hot wine producer, aspiring wine expert
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If Emanuele Colombo’s photo (left) had been included in the “Visiting Winegrowers at Moore Brothers” e-mail notification from a few weeks ago, the store that evening would have been overflowing with women. Emanuele is extremely easy on the eyes. My friend Rita was so smitten she bought a bottle of the Monte Del Mare – her first purchase ever of wine from Moore Brothers (and the girl rarely drinks).
I was quite smitten myself.
I’ve never been to Italy but I’m certain when I do I’ll visit Asti in Piedmont, where Emanuele and his parents (Mariagrazzia and Francesco) live and tend to “La Giribaldina” farm. Three Barbera d’ Astis are made: Monte Del Mare (from young vine grapes, stainless steel fermented), Vigneti Della Val Sarmassa (a mix a young and older vine grapes, with some aging in oak) and Cala Delle Mandrie (all from older vine grapes and aged in a mix of old and new oak).
Having introduced myself to Emanuele as a Moore Brothers employee, I resisted the urge to ask personal questions and instead attempted to come across as a serious wine connoisseur by querying him on things like the age of the vines and the harvesting of the grapes. (All hand-harvested, by the way.)
Inspired by his good looks, and, in all seriousness, the tasty wines, I decided it behooved me to try the wines with food.
Piedmont is well-known for their creamy, rich risotto and the prized white truffle. And being located in cooler, northern Italy their cuisine traditionally utilizes butter, cream and eggs more so than olive oil. But given my dislike for truffles and semi-lactose intolerance I experimented with a lighter preparation: farroto (farro cooked risotto-style) with rosemary and thyme, sauteed crimini mushrooms, roasted butternut squash and kale. All cooked, sauteed, and roasted lightly with butter.
Since I planned on going easy with the butter, I opted for the Vigneti Della Val Sarmassa over the Monte Del Mare and Cala Delle Mandrie. With its light oak treatment, the Sarmassa has a softer mouth feel than the all stainless-steel fermented Monte Del Mar and is lighter-bodied and less tannic than the Cala Delle Mandrie.
What a delicious pairing. The wine and various elements of the dish complimented each other really well. There was something special going on specifically with the mushrooms and hint of rosemary that brought out an earthiness from the wine. I’m generally not a big fan of mushrooms so I was surprised by how much tastier I found them. I had been worried that the sweetness of the butternut squash would compete with the fruitiness of the wine, but roasting it in melted butter really rounded out the sweetness. Everything came together nicely. Wine truly is meant to go with food.