Monthly Archives: October 2023

October 30, 2023 · 2:36 am

Tenuta Santi Giacomo e Filippo an Historical Winery

Federica Schir, a publicist for many fine wines in  Italy, has introduced me to several wineries that were new to me.  So when Federica informed me that Marianna Bruscoli, owner & general manager of her family’s winery Tenuta Santi Giacomo e Filippo, would be in NYC, I was only to happy to meet with her.

We met at Norma Gastronomia, one of my favorite restaurants, to taste the wines. It was a very informal and comfortable tasting which I really enjoyed.  Marianna told me about the winery.

Tenuta Santi Giacomo e Filippo is located between Urbino and Pesaro, an area in the Marche region that in the last few years has championed organic farming in Italy. Situated in the heart of Montefeltro, the Tenuta is set in a special ecosystem that is part of Osai faunistica della Badia, a wildlife reserve created in 1979 to protect the diverse natural environment and its thriving bird population. The vineyards are rooted in the best quality soil and the farm was certified organic back in 1997.

The Tenuta covers 360 hectares of which about 12 are covered in vines. The vineyards were planted in 2006 in soil of exceptional quality completely free of chemical residues from herbicides fertilizes or pesticides. The vineyards are between 90 and 220 meters. The first vintage was in 2010. In 2016 a state of the art winery was opened where wines can be aged in steel, oak and clay amphorae.

The Wines

Marche Sparkling Wine Brut “Isabecta” made from a selection of white grapes planted in 2006 at 101 meters.  The soil is silty and the exposure is northwest and southeast. There are 4,000 plants per hectare and the training system is guyot. Manual harvest takes place in September. Fermentation is in stainless steel and the wine goes into an autoclave (25HL sealed tank-Charmat method) were the second fermentation takes place in a pressurized tank. This is a crisp and lively wine within fine bubbles. It has hints of citrus fruits, lime, note of lemon and a touch of cedar with a pleasant almond after taste.

Marche Sparkling Rosé Wine Brut “ Isabecta” made from 100% Sangiovese. Soil is of medium texture which tends to clay with good drainage.The ground cover is with green manure organic certified by the CCPB. This is a fresh fruity wine with fine bubbles and hints of white flowers red fruit, and a touch of brioche.

Mariana said Isabecta de Lominis was the mother of Giovanni Santi and the grandmother of the celebrated artist Raphael. In the 15th century Isabecta inherited part of the estate were the wine is produced.  (My historical note:  Giovanni Santi, the father of Raphael, was the court poet and painter for the celebrated warrior/scholar Federico de Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino.  Nicknamed “the Light of Italy”, Federico is a landmark figure for his contributions to the Italian Renaissance. He had a great library and it was said that only the Vatican had more books. Thanks to his enlightened rule and the money he made as a mercenary, Federico brought a great prosperity to the city. It was said Urbino is una città in forma di palazzo, a city in the form of a palace.)

Marche Bianco IGT Bellantonio – made from Incrocio Bruni 54  This white grape variety is a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Verdicchio Bianco created by Professor Bruni in the Marche in 1936. The soil is silty. There is a 15 day fermentation in stainless steel with select organic yeasts and no lees contact. There is sterile filtration during bottling and the wine is unfiltered. The wine ages in amphora and in bottle for at least 2 months before it is released. This wine is a tribute to her uncle. The wine has hints of citrus fruit, lemon, white flowers, a note of camomile and a touch of flint.

Marianna said that Professor Bruni experimented with many different varietal crossings and he liked the 54th the best–hence the name. This is the first time I tasted a wine from this grape.

Marche Rosso IGT La Fogliola Rosso made from 100% Sangiovese with a north south exposure at 100 meters. The soil is of medium texture which tends to clay and the training system is spurred cordon. This is a well balanced wine with hints of ripe red berries, strawberries and raspberries.

Marche Rosso IGT “Fortercole” made from Sangiovese and Montepuliciano  from 12 year old vines at 194 meters with an east west exposure. The soil is of a medium packed texture. Fermentation is in oak upright tanks for 15 days and maceration is in oak barrels. The wine remains in the bottle for at least 4 months before release. The wine has hints of blueberries, quince a touch of fig and a note of spice. This is a rich and complex wine with a very long aftertaste. This wine is a tribute to her grandfather.

Marianna said the Tenuta today is a multi purpose estate which contains the Urbino Resort, an ancient peasant village, which has been converted into 6 buildings with 33 rooms for guests, a restaurant which was once a fisherman’s hut, an equestrian center and of course the farm that includes other crops and productions in addition to the vineyards and the winery.

2 Comments

Filed under Marche, Sparkling wine, Tenuta Santi Giacomo e Filippo

October 26, 2023 · 2:31 am

Olio Piro — The Best in Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the best in Italian food products, Michele and I shop at Di Palo in New York City’s Little Italy. The Di Palo Family also operate a small wine bar next door to their shop.  When I was invited there to a tasting called CUT & SHARE, sponsored by Pecorino Toscano and Prosciutto Toscano, I was only too happy to attend. One of the unexpected highlights of the evening was being introduced to Marie-Charlotte Piro and her brother Romain, part of the team behind Piro Olive Oil. 

Olio Piro is a proud newcomer to the elite world of ultra-premium extra virgin olive oils, launched in 2018 by Marie-Charlotte and Romain along with master miller, Daniele Lepori.

Romain Piro: The Craftsman

Romain has been producing olive oil since 2007 in the region of Seggiano and Monte Amiata in Tuscany. He is a perfectionist whose devotion to detail, respect for nature’s whims and deep understanding of the art of Extra Virgin Olive Oil result in the exceptional quality of Olio Piro.

Daniele Lepori: The Alchemist

Daniele’s motto is “a good beginning makes a good ending.” He has been producing olive oil in southern Tuscany for over two decades, and lives in the beautiful historic Podere Anteata surrounded by a grove of 2,000 olive trees with his wife Rachele and their three children. Daniele has invested in state-of-the-art milling equipment and worked with Italian agriculture experts to help revive southern Tuscany’s olive oil industry and now to produce award-winning oil.

Marie-Charlotte Piro: The Ambassador

Founder and CEO of the distribution company, Olio Piro LLC, Marie-Charlotte leads Piro’s sales and marketing efforts as well as strategic partnerships. She explained that Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a high-quality type of olive oil that is made from pure, cold-pressed olives. It is considered to be the highest grade of olive oil available and is prized for its fruity flavor, low acidity, and health benefits.

Piro Olive oil has been highly praised and has won many awards

To be classified as Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the oil must meet specific standards set by regulatory agencies such as the International Olive Oil Council. These standards include:

  1. The oil must be made from pure, cold-pressed olives.
  2. The acidity level of the oil must be below 0.8%.
  3. The oil must have a fruity, fresh aroma and flavor.
  4. The oil must not contain any additives or chemicals.
  5. The oil must pass a sensory evaluation by a trained panel of tasters.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich in healthy fats, antioxidants, and other beneficial nutrients, making it a popular choice for cooking, dressing salads, and adding flavor to a variety of dishes. It is also widely recognized for its potential health benefits, including improved heart health, reduced inflammation, and better brain function.

Marie-Charlotte said that olives from a unique blend of early harvest varieties including Leccino, Moraiolo, Frantoio, and the rare Olivastra Seggianese are selected from their own groves of 300-year-old olive trees on the slopes of Mount Amiata in the Maremma region of Southern Tuscany and cold pressed in limited batches. Piro’s proprietary double filtration milling system developed in cooperation with the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche yields a sophisticated Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a rich taste and an unusually high level of healthful antioxidants.

Everything they do is designed to bring the user an unparalleled fresh tasting product. The olives are hand-picked and each bottle of Piro Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a handwritten harvest date and lot number guaranteeing quality and freshness.  The flavor is bold and fresh with a peppery finish.  With hints of green olive fruit, fresh cut green grass, a touch of green almonds, a note of green tea, and a dash of cinnamon, a drizzle of Olio Piro can take dishes to a new level.

At home we enjoy it on salads, and as a finishing touch to pastas, soups, vegetables, grilled fish, and meat.  Here is a recipe that Michele likes to make that features this delicious oil.

Octopus, Arugula and Potato Salad with Olio Piro

Serves 4

1 octopus, about 2 pounds, thawed if frozen

1 pound fingerling or other small potatoes

Coarse salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup Piro Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

 2 cups baby arugula

Trim the octopus discarding the head and beak.   Place the tentacles in a large pot with cold water to cover and 1 tablespoon salt.  Bring the water to a simmer and place a small plate on top of the octopus to keep it below the surface of the water.  Cook until the octopus is tender when pierced in the thickest part with a small sharp knife, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Remove the octopus to a large plate and let cool.  Cut the octopus into bite size pieces.

Place the potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender when pierced with a small sharp knife, about 20 minutes. Drain and let cool. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces.

Toss the octopus and potatoes together with the parsley, lemon juice, Piro Olive Oil, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Add the arugula and toss again.  Taste for seasoning.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Leave a comment

Filed under Piro Olive Oil

October 12, 2023 · 3:26 am

Daniele Cernilli (aka Doctor Wine) on Pasta Amatriciana

Daniele Cernilli wrote this informative article about my favorite pasta Amatriciana. Daniele is my expert on all things Roman.  He is a “Roman of the Romans” as the saying goes.   Michele and I often disagree on the best pasta shape to use for this sauce — bucatini or mezze manica.  I prefer the thick strands of bucatini or perciatelli, while Michele prefers the short tubes of mezze manica.  Here’s what Daniele thinks about this important subject.

The story of the amatriciana

by Daniele Cernilli 10/09/23 | 
amatriciana senza pomodoro

Although considered a typical Roman dish, its origin is in reality from the Abruzzo-Lazio countryside, the town of Amatrice, and it is defined by two fundamental ingredients: guanciale and percorino cheese.

Amatrice is, or perhaps was considering the horrific 2016 earthquake, a medieval town. Up until 1927, when Mussolini decided that Lazio, whose capital is Rome, should be a bigger region, it was part of the Abruzzo region. It is also near the border with the Marche region, which begins just after the towns of Illica and Accumoli, a few kilometers to the east, and not far from what used to be the border separating the provinces of Terni and L’Aquila, in other words the border between the regions of Umbria and Abruzzo.

The area is an authentic Apennine melting pot, one where different traditions intertwine and where Abruzzo and Neapolitan traditions meet, thanks to being where the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Papal States reached. Before then, during the early middle ages, it was ruled by the Church, the ex-Byzantines, the Lombards and the Franks.

The “Matriciani” people are the product of these encounters and some of them emigrated to Rome where they became innkeepers, bringing to the capital their dishes and ingredients, above all guanciale (pork jowl) and percorino (sheep cheese), two gastronomic gems from that area. Then again, pigs and sheep were the two most logical and traditional livestock raised by the people living in the central Italian Apennine Mountains, where there were no plains to raise cattle.

However, their traditions changed in an urban context. Tomatoes were added to their typical pasta sauce, an ingredient that was not common in the mountain area of Amatrice, and bucatini pasta was also adopted, it being of Sicilian origin probably brought to Rome by some “itinerant” cook. In Amatrice, on the other hand, spaghetti was the type of pasta used, never bucatini, and more than likely the sauce would have no tomato in it.

Oddly enough, the gricia pasta dish, which would be an amatriciana without tomatoes, apparently did not originate in Amatrice. This is because the “grici” in Rome were those who sold encased and cured meats, those who more or less in the 17th century arrived from the Canton of Grigioni (Graubünden), in Valtellina, and hence were nicknamed “grici”. This type of dried meat was particularly loved by the Jews who made bresaola using beef, and not pork.

This was the backdrop for what became the “matriciana” (as the Romans call it), which was undoubtedly inspired by what those from Amatrice made but which underwent different modifications and influences. For sure, compared to the “carbonara”, a more recent and stateless dish with no precise tradition, it is on a totally different level. One can argue which is the best type of pasta to use (not bucatini, please), between spaghetti, thicker spaghettoni, rigatoni or mezzi rigatoni, which nicely absorb the sauce. But there can be no substitute for guanciale, which is obligatory, or pecorino cheese from Amatrice, while the jury is still out on the best tomatoes to use. It is a dish that remains rooted in tradition, one that may be open to interpretation but which maintains some precise benchmarks.

My old friend Pietro Micara, who was from Frascati and who passed away some 20 years ago, taught me an important trick. The guanciale must never all be cooked in the tomato sauce “otherwise you’ll boil it”, he said. This means that some of the guanciale should be cooked in a pan apart using only its own fat, some of which needs to be removed to ensure the guanciale becomes crispy. It is then added to the pasta on the plate to give it a crispy edge. Similar advice was given to me years later by Ferran Adrià for a totally different recipe. Consistency, temperature and balance are part of an evolved way of cooking, the chiaroscuro. The “matriciana” made by Pietro Micara was extraordinary, rich and elegant and it’s the way I still try to make it.

Trivia:

Since March 6, 2020, the amatriciana has officially been recognized as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (STG) product by the European Union.

In the STG recipe for the amatriciana, the sauce is composed of Amatrice guanciale De.Co. (traditional local product) that is sautéed and doused with dry white wine, San Marzano tomatoes or, as an alternative, quality peeled tomatoes, Amatrice pecorino cheese De.Co. (from the Monti Sibillini or Monti della Laga), extra-virgin olive oil, fresh or dried chili pepper, salt and pepper. The pasta to use with the STG amatriciana sauce is rigorously only spaghetti.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

October 5, 2023 · 2:46 am

Le Guaite–the Wines of Noemi

While I was in the Veneto recently, I was introduced  to the dynamic Noemi Pizzighella of Le Guaite di Noemi winery in Valoplicella.

When Noemi was a baby her parents would give her a few drops of Recioto wine and it would always make her happy.  Today, Noemi is the winemaker for her family’s winery.

The Winery

Noemi told me that 20 years ago, her father Stefano bought a small crusher and a few acres of olive groves on the hillside of Mezzane di Sotto. This is a hill which benefits from the microclimate of Lake Garda and the northern Alpine currents which create the thermal shock important for the inimitable character of the grapes.

Production of wine began in 2002 with the purchase of 10 acres of vineyards, including Le Guaite, situated on the highest part of the hill.

Noemi said she began helping her mother and father in the vineyards as well as the cellar when she was 8 years old.

In 2016 after years of daily work in the winery she took over the responsibility of running it, in part to relieve her parents of some of the never-ending work. At the same time the wines were getting excellent reviews and she wanted to open up the international market. She pointed out that her vineyards are situated next to those of the famous Romano Del Forno.

Noemi said she ages her wines longer than most, to give them their distinctive character, powerful structure and impressive elegance.

The Wines

IGT Rosso Veronese “Tono” made from 35% Corvinone, 35% Corvina, 20% Rondinello and 10% Oseleto and the vines are 15/40 years old at 350/400 meters with a 15/20 slope. The soil is white and pink limestone with basalt rock.  There are 5,000 vines per hectare and the training system is guyot. The farming method is sustainable agriculture. Fermentation is in stainless steel. Aging takes place in stainless steel for 18/20 months and then in bottle for another 12 months before release. The wine has hints of cherry, plum, and a touch of violets. Noemi said aromas of mint and eucalyptus are characteristic of her wine. $19

Valpolicella Superiore DOC 33% Corvina, 33% Rondinello and 34% Corvinone. Training system is guyot except for one hectare which has 40 year old vines and is pergola pruned. The grapes are dried for 30 to 40 days followed by fermentation in stainless steel. Aging takes place in second passage French oak for 15 months and then for another 6 months in stainless steel. The wine remains in the bottle for 3 years before release. The wine has hints of ripe red and black fruit, black cherry and plum with a touch of spice, a note of vanilla and coffee. Current vintage is 2013. $33

Valpolicella Ripasso DOC made from 35% Corvina, 35% Corvinone, 20% Rondinella and 10% Oseleta. Training system is guyot except for one hectare which is of 40 year old vines which is pergola pruned. The grapes are dried for 30/40 days followed by fermentation in stainless steel on grape skins left from making Amarone. The wine is aged is second passage French oak for 30 months and then 6 months in stainless steel. The wine remains in the bottle for 2 years before release. The wine has hints of red cherry, blueberries, and blackberries with a hint of vanilla and a touch of pepper. $39

Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG  made from 35% Corvina, 35% Corvinone, 20% Rondinella and 10% Oseleta. Training system is guyot except for one hectare with 40 year old vines which is pergola pruned. The grapes are dried for 4 months and then fermented in stainless steel during the month of January. The wine is aged in new French oak barriques for 3 years then for 6 months in stainless steel.Then the wine is aged for 4 years in bottle before release. The wine has hints of black plum, blackberries, ripe red cherries, balsamic notes, pepper and a touch of vanilla. The current vintage is 2012. $65

Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG made from 35% Corvina, 35% Rondinella and 30% Corvinone. The grapes are dried for 6 months followed by fermentation in stainless steel. Fermentation is stopped when the wine reaches 13.5% alcohol. Aging is in new French oak barrels for 3 years and then 6 months in stainless steel. The wine is released after being in the bottle for 3 years. This is an intense  wine with rich fruit aromas of raisins, black cherry, black plums and blackberries. $73

Tisbe IGT made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyard at 450/500 meters. The soil is limestone with white calcareous rock, pink ferrous calcareous rock, basaltic rock containing minerals, olivine and pyroxene and volcanic soil. There are 5,000 plants per hectare and the training system is guyot. Harvest is in the beginning of October. The grapes are dried  for 3 months and 2 weeks, then the grapes are destemmed, pressed and under go cryomaceration. Fermentation is with cultured yeasts with simultaneous malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in French oak barriques for about 36 months and another 16 months in bottle before release. The wine has hints of cherry, blackberries, blueberries, black plum and chocolate with a hint of coffee and a touch of tobacco. Alcohol is 17% The current vintage is 2017. $83

Solitario IGT made from 35% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 35% Corvinone and 10% Oseletta and Corvinone. The wine is aged in new French barriques for about 54 months  and in bottle for 30 months before release. The wine has hints of cherry, blackberry, black plum, pepper and a balsamic note. Alcohol 17% % $145

The Olive Oil

In addition to the 10 acres of vineyards they also have 7 acres of olive groves with such old varieties as Grignano, Leccio del Corno and Casaliva which are used to make an excellent olive oil.  All of the olives are treated and gathered by hand.

Meeting Noemi and tasting her wines was one of the highlights of my visit to the Veneto.

Leave a comment

Filed under Amarone, Le Guaite di Nomei, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso