Wine Dinner - Zeppolis (Wines of Spain and Italy) 24. March

Two weeks ago we made it through the snow to a wine dinner at Zeppoli's Italian restaurant. Matthew Burch led the group in a tasting of 11 wines and several different foods.

Matthew had tons of great food prepared.

Despite the snow, a big group made it out - most likely other students hoping to get some points in before the chaos of the end of the semester begins.  I went with my girlfriend Becky and my roommate Jack, and we were all excited to see what was in store, since we had heard good things.  When we got there there was no one else there, but that quickly changed - Matthew acted quickly and got everything in order, and we met a fellow student who sat at our table named Azure - she fit right in and really contributed to our discussion on the wines and foods, which made for a nice experience.  

WHITE WINES

1. Cortenova NV Prosecco DOC Treviso Italy

We kicked it off with an Italian white wine, a Cortenova NV Prosecco from Treviso Italy.  Matthew explained that the DOC meant that the wine had been produced according to legal specifications, similar to the French AOC.  Being a Prosecco, it was a effervescent wine with a nice, clean yellow color with a white layer of bubbles at the top.  It didn't have a particularly strong bouquet, , but it had a dry, bubbly sensation on the palate.  It had a nice, fresh taste, and a light mouth feel.  

While I didn't get any particularly potent fruit flavors the first time around, I tried the second taste after eating some horseradish/chive cheese.  I thought it made the wine seem slightly fruitier, although I think horseradish might have been to strong a flavor to really pair with this more delicate wine.  

2. Cortenova Pinot Grigio DOC Italy (Magnum) 2011

I found that we had actually tried this wine the week before at the Vintage Cellar, but I liked it, so I'm glad I got to try it again, and this time with food.  I noticed that alcohol flavors came through on the nose and a weak pear aroma was there as well.  But there was more of a fruit flavor that came through on the mid-palate, and though it seemed a thin flavor at first, it was great served with a creamy smoked gouda.  I thought the creamy cheese cut some of the acidity and made the fruit flavors like banana and pear more apparent.  

2. Cortenova Pinot Grigio

3. Vinho Verde

3. AV Vinho Verde AOC Portugal

This third wine was intriguing because I had not yet tried a Vinho Verde.  I've been reading A Cooks Tour by Anthony Bourdain and one chapter is spent in Portugal drinking copious amounts of Vinho Verde, so I was interested in seeing what it was like.  We learned that it is picking up in popularity throughout the world.  It had a much fuller nose than the previous two wines we tried, peach and pear flavors were most apparent to me.  It was almost a clear color and there was some effervescence, a kind of mild sparkle that we learned naturally occurs with the yeast.  I thought it had great flavors of peach, and I really liked this wine; while I rated the first two 82 and 85 respectively, I thought this one was a 90.  

4. Opera Prima NV Sparkling Moscato

So far we haven't really gotten in to Moscatos, but I was down to try this one.  Good amount of bubbles in this one, and it had some nice fruity flavors on the nose as well as some nice floral scents, but in the background, I felt like there was a lingering asparagus smell - it didn't detract from it, but I was sure it was there. Some kind of vegetable at least, but I would say asparagus if I had to pin it down.  Fortunately that wasn't a flavor I got when I tasted the wine.  Rather, I got a honeysuckle sweet flavor, but certainly not overly sweet.  I also felt like there was a flavor like artificial pineapple - kind of like what you get in pineapple candies.  I gave it an 88 - not a bad Moscato!

4. Sparkling Moscato

5. Opera Prima 2011 Chardonnay La Mancha DO Spain 

One of the better Chardonnays I've had - the nose seemed almost pine-like, which I found interesting - it's a quality I haven't found in other Chardonnays.  This wine had a clean golden color, and it didn't look like it spent much time (if any) in oak.  I'd be willing to bet this wine went through malolactic fermentation, as I thought there was a really apparent creamy butterscotch flavor - maybe caramel as well.  Additionally there was a tropical fruit flavor and a light tartness in the background.  It seemed really well rounded and complex for what I would expect of a $7 Chardonnay.  Really good wine, I rated it 91.

5. Chardonnay

RED WINES

6. Aviva Vino 2009 "Aletta" Garnacha Campo de Borja Spain

I liked this one; I thought it had a powerful nose, and even though it was a little bit too strong of an alcohol flavor, I thought it had some good dark fruit flavors as well, primarily blackberry.  I thought it was a little bit hot, but it had a nice medium mouthfeel, and with the barbecued meatballs I felt like it was a lot smoother, and more fruit flavors like cherry and blackberry came out. I rated this one an 89, and although my table-mates weren't crazy about it, I would love to try it again.

Trying the Aviva Vino, pinky out, as advocated by Patrick Star.

The epitome of class.

7. Opera Prima 2011 Tempranillo La Mancha DO Spain

This Tempranillo had a great ruby red color that I've seen in a few Tempranillo reds that we've tried recently.  I thought it had a really eclectic nose, ranging from blackberry fruit flavors to cocoa, butterfingers, and maybe even mushroom (there is a distinct smell that I've gotten from some reds, I can't quite put my finger on what it really is, but I've been thinking mushroom in my head - I made a mushroom gravy with Pinot Noir recently and it smelled a lot like that, but I'll have to come up with a better, more concrete descriptor for myself).  There was a thick cocoa taste, like dark chocolate with some light caramel flavors - I was reminded of those Rolo candies, and that is what we all agreed on.  I also got some nice blackberry and strawberry flavors as well.  I really liked this one, and it was actually my highest rated wine, 93.

7. Opera Prima Temranillo

8. Cortenova 2011 Sangiovese di Puglia IGT Italy

Sangiovese is one of the grapes that I haven't really tried much of.  The nose was a little bit similar to the last one, with that mushroom-like smell.  The taste was really nice with a definite strawberry flavor, and maybe a little bit of cherry.  There was a noticeable amount of tannins, and it certainly had a longer finish then some of the other wines we tried at Zeppoli's.  I tried this wine with some white cheddar, and I found that it was much fruitier, and the cherry flavors came through nicely.  

8. Sangiovese di Puglia

I'd love to try some more Sangiovese wines in the near future.  

9. Cortenova 2010 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Italy

I thought this wine was a little lighter in color, and the strawberry aromas were slightly overpowered by some alcohol flavors.  I tried it with some Fontina cheese, and I thought it made the wine velvety and fruity, much better than my first taste. 

You can kind of see the slight color difference between these two wines pictured here.

9. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

10. Damilano 2009 "Marghe" Nebbiolo d'Alba DOCG Piedmont Italy

I thought this one had a bolder nose than the last couple wines, though it had a smooth taste, despite the higher alcohol percentage.  I'm interested in trying more Nebbiolo wines, especially with food like grilled red meat and cheeses.  By this point in the tasting there wasn't much food left, so I'd like to try some different wines like this one with a full meal. 

10. Damilano Nebbiolo d'Alba

11. Morada San Gria

We also got a bonus wine, one that we had tried at the Vintage Cellar earlier in the semester.  It was served in between the whites and reds.  The nose packs a sweet punch, and smells like a sweet, tart cherry.  It has a really sweet grapefruit flavor, and I felt like it tasted like sweet tart candy, minus the tart, so you know it's sweet.  I thought it was a refreshing smell, but a little too sweet for me; I tend not to really enjoy the wines that taste like they're just juice.  It was nice to get a second go-around for this one though, even if the second chance solidified my first decision.  

Bonus Wine: Morada San Gria

So those were the wines.  Matthew told us a lot of great facts about these wines and other wine knowledge; he explained that we were using Regal stemware, glasses used at Zeppoli's exclusively for tastings, not served for dinner.  These were great big glasses that really allowed us to swirl the wine and get a good concentration of the smells, and I think the experience was better because of it.  He also suggested a book called Billionaires Vinegar that I'd love to check out sometime.  In addition to many other facts about the wines themselves, he also told us about a 2012 law that allows customers to bring their own wines to restaurants; customers should call ahead and ask if it's alright with the managers, and there is a corking fee, but it seemed like a good way to enhance the experience of a wine you have at home that you would really like to try with a particular dish.  

Here Matthew is explaining something about the wines we tried and the food he chose to serve with them.  I thought it was a great idea to concentrate on particular regions like Spain and Italy, and despite the short notice, Matthew seemed really well-prepared, and he was easy to talk to, meaning we could ask him questions throughout the tasting.

Here's our table group.  From left to right: Azure, Becky, me, and Jack.

This dinner was a great time, and I'd love to do another one soon.