posted on Dec 17th, 2011 in News Wintery treats

I have spent plenty of time over the last year with our Pastry Chef Allison. She happens to be one of my favourite people, in and out of the kitchen. I see her every morning, timers clipped to her chef’s jacket, a tart in the oven, mixer humming, sauces simmering. She is always here before anyone else so she can work in peace and dominate the ovens before our almost all-men kitchen team comes barrelling in at noon. The kitchen always smells delightful when Allison is around and her creativity and organization is inspiring.

Yesterday afternoon she came up to the bar where I was working, carrying a plate with one of her new creations a top. I could smell baking spices wafting up and the dish looked deliciously festive. I was offered up a taste (lucky me) of this delightful dish:

Ginger & molasses cake with stout toffee sauce, blood orange preserve and rosemary meringue.

This dessert is so deliciously wintery.

The molasses cake is warmly and generously spiced with ginger, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. It is dense, fragrant and incredibly moist. Allison has a soft spot for these old school spice cakes and I can see why. There is something so homey and holiday spirited about them.

The blood orange preserve is a gorgeous deep apricot hue and has a silky smooth texture. It adds a bittersweet tang and welcome acidity that nicely offsets the richness of the cake. The preserve is made using the entire orange, juice and peels, which is a great way to utilize the entire fruit and as a result the preserve is intensely and deeply flavoured.

Texturally the dish is all soft and yielding until you bite into some of the crisp and gauzy meringue which just hints at the herbaceous essence of rosemary. Drizzled over top is a toffee sauce made with the Oatmeal Stout that we feature at the bar every winter, a deep chestnut brown and incredibly robust brew with an irony tang to it. Rich and decadent, the sauce adds a sticky goodness reminiscent of those steamed pudding cakes of Christmases past. There is something both antique and modern about this dessert at the same time. The way the rich molasses cake interacts with the rosemary meringue has a classic yet avant garde feel to it.

I have to be honest, I am eating this cake again for the second time as I write this- research, duty calls- and it is truly a taste of the season.

If you’re hankering for a holiday dessert that is miles away from your great aunts fruit cake but still festive enough to inspire thoughts of snow covered trees, come in and join us for Allison’s latest creation.

Enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommlier

posted on Dec 16th, 2011 in News Holiday parties- keep it simple and delish.

When planning a party or gathering for the holidays, wine and cheese make for the perfect, easy to assemble spread. It’s two stop shopping! Okay maybe three if there is no bread at the cheese shop of your choice, but most good cheese shops carry great loaves. During such a busy time of year the last thing any of us need is to be running around from shop to shop looking for speciality food items and then slaving over the creation of “hors d’oeuvres”.
A wicked cheese plate and some wine to match will always dazzle a crowd of friends. Especially if you have access to good cheese, and living in Toronto, thankfully we do.

When it comes to matching wine and cheese, there are a few pointers that can help along the way. Firstly, it is a myth that red wine matches best with cheese. White wine is actually far more versatile and will lend itself to well to several types of cheese, whereas red will cause more clashes.

Secondly, sweet wines are excellent with cheese, so its nice to have one or two of those on hand as well. A good Ontario example is Cave Springs’ delicious Indian Summer Riesling, which is rich and butterscotchy without being heavy. Northern Italy offers a great selection of sweet wines such as Recioto (which drinks similarity to a Port) and the lightly sparkling, wonderfully peachy Moscato d’ Asti which is always an excellent choice. These and many other other tasty options are all reasonably easy to find at a well stocked LCBO.

Thirdly, if you are going to go with red which lets face it, you have to because that’s what most people feel like drinking in colder weather, choose something fruity and on the lighter side such as Sangiovese from the Maremma, or an Ontario Pinot Noir (the 2009′s are awesome).

In terms of your actual cheese plate, go for variety and some nice, large chunks- there’s nothing wrong with leftovers in the cheese department. A couple of cutting boards and some cheese knives will do in terms of presentation and if you’d like to offer fruit or nuts as well, its always better to plate them off to the side instead of snuggled up to the cheese. And remember to have lots of bread and crackers at hand.

When it comes to cheese, here are some stellar options:

Thunder Oak Gouda- Cow’s Milk, Ontario
There is a cult following for this world class gouda. Able to compete with the best of it’s Dutch counterparts, this cheese is made up north in Thunder Bay by a Dutch family that emigrated to Canada, bringing their awesome cheese making skills with them. A crystalline texture that is sweet and spicy with flavours of caramel and nuts.

Chevre Noir- Goats Milk, Quebec
Ebony and Ivory do indeed go together in perfect harmony. With a name meaning “Black Goat” in reference to the ebony rind, Chevre Noir is an alabaster goats milk cheddar that ages gracefully. With a firm texture and rich nutty, herbal flavour, this cheese has been on the scene for over 20 years and is still going strong.

Parmigiano Reggiano- Cow’s Milk, Emilia Romagna, Italy
Simply put, one of the best cheeses in the world, period. If you’ve ever had the immense pleasure of digging into one of these huge wheels and eating the freshly foraged chunks, you surely understand the concept of being “drunk on cheese”. Its crumbly texture and tangy depth are addictive, it’s like little pieces of gold tumbling into your mouth. Enjoying it with a great glass of wine you will agree, is pleasure overload. And with it’s name emblazoned all over the rind, there is no room for imitators.

Benedictine Blue- Cow’s Milk, Quebec
Made in the only cheese factory managed by old school Monk’s in all of North America, this cheese has holy beginnings. Soft and velvety with big blue grooves. Expressive but not loud with a balanced and clean earthiness.

Grey Owl- Goat’s milk, Quebec
This cheese is a real looker with its dark ash rind and contrasting creamy white interior. The name of this cheese honours the legend of Archie Belany, one of Canada’s first conservationists who was also known as Grey Owl. The vegetable ash rind is edible and helps to keep this beautiful cheese moist and maintain its fresh lemony flavour. Eating this cheese is not only a gastronomic pleasure… it’s a shout out to Canadian environmentalism as well.

La Sauvagine- Cow’s milk, Quebec
Awarded a gold medal in 2006 at the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix for best cheese in Canada, La Sauvagine set off a spark in the Canadian cheese movement and thus encouraged local cheese makers to up their game. Crazy creamy and smooth with aromatics of spice and mushrooms with a savoury, yogurty finish. A welcome addition to any cheese board.

All of the above cheese options are available at my all time favourite cheese shop, The Cheese Boutique- www.cheeseboutique.ca . If you have never been, OMG go immediately- it is foodie heaven. Not only is their cheese selection the best in the city- ask for a tour of their aging rooms- they have many other culinary delights at hand like olives, meats, pastas, pastry and chocolate, you name it. Just browsing the shop is an extreme pleasure.

Or, if you’re altogether too busy to make it happen, you can always grab your pals and head into visit us. We have 35 wines open by the glass for you to enjoy and our cheese cave features all of the cheeses listed above. And, you don’t have to wash any glasses afterward!

Happy Holidays!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Dec 8th, 2011 in News Caviar and champagne- all in a days work.

Our kitchen has had a string of serious hits lately. As a Sommelier, I taste food the way I taste wine, which is to say that I’m subconsciously looking for faults in the overall balance of a dish. It’s certainly not that I want to find faults, but rather that my palate is trained to look for a lack of, or excessive amount of any one element like acidity, fat or seasoning. My taste buds have been boot-camped over the years to notice when something is out of whack. No, this doesn’t make me a nightmare to dine with (I swear!) as I usually keep my criticisms to myself, but being a part of our team gives me allowance to speak up when I think something isn’t working and I have to say that lately, I can find fault with none of the new dishes that are coming out of the kitchen for me to taste.

Tasting new dishes and coming up with wine pairings isn’t all fun and games I promise you, especially when being 7 months pregnant (as I am) can make you kind of squeamish. But hey, it’s part of my job so if duty calls to taste a dried fish product and some vino right after breakfast, I step up…however reluctantly.

And so, reluctantly step up I did when I was called on to taste a new pasta that was topped with a large helping of Bottarga di Mougine, a cured fish roe from grey Mullet. It’s not that this product is isn’t delicious, it’s that anything really fishy would have me turn in the other direction right now, and being a dried fish product, Bottarga really does have that intensely fishy aroma. Having lived for several years in a coastal region of Spain has also made me a bit of a shellfish snob, especially when it comes to things like shrimp, clams and mussels. Once you’ve enjoyed them absolutely fresh, its hard to accept what we in the North consider fresh to mean. So I wasn’t overly hopeful when I learned that the new dish I was tasting would feature spot prawns as well.

I will stop myself here and say that I was completely and entirely smitten by the dish that I tasted. It was outstanding. I have eaten it twice since just to make sure it wasn’t a one-off, and I have been dazzled each time and I plan to continue my research in this area as well. It’s part of my job:)

The dish is composed of perfectly al dente spaghetti that has been dried out slightly before cooking, which improves its texture and prevents each strand from getting gluey and stuck to the others. The spaghetti is tossed with wilted rapini leaves, lemon juice and just enough dried chillies to give the dish a faint hint of spice. But the fish products really are the stars of the show here. The spot prawns are sustainably fished for a period of only 6-8 weeks every year off the coast of BC and individually quick frozen in sea water to maintain their integrity. Now that’s what Im talkin’ about. I LOVE ingredients that have been well looked after. The result is a plump and sweet prawn and the best tasting bottom- dweller that I have had this far from the ocean.

The Bottarga di Mougine, or “poor man’s caviar”, is as it turns out much nicer and more delicate than it’s cousin Bottarga di Tonno, which is made from tuna and far less subtle. The Mougine is still a fishy product to be sure, but it jives so well with the otherwise mildly flavoured elements of this dish that it strikes a delicious balance. What amazes me most is that I’m not a fan of so many of the individual elements that this dish is made of, but the finished product totally rocked my world. It just goes to show- being adventurous while dining pays. I would hate to miss out on a dish this outstanding!

The house made spaghetti with spot prawns, rapini and Bottarga di Mougine is on our menu now and paired with the Italian equivalent of champagne- Franciacorta, and what a delectable match it is. A more rustic, down to earth and Italian version of champagne and caviar…with spaghetti!

Enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Dec 8th, 2011 in News Holidays reds- Introducing Lagrein

Unless one is familiar with the process of buying wine, it’s easy to imagine that we Sommeliers we purchase from a never ending supply that is always available to us. That idea makes sense looking from the outside in. One look at the LCBO shelves would indicate abundance- they’re practically bursting with product, a seemingly endless supply of wine to be had. But, if we want to bring in unique product for our lists, we must jump through a multitude of hoops to make it happen. One of which includes waiting for months on end for wine to arrive. I may find a wine I love in August and order it, but I will wait until November or later for it to arrive at my door. Needless to say this involves a lot of future planning (and patience) but when the moment arrives and the wine you’ve been waiting on shows up- ah… a moment of glory.

Back in the steamy months of summer I asked one of my favourite wine agents (more on agents to come in a future post so stay tuned!) to order me up a shipment of one of my fave cool weather reds, a real obscure vino that is perfect for the holiday season. One that inspires gamey, lamby dishes and stews. Just last week and in time for the festivities, the wine arrived.

I was introduced to this wine about 5 years ago while tasting through some delicious Northern Italian reds. It was one of those stop-you-short-in-your-tracks type of wines, it really stood out among the crowd of others. It was a Lagrein, from Alto Adige.

Alto Adige, also known as Sudtirol, is a part of Northern Italy that boarders Austria and as such the region shares elements from Italian and Austrian culture. Wine labels are written in Italian and German and the cuisine of the two regions intermingle to produce an interesting and unique mix of two otherwise very different styles. It is an almost entirely mountainous region that does extremely well with aromatic Germanic grapes like Gewurztraminer and Muller-Thurgau, but the reds from this region can be very special indeed, as is the case with well made Lagrein.

Red wine production in this region has mostly focused on tart, lighter-bodied wines that were exported up north to Germany and as such, were unknown to the point of obscurity in North America. Even if they had been available for purchase around these parts, they wouldn’t have been very popular as we North Americans have not yet warmed to this style of light, tart reds. Lately the region has seen some overseas success with wines made from international varietals like Cab Sauv and Pinot Noir- the latter of which does extremely well in the cool Northern climate of the area. But of more interest to me are the native varietals- I like to see what grapes born and bred in the area are capable of. Thankfully, Alto Adige has Lagrein among it’s native players.

Lagrein is a deeply coloured red grape that is naturally high in acidity and tannin. This means it has the potential, should those qualities be handled with care, to be turned into a very good wine. When well-made, Lagrein is full bodied without being heavy. Rich plum and cherry aromas exist alongside notes of earth, leather and mushrooms. I particularly favour the oaked versions which take on a nice spicy richness without being overwhelming. These are perfect wines for gamey meats like lamb and the un-oaked versions work beautifully with speck and bresaola, two local and delicious speciality meats of the region.

Currently at Enoteca Sociale we are pouring
Lagrein “Perl” 2009 DOC, Cantina Bolzano, Alto Adige.

It is one of our high-end by the glass offerings, but I absolutely had to open it as it pairs so perfectly with our lamb ragu pappardelle. This version has seen some oak and manages to be full and fresh at the same time, with a lovely, lush depth and spiciness that reminds me of the holidays.

Now that is has arrived it wont last long and lord knows it’ll be a while before the next boat brings us another shipment so if you love strange and wonderful wines come and and treat yourself to a glass of Lagrein soon.

Enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Dec 3rd, 2011 in News ‘Tis the season for treasures

Few things remind me of the holidays the way that chestnuts do. One of the most fond memories I have of living in Spain is that of the chestnut vendors in November. As soon as the temperature drops below 10 degrees, chestnut vendors are perched on every city corner selling newspaper cones of freshly roasted chestnuts. The sweet aroma of those fire kissed treats fills the cool air. For 2 euro per cone they’re a great street snack and their presence acts as the first sign that the holidays are just around the corner.

I don’t often see chestnuts on this side of the world and I’m not entirely sure why (although I suspect it has to do with what a pain they are to peel) but when they make an appearance in a dish I always leap at the chance to enjoy whatever their incarnation. Their pale meaty interior is so subtly sweet and earthy, they really are a rare treat.

Speaking of rare treats, this season also brings forth another, much more expensive and sought after culinary gift- the truffle. Indeed it is truffle season and great chefs everywhere take advantage of this time by throwing food-cost caution to the wind and snapping some up. Brillat-Savarin called them “diamonds in the kitchen”. Both man and beast go nuts for these treasures and eating them once will reveal why.

I have the good fortune of travelling through our prep kitchen en route to our wine cellar most every day and lately I encountered a most inimitable aroma on more than one occasion. It seems our chef has been sourcing truffles. Before I round the corner to see him hunched over a gleaming prep table investigating some hidden-from-view treasure, I am pleasantly accosted by an aroma so intense, so thick that it could not be mistaken for anything but its legendary self- the truffle.

Naturally I sneak up behind Chef and whatever truffle dealer is visiting to steal a peek at these precious nuggets. They are always handled by chefs with such a reverence, like they are pricey jewels. And indeed they are.

I have been blessed (sometimes cursed) with a bionic sense of smell so when it comes to truffles, boy do I get a nose full. I have never encountered an aroma so intoxicating pungent. The only other smell I might compare it’s effect to, is that of a jasmine garden at night in full bloom. It really is a perfume so perfect that only nature could have created it, and man could never replicate it. What a treat it is to have exposure to this rare and delicious item. Just being in the same room with truffles make me feel lucky.

So, you can imagine my blissful reaction when I discovered that our newest pasta dish was a marriage of these two deluxe ingredients- a chestnut ravioli topped with shaved black truffles. The pasta filling is a velvety mix of chestnut puree, apple, fresh thyme and ricotta cheese. Simply tossed in brown butter, the dish gets blessed by a gorgeous rainfall of delicate black truffle shavings. The combination is absolutely exquisite. I have been unable to dissuade myself from ordering it several times per week. But if I had to eat something else I guess I could be talked into our handmade pappardelle tossed in butter and topped abundantly with fresh white truffles, shaved table side by one of our chefs. I mean, if I had to…

Well it is the holidays and you know what that means- a green light for pure indulgence. This year allow yourself to do as the Europeans do and spoil yourself with some gastronomic pleasures that will leave your taste buds forever imprinted for the better.

It is the holidays after all… Enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

“Whosoever says truffle, utters a grand word, which awakens erotic and gastronomic ideas….”
Jean Antheleme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

posted on Dec 2nd, 2011 in News Up and coming Calabria

Within Italy’s deep south is the mostly forgotten wine region of Calabria. Bordering Sicily and surrounded on almost all sides by the sea, Calabria is one of Italy’s most rugged regions and one of the most geographically diverse. Dusty seaside towns are within an hours reach of densely forested mountain villages, but neither attracts many tourists. Despite the challenging terrain, farmers have been able to carve out somewhat of an economy based on agricultural crops like citrus fruits and olives…and then there are vineyards.

Many ingredients are required to make wine. The right climate and soils, the grape stalks themselves, people to tend the vineyards- wine could not be made without all of these essential elements. But once these basics are in place, winemakers still cannot make wine without one all important factor- money. Wine making is ex-pen-sive. A winery, with all its necessary equipment like stainless steel fermenters and oak barrels is a pricey place to outfit and typically requires some serious investment. So despite having the raw ingredients, ultimately wine and particularly good wine, cannot get made without money.

Calabria has a good climate for wine making- not with out it’s challenges, but that is true for many regions. Being surrounded by the sea on all sides protects the vines from excessive heat and there isn’t much rain, which can be damaging for grapes. Calabria also has good soils, in that they are poor which is what grape vines favour. There are interesting indigenous vines and certainly there are people that need work, so the basic ingredients for wine production exists, but the money is largely missing. This is the main reason that Calabria has not experienced the vinous renaissance that neighbouring Sicily and Puglia have. Calabria needs investment to get the party started, to enter the international market and get the ball rolling.

There is of course Ciro, Calabria’s most well known DOC but the wines have never made much of an impact outside of the region. Based on the native gaglioppo grape, these wines are not what one would expect from such a hot and dry place. They’re light in colour and high in acidity- a challenging style in this day and age which seems to prefer thick, dense reds. Add to that a lack of modern wine making techniques, and what you end up with is a wine that leans a little to far to the rustic side of things for most wine drinkers, especially those with new world palates.

But wine lovers beware- Albeit slowly, this region is up and coming as we speak.

I always jump at the chance to taste wines from Calabria because I love getting to check in on the progress of the wine industry there. Recently I tasted a lovely little red made from a native varietal called Marsigliana Nera. Marsigliana was traditionally used as a blending grape in Ciro. True to the style of the region, it is a light and tart with a lively acidity. Notes of ripe red berries are in the forefront with a faint background of charred earth and there is a little streak of florality there, almost a hint of violet that really charmed me.

One sip of this wine explains why this style of red makes so much sense for Calabria. When hanging out in the scorching deep south of Italy, the last thing one feels like is a giant inky 14.5 percenter. This style of red, light and bright, served slightly chilled would be much more palatable given the climate and the cuisine, which is features many spicy, fatty sausages like ‘ndugghia and peperoncini.

As they move forward I would love to see Calabria’s focus be on improving this regional style, as opposed to trying to make wine to suit the international market, which has proved to be a costly mistake for many wine regions in the past. However, it’s going to take some investment and a good amount of time to catch up. Not to mention some brave and adventurous wine drinkers to give these far flung regions a shot.

So next time your standing in the aisle of your local LCBO and you see a single, dusty bottle of Calabrian red cowering shyly next to a Chianti, give it a chance! You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

At Enoteca Sociale we are currently pouring
Marsigliana Nera “Speziale” 2010 IGT, Santa Venere, Calabria

Enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Nov 25th, 2011 in News Wine + Pasta= Love

There are two things we pride ourselves on here at Enoteca Sociale. Okay, there are more than two things…but there are two things that are a major focus for us, two things we are crazy passionate about, and those are our wine and and pasta programs. We are always striving and working to better them both so we can offer the most authentic experience this side of Rome that we can. After all, we are an Enoteca and so it’s only natural that wine and pasta are in the forefront.

Making the wine program the best it can be involves many considerations. It’s not enough to just source and offer incredible wines to our guests for great value. There are several steps we can take to make sure that every glass is the best it can be. Appropriate glassware (for more on glassware, refer to a previous post- glassware matters!), appropriate temperature and freshness are all important factors in wine service. Most of us have had the unfortunate experience of being served an expensive glass of wine, warm, in bad glassware. The wine could be stellar, but you’ll never know it if it arrives to you overheated in a sad, ill fitted outfit.
In order to make sure our wine is in it’s most enjoyable state we employ our trusty friends the Vinfinity and Enomatic machines. The Vinfinity allows us to return every bottle of wine to it’s pre-open state by removing oxygen and maintaining freshness. The Enomatic allows us to offer high end wine by the glass in perfect condition by removing all oxygen and controlling temperature, keeping some of our finest wines perfectly fresh while opened for up to three weeks. Wine is sensitive and is altered by heat, air and time. Having these systems at our disposable makes it possible for us to stand behind every glass we pour, assured that the wine is reaching our guest the way it ought to- in it’s finest form.

In an effort to make the pasta the best that it can be, we had a large pasta extruder shipped in from Italy. A pasta extruder is basically a large machine that enables us to produce fresh pasta daily in authentic shapes just as they are made in Italy. Pasta like our trecce and bucatini noodles are made using this machine. Our pappardelle and ravioli is hand cut from the perfectly textured sheets of pasta that the extruder helps us to produce. We have a full time member of our kitchen staff that makes fresh pasta 5 days per week for us. He spends hours thumbing out our gnocchi for gnocchi Thursday’s. There are people behind our pasta, not a package, which to my mind, is a very big part of what makes it taste so wonderful.

Our menu has been going through an evolution lately, and the pasta program is filling out with new and wonderful creations. Roman classics like the Bucatini and Cacio e Pepe are staples that are here to stay (promise) and as the weeks go by you will see some new players make an appearance. The most recent addition to our pasta menu is the Rutabaga Agnolotti. Let me say I could write an entire post on this pasta alone, it is that gorgeous. Who would have thought the dowdy rutabaga could be so… sexy? The softest pillows of pasta I have ever had the pleasure to taste are filled with pureed rutabaga that has been mixed with ricotta. The earthiness of this humble vegetable is echoed with sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and it’s delicate sweetness is lifted is by lemon spritzed maple butter. Crispy sage leaves give it aromatic height. As a whole it is sweet and earthy with a heavenly texture. Perfect fall weather pasta.

As far as we’re concerned, every person that comes into the Enoteca to eat is like family. We want to do the best we can by you and we want you to feel our love in everything we offer. Every system we have in place is there not because we like fancy machines, but to make sure your time with us is the best it can be, because seeing you happy seriously makes us happy too.

If you love wine and pasta, please stay tuned for more delicious developments. They are in the making as we speak, that I can promise you.

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Nov 24th, 2011 in News Italian wine- why we love it.

Sometimes I almost forget just how extraordinary Italian wines are. I never forget how amazing they are- but sometimes I fail to remember just how rare and special it is that many of them exist at all. This happens to our staff as well. They get used to working with wines like Greco di Tufo and Cacc’e Mmitte di Lucera and so they forget that these are some of the rarest wines on the planet. Just this week one of our staff member’s said to me, after an in depth seminar on the Pecorino grape, “I had no idea that Pecorino was so rare- I thought I could find it anywhere!”. Heck no. I’ve been spoiling them! This is some special fruit we are dealing with, and as such, some of these grapes deserve a shout out.

As a Sommelier, it’s a bit of a double edge sword that I’ve ended up focusing almost entirely on Italy. It means I have managed to specialize which is good, in that not many somm’s work exclusively with one region. But it also means that I can lose sight of what’s going on most everywhere else. But that’s ok, cause Italy is the best region anyway:)

What makes Italy the best region? The sheer volume of indigenous grapes alone makes it incredibly unique and exciting. There are literally hundreds of grapes that are native to Italy and grown no where else on earth. This makes it an eternally rich place for me to explore and dig up gems. No matter how long you have worked in Italian wine, there is always a grape varietal around the corner that no one knew was hiding there, just barely saved from extinction.

It’s key to remember that in Italy’s not too distant past, it was considered very uncool to work with native grape varietals. As it is within all areas of industry (and life in general for that matter), our past is full of rather unsavoury choices and the wine industry is no exception. There was once a massive uprooting of native varietals all over Italy in favour of planting what were seen as the “hot” grapes of the time like Chardonnay and Merlot (you can see where this is going, but hindsight is 20-20 as they say). Sadness ensued for any and all Italian wine grower’s with a connection to the land and to the historic grapes of the region. In fact, at one point it was actually deemed illegal to plant certain varietals, as it was decided that there was no money in their production and therefore it was a waste of time and land to plant them. This mandate slowly fizzled as time revealed that there was indeed a worldwide saturation of these (not so) “hot” varietals, and it might actually be better to stick to what you do best. In other words, better to work with the grapes that were born to be cultivated in their homeland. Still, its been slow going and in some cases there are single individuals to thank for the resurrection of a given grape. In reading an interview with the esteemed Leonardo Mustilli (of Mustilli winery in Campania), he alluded to the fact that even 30 years ago it was considered ludicrous to grow and bottle Falanghina, which was seen as a lowly table grape destined never to cross the border. If you have ever heard of Falanghina, if you have ever enjoyed wine made from this grape, you have Mr. Mustilli to thank for it. Fresh and mineral driven with great acidity and a silky texture, Falanghina is distinguished by lovely notes of fresh Bartlett pear, Amalfi lemons and hints of honeydew melon. Thanks Leonardo!

Another grape that had a near death experience is our beloved Schioppettino. This wine has been a favourite of mine and my staff since the day we discovered it. Made from the Ribolla Nera grape (dubbed Schioppettino in it’s home town) this wine is from the north eastern region of Friuli. After all the original plantings were destroyed in the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19^th century, vineyard owners decided against replanting it in favour of French varietals (another dark time in wine history when an angry little American bug destroyed pretty much all European vineyards). Saved by a few family farms that had decided to go against the trend, Schioppettino survived by the skin of it’s teeth, and boy are we glad it did. The dry red wine produced from this grape is unpretentious and lively with a full lush body backed by great acidity. It’s got intense notes of red raspberry and black pepper, and it is perfect with gamey meats like lamb and delicious with wild boar.

And Pecorino, one of my first Italian-white-wine-loves, this grape has always dazzled me. From sea-side Le Marche which is known for it’s delicious seafood, Pecorino naturally possesses a dewy softness and a zesty acidity. These characteristics don’t usually coexist simultaneously in such abundance. But Pecorino has both, and in a well made version you will experience them at the same time on the palate. Often it will be a trade off, a mouth caressing and unctuous texture at the expense of truly refreshing acidity. Imagine how well these traits would pair with something like a fresh scallop. The wine matches it texture but refreshes like a good squeeze of lemon. Guido Cocci Grifoni is credited with the reemergence of this grape and indeed it was his version I first fell for. It reminds me of a sauv blanc (acidity) and semillion (texture) with vibrant notes of fresh lemons and jasmine blossoms. Another absolutely gorgeous and virtually unknown grape varietal that we are fortunate enough to have access to today.

Can you imagine if it was all Cab and Merlot, everywhere, all the time? (shudder)

The Sangiovese’s and Nebbiolo’s are around to stay, of course. There is always room for the classics, but anytime you have the chance to try something new, I say go for it. Time and time again I have been rewarded for taking a chance on of some of Italy’s most obscure wines.

When you come in to dine with us, rest assured that our staff are well equipt to guide you toward a new and wonderful wine experience with something you haven’t tried before. And if you don’t like what you try, there are always several classics on hand just in case.

Available at Enoteca Sociale:

Falanghina di Beneventano “Lila” 2010 IGT, Cantine Pepe Luogosana, Campania

Schioppettino 2008 DOC, Villa Rubini, Friuli

Available at Pizzeria Libretto Danforth:

Pecorino 2009 DOC, Cocci Grifoni, Le Marche

Drink with us and enjoy.

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Nov 18th, 2011 in News Wine- lean into the unknown to love it.

Lately I have had the pleasure of providing extensive wine training to our new crew at Pizzeria Libretto on the Danforth. Our newest sister resto is set to open any time now and we’ve been spending many hours making sure our staff is ready to role. Wine education is a huge focus for us at Libretto Restaurant Group. We think it’s better to have 12 well educated wine stewards on the floor at a time rather than one Sommelier that holds all the knowledge. So I meet with the full front of house staff in each location once per week to pass on relevant wine info and (hopefully!) infuse them with some of my enthusiasm for vino (it’s contagious!).

It’s been a while since I met with a brand new crew and I was excited to get them excited about wine. In any large group of staff there are always varying degrees of wine knowledge, but there seems to be one constant in every group I’ve ever worked with. It appears to be a mild but lurking anxiety that presents itself when staff start to slowly realize, that there isn’t always one straight, clear cut and linear answer to questions regarding wine. Being a subjective matter, wine requires participation from it’s students. It’s not a just matter of memorization. It’s a matter of attempting to understand a subject about as straightforward as interpreting the Mona Lisa.

To get to know wine, to really understand it ultimately requires a relinquishing of the attempt to fully pin it down. We could make 1000 charts with 2000 headings neatly organized and arranged and still, the true essence of a wine may prove to elude us. Sometimes I imagine that wine is giggling at us from behind it’s glass facade while we try to intellectualize it. It’s insulting even, to think that we could systematically pull apart the thousands of strands that make up a great bottle of wine. Yes we can look, technically speaking, at what sunny days will impart as compared to cloudy days, what limestone will offer when compared with clay. But how to explain what the rising and falling tides, the waxing and waning of the moon, the energy of the farmer that tended the grapes- how to deduce what these elements contribute to the wine?

The best we can do is try, and oh how we do try. There are thousands of wine educators and experts and thankfully so. There are many books out there that help us to understand this complex and bewildering topic. But at the end of the day, wine is as individual and as varied as we are. Like a new friend, the only way to get it know it is by spending time with it. There is nothing magical about my or anyone else’s nose or palate. The only thing that separates me and my students is practice.

What’s most challenging to impart to students of wine is that sixth sense that goes behind your standard dissection of the acidity-tannin-nose-palate breakdown. Let me give you an example. We taste a wine together and decide it’s got medium level acidity, medium but fine tannins, and aromas/flavours of dark cherries and leather. That is a pretty decent handle to have on a wine and certainly an essential start. The only problem is that description fits about a million different wines, and at least a handful on the same wine list. How do you capture the character of each wine? How do you get to know what elegance feels like in the mouth, what well-made-ness translates to on the palate? How do you gain a sense for quality, balance and finesse?
Practice! Practice! Practice! And an intuitiveness for art helps.

I try to convey to anyone trying to understand wine that it starts by simply allowing that sixth sense to blossom, which entails telling your intellect to shut it so you can actually hear what the wine is trying to tell you. Because there is so much stigma around that has told us that wine is a subject understood by only a small number of (usually privileged) people, our minds tend to tense up when we first start to work with wine, telling us things like “you’ll never smell anything. It all smells the same. I cant do this. All I smell are grapes! I don’t understand this! I’ll look stupid!”. I’ve been there and I’ve seen it in every class I’ve ever taught and it’s just not true. Patience and the willingness to lean into something equivocal is an essential part of this study. Wine demands we get comfortable with unknown earthly forces. That, my friends, is what makes it so groovy.

So to all ya’ll students of wine out there, whether studying formally or attending trainings through work, I invite you to give yourself over to a very mysterious subject. Have a laugh with it, dance with it, talk to it, and most of all listen to it without trying to wrestle it into submission, because then you will always miss out. If we stop projecting all over it, we get to experience wine in it’s truest sense. If it’s bad wine, good wine, old wine or new wine, the liquid in your glass will tell you a story if you can release your grip enough to avoid stifling it’s voice.

Have a glass (or two) and enjoy!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier

posted on Nov 18th, 2011 in News Salad Obsession- The new Kale Salad

Is it possible to be in love with a salad? Indeed it is. Love is what I feel for our most recent menu edition, The Kale Salad.

I eat my fair share of kale, and I eat a lot of salad so I’m quite confident when I say that this dish really has something special going on. It’s a fall celebration on your plate with gorgeous texture and deep rich flavours. I was not aware that a salad could be so meaty, if you will. It’s so savoury tasting that you could swear someone has burrowed bacon fat into it somewhere- but I can promise vegans everywhere that this creation is 100% pure veggie. Let me build an image of this delicious fall dish for you.

We’ll start with the kale. It’s dry baked in an extremely hot oven with a touch of olive oil and pepper which produces a crispy, charred and full flavoured base for the salad. Something about this cooking method brings out a smoky depth that I really didn’t think kale had in it. The charred edges of the leaves surround soft and slightly warm interiors. After tasting kale this way, I never want to eat it any other way and in fact went home after trying it, dry baked a whole head of it and ate it on my own.

Farro (otherwise known as spelt) is prepared by simmering it gently in an aromatic broth including shallots, white wine and herbs. It’s cooked slightly al dente to contribute to the overall texture, which it does by adding density and substance to what might otherwise be a very light salad. The farro makes this salad instead eat like a meal.

King oyster mushrooms are thinly sliced and added raw, enriching the dish with their earthy, foresty depth. Fresh pine nuts are toasted. These ingredients are then tossed together ever so simply with excellent quality olive oil and lemon juice. So far a pretty autumnal flavoured and coloured salad. Then persimmon makes her appearance.

Generally an underused ingredient and one that doesn’t spring up very often on restaurant menus, the persimmon is something I look at in the supermarket and think “I wish I knew what to do with that”. I have always found it a bit sloppy and pulpy when ripe and therefore difficult to use. Our chefs however knew how to remedy this issue. Slightly under ripe persimmon’s are selected and sliced ultra thin before being added to the salad. In addition to bringing a wallop of colour reminiscent of an Indian summer sunset, they bring a zingy acidity that completely enlivens the dish.

What arrives on your plate is this assemblage of crispy, slightly warm kale tossed with seasoned farro and toasty, creamy pine nuts, raw mushrooms and the bright, beautiful persimmon’s. The whole thing has been tossed in fresh lemon and olive oil and sprinkled with a minute pinch of grainy turbinado sugar, a surprise that adds a little more crunch and further balances the lemony acidity.

A combination of otherwise very simple ingredients. What ends up dazzling on the plate is how each element was chosen and treated with such care. Each component tastes good on its own so when they’re mixed, there is an incredible symphony of flavours and textures performing together.

Our seasonal kale salad had been paired with a Northern Italian Pinot Bianco with only the slightest hint of residual sugar, a fresh lively acidity and a nice, soft mouth-feel.

Buon Appetito!

Lesa LaPointe
Sommelier