When we think of
drinking Italian wine how do we not think about Italian food and what
we can pair with it. After all, they say “what grows together
goes together”. I attended a wine and cheese pairing event hosted
by Gordon's Wine & Spirits in Waltham and the event was led by
local wine, cheese and food expert, Adam Centamore.
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| Myself & Adam Centamore |
Adam is of
Sicilian heritage and holds a Masters in Gastronomy. He also
authored his first book that was published in September 2015 called
“Tasting Wine & Cheese: An Insider's Guide to Mastering thePrinciples of Pairing”. In addition to his academic background he
has worked in the industry managing the well-known cheese specialty
shop, Formaggio's Kitchen, and currently is a wine purveyor at the
wine shop, Bin Ends, in addition to teaching wine and food lovers
like myself.
Adam's passion was
evident through his presentation of the wine and cheese pairings of
the night with his relaxed, easy going, comical personality that took
the snobbery out of understanding food and wine. The first tasting
of the night was a wine from the Alto Adige region of Italy. This
region is tucked in the north eastern part of Italy. The wine
selection was from the known producer, St. Michael-Eppan and was
their 2014 Pinot Grigio. Personally, I found this pinot grigio to be
too light bodied for my personal preference, but the cheese pairing
went together well with it. Adam chose a tronchetto al capra. This
is a 100% goats cheese from the north western region of Piedmont.
The cheese was topped with sicilian oranges in syrup. Yum!
Even though that
was the only Italian wine and cheese pairing of the night I found
Adam's book to provide a number of great suggestions to pair with a
variety of Italian wines. You'll find sparkling wines including
moscato, lambrusco and prosecco. For white wines Adam features the
grapes pinot grigio, trebbiano and verdicchio. Categorized under the
red wines you'll discover grapes including barbera, frappato,
nebbiolo and sangiovese. Lastly, for those that love dessert wines,
you'll find brachetto and vin santo. Are some of these grapes new to
you? It's a perfect way to start learning about them and double the
enjoyment by seeking out the cheese accompaniments. I've enjoyed a
lot of pleasures with these pairings and by playing around with these
tastings it helps demonstrate how an Italian wine can change by
sampling it alone and how the nuances change when combined with the
right suggestion.
I would like to
provide a wine and cheese sample in each of the different styles of
wine mentioned above with recommended cheeses from Adam's book to
give you a feel for some of the regional delights from a variety of
regions within Italy.
Sparkling Wine – Prosecco
Prosecco is the
top imported sparkling wine from Italy hailing from the Veneto region
and it's a wine made up of the glera grape. Prosecco comes in
different styles from sweeter versions to dry styles. Adam
recommends a a hard, sharper cheese like parmigiano reggiano from the
Lombardy region which is opposite the softness in the bubbles of the
prosecco, but put them together and watch the changes unfold.
White wine – Verdicchio
Verdicchio is a
white grape primarily found in the Marche region in central Italy
that typically has higher acidity and citrus characteristics. Adam
recommends cheese with “semi-firm texture and nutty flavors” and
suggests a cow's cheese from the way northwestern part of Italy in
the Aosta Valley.
Red wine – Frappato
This grape
originates on the island of Sicily and produces lighter bodied style
red wines, but you may find it blended with other grapes of the
island. Adams recommends a delightful pairing with ricotta salata,
which is a sheep's milk from Sicily. His suggestion is to cut
strawberries topped with sugar and a splash of frappato, refrigerate
overnight and then add on top of the ricotta salata. Sounds like a
combination to die for.
Dessert wine – Vin Santo
The wine enjoyed
after many Tuscany dinners, vin santo, is a blend of dried trebbiano
and malvasia grapes that are then aged in oak barrels. I've always
enjoyed the typical dessert of Tuscany, which is vin santo with
biscotti, but Adam recommends ricotta topped with citrus blossom
honey where the honey compliments the flavors of the wine and the
citrus blossom draws out the vanilla of the oak in the vin santo.
Can we say a perfect ending?
These are all just
samples, but shows you how much fun you can have experimenting with
Italian grapes from all over Italy and finding some Italian cheeses
for pure satisfaction.
You can find my monthly column, Italy Uncorked, in the Bostoniano magazine, Boston's Italian American voice where you'll find this and many other articles. We appreciate your subscription and support.
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