Truffles Table

Wine Thursdays at Truffles

Today at Truffles — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:32:35 +0000

Here’s an idea:

Let’s give our guests a chance to select a wine they would like to drink at Truffles.

Every Thursday between 5 and 6 I will invite a wine distributor to present some interesting selections from their portfolio. Everyone in the bar, whether they’ve come for dinner or come for a drink, will participate in deciding which wine is showing the best. In return, the winning wine will be featured at Truffles as a glass pour the entire following week AT COST!!! No profits, ladies and gentlemen, just sheer wine fun.

The tasting will be informal, free of any strict format. Simply show up and share your precious palate with us. It will be fun.

And that’s not all…in addition, all the wines will be available for purchase by the bottle or by the case through Truffles. Our standard markup is only 20% . You’ll find this to be at least a few paper presidents less per bottle then in any store. Most of them are not available as a retail purchase in the first place.

I hope everyone is as excited about this as I am. It will be great fun.

And finally, did I mention that we won’t charge you for the tasting? After all it would not be fair to get all the opinions and then charge you for it. It’s a fair trade, we get your thoughts and ideas, you get to sip on some good juice.

See you Thursday…

Modern Take On Ancient Grape (Falanghina At It’s Best)

Today at Truffles — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:27:09 +0000

Great stuff here from Ercolino brothers. These guys come from the family that founded the famous Feudi di San Gregorio winery. They live and breathe vines and wines. Falanghina is one of the oldest grape varietals to be cultivated in Italy and was widely regarded as one of the top Roman wines, although in a bit of a different form than today. It took a few thousand years or so to reach its current incarnation, and the tastes have certainly changed, but that’s a story for another time.

Falanghina’s uniqueness stems from its broad spectrum of flavors and Vinosia’s take on the grape is a classic. It is viscous with apricot, white cherry and lychee flavors. There are some ripe tropical fruits here, and ripe pear juices as well, with just enough acidity to carry on the fruit aromas through medium finish. It is a great wine for the summer, and any seafood goes well with it, especially with some spice. I can’t wait to taste some of our scallops with it – the textures will match beautifully. Finally, a bit of fennel that Chef John uses on our Dayboat Scallop dish will bring some additional flavors to the wine…should be fun!

2009 Beneventano Falanghina IGT, Vinosia (Campania –
Italy)

Grape: Falanghina

Style: Dry

Alcohol: 13% Alc./Vol.

Region/Country:
Campania/Italy

It’s Summer. Time for Rosé!

Today at Truffles — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:31:57 +0000

Summertime is rosé time and options abound: there are way too many good rosés out there to even attempt to mention them all, let alone taste them (the latter did cross my mind as a summer project). But here are two that impressed me this week. Both are a bit odd, but that’s the way I like them.

Patricia brought me some 2010 Pinot Grigio Rosé from the Primaterra winery in Veneto. Most wines get their color from contact with the skins during maceration, and since Pinot Grigio skin is slightly pink or “rusty”, the grape juice develops a beautiful color reminiscent of salmon flesh, if a shade lighter. It’s really refreshing and pretty on the palate. All the Pinot Grigio goodies are present with perhaps some slight overtones of red delicious apple skin and not fully ripe strawberries. It’s bright and fun, just like a perfect summer sipper should be. And, of course, it’s a great conversation piece—a Pinot Grigio Rosé is not something you often see.

Now, if I enjoyed sipping Primaterra during a hot summer day and really wanted to stick with the same theme, the next one would fit perfectly. Jeff stopped by and brought some Terredora Rosaenovae. This winery is an offspring of the great Mastrobernandino winery from Campania. And what else would their wine be but the powerful Aglianico itself. Aglianico must be one of my favorite grapes, period, and this rosé is smashing. Superbly structured for a rosé, yet subtle enough to show off strawberry cream and even stone fruit like apricots and peaches. It is very dry, of course, and long on the finish. A definite step up in flavor from Primaterra and a great switch to evening activities and heartier foods.

I may have to pour two rosés by the glass. Decisions, decisions…

Sparrow’s in the House

Today at Truffles — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:14:45 +0000

Great stuff here folks! Passerina is another ancient Italian varietal. It is a thick-skinned, small berry, grown in a very hot region on the northern facing slopes. The climate helps with the acidity while the grape’s natural high sugars carry on the “sweet” stuff. It’s fragrant with really fine flavors of quince, pear, honey suckle and persimmon. It feels viscous on the palate but finishes dry, with a dose of tartness that makes it refreshing and begs for more sipping. A beauty. My suggestion is anything raw…obviously seafood leads the way here but I bet it would be great with a classic tartar or carpaccio. So I will be looking for some local trout cruda on our menu. Considering the viscous and aromatic nature of the wine I will probably try some spicy pasta dishes as well, like our home-made spaghetti with ‘nduja sausage, which carries some heat. If anything else fails in the kitchen, some fried chicken (mild or spicy…pick your poison) will be fabulous with this wine.

Oh, and what about the Sparrow in the title? It turns out that the local sparrows are so nuts about this grape that the Passerina name comes from Passero – Italian for sparrow and ina, a diminutive, most likely relating to the small size of the grape. Fun wine and fun trivia. What’s not to like?

2009 Colli Aprutini IGT Passerina, Barone di Valforte
Grape: Passerina
Style: Dry
Alcohol: 12% Alc./Vol.
Region/Country: Abruzzo/Italy