I have to make it clear that I am lucky, and I do realise this. It was all thanks to my boss Brett having a cold that day (sorry Brett to take happiness from your sickness, but I was so happy!), and so, I was asked to fill his seat at the Northwest Italian Winemaker dinner. If I hadn’t have been dining at Vinoteca that night I would have been heading to Tayyab’s to dine with 20 food bloggers, which would have been great too, so it really was a win-win situation.
The pics for this dinner aren’t as good as the photos we have taken of the meals in the past, this is only because Charlie and I kept getting distracted by the food, then the wine, then the food, then the wine etc, and we seemed to keep eating each dish before realising that we needed to take a picture for the blog. It truly was an amazing dinner put together by head chef Ross Goodall, and the wines from Produttori del Barbaresco were stellar! I was also lucky to dine with Aldo Vacca, the managing Director of Produttori del Barbaresco, who has followed in the footsteps of his Father, who was the first managing director of the company from 1958 – 1984, very cool. Aldo was great company, with an obvious passion for the wine he promotes all over the world. I was also sat with Charlie, who was in full wine geek mode, loving every sip of his beloved Nebbiolo, and Mark Perna from Astrum wines, who has the best wine descriptors I have ever heard, some of which I think you need to be Australian to truly understand.
Mark Perna from Astrum with Aldo Vacca from Produttori del Barbaresco
Produttori Del Barbaresco Winemaker Dinner
Thursday 19th March 2009
Apperitif: 2006 Renano ‘Herzu’ Riesling, Ettore Germano
Rabbit & ramson ragout, soft pecorino polenta
2005 Langhe Nebbiolo,
2007 Langhe Nebbiolo,
For me this was the star of the meal, it was such a perfect flavour combination. The pecorino polenta was rich in flavour, but still light enough to not over power the dish. The rabbit was perfectly cooked, the vegetables gave the dish texture, while the ramson (wild garlic leaves) lifted the dish. Aldo said this was perfectly paired with the wines because it was simple and rustic, echoing the food of the Barbaresco region.
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Venison rossini, nebbiolo reduction
1999 Barbaresco
2004 Barbaresco
This is one where we started to get distracted, the photo does not do it justice.
I was first told about Rossini by Brett, it is one of his favourites, and he was very sad to have missed it that night. When I first heard about it, I was a bit skeptical of the idea of foie gras with meat, but then again foie gras seems to work with so many random things, so I really wasn’t surprised by how well it went together. The venison was incredibly tender, and “perfectly seasoned”, which Aldo pointed out. Another great match with the wines, but we concluded later that the 1999 ‘Riserva Montefico’ would have been an even better match.
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Castelmagno, muscatel raisins, biscuits
1999 Barbaresco ‘Riversa Montefico’
2004 Barbaresco ‘Riserva Montefico’
The cheese was paired with the most amazing wines of the night, and for me they demanded all of my attention, and I seriously neglected my cheese. I know that the general consensus what that the Castelmagno (a cheese from the Northwest of Italy) works very well with Barbaresco, and it is the cheese that Aldo recommended for his wines. I am not an Italian speaker, but I was very pleased to learn that ‘Montefico’ means ‘fig tree hill’ in Italian.
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Buttermilk panacotta, rhubarb & vanilla compote
2008 Moscato d’Asti, Paolo Saracco
If you haven’t had Moscato d’Asti before, I suggest you try it. It is one of the most refreshing and delicious wines I have ever tasted. This was also a well thought out food and wine matching on Ross’ part, the key thing when matching wines with a dessert it that the dessert cannot be sweeter than the dessert. If it is too sweet, the taste of the wine is cancelled out, which is always disappointing. This buttermilk pannacotta was just the right level of sweetness allowing the Moscato d’Asti to remain refreshing.
Overall it was an great night of food and wine, and I learned loads about Barbaresco, which I think deserves a post of its own.
Caitlin
1 Comment
April 29, 2009 at 10:11 pm
The pictures look good, but I’d like to see more of yummy Charlie if possible please, Caity Caitlin.