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AN ITALIAN "CENA"
in November 2002
With Andrea Klein and Jonathan & Lucy
Tolmach:
A group of Italian fans!
Some Focaccia Bread and Olives, along with some Prawns, Wrapped with Prosciutto
& Basil and then grilled.
The Ferrari Spumante "Giulio Ferrari, Riserva del Fondatore" 1992 was
quite nice.
We sat down to a nice little plate of "Antipasti" featuring grilled
eggplant, grilled mushrooms and artichokes "sott'olio," along with
some Coppa Veneziana, Prosciutto and Salame Toscano. A bottle of Michele
Chiarlo's 1997 Gavi "Fornaci di Tassarolo" was a pleasant white wine
with this.
I paired this with a bottle of Giacomo Conterno 1999 Barbera d'Alba.
Served lightly chilled, the Barbera was delicious with the clams and tomato
sauce which incorporated a bit of pancetta, onions and, of course, garlic.
The Famous Andrea Klein is The Lady in Red.
That's Jonathan Tolmach in the background.
Slow-cooked, braised Lamb Shanks was the centerpiece of the evening.
Andrea digs in!
The Barbera from Conterno really "set up" the following wine:
A 1985 Elio Altare Barolo "Vigna Arborina." This was was
delicious! Still showing plenty of life, the wine was gorgeous! It
paired handsomely with the lamb shanks which balanced the moderate tannin in the
wine.
We had some braised cardoons and
some polenta "stars" topped with fresh pesto.
Andrea surprised us all when she started singing the praises of the wines!
Nice voice!!!
A 1967 Bruno Giacosa Barolo from Serralunga d'Alba was amazing!
The bottle was slightly below the neck in terms of fill level. I removed
the foil and attempted to insert the corkscrew into the cork.
Much to my surprise: the cork had fallen into the wine.
Having stood the bottle upright a few days before dinner, I have no idea when
the cork fell into the wine.
We decanted it and despite less-than-ideal conditions, this was a very good wine
with the Italian cheeses!
It had the tarry notes why often typify old Nebbiolo wines.
Jonathan's bread was, of course, outstanding.
The famous Lucy Tolmach.
Dessert featured poached pears with a raspberry sauce and Killer Vanilla Ice
Cream along with Menchini Ovens Biscotti.
A 1991 Dorigo Picolit was sublime in this company!
Very fine!
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