The Love of the Vineyard
by Brenda Francis
Life couldn't get any better than an epicurean meal at an Italian restaurant hosted by an Italian winemaker. That meal gets even better when it's held at Venice, the new restaurant in the space where Adega used to be. When the winemaker is humorous, informative, and lively, you have the recipe for a few hours of absolute heaven.
I joined Lucio Matricardi at Venice, 1700 Wynkoop Street, a few weeks ago to explore his wines and dine on some of Denver's best Italian fare. Matricardi is a man who exudes success. From the moment I met him I could tell that he was not only gifted, but he was a man with great passion. One of the first things that he proclaimed to me with absolute enthusiasm is that he "lived in America for two years studying for my PhD and loved it." Lucio received his PhD at University of California at Davis. His thesis, he explained, was "the relationship between the fruit flavors of wine and oak. It was a study on how to manage the wood and most importantly the aging of wine in oak."
After graduating from U.C. Davis, Matricardi was quickly employed by Banfi because of his expertise in the use of oak in aging wine. He remained at Banfi for five years where he perfected the use of oak with sangiovese. In 2005 he joined Gruppo Mezzacorona. "I enjoyed the huge portfolio of Mezzacorona. I enjoyed the white wines from the cool area of Northern Italy and reds from the warm area of Sicily."
Before we were seated at the table, we enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine from Rotari.
He generates a burst of laughter as he explains that he
"fell in love with how Rotari is made, a very fresh wine, a happy wine,
a very young wine, like me." Produced with the Champagne recipe,
Rotari sparkling wine is made from chardonnay and pinot nero,
the Italian name for pinot noir.
"When I joined Mezzacorna, I felt that since we are growers,
we can control the vineyards; we only put in the bottle, wine from our own grapes.
It is an important aspect of our strength. It is completely different to work with
owners because they own the passion. It is very important to pick when we want,
to prune when we want; it is the love of the vineyard. In Trentino,
we have 10,000 acres and all are harvested by hand." He then jokes with the guests,
"If you want to come and visit us, come in September, because we need a lot of workers then."
"We employ 1,500 people.
They spend more time in the vineyard then they do with their wives or husbands.
It is not a secondary factor; it is a key factor.
They must have passion for their work."
As we are served a beautiful salad of baby arugula, vine-ripened tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and olives, Lucio stops us before we pick up our silverware. "It is very important to enjoy the wine before you eat. Food changes the flavor of wine."
The wine paired with the salad was Feudo Arancio Grillo. "Grillo is a local [indigenous] grape and will not take oxygen well. It sees no oak. The grape's flavor is most important for us. It is the smell of Sicily, but the mouth of Trentino."
After we admire the Feudo Arancio Grillo with the fresh salad we move on to delicious raviolis stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomato, parmesan cheese in a gorgonzola cream sauce. The wine is chosen for this dish is Mezzacorna Pinot Grigio Riserva. Lucio talks about how "we can make better pinot grigio, but not in new barriques."
"How important is the barrique?
We ask the cooperage to send us samples of the oak.
We do a chemical analysis of the staves."
He then jokes, "if it is harsh, I tell the cooper,
don't worry, I'll buy this oak next year."
The pinot grigio is crisp with notes of melon, pear, and citrus.
There is a soft polished note that allows it to stand up to the cream sauce.
I told Lucio that I make stuffed shells with pumpkin. He proclaimed in an absolute Italian fashion, "If you make pumpkin with saffron and risotto you will touch the sky."
We move on to a pasta dish made with Italian sausage, wild mushrooms and fresh tomatoes paired with the lovely Mezzacorona Chardonnay. He again references the use of oak and the flavor of grapes. The chardonnay is ripe and exotic with notes of pineapple, yet fresh and crisp with flavors of apple.
Alessandro Carollo is the chef and owner of Venice and the samplings of his talent that day were impressive. I sat with three Italians at the table. (Andrea Frizzi was seated across from me.) When I was not writing furiously I found myself listening to the lyrical sound of Italian. Chef Carollo came to the table to say hello and to converse in his native language while we enjoyed his Scaloppine alla Caprese, veal scaloppini, fresh tomatoes, marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The most enchanting experience wasn't sitting and hearing them gossip in Italian and that Alessandro personally came to the table to make sure we were enjoying his cooking. The Feudo Arancio Nero d'Avola paired well with the savory sauce.
Lucio explains the struggles and value of this underrated grape.
"What makes the difference between new world and old world wine in Italy,
Spain, Portugal is that people planted grapes to eat.
They grow animals to eat.
There are so many indigenous varieties planted by the Romans.
Each variety makes different clones because of the evolution
of grapes over time.
Soon, you have 1,200 different varieties.
When people start to treasure the varieties,
they start to take care of them.
As we study bio-types we determine which clone is better.
Then we plant that one."
He talks about the potential in Sicily.
"Australians are so successful; they have the sun, they have the weather,
just like Sicily. The companies that have the knowledge and the money
can enjoy the same opportunity in Sicily.
In this region there is a progressive thinking;
let's do sangiovese, let's do Brunello, let's do pinot grigio,
because they are incredible. Making wine is not like milking a cow and bottling it.
You have to ask yourself, 'What soil do I have? What varieties do I have?'
But they didn't ask themselves these questions and it took ten
years to improve the characteristics of the local grapes."
"This wine, on the nose, is like red flowers, incredible,
very interesting variety, fresh, fluid flavor. You won't feel any wood at all.
It is a variety that is very different. Let us discover the simplicity of the wine.
We try to create fresh, elegant flavors. We need to discover the simplicity of the wine.
The sun makes the wine bigger; it makes more alcohol in the wine. The sun adds balance."
We rounded out the meal with a selection of delightful desserts paired with Rotari NV Demi-Sec.
This slightly sweet wine was perfect with the delicious canoli, icecream,
and fresh fruit served.
We top the whole afternoon off with, (yes, we were drinking wine during the day) a double espresso.
The wines, the food, the environment, the company, were all very Italian and remarkable.
Venice Ristorante & Wine Bar is located at 1700 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202 - 303-534-2222 .
Mezzacorna and Feudo Arcancio can be found in many retail stores around Colorado.
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