A Taste of Campania in New York

Michele and I have always enjoyed traveling in Europe and especially Italy. At home Michele often prepares meals that we have had in Italy with recipes from her Italian cookbooks. Recently,  Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow came for dinner and Michele made a meal based on the food of Campania, one of our favorite regions, though in truth we love them all.

The aperitifs waiting for our guests to arrive

We started as usual with Champagne.  Gosset Champagne Brut Excellence made from 24% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 19% Pinot Meunier from Ay-Chapmpagne, Chigny-les-Roses, Courmas, Cumieres, Avize, Cuis and Trepail. There is 100% malolactic fermentation. The wine spends 30 months in the cellar before it is disgorged. Dosage for the Brut is11g/L. It has hints of apricots, peaches, dried fruit and a touch of brioche.

Michele made paccheri pasta with a seafood sauce, a Neapolitan favorite.

The pasta in the dish

Fiano di Avellino “Vignadora 1986 Mastrobeardino made from 100% Fiano di Avellino I believe the wine was fermented in cement tanks and aged in large chestnut oak casks. The wine was showing its age and had lost most of its fruit. It was still drinkable with a note of almonds in the finish.

Polpettone, a large meatloaf made with beef, pork and veal, plus prosciutto, salami and provolone in the mixture, stuffed with hardcooked eggs.  This was a special occasion dish when Michele was growing up.

With the meatloaf, we had sauteed zucchini with cherry tomatoes and the last of our home grown basil.

The plate

Taurasi “Radici” 1997 Mastroberardino made from 100% Aglianico.  The vineyards for Taurasi “Radici” are located on two hills, Mirabella vineyard at 500 meters and the Montemarano vineyard at 550 meters. Because of its position on the hill and its altitude, the temperature at the Montemarano vineyard was much colder and the grapes are picked a little later. Harvest is from the end of October into the beginning of November. The vinification is the classic one for red wine, long maceration with skin contact at controlled temperatures. The wine is aged for 24 months in French barriques and Slovenian oak barrels and remains in the bottle for 24 months before release. The barriques were second and third passage. This is a wine with hints of black cherry, plum, spice and a touch of leather.

We followed this with a cheese course, but I did not take a photo.  The selection included La Tur, 3 milk Robiola, and Alta Badia, all from Italy.

Monte di Grazia Rosso 2011 The wine is made from 90% Tintore di Tramonti from very old ungrafted vines and 10% Piedirosso. The Tintore di Tramonti grows almost exclusively in the Monte Lattari Valley. The grape is harvested at the end of September, which makes it an early ripener for this area. This indigenous red grape variety belongs to the Tienturier family. Tienturier means dyed or stained in French. The flesh and the juice of these grapes are red in color. The anthocyanin pigments accumulate in the grape berry itself. The free run juice is therefore red.
This is a complex wine with earthly aromas, hints of red fruit, blueberries, a slight touch of black pepper and spice with good acidity that makes it a very good food wine.

For dessert, we had individual apple tarts with whipped cream.  Michele served the tarts on plates from our collection from the Unione Ristoranti Buon Ricordo, a sort of dining club centered in Italy.  Over the years, we have collected about a hundred of them.  

I always serve grappa when Tom comes. This is one of his favorites.