Pairing wine with complementary food was the subject of course that Michele and I used to teach at The New School. Finding the right wine for a particular food is important and it can really enhance the dining experience.
Recently I attended a wine and cheese tasting at the Columbus Citizens Foundation in NYC. This special Master Class was organized in collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) as part of their mission to raise awareness around PDO and PGI-certified products from Italy.
The PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) is a certification that guarantees a product has been entirely produced with in a certain geographical area. It protects quality, tradition and authenticity inline with strict production standards recognized by the EU.
Robert Campana guided us through the fascinating world of Italian cheeses.
Paula Pavan the organizer of the event spoke about the wonderful world of Italian wine.
There were five cheeses and five wines. Each cheese was matched with one wine.
Asiago PDO-aged 30 days-this is a cooked semi-hard cheese made from pasteurized cows milk.The PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) ensures the cheese is made in a specific region of Italy, the Asiago Plateau, and following a strict production process. It has a soft texture, buttery with a mild flavor and slightly tangy.
Roero Arneis DOCG Poderi Morettii. Made from 100% Arnesi ( little rascal in Piedmontese dialect). Fermentation takes place at a low temperature in stainless steel tanks for about 20 days. The wine remains on the lees for 4 months.This is a family run winery in Monteu Roero, with 40 hectares of land, and 22 hectares dedicated to vineyards. The winery is committed to producing high-quality wines exclusively from its own grapes. They employ natural farming practices, including selective pruning to enhance grape quality, organic fertilization, and techniques.
The wine has floral aromas, with hints of white peach, apricot and a subtle almond finish. $15
Piave Vecchio PDO-aged 12 months-cooked compact cheese made from cow’s milk. It is a mountain cheese with a flaky hard grain, nutty flavors touch of spice, dense texture and no holes. The cheese is named after the Piave river in Belluno.
IGT Toscana Rosso Fattoria di Petroio made from 100% Sangiovese. The grapes are sourced from six hectares of specialized vineyards of which 5.5 are DOGC Chianti Classico. The remaining 6 hectares are rented out to a fellow winery, but the whole production is still done in Petroio. The Estate has been a member of the Consorzio del Chianti Classico since 1927, the year of its founding. Traditional fermentation for 15 days and the wine remains in the lees for 15 days. Aging is in stainless steel. The wine has hints of blackberries, blueberries and violets. $17
Grana Padano PDO— This hard, crumbly textured cheese is produced with raw milk from cows that are milked twice a day. The collection of the milk must take place within 24 hour starting from the first milking. Grana Padano PDO cannot be sold on the market before 9 months of maturation in a controlled environment. It is aged from 9 to 20 months. The cheese has a salty, nutty flavor, with a touch of butter and a note of hay. Grana Padano is known for its characteristic grainy, or “grana,” texture, with a brittle, flaky interior and a natural, golden-yellow rind.
Grana is exactly the same as Parmigiano-Reggiano, the only difference is that the milk used to produce Parmigiano comes from cows fed only with fresh grass or hay. For Grana, cereals or other animal feed can be used. Parmigiano is produced only in a restricted area smaller than the one allowed for Grana Padano.
Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Fattoria di Petroio made from 100% Sangiovese. Traditional fermentation for 20 days. The wine remains on the yeast with batonnage for 90 days and is aged for 24 months in tonneaux. The wine has hints of blackberries, cloves, cinnamon and leather with a touch of cocoa. $44
Pecorino Romano PDO is made from sheep’s milk. Pecorino Romano is produced exclusively in Sardinia, Lazio, and the Tuscan Province of Grosseto. Pecorino Romano is aged for a minimum of five months, and sometimes up to a year or more, in temperature and humidity-controlled environments. It has a sharp tangy flavor characteristic of sheep’s milk cheese, with nutty flavors and a hint of grassiness. It is a hard cheese with a granular texture that is perfect for grating over pasta. It is the preferred cheese of Southern Italy.
Mandrolisai Rosso DOC Cantina Mandrolisai made from Bovine Sardo, Cannon di Sardegna and Monica Sardegna. The soil is granite caused by weathering. Traditional harvest the first ten days of October. Maceration 8/10 days with submerged cap in stainless steel containers. There is oak aging. High-altitude red wines from the Nuoro Region of Sardinia are abundant in polyphenols – which lower bad cholesterol- than all other worldwide wine grapes. This medium to full-bodied wine has hints of dried fig, umami, currants, and cigar-box tobacco toward the finish. $16
Parmigiano Reggiano PDO-aged 15 months-cooked hard cheese made exclusively with raw cow’s milk. It is a hard, granular cheese with a straw-yellow color and a delicate, slightly sweet and savory flavor. It’s a protected designation of origin (PDO) product, meaning it can only be produced in specific regions of Italy using traditional methods and ingredients: cow’s milk, salt, and rennet. At 15 months, the cheese is still relatively young, with a mild flavor and a soft texture that is beginning to develop a characteristic graininess.
Parmigiiano Reggiano aged 22 months is a hard, granular cheese with a complex flavor profile. It is considered to be in its optimal aging range, offering a balance of savory and sweet notes with a slightly salty and nutty finish. The texture is grainy and crumbly.
Recently I had a Parmigiano mad from the milk of the rare RED Cow and aged for 30 months. It is higher in protein and butterfat and is aged longer than regular Parmigiano and can be sold only after at least 24 months of aging. The grains (crunchy crystals) of the 30 were more intense as was the flavor. A truly great cheese.
Rosso Piceno Tenute Recchi “Donna Eugenia” made from Montepulciano and Sangiovese. Organic farming. Vineyards at 500 meters. The wine has hints of cherry, red currants, violets and a touch of spice. $?
Though the combinations of wines and cheeses were not what I would have chosen. I enjoyed the experience and they all seemed to work.