other organ meats, often called the “fifth quarter”. Lampredotto panino is a classic street food here, sold from GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

37

TRAVEL morning to night in kiosks, for example near the San Frediano market, at a stand specializing in organ meats and indicated with the sign Il Lampredottaio.

Or look out for Sergio andPier Paolo’s itinerant kiosk (it’s a 3-wheeler motor scooter-truck) in via de’ Macci (sant’Ambrogio). On Tuesdays, you find lampredotto in zimino (with greens), on Wednesdays, beans all’uccelletto (cooked in tomato), Fridays, lampredotto with artichokes and Saturdays with potatoes. There’s always a crowd. Another option is Luca Cai and Alessandro Caldini’s trattoria. Passionate soccer fans, the two colleagues run osteriatripperia Il Magazzino, a couple

38

of blocks from Ponte Vecchio, the city’s most photographed bridge. Here organ meat is the star ingredient in many delicious dishes, modernized and brightened, such as lampredotto meatballs, traditionally made with leftover boiled meat and served with potatoes. Among the first courses is lampredotto with Tropea onions. Lampredotto sushi is served with rice, as is boiled FLORENCE’S CULINARY lampredotto SCENE OFFERS and soy sauce.

JOYS RANGING FROM STREET Il cartoccio del FOOD TO ALTA CUCINA trippaio is a foilwrapped mix of organ meats baked with sage, PREVIOUS PAGE: rosemary, and mixed greens, served directly in the foil. Drink Chef Marco Stabile a good Tuscan red with it all, Inside Santo Graal or remember that sparkling wines make excellent partners.

THIS PAGE: “Lampredotto pairs well with Stuffed mussels spumanti,” Luca Cai tells us. at Santo Graal His wine cellar holds 200 labels, red and whites. “It isn’t a fatty ingredient, although it seems so to the touch, and the acidity of a white spumante enhances it.” By creating new dishes and new pairings,” continues Cai,

“we try to give new life to organ meats. We want to tempt everyone to eat lampredotto, tongue and tripe, even those who normally instinctively reject these poor relations. But innards have to be prepared well and be presented in a lighter fashion than tradition dictates. It’s essential to have perfectly fresh ingredients and use slow, low temperature cooking.”

I

n a second street parallel to the Lungarno, Borgo San Frediano, we find another skilled chef who embodies both tradition and creativity. Young Matteo Fantini cooks at Io, Osteria Personale. He offers no first course pasta dishes, but rather menus to put together individually. Among the most traditional plates are warm tripe salad with puréed zucchini, ginger, spring onion

IL LAMPREDOTTO HOW DO YOU SAY TRIPE IN FLORENCE? Lampredotto is made from the abomasum, or reed tripe, one of the four chamber’s of a cow’s stomach. It consists of a lean part (la gala, in Italian) with a corrugated violet surface and a strong, assertive flavor, and a fattier part, (la spannochia, in Italian) lighter in color and softer in flavor. The tripe must be simmered for a long time in savory broth. Seasoned with salt, pepper and green sauce, it is traditionally cut into small pieces and served on a brothmoistened roll.

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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TRAVEL and confit tomatoes, and baby calamari stuffed with string beans and smoked provola cheese, served with crisp tomatoes.

W

alking along the Arno, a ten-minute stroll will bring you to a place with a unique history.

Rari is a restaurant-terrace on the river with an open air swimming pool and a slightly raised cocktail bar with comfortable armchairs.

Brac is also unusual and seldom visited by tourists: it is a modern day bookshop with a cafĂŠ and a kitchen offering salads, sliced fruit, and fresh pasta first courses along with magazines and books to leaf through. Near Porta Romana, one of the most original

40

places to eat is In Fabbrica, a silver factory’s workers’ lunch room during that day that becomes a small, but ironic restaurant at night, complete with candelabra and unpredictably uniformed waiters. The idea came to the Pampaloni family, two Florentine silversmiths with a crazy streak. Two chefs alternate in the kitchen, one an employee of the company and one a Japanese chef. They offer two menus: the Japanese prepares dishes such as Teriyaki salmon. The other menu is “communist”, with specialties such as grilled tuna with sweet and sour red onions, a dish more in tune with the hammer and sickle outlined in lights on the ceiling and the occasional Red Army officer’s uniform on a staff member.

O

ABOVE: Chef Attilio Di Fabrizio.

Dessert at Villa San Michele

utside the city and a thirty-minute drive towards the hills of Fiesole, you will find paradise, that is, Villa San Michele, an exmonastery now belonging to the Orient Express group. Its restaurant La Loggia focuses on regional and Mediterranean cuisine revisited by chef Attilio Di Fabrizio, 60 years old and from the Abruzzo region. Tagliolini from stone-ground farro flour with Cinta Senese porchetta sauce is a homage to Tuscany, but Identità Golosa, the dessert created for the 600th anniversary of the monastery, is an Abruzzese inspiration. A threelayer sponge cake with creamy fillings, white, yellow and chocolate, it is bathed in Alchermes liqueur, enclosed in chocolate icing and served with a warm sauce of passion fruit. This cake, this terrace, with Florence at your feet – paradise.

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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TRAVEL

ARTISANS Gold, leather and shoes tailor made Florence’s artisans are appreciated around the world. They are copied in vain. Others have not been able to imitate the level of quality and originality in the city’s unique creations, the products of deft manual labor, competence, imagination and often, artistic genius. Take, for example, the small elegant objects from the goldsmith Paolo Penko, in the historic center. (Penko Bottega Orafa | via F. Zannetti, 14-16 R | tel. 055 211 661 | www.paolopenko.it).

Students come from the furthest reaches of Asia to become apprentices at the Scuola del Cuoio, the Leather School, an artisanal workshop that also sells handbags, belts and other objects from the hands of Francesca Gori.

Short free visits are available as well as guided technical ones (14 euros – reserve ahead) which include a demonstration of leather gilding. (piazza Santa Croce, 16 | via San Giuseppe, 5R | tel. 055 244 534 | www.scuoladelcuoio.com). Stefano Bemer’s workshop makes and sells shoes to order. Their style, elegance and comfort are unmistakable.

Among the forms on show, many belong to famous people, such as Jean Alesi, Formula 1 champion. Prices are not for everyone, starting at 2,500 euros for a pair of shoes completely hand-made. (via San Niccolò, 2 | tel. 055 0460 476 | www.stefanobemer.com).

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MERCATO CENTRALE Between the market and cooking school Whether starting from scratch or trying to improve one’s own repertory, try the Mama Florence cooking classes, Officine Gullo (tel. 055 220 101 | www. mamaflorence.it). Riccardo Barthel, known for producing up-market furnishings of exquisite design, also founded Desinare, with a full range of cooking and wine courses for enthusiasts and professionals, as well as courses in food photography and table design (tel. 055 221 118 | www. desinare.it). A cooking school inside the Mercato Centrale of Florence has reopened thanks to the work of restaurant entrepreneur Umberto Montano and the tourism family, Cardini di Prato. Among new projects is Enoteca Chianti Classico, a space dedicated to wine on the upper floor of the market, which also holds 12 food shops, a restaurant, a pizzeria, a bookshop and more. Open every day, from 10-24 (www.mercatocentrale.it). This is also the Florentine home of Eataly, the famous market for a range of top-quality Italian food (every day 9-22.30) including various little eating places, tasting seminars and cooking lessons starting at 25€ (tel. 055.0153601 www.eataly.it).

WHERE TO STAY Fattoria Lavacchio | via di Montefiesole, 55 | Pontassieve (Fi) tel. 055 8317 472 | www. fattorialavacchio.com | double room, breakfast incl. from 80 euros

Residenza d’Epoca | via dei Magazzini, 2 | tel. 055 2399 546 | www. inpiazzadellasignoria.com | double room, breakfast incl. from 250 euros

Villa San Michele | via Doccia, 4 | Fiesole (Fi) | tel. 055 5678 200 | www. villasanmichele.com | double room, breakfast incl. from 1,538 euros | open March-October

Antica Dimora Johlea | via San Gallo, 80 | Florence | tel. 055 4633 292 | www. johanna.it | double room, breakfast incl.

100-165 euros

BOOK A TABLE

II Cibrèo Teatro del Sale | via del

Verrocchio, 8R | Florence | tel. 055 2341 100 | www.edi zioniteatrodelsalecib reofirenze.it | closed Mondays | average price 70 euros without wine

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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TRAVEL

II Enoteca Pinchiorri | via Ghibellina, 87 | Florence tel. 055 242 757 | www.enotecapinchiorri.it | closed Sundays and Mondays | tasting menus from 195 to 255 euros without wine

I Io, Osteria personale | b.go San Frediano, 167r tel. 055 9331 341 | Florence | www.io-osteriapersonale.it | fixed menus at 40 and 55 euros

I Ora d’Aria | via dei Georgofili, 11R | Florence tel. 055 2001 699 | www.oradariaristorante.com| tasting menus at 75- 65-70 euros. Only at lunch: tapas-menu

I Santo Graal | via Romana, 70R Florence | tel. 055.2286533 www.ristorantesantograal.it | closed Wednesdays | menus from 15 to 40 euros

Rari Ristoro sull’Acqua | Lungarno Ferrucci, 24 | Florence | tel. 055 680 596 open from March to October | average price 35 euros

Il Magazzino Osteria Tripperia | piazza della Passera, 2-3 | Florence tel. 055 215 969 | open every day | menu 3 courses 25 euros

In Fabbrica | via del Gelsomino, 99 | Florence | tel. 347 5145 468 | www. pampaloni.com/infabbrica/ | menu 30 euros women, 35 euros men

Tripperia Il Lampredotto | Sergio e Pier Paolo | via de’ Macci angolo Borgo La Croce (Sant’Ambrogio) | Florence

GELATERIE Brac | via dei Vagellai, 18R | Florence | tel. 055 0944 877| www.libreriabrac.net

Gelateria Carapina | piazza Guglielmo Oberdan | Florence tel. 055 676 930 | www.gelateriacarapina.it

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Top: Tripperia Il Lampredottaio, Steak tartare, Ora d’Aria Menu at Rari

ENOTECA PINCHIORRI The wine temple

I

n the historic Palazzo Jacometti Ciofi, in the center of Florence, this elegant restaurant, created

by Giorgio Pinchiorri and Annie FĂŠolde offers an

extraordinary experience thanks to its original recipes and amazing wine pairings with over 4,000 labels collected in their cellar, unique, perhaps, in the world. This is not only dinner, but a sequence of emotions aroused by the excellence of the food and wine. In the kitchen, two chefs, Italo Bassi and Riccardo Monco, work in perfect synch, providing culinary experimentation that translates into sophisticated dishes and reinterpretations of topnotch ingredients that are never banal.

GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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FOOD

Alfredo’s Story

BY WILLIAM PREGENTELLI

A DISH THAT HAS BEEN FERRIED AROUND THE WORLD, FROM THE UNITED STATES TO BRAZIL. BUT IN ITALY, IT’S UNKNOWN.

A

lfredo Di Lelio’s story is Roman, simple, popular and true, like the fettuccine that bear his name. From a tiny urban piazza they reached every corner of the world. In the early years of the 19th century, Piazza Rosa

46

was a modest street that has since disappeared, replaced by the imposing building housing Galleria Alberto Sordi. Signora Ines ran her family’s small trattoria, and her husband, Alfredo Di Lelio, waited tables.

In 1908, after the birth of their

first child, he invented a dish to help her recover her strength: semolina fettuccine, slathered with abundant butter and grated Parmigiano. Next, he added the dish to their menu, and when the trattoria moved, in 1914, to the important Via della Scrofa, the fettuccine were a featured item. But the breakthrough came in 1927 when Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Hollywood’s most popular stars of the era, visited. Alfredo served up the delicious, simple fettuccine with a spectacular show that included music and silly dances. The two stars rewarded his showmanship with a gift of golden forks and a title, “King of the Noodles”.

Other celebrities began showing up and sealed

his fate. In the 1950s, after closing briefly, Il Vero Alfredo opened on Piazza Augusto Imperatore.

Word of mouth spread the restaurant’s fame, and that of its renowned pasta dish, around the world. With the passage of time, it has become an icon of Italian culinary history. (Everywhere but in Italy, that is.)

T

he restaurant passed into the hands of Alfredo’s son, Armando, and then to the next generation, another Alfredo. Today it is run by Ines, the daughter of the second Alfredo, and by her daughters.

I

nes talks proudly about the history of her restaurant and brims with anecdotes.

“Whenever she was in Rome, Ava Gardner was a habitué in my grandfather’s restaurant.

They became friends and she often asked him to bring his fettuccine to the nearby Plaza Hotel where she was staying.

Whenever she visited, Liz Taylor GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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FOOD

made sure we covered up the photos on the wall showing her with previous husbands.” Actors, politicians, heads of state: their photos line the walls. Among them are Alfred Hitchcock, Burt Lancaster, John Wayne, Ringo Starr and Woody Allen.

“

Our fettuccine are known globally, and the reason for their success is their simplicity. Unfortunately, the versions found in Italian restaurants abroad often don’t do justice to our fettuccine. They usually pointlessly add cream, or

48

mushrooms, or ham, changing completely something they still label with our name, but that doesn’t represent us at all.”

“

Il Vero Alfredo” has opened franchises in Brazil, Mexico, and soon, in Chile. “Ours are the only places where you can eat real ‘fettuccine all’Alfredo’, Ines continues.“Many food multinationals appropriated our family name and put readymade sauces on the market that have nothing to do with our real story.”

ITALIAN SOUNDING Counterfeit Italian Food products

food and wine in figures

MORE THAN 60 BILLION EUROS TOTAL

ORIGINAL PRODUCTS EUROPE:

6 billion counterfeit and fraudulent 54 billion Italian-sounding

16 billion

54billion

ENTIRE ITALIAN AGRICULTURAL SALES VOLUME 2012 127 billion euros

ITALIAN-SOUNDING USA:

24 billion

6 bil lion

ORIGINAL PRODUCTS USA: SALES VOLUME ITALIAN AGRICULTURAL 3.3 billion EXPORTS 2013 35 billion (data Coldiretti and Eursipes)

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET: ITALIAN SOUNDING

97%

pasta sauces

94%

oil-preserved and vinegar-preserved foods

76%

canned tomatoes

(data Federalimentare)

FOOD

Grana padano There’s grana and grana

BY MARA NOCILLA PHOTO BY ILARIA MORELLI

50

RATINGS OF THE BEST INTERPRETATIONS OF ITALY’S MOST FAMOUS AND BESTSELLING CHEESE. OUR TASTING INCLUDED GRANA AGED FROM 18 TO 22 MONTHS FROM SMALL PRIVATE DAIRIES AND COOPERATIVES, SOME WITH LIVESTOCK AND FARMS OF THEIR OWN.

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FOOD

T

here’s competition in the world of cheese, just as there’s soccer rivalry between Roma-Lazio, MilanJuventus, Genoa-Sampdoria. The eternal game is between grana padano and Parmigiano Reggiano, the great Italian classics of “tipo grana”. There are differences: grana padano is made by 132 producers from around the entire Po Valley in thirty or so provinces of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Trentino.

Parmigiano Reggiano is produced by 390 dairies, but smaller ones, and only in five provinces. Grana padano is turned out in large quantities (4.5 million forms per year), the cows are allowed to be fed silage, and lysozyme (a natural protein extracted from eggs) can be used during processing to impede undesirable fermentation in the cheese.

Grana padano ages a minimum of nine months, instead of the

52

twelve required for Parmigiano.

The competition finishes with a tie, depending on your point of view. Parmigiano Reggiano is considered a niche product, its price is always higher, and is featured in high-end dairies and food shops. Grana padano is the cheese most sold abroad, and the DOP product most widely distributed around the globe, but it enjoys less glamour than its cousin, to the point that certain elegant food shops don’t carry it at all. The exception is Trentilgrana, an enclave within the grana padano group limited

to the province of Trento and with its own more restrictive regulations (no silage and no lysozyme, longer minimal aging). On the marketplace, grana padano appears a little anonymous. Compared to wine, for example, where the label identifies the contents precisely, for grana padano there’s only the Consorzio seal that acts as a big umbrella and a specific code (a number preceded by the letters that indicate the production province). Often small, superior dairies, of which there are a number, are represented by the bigger players among the private companies and by the cooperatives that collect the forms and market them. We went to seek out these little dairies, our own treasure hunt, and we tasted their cheeses aged from 18 to 22 months, exploring an entire range of sweetness and lactic notes.

A STORY THAT STARTS IN LODI All grana-type cheeses are the grandchildren of granone lodigiano, a cheese from the Middle Ages, born in a monastery, according to the traditions of the Abbey of Chiaravalle Milanese, founded in 1135. We know that the Cistercian monks drained the swampy countryside north of the Po. With that abundant forage, they raised cows. The quantities of milk meant finding a way to transform it into long-lasting cheese.

The production of Lodigiano, which reached its peak in the 19th century with about 100 dedicated dairies, stopped at the end of the 1970s for a series of factors. Pastureland disappeared, the bruna alpina cow was replaced by the frisona breed, brine took the place of spontaneous fermentation and dry salting. Very long aging was abandoned. But the Zucchelli dairy says this type of production is not totally lost. Besides grana padano DOP, the company continues to use the milk from bruna alpina cows to make Lodigiano, “to keep history alive”, explains owner Ambrogio Abbà. Zucchelli Lodigiano aged 24-25 months is a different grana, a bronze, solid but fat mass with an fascinating, rich, evolved nose offering notes of barnyard, caramel, vanilla and toast. The flavor is savory and peppery, with dense sensations resembling bark and dry vegetal tones. The sandy consistency derives from the assertive presence of tyrosine.

Caseificio Zucchelli | Orio Litta (LO) Cascina Marmorina, 18 |tel. 0377 804 232 | www.caseificiozucchelli.com

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FOOD

LATTERIA SOCIALE SANTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ANGELO

.BSDBSJB ./ t T EB $POUSBSHJOF /PSE

The Latteria, with the identifying number MN 432, collects milk from 30 barns located in Lombardy, in the provinces of Mantua and Cremona. The cows are partly nourished with meadow grass.

The dairy turns out fewer than fifty thousand forms. The so-called 21 mesi is wonderfully inviting to the eye. Its dark, granular appearance seems to glow like opaque, antique gold. The aroma is rich, intense, and incredibly complex, displaying

LATTE ALBERTI

every tone in the milk range, including butter and cream, as well as Champagne yeasts, spices, even chamomile, dried fruit, on a hazelnut background. The aroma is a vibrant explosion of pleasure, the mouth, buttery and grainy at the same time, perfectly structured, crumbly, with milky crystals that melt like snow on the palate.

Perfect marriage of power and elegance.

price per kilo 14-17 euros

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Happy and satisfied to produce grana padano DOP in Piedmont. This sums up the work philosophy at Alberti, a producer of grana with its legal headquarters in Pontedassio (Imola) but its milk-collecting center and cheese factory in Genola, the province of Cuneo.

These are two distinct companies, but belong to a single family. It has been operating since 1983 and turns out 23,000 forms annually, generally aged 14-15 months. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The milk is 100% from the Cuneo

CASEARI DALLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;AGLIO

hills and comes from six municipalities. The farthest the milk travels to reach the factory is 30 kilometers.â&#x20AC;? The 21-month Riserva texture is firm and light colored, the odor is a bit pungent, but with obvious notes of butter and warmed cheese crust, hints of wood and toasted nuts. In the mouth flavor is dictated by acidity with slight bitterness on the close. Saltiness is very well controlled.

price per kilo 13.50-14 euros

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The Dallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aglio dairy, a small family-run business in Emilia-Romagna, identifying number PC 510, produces 1,300 forms per year. It has won many local prizes and is one of the very few dairies that makes grana padano without using lysosine. Its milk comes from cows that have been fed only dry hay and no silage.

Another of its merits is its strict ties to its territory and immediate area. The cheese is aged for 40 months at room temperature in the Dallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aglio warehouses, without

PRICES LISTED (VALID FOR ITALY) ARE OBTAINED BY DOUBLING THOSE IN THE DAIRY FARMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PRICE LIST.

air control technology. The Dallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aglioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21-month-old grana padano is a handsome product with a fatty, granular appearance and lively bronzed coloring. It is decidedly evolved, and the nose displays intense lactic notes (cooked milk and melted butter) along with hints of toast, broth cubes, cellar, spices. Fine reminders of dried nuts and apricot compote. Properly crumbly and melting on the tongue, with pleasant butteriness and flavor.

price per kilo 20 euros

LATTERIA SORESINA

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Latteria Soresina is one of the most historic, oldest and largest grana padano dairies in the sector. Active since 1900, it has 220 members. Its identifying number is CR 117. Under the brand name Gran Soresina (besides Parmigiano Reggiano, provolone, milk and butter) it produces about 450,000 forms of grana padano per year, making it a leader in the sector, accounting for about 10% of total production. The Riserva 22 mesi has a handsome, intense golden

color. It is not completely uniform but partly moist, with little tyrosine for its age. On the nose and mouth, aromas are linear, neither exuberant nor persistent.

Intense tones of milk serum and rennet predominate over lactic notes. Acidity and bitter tones prevail over sweetness on the palate. The cheese is also properly crumbly and melting in the mouth.

price per kilo 20 euros #BTTBOP EFM (SBQQB 7* t W MF 7JDFO[B

LATTERIE VICENTINE SOC. COOPERATIVA www.latterievicentine.it Latterie Vicentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18-month grana shows that this Veneto cooperative, located in Bassano del Grappa, identifying number VI 616, is moving in the right direction.

The milk collected from the barns of 400 members translates into 50,000 forms per year. Young grana padano, at most 9 months old, is brought to Agriform (www. agriform.it), a second level cooperative, where aging continues for up to 24 months.

They then distribute the cheese. The color is a uniform and fatty straw-yellow. The nose

is intense and fresh, with hints of butter and cream, light hints of caramel and pleasant vegetal nuances (hay, moist undergrowth, tobacco). On the palate it is full, round and clean, coherent with the nose, evolved and pleasantly peppery despite its 18 months.

Saltiness is noticeable but balanced by good sweetness, a fatty component and a full body. Its persistence in the mouth is a pleasure: granular, with elegant tyrosine, amiably crumbly and melting.

price per kilo 13.50-14 euros

CASEIFICIO ZUCCHELLI 0SJP -JUUB -0 t $BTDJOB .BSNPSJOB t XXX DBTFJGJDJP[VDDIFMMJ DPN Zucchelli is an important name in the grana padano world. It is one of the historic producers, today in its sixth generation. It handles a good slice of its own production line, including some of the forage cultivation as well as the production and aging of its forms â&#x20AC;&#x201C; identifying number LO 205. Suppliers are limited to the local area, with milk coming from nearby barns, the most distant 6 kilometers away. The dairyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 20-mesi grana has a soft, moist straw-yellow color. The aroma is very delicate, with caramel, dry toasted fruit,

cheese rind, cellar and a small hint of acid overtaking milky and buttery notes. Sensations in the mouth are immediate and simple. After an initial fine creaminess, a salty sensation covers the sweetness, leaving room for slight bitterness on the close. The structure is moist and crumbly, a little gummy, but melting and pleasantly chewy in the mouth. Sold on Eataly circuits.

price per kilo 15 euros GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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ACADEMY

Gambero Rosso Wine & Food courses take off in Tokyo

G

ambero Rosso Japan Academy is now active in Tokyo with shortterm courses based on a specific weekly program, aimed at enthusiastic amateurs who want to enjoy the world of Italian Cuisine and Italian Wines taught by important experts together with the talented Italian Resident Chef Riccardo Fanucci.

The Academy offers a wide range of courses that examine the cultural and historical aspects (unique in the world) of food and wine traditions in Itlay, and it's located in the foodies

56

and trendy central area of Kagurazaka.In order to recreate a real Italian experience at home even after class, you can find all the ingredients and the wines presented by instructors, at the gourmet Italian food shop called "Dolce Vita", located below the school at the ground

floor.Starting from this spring, professional courses will be offered as well. Those programs will be aimed at those who wish to acquire all the basics for beginning a professional career as well as to professionals already active in the sector in order to provide a deeper knowledge of techniques as well as better understanding of Italian products and resources.

GAMBEROROSSO ACADEMY JAPAN 6-8-30 Kagurazaka,Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0825, Japan gamberorosso.academy.tokyo@gmail.com

GAMBERO ROSSO ESTABLISHES FIRST KOREAN CULINARY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP WITH SOODO CULINARY COLLEGE IN SEOUL Gambero Rosso and The Soodo Culinary College at Seoul will announce the launching of the program “The Authentic Italian Cuisine” and a partnership that, among others, will allow Korean students access to Gambero Rosso’s Academies, professional cooking schools, in Rome, Catania, Palermo, Turin, Naples, Lecce and Milan. Soodo Culinary College will be the educational partner of Gambero Rosso in South Korea.

The partnership will explore innovative programs in Italian food and wine education.

Gambero Rosso will establish scholarships for promising Soodo Culinary College students, among others, and provide a rich exchange of Italian culture, traditional culinary arts and expertise in Italian wines.

GALLERY

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS TO THOSE WHO SHARED OUR AMERICAN TOUR. WE VISITED MIAMI, NEW YORK, CHICAGO

GALLERY

AND SAN FRANCISCO, WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR

EVENTS

Sustainability, the key for entering the Scandinavian market

BY MARCO SABELLICO

T

he Vini d’Italia Scandinavian tour has just finished. Forty Italian producers and their top wines launched the new year with three successful events dedicated to Nordic markets, January 12 in Stockholm, January 14 in Copenhagen and January 15 in Oslo. The master classes were fully booked.

I

n Sweden, as in other Scandinavian countries, the state monopoly plays a fundamental role in the importation, distribution and sale

60

of alcohol. Nevertheless, there is space for private initiative: in 1995, the importation monopoly was abolished, and anyone can request an importation license in order to present wines to Systembolaget, the state monopoly, and/or sell them directly to restaurants. In Denmark, we met with Italian ambassador, Stefano Queirolo Palmas, a reliable presence at our events. “The Danish wine scene is stimulating,” he told us.

“Wine consumption, above all Italian, is growing. We lead in

this market, and we have to work to consolidate this position.”

According to data from UIV (Unione Italiana Vini), in the first 9 months of 2014, Italy exported 21 million bottles to Denmark and 9.5 to Norway. One of the factors in this success has been the devaluation of the euro against Scandinavian currency. The less the euro is worth, the more importation increases. It is the law of the market.

C

omments from producers who took part in the tour were positive.

“It’s important to be present on these markets,” Giampaolo Bruni from the Tuscan winery Piandaccoli said. “These are sophisticated consumers who drink wine regularly and are particularly interested in Italy.”

“Ours is a new firm, and we are facing these markets for the first time,” explained Leonardo Pironi, Tenuta Mara in Romagna.

“But we are certified biodynamic, and that opened many doors to us. The Scandinavian countries pay close attention to the environment and sustainability, and this allowed us to start on the right foot.” “We certify wines

Ú

photo by Dread Pirate Jeff

and natural foods, but also shops and restaurants that stock them,” confirmed Norwegian journalist Marianne Johnsen. “Right now there is a great rediscovery of those themes. Consumers are very attentive, and it has been wonderful to see that most Italian producers here today are sensitive to these matters.”

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PAIRING

Meatballs &Morellino Let’s party

BY GIULIA SAMPOGNANO PHOTO BY ILARIA MORELLI

62

RUSTIC AND SATISFYING, SIMPLE BUT DELICIOUS, MEATBALLS CALL FOR FRAGRANT WINES, AROMATICALLY RICH BUT WITH MEDIUM STRUCTURE. WE MADE OUR SELECTION AND IT REFLECTS TRADITION. WHEN THE MEATBALLS ARE ALL GONE BUT THE SAUCE REMAINS – TIME FOR THE BREAD. GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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PAIRING

M

eatballs in sauce feel homey. The words alone are inviting.

Fried meatballs are fine, but the sight of the sauce, and then its taste, creates an atmosphere that the others don’t. It’s as if a warm blanket were wrapped around you, relaxing your face, encouraging you to undo your top button to make room for the napkin. The dish calls for good bread, the country kind, and lots of it, a faithful companion for a dish in which sopping up the sauce is required. It’s part of the recipe. There’s no need to be elegant when you eat meatballs – it would be a culinary oxymoron. The meatball is rustic, but not simple to pair with a glass of wine. We have to take into

64

account the sweetness, but also the spiciness of the meat, as well as impact of the sauce, which adds important acidity.

P

aired with a bubbly, we found the combination metallic, although we already knew that the carbonated aspect wouldn’t go well. Pecorello was better, although the union was too soft. White Calabrese Grisara gave us a pairing of similars, rustic and sweet, even if the glass was a trifle alcoholic.

Tomato was a factor in the pairing with Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, but the effect was static. The two fought but didn’t give in to each other. A pale, brilliant ruby Morellino di Scansano was suitably rough-hewn. A dry, acidic base embraced the tomato,

then the rusticity of the tannins reached out for the meatballs in an uncommon pairing that we needed another taste to understand. It wasn’t enough, and we tasted again. We found the union succulent and the wine brought a strong line of continuity to the dish. It was a poor but happy couple, in the sense that it wasn’t expensive – money wasn’t necessary for this pairing. The marriage with Frappato was also a bit wild, with a mushroomy note standing out. Bertani Secco (rondinella and corvina) turned in another direction, with its acidic base and full fruit giving excellent results.

Then, we came to Primitivo, soft and accommodating but perhaps a little too round. But this didn’t diminish complexity that took the palate on a voyage along the Mediterranean coast, among the waves on the shore and the capers growing in the underbrush. The mouth stayed clean and enveloped by the pair. From good to better with Barbera d’Alba, whose acidity enhanced aromatic notes which stayed on our palates for a long time. Casavecchia campano

MEATBALLS WITH SAUCE Like cherries – eating one leads to the next. A great classic of Italian cucina, with small variations not only from north to south, but from house to house.

Everything can vary – the kind of meat, of tomatoes, of spices. We opted for a rich version, full-bodied and intensely flavored. The meatballs were made with beef, pork and a little sausage, seasoned with Parmigiano, milk-softened bread, eggs, garlic and pepper. The sauce was classic, with a sautéed base of onion, celery and carrot, then canned crushed tomatoes, basil and …the chef’s secret!

had the same rustic personality as the meatballs, with tannin that created some rough edges, softened, however, by spiciness and fruity notes. No surprises from the Sangiovese Torrione pairing, while Chianti Classico Riserva created a pleasing contrast. The energy given by the savory base met the roughness in the glass: tannins conferred velocity and character. We found Brunello along the same line as the Primitivo, although less convincing in its meshing with the meatballs.

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PAIRING

TOP PAIRINGS Passera Morellino di Scansano 2013 Poggio Trevvalle

9

Pairing

Pale red, berries, slight wild note. Impact on the palate is full of character and verve, dry and acidic, with intense grip and flavor.

Easy to drink and exuberantly energetic: savage elegance.

Not a common pairing, it had to fight to overcome fierce competition. It won with its rustic force, for its continuous line from the glass to the fork. The dry, acid base of the wine fits perfectly with the sweetness and succulence of the dish. And, not unimportant, an excellent value for money (6 euros ex cellar price)

Barbera dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Alba 2009 Matteo Correggia This wine takes its time before release: 12 months in barrique, 6 months in stainless steel vats, 6 months in the bottle. The 2009 is definitely a great year for Barbera. Elegant nose with aromas of plum, blueberry, licorice and tobacco, all appearing again on the palate, where tannins lend even more character.

A great glass of wine that enhances the aromatic structure of the meatball, thanks also to a good energizing note of acidity. The result is a palate that is meaty and fresh at the same time.

8+ Pairing

Pairing

8½

Gioia del Colle Primitivo Parco Largo 2011 Plantamura The color is almost purple, the aromas are of black cherries and blackberries, with a marine note that leads into a soft, fresh, savory mouthful of great verve. Full and satisfying palate, persistent flavor.

A satisfying marriage, soft and round. The union creates a warm, mouthfilling sensation of Mediterranean notes that range from capers to ripe red fruit.

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Grisara 2013 Roberto Ceraudo Pecorello is an indigenous grape variety that has been rediscovered and spotlighted. In its rusticity, it shows great elegance. Yellow fruit, citrus fruit, Mediterranean brush and saffron aromas are united by a long savory note.

A pairing where glass and dish grasp hands, matched in their softness. The softness of Pecorello, due to its alcohol content, meets the delicate but spicy structure of the meatball.

Chianti Classico Riserva 2010 Castello di Volpaia Ruby red with garnet rim, intense, fruity and spicy. Some tannic roughness in the mouth creates velocity and dynamism.

The savory nature of the wine contrasts with the sweetness of the meatballs, finding a proper balance. Freshness and vegetal notes confer more verve, as do the tannins, perfectly meshing with the softness of the dish.

Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico Giorgi 1870 A Pinot nero Brut with a generous, harmonious bouquet ranging from apricot to sage, from mint to vanilla. Light but persistent bubbles lighten it all, right to the end.

We knew from the start that meatballs in sauce don’t cry out for a sparkling wine, but we tried a classic bubbly anyway, one that often pairs well. It’s not a bad match, but the final sensation was too metallic.

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PAIRING

Casavecchia Centomoggia 2011 Terre del Principe An organic wine with great structure and wild, spicy notes. The sweet spices prevail on both nose and palate, licorice and cloves that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hide the primary notes of forest floor, black cherries and blueberries.

A pairing of great character: two prima donnas who display their rough edges, but in some inexplicable manner, find a way to get along. Two rustic creations that hook up.

Brunello di Montalcino PS Riserva 2007 Siro Pacenti A wild glassful, with balsamic and floral aromas that lead into a fullbodied, wild mouthful with great grip, but also elegant and very long.

Grand softness on the palate, a warm and full-bodied wine that sometimes gives the impression that it will overwhelm the meatballs, which are richâ&#x20AC;Ś but not enough.

Il Frappato 2011 Occhipinti Fruity and spicy, balsamic and savory. A juicy and intense mouthful, suggesting woods and seaside together, rustic, enveloping mind and palate at length.

A harmonious and complex union - wild, without a doubt. The wine enhances the animal aspect of the dish which in turn, enhances the wellknown mushroomy aspect of the wine.

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Secco Bertani 2011 Cav. G. B. Bertani Pleasant to drink, harmoniously linear, the wine shows off not so much its structure as its elegance, on both nose and palate. A great classic of the Veronese territory, it joins fruit and spice, aided by soft and elegant tannin.

A pairing that gives us herbaceous notes, in which tomato plays a crucial role, creating a sophisticated acidic, fresh aspect. The wine and the dish bring out the best in each other. Excellent pairing.

Torrione 2011 Fattoria Petrolo A historic blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh and acidic, with currants and raspberries up front. Good body and subtle tannins.

The match functions better on paper than in a tasting, although it does make an impression. Fruity and clean-tasting, but the alcohol note of the wine is too assertive.

Montepulciano dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Abruzzo Cerasuolo 2013 Luigi Cataldi Madonna Fragrant and fresh, wonderfully balanced, helped along by great freshness throughout the mouthful: strawberry, almond and violets, with a long finish on floral notes.

The wine brings the right kind of complexity to the dish, finding a way in through the tomato. These two donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t love each other, instead arguing the whole time.

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CELEBRATION

Chinese New Year PORK AND CRABMEAT DUMPLING paired with Colli di Luni Vermentino Et. Nera, Lunae Bosoni Pork, fish, vegetables, ginger, shallots. It would seem like mission impossible to pair a wine with such a vortex of flavors, but this Vermentino plays its role ably thanks to a subtle, elegant aromatic spectrum and to its roundness and length. It is capable of sustaining and enhancing every aspect of the dish.

LAKE YANG CHEN CRAB paired A.A. Sauvignon St. Valentin, San Michele Appiano In this dish, succulent crab meat is accompanied by a fragrant, fresh orange sauce.

This citrusy note completes the aromatic range of the wine, which plays with sweet tones of pineapple and honey. The savory aspect of the wine goes perfectly with the crabmeat, enhancing the fullness and elegance of the pairing.

Chinese New Year is one of that countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most deeply-felt holidays. Unlike ours, the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles. This moves the New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s date around within a period that can vary from January 21st to February 19, which is when the festivities begin this year, 2015. Celebrations last for 15 days and end

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wine pairing PEKING DUCK paired with Brut 'More, Castello di Cigognola a dish that is complex to prepare and to pair. We opted for a sparkling wine from the Oltrepò Pavese, a zone renowned for its pinot nero. Brut 'More is a brilliant spumante, fragrant with red citrus fruit and berries.

Its texture and its energy on the finish pair well with the sweetish flavor of the meat, while the creamy mousse helps keep the palate fresh and clean.

PORK MEATLOAF WITH SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE AND BOK CHOY paired with Chianti Cl. Vigneto di Campolungo Gran Selezione, Lamole di Lamole to accompany the sweet and sour sauce, we thought of this wine with its floral notes as well as its spices and pronounced balsamic tones.

Dense but soft tannins are perfect for enhancing the taste of the meat and cleaning the palate after each bite.

with the colorful Lantern Festival. We decided to pay homage to the centuries-old Chinese cuisine by choosing four dishes to match to four Italian wines that are suited to the mix of spices, flavors, consistencies and cooking methods of this important Asian food culture.

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OLIVE OLIVE OIL

ŠSandro Michahelles

A Challenging Year

BY INDRA GALBO

This has been one of the most challenging of the last few years, due to a fierce attack of olive fruit fly. Was it all bad, or are some producers now rethinking their approaches?

I

ts official name is Bactrocera oleae, but professionals and passionate food fans know it as olive fruit fly. A very common olive pest, this year it did severe damage, attacking the entire peninsula in a capillary and virulent way.

A mild winter was a warning signal for the upcoming olive oil harvest. Then came a cool, rainy spring and summer, which eliminated water stress that would have benefited the olives.

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Under these conditions, the olive fruit fly managed to survive the winter months thanks to an almost complete absence of significant freezes. It survived until October as a result of the mild, damp weather, reproducing itself over several generations.

I

n a situation like this it would be easier to list the regions that had not been struck, if there were any.

Unfortunately, from north to south, the situation in olive-

growing areas was quite uniform. All the zones of the DOP Garda, especially the subzones of the Veneto and Trentino, all the central regions, from Tuscany and Umbria to Lazio and Marche, and most of the south, Campania and Calabria, suffered equally. Although the Salento zone experienced some damage related to the insect, fortunately Puglia, the heart of Italian production in terms of quantity, was among the regions least affected.

H

ow does this fly attack? The female makes a small hole in the olive skin and lays her eggs.

The larvae begin to excavate a tunnel inside the fruit, causing the start of oxidation. Unlike the last few years, when the fly was always present, but in smaller numbers, this year the damage was enormous because of the presence of several generations of larva. They attacked the olive heavily.

T

he fall off in production has been about 30-40%, although in some zones there were even greater peaks.

However, the outbreak did not

reach a few excellent areas of the country, such as Sicily and in particular the Monte Iblei zone.

W

hat this year showed was a difference between producers who had paid more attention to their mills, and those who had attended carefully to their groves, following their trees day by day. This is why some errors made this year will not be repeated in the future. In this respect, the Chinese language can teach us a lesson: the two ideograms that form the word for crisis (weiji) mean danger and opportunity. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve experienced the first. Now we have to grasp the opportunity.

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STORY

Zak the Baker and Miami’s most famous bread

BY ANNALISA ZORDAN PHOTOS BY REDEYE

Baking bread in Miami. An American dream? No, it’s Zak Stern’s profession. Known as Zak the Baker, he is the founder of an excellent panificio that brings Italian artisanal traditions to Florida.

Z

ak Stern makes some of Miami’s most soughtafter bread and is one of America’s most beloved bakers.

Better known as Zak the Baker, his shop is called Wynwood Bakery & Cafe. Zak has a past of travel and wanderlust, with the inevitable love story in the middle. His gypsy soul brought

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him first to settle in a small village in Tuscany and then to escape from the village with his beloved in the middle of the night. Here’s our interview with this pilgrim of artisanal bread.

Tell us your story. When and where were you born?

I was born and grew up in

Miami, Florida. At 18 years old, I went north because I wanted a degree in pharmacy, but I soon knew it wasn’t for me.

Why? I would definitely have become depressed!

So you dropped out of college?

Exactly. I bought a 1975 Mercedes diesel and left. I didn’t have a real destination. After a few years on organic farms and in hippie communities, I decided to devote myself to bread and cheese making. I began to work for the companies that interested me most in exchange for room, board and the chance to learn.

You went to Europe, too.

Where?

I started in Sweden, headed down to Switzerland, and then to France. I hitched a ride with a trucker who took me from Marseilles to Milano. I ended up on a farm near Arezzo. I wasn’t happy there, so a simpatico butcher, David, took me to his own village, Borgo Pignano. Luck

had it that they needed someone to look after the village oven.

How did they feel about you in Borgo Pignano?

It was love at first sight. The people in this village are sincere, and they accepted me as one of them. I raised their pigs and goats, grew their wheat and pressed their oil. They trusted me and accepted all my suggestions. Even if the love story that blossomed in that town is over, I look back with great nostalgia.

Where did you go after Borgo Pignano?

I spent a season in a cheese factory in Cogne in Valle d’Aosta with the girl I was in love with.

We ran away from Tuscany together in the middle of the night and we ended up making Fontina cheese in a town 2,000 GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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STORY

meters above sea level. We played music on the streets, we fed the animals, we made cheese and we slept above the goat barn. We were madly in love.

Unfortunately, all of a sudden, she left me to go back to school and at that point I returned to Miami.

What did you do then?

As soon as I landed, I took a long shower in my parents’ bathroom and tried to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. I found work in an Italian restaurant. After I brought a loaf of bread I’d made to the owner, he immediately encouraged me to produce it. So I left my job and bought an oven. My bakery was a garage. That’s how Zak The Baker was born.

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Soon the garage was selling bread to great restaurants. A while ago you opened a bakery in the Wynwood neighborhood, a place to meet, eat, buy cookies and granola. And of course, bread. How’s it going?

All in all, Wynwood Bakery & Café is doing very well. I think it’s very romantic to start a business in a garage and watch it flower, honestly, without any tricks, out where everyone can see. This reassures the community and proves the authenticity of my activity and my bread.

Who are your clients?

Above all, we sell wholesale. We work a lot with chefs who want the best on the marketplace. We also furnish bread to a series of

coffee shops and local markets.

Soon our bread will be in Whole Foods supermarkets in Miami.

What’s special about your bread?

It’s fresh and very tasty, but I don’t think that’s what makes it special. Its history is what’s unique, because today consumers are often misled by food industries. We have managed to do things right, without compromising or looking for shortcuts.

Where does your starter, your mother dough come from?

It comes from a goat farm on the hills in the north of Israel where I worked. Since then, I’ve carried it around in a jar for my entire journey, defending it

at every frontier. I fed it on the road, subjected it to extreme conditions. I’d say that dough is a warrior.

How do you choose your ingredients?

We only use organic flour. It costs a lot more than standard flour, but I think it’s worth it. It’s the basic ingredient in bread.

Which bread is most in demand?

In Miami, bread culture has only been growing recently. Before, it was mostly industrial, sliced or frozen. There were a few large-scale French-style bakers.

Here people are fascinated by toppings, seeds or cheese. That’s why bread companies usually make 50 different kinds of bread

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STORY to satisfy clients. Our bakery just wants to make a few good types.

How did you choose your offerings?

When I began, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a dough mixer and I was on my own, so I had to develop one versatile dough that I could manage alone. I concentrated on a country bread with 100% natural leavening. I introduced a few variations little by little to satisfy the American love of toppings, but I continued to work the dough by hand.

Where have you tasted the best bread?

Probably in Italy, but there are some great young bakers in San Francisco, such as Jossie Baker and Chad Robertson.

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Land suitable for grain, the flora for yeast and the mineral components of the water are all tied to local geography, but I think that you can make quality bread anywhere in the world.

Wynwood Bakery & Cafe | USA Miami (FL) | 405 NW 26th St zakthebaker.com

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FOOD

Breadmaking

101

BY SARA BONAMINI

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T

he age-old art of breadmaking is transmitted from generation to generation, from baker to baker, with the result that each bread is different, unique. Made of only water, flour and yeast, it is both simple and perfect. The story of a good bread begins with the choice of ingredients. With a little experience and a working oven, everyone can get good results at home.

F

or a tastier and more nourishing loaf, whole wheat, stone-ground organic flour is the best. At the start, though, a simple white flour will do, and then with practice, the beginner can move on to mixing and varying with other types, from durum wheat to buckwheat, rye and barley.

Expert bakers counsel using spring water as it’s purer and contains less calcium, but at home, tap water will do. It’s important that the water is cool, not warm.

C

hoosing the right yeast is the key. We need to distinguish between

natural and chemical leavening.

In the first category are mother dough and brewer’s (or baker’s) yeast. Baking soda, cream of tartar and ammonium bicarbonate are a few of the chemical leavenings available.

At home, for beginners, using the natural, commercially available type – baker’s yeast – is the best choice. It guarantees a more flavorful, digestible, and above all, healthier product.

Either fresh or dehydrated GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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FOOD brewer’s yeast will do, or, if possible, a mother dough, which is nothing more than a mixture of flour and water that contains natural yeast and bacteria to start the leavening process.

To hasten rising, bakers often add a little sugar to their dough.

Salt must be added only at the end, since with its disinfecting properties, it can inhibit the bacteria, thus compromising leavening.

HANDS ON To work the dough, you need a breadboard or any smooth, large, well-washed surface. Mix the dry ingredients in your recipe (flour, sugar) in bowl or directly on the work surface. Dissolve the leavening in water and proceed making dough by adding water little by little to the flour. Knead well. If the bread calls for a fat, such as extra-virgin olive oil, it should be added in the final stage of the dough, and then kneaded in thoroughly to mix with the other ingredients. Knead in salt.

Whatever type of leavening is used, allow a minimum of 4 hours for rising. If you are using baker’s yeast, after 4 hours you can shape the dough. Then leave it to rise for another half hour before baking.

If the bread is made with a mother dough, it will need 6 to 8 hours at room temperature or from 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator before shaping.

After leavening and the necessary rest time after shaping, bread needs an already heated, very hot oven. The size of the loaf will determine the temperature and cooking time. In the first 5-10 minutes, the oven must be at 220°C (430°F) so that a crust will form.

Then lower the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and continue baking for at least 30 minutes. If the loaf is very large, cooking time might be one hour. To avoid darkening the crust too much, in the last 10 minutes, lower the oven to 160°C (320°F).

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Ingredients

Tasting bread

600 g flour 250 g mother dough or 15 g fresh baker’s yeast or 7 g dry baker’s yeast 350 g water 10 g sugar 15 g olive oil 15 g salt

In order to select a good, health-giving product, it’s important to notice if the bread is well leavened.

The first test is visual: the crust should be golden and crisp to the touch without cracking.

Cut a slice and examine the texture of the crumb.

It should be compact and regular. On the nose, look for aromas of toast and yeast. The bread should be pleasant in the mouth, with a crunchy crust and pleasantly soft, moist crumb.

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MIXOLOGY

Le Iris, vodka on stage

“W

hen I opened Le Iris years ago,” Antonio Foini tells us, “it was a classic cocktail bar. We worked only in the evening and drinks were absolutely primary. The idea of offering food came slowly. At first, we prepared a few more elaborate dishes for the aperitif hour, and soon we had a real kitchen able to serve some first and second courses and dessert.”

But Tony’s true passion was, and still is, mixed drinks. When he renovated the space, he didn’t give up the long American-style

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bar at the entrance. Quickly his thoughts turn to shakers, spirits, and after- dinner drinks as he speaks. “Today, clients are very well informed and exigent. Even the youngest ones are rarely vague about what they want.

They know all the recipes well and they know what spirits they prefer. They want a Margarita with that specific tequila, a Cosmopolitan with a precise vodka. I see a great rediscovery of mixed drinks,” Tony goes on, “among both younger and older people. It’s certainly a good thing, because there have been

some unhappy moments in the history of cocktail-making. Here we continue to serve classic drinks and some new ones, but the real difference is in the various brands of spirits.â&#x20AC;? A trained observer immediately sees the value and number of bottles arranged behind the bar and on shelves: many kinds of gin, a parade of whisky and rum brands, as well as premium labels of Cognac, Armagnac and grappa. Tony suggests we drink Le Iris, a personal invention of his based on vodka.

Le Iris Bar | v.le Vittorio Emanuele II, 12 | Bergamo | tel 035 217037 | www.leiris.it

Le Iris Ingredients

4 cl. vodka 2 cl. Chambord 4 cl. ginger beer fresh ginger root maraschino cherry

Preparation Fill an Old Fashioned tumbler with ice and pour in vodka and Chambord (a premium French liqueur made with Cognac, a berry infusion and other aromas). Stir well to amalgamate ingredients. Complete with ginger beer, stir again and garnish with fresh ginger and a maraschino cherry.

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WINE OF THE MONTH

Primitivo Soul!

Primitivo di Manduria Anima di Primitivo '12 EmĂŠra 40,000 bottles ex-cellar price: 5.50 euros Hemera, whose name this winery took, is a Greek mythological figure personifying the day, appropriate in this eastern corner of Italy touched first by the sun when it rises. Gruppo Magistravini, owned by entrepreneur Claudio Quarta, who also has the Sanpaolo winery in Campania, here in Guagnano, in the Salento peninsula, near the Ionian coast, draws on 50 hectares of vineyard. In the middle of it is the old Casino Nitti, which belonged to the first Prime Minister of Italy after World War I, Francesco Saverio Nitti.

The wines are characterized by their modern style and noteworthy rich fruit joined to smoothness and drinkability.

Anima di Primitivo '12 is a juicy but agile Primitivo di Manduria. The color is an impenetrable red-garnet, its great, fully ripe fruit refreshed by sensations of orange peel. It is dense and concentrated in the mouth, with a long finish and well-balanced tannins. It goes perfectly with grilled beef, boiled mixed meats and cured meats. But its best match is eggplant alla parmigiana.

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GAMBERO ROSSO WINE TRAVEL FOOD

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LETTER FROM PARIS

Nous sommes Charlie

BY MICHEL BETTANE & THIERRY DESSEAUVE

W

ine isn’t much. It’s just a symbol of civilization. Not only Christian, but also of the Islam of Omar Khayyam, and above all a symbol of the true arte del vivere, the art of living, universal and timeless. Wine accompanied the century of Illuminism, it accompanied the republican banquets in which our democracy was born, and it is also what they drank, joyously and furiously, insolently, at the meetings of the first Charlie, that of Professeur Choron, of Cavanna and, even then, Wolinski.

T

his is the civilization that the ignoble and miserable assassins of Charlie Hebdo thought they

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were destroying when they were simply transforming twelve civilized men into eternal heroes. I drink to you, Cabu, who have been a part of my life since that high school which so closely resembled the one of Grand Duduche, to you who offered me true pleasure with a weekly drawing that skewered so deliciously the immense stupidity of humankind. I drink to you, Wolinski, remembering the afternoons I spent following your instructions “to read on a sofa eating some chocolate Charlie, a magazine of humor and cartoons”, as you urged me at the start of every one of your editorials. I confess that I often accompanied that “chocolate” with a glass of wine. I drink to all of you, heroes now departed, and tell you that we will never forget you. And while I toast you, I mix my tears with the Champagne, but I already know that our civilization will come out of this test stronger and better.

GAMBERO ROSSO

Life's Little Pleasures

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SENIOR EDITOR Lorenzo Ruggeri

PHOTO EDITOR Rossella Fantina

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Chiara Buosi

CONTRIBUTORS

Michel Bettane, Sara Bonamini, Giuseppe Carrus, Lara Caraturo, Marcelo Copello, Thierry Desseauve, Nicola Frasson, Indra Galbo, Mara Nocilla, William Pregentelli, Massimiliano Rella, Marco Sabellico, Giulia Sampognaro, Annalisa Zordan

COVER PHOTO

Massimiliano Rella

PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS

Artynomic, Chiara Buosi, Dread Pirate Jeff, Giacomo Foti, Sandro Michahelles, Ilaria Morelli, Redeye,Massimiliano Rella, Pina Sozio, Sigrid Verbert, Francesco Vignali

GR USA CORP PUBLISHER & PRESIDENT Paolo Cuccia

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