Capital tasters #9 - Italian & Sons

[pstarr]

Good session last night at Italian & Sons in Braddon. Pretty much the best Italian food in Canberra, I think. The lineup was all Italian wines, each matched to a course. Six wines, six courses, a few interloping dishes, five people, a bit of bitter at the Wig & Pen before, world cup later - good Wednesday night in the capital. Lots of laughter too.

The wines were:
- Bellavista NV cuvee
- Benanti Pietramarina Etna Bianco 2005
- Corte Sant Alda Soave 2009
- Ciacci Brunello 2004
- Borgogno Riserva (Barolo) 1999
- Braida Brachetto

I'll fill in food details and tasting notes later, but I really enjoyed seeing people react to these wines, and that all the wines showed as they should.

The Benanti (made from bush vine carricante grown on the slopes of Mt Etna) was one of the most interesting and engaging wines I've had. Much better than the 2003 of this I had recently. Having an elderly waiter who grew up 20 minutes from where the grapes were grown added something as well.

The Brunello was so good - grilled nuts, dried herbs, not dominated by cherry fruit, nut-tasting tannins - stunning wine and a great match for good beef from the wood fired oven.

[pstarr]

The food and wines:

Bellavista NV cuvee
- I think this is my favourite Italian white bubbles from the French varieties. Liked the balance of development and acid on this. Good with the antipasto.
Antipasto: focaccia; cured salumi plate; assorted olives with sage, chilli and rosemary
- Excellent quality smallgoods here. The bubbles went best with the salt and rosemary focaccia just from the wood oven.

Bracket of two whites with the next two dishes.
Benanti Pietramarina Etna Bianco 2005
- Stunning, mesmeric white wine for me. Constantly shifting and evolving (had been decanted for three hours). Sometimes fresh lemon, sometimes candied lemon peel. Some development, but still freshness and intensity. Maddening smells that would come and go - fennel bulb, fennel seed, fenugreek, hay. Made from carricante vines, goblet-pruned and grown on the slopes of Mt Etna. Had a 2003 of this a few weeks ago and this was a whole order of better.

Corte Sant Alda Soave 2009
- Very much a contrast to the Benanti! Good fresh characters, including a little pear juice, and attractive acid. Handled the soused sardines very well. Nice example of soave.

'Sarde in Saor' sardine fillets, pinenuts, currants and chardonnay vinegar
Tortellini di zucca, filled with roast pumpkin, ricotta and leek, with a burnt butter and sage sauce
- My pick of these was the sardine dish. Lovely balance of sweet and sour. Even tempted two of the group who had sardine issues... though they did also have some deep fried salt cod puffs.

Ciacci Brunello 2004
- This was really on song. All the power of good brunello - waves of nutty tanins (almost like tasting the skins of roast hazelnuts), attractive dried herb characters, restrained cherry fruit, even more restrained oak. Lovely. My wine of the night, I think, as stunning as the Benanti was. Everything I like in sangiovese.

Wood roasted fillet of beef 'Stracio' with lemon rucola and horseradish maionese
- This was the best dish of the night, for me. Very simply presented, slices of rested beef from a fillet cooked off briefly in the wood oven, salted and arranged on lemon-dressed rocket. A dollop of hot horseradish mayonnaise gave a contrasting sweetness and spice. Blissful, quality, simple Italian cooking, and just about perfect for matching the brunello.

Borgogno Riserva 1999 (Barolo)
- Always a please to try a Barolo with more than ten years on it. This looked a little older than a 1999, having moved through much of the secondary fruit spectrum and showed plenty of leathery development. An interesting tannin contrast to the Brunello - here less about waves of tannin, more like a lake. Good to drink, and excellent to accompany the roast suckling pig and cheeses later, but shaded by the Brunello for me as red of the night.

Roasted suckling pig on the bone 'Sardinian style' with baked apple and sage, cavalo nero, pan juices
- Pat and co at Italian & Sons source small pigs (3-5kg) and roast them whole in the wood-fired oven, before breaking down the meat and crackling. Really liked the large, fluffy pieces of baked apple and the excellent crackling here.

Braida Brachetto
- I really enjoy brachetto. All about fresh, sweet, red fruits (strawberries and raspberries), attractive bubbles and not too sweet. Very easy to drink, especially with desserts. Better a match with the fruit and panna cotta than the cheeses though. A different part of the sparkling red spectrum to what we tend to see in Australia.
Formaggi - selection of Italian cheeses served with crisp bread and dried muscatels
- Good cheese mix, though hazy memory of exact details. I do remember two of the party sneaking in a couple of panna cotta. A good espresso to finish and all done for another month.

[griff]

Sounds like the highlight was the food and wine matching. It was lovely reading about it. I am salivating now

cheers

Carl

[malliemcg]

Sounds like an awesome set of wines paired with some tasty food.

[Jordan]

A great night indeed. Food and wine worked really well together, with the Brunello wood oven beef match made in heaven!

Quite liked the Bellavista NV - obvious champenois style but seemed a little lighter and more lithe than typical NV champagne. A good start with the excellent salumi plate.

The Benanti was a perplexing wine. As Paul said, it just kept shifting in the glass. Liked it very much though - seriously interesting and complex.

The Corte Sant Alda Soave was a very good example of Soave. Refreshing and a good lick of acid to battle through the Sardines! (which I actually didnt mind considering I never go near the things normally).

The Ciacci Brunello was an excellent wine. Cherry fruit, savoury herbs, roasted almonds and refined tannins. Perfect with the wood oven beef fillet. Best wine on the night.

The 99 Borgogno Riserva was shaded by the Brunello but not by far IMO (I am very pro-Neb though). I admired this wine for its 'strict tannins' and its leathery, tarry fruit. Maybe in a bit of a 'nebbiolo hole' (similar to a cabernet hole perhaps!) at the moment and needs a little more time for the tannins and secondary fruit chracters to intergrate. Would love to see one in 5 years. I loved it with the hard cheeses.

The Braida Brachetto was interesting...as i have found brachetto before...a lovely rendition of Kirks creaming soda... but an interesting way to finish the night's wines!

Thanks for the great wines Paul and organising the food with Italian and Sons.

Looking forward to next month's dinner already.

[Craig(NZ)]

hope you had the italian wines in the middle of the table and well away from bottles of nz wine. they tend to fall over in agonay with no apparent reason if close to another country

[dlo]

A very good night, once again.

Italian and Sons was an excellent venue. The antipasto, beef and incredible dessert were highlights for me.

The frist sparkling was very good providing clean and precise flavours and a crisp, dry finish. I thought the bouquet very impressive showing classy yeast autolysis characters.

Both still whites took my fancy albeit in two contrasting styles. The Bianco, a moving target with its slightly oxidative herb, straw and savoury characters but blessed with great mouth feel and terrific length; the young Soave full of melon and pear, embellished with lovely crisp, mouthwatering acidity.

Thr Brunello was a class act. Open and ready for business, this outstanding medium-bodied red brims with succulent cherry fruit, subtle counterbalancing oak and refreshing acidity with the tannin structure a standout feature. The wine revealed wonderful balance, extremely good length and excellent prospects for a ten year plus stint in a good cellar.

The Barolo was firm and quite tannic with a tarry edge. I thought it a good wine but it lacked a little fruit to my taste and was a little lean, especially served next to the younger Brunello.

The dessert wine was most unusual and not a style I am endeared to, but I could detect the effort and sophistication the maker had gone to make something "different". Different it certainly is.

Thanks again to Paul for the opportunity to try some educational and perplexing wine styles.

A great theme at a very good Italian restauraunt.

[Jordan]

Just heard that Italian and Sons picked up One Hat in last night's SMH Good Food Guide Awards.

Many congratulations to the guys at I & S. Well deserved!!