I have not taken to writing much about Zoom Wine dinners at home, but Chef Roberto Donna(chefrobertodonna.com) did an amazing job pairing wine from D'Angelo (represented by Maurizio Farro of Cantiniere Imports) over the weekend. The fabulous four course meal was a true treat and Erminia from the winery in beautiful Basilicata(one of our favorite regions) was a special guest for the evening talking about her wonderful wines!
We broiled up some bread first and had a wonderful Artichoke spread while we opened the 2018 Villia dei Pini Bianco which was paired with the intense first course Merluzzo Salato Ciaureddo con la Ciambotta which was a bed of sauteed peppers, eggplant, onions, tomatoes and garlic topped with the salted cod with green onion. The acidity of the wine cut through the salt of the dish and got us off to a great start.
We went insanely nuts over the 2019 Villa dei Pini Rosato, a rose made from the local varietal Aglianico del Vulture The wine was a bit bitter with a Campari-ish taste that was truly remarkable and unique(I ordered two cases!) The pasta dishes for these dinners have been quite rich and heavy(and then we were full), but here we had Cavatelli con Cime di Rapa e Pan Grattato, a wonderful local pasta with broccoli-rabe, toasted breadcrumbs and Pecorino.
The red wine was the 2017 Aglianico del Vulture which we also loved and this was paired with Agnello Saporito con i Carciofi e le Patate al Forno Arregnate. a huge braised Lamb shank(and a ton of marrow down the middle to suck out!!) with Garlic & Artichokes served with crispy oven baked potato with oregano. We normally never finish the main course and this was all gone so fast it was funny..we loved it all and the flavors were intense, yet perfect.
The dessert was an amazing TENTAZIONE AL CIOCCOLATO, or
Layers of Chocolate Cake filled with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream and a Hazelnut
Crunch topped with a Chocolate Glaze..and I am not a chocoholic, but devoured it all with the wonderful Brachetto d'Acqui from Braida in Piemonte as D'Angelo does not make a dessert wine! It was indeed a super evening and hundreds gathered on the well-run zoom from all over the DMV as well as our hostess from Italy!!
