My trip to Vinitaly in April gave me one of the best meals of my life. At a restaurant in Verona called Pompiere I had a slow roasted pork shin which was stunning. This peasant cut of meat, but cooked with skill and attention was outstanding, and that is the sort of Gastronomy that I like simple food prepared in a way, and preferably by a person, from the region I'm eating in. And that pork shin was gorgous, preceeded by a load of pickles and sliced meats and superbly cooked pasta. To misquote the great thinker Homer, "mmmm, pork shin...."
But food doesn't have to be cooked in a great restaurant in the home of Romeo and Juliet. I love tripe, and when it is served cold, on a polystyrene plate, saturated in salt, white pepper and malt vinegar on a rainy market day in Yorkshire, I am equally as happy. And haggis around a fire in a Scottish cottage has to be one of the greatest culinary experiences. Food is not just about what is on your plate, but where you are eating it.
An invitation to an Italian wine dinner in an Italian restaurant had me excited, the fact that it was in Edinburgh, made my excitement less so. Certainly, there is a large Italian community in Edinburgh, and therefore a lot of Italian food, but without knowing the restaurant, it could be hit or miss. Vittoria, just off Leith Walk, was Italy the second you stepped through the door. A larger than life owner, Italian being spoken by customers and staff alike was a good thing. A huge plate of Antipasto, Calamari and Meatballs as a starter, got the wine flowing (will get onto that later) and everyone was abandoning "Thank you" and using "Grazie". Then when everyone appeared to choose steaks or veal, I made the choice of trying to revisit my great Veronese meal, and opted for the most peasanty thing (outside of pasta) on the menu. A ham shank with a bean and tomato sauce, slightly spicy, with mashed potato. It arrived, and it looked big.
Firstly, you need a degree in knee surgery to dissect this monster! With a big thick bone running down it, you carve away at the meat , hoping it doesn't fall off the bone, splatter into the tomato sauce and go all over your shirt. Taste wise - stunning. Texture - stunning. Status after devouring this monster of a meal - stuffed! It was quite salty, but this was tempered by the lovely tomato sugo and mashed potatoes, all balancing together very well. The meat was succulent and fell of the dinosaur sized bone. OK, so it wasn't as good as the pork shin in Verona, but it was nearly there. If you go to Vittoria, this is the dish to get... just don't eat before hand!
The reason for the dinner though was to try Planeta's wines. Francesco Planeta is a lovely man. With a slight similarity to Ken Dodd, with much less teeth, he loves talking about his wines. Admitting that he is particularly partial to his Merlot, I was pleased that we would get a chance to try this wine. We started with his La Segreta white from the 2007 vintage. It was clean, nicely lemony with a dry pithy flavour. Quite vegetal though with a metallic element to it A bit crude on the mid palate with quite a lot of alcohol. A nice wine though, and scored 7.5/10.
The new Rose was next. The '07 is the first vintage of this wine - 100% Syrah - in it's "fashionable" packaging, is like a bag of chips. It's alright but that's it. You will enjoy it when you are consuming it, but it won't stay with you, and if it does, it will probably be because you wish you had bought a salad or a different rose! But that's what I think, and others disagree with me so go to Planeta's website for other views.
The 2006 La Segreta Red is all about cherries, herbs and chocolatey tobacco. A dark, bramble jam flavour, but without the sweetness, and a lot of bitter liquorice. A long, clean finish but so much liquorice it could be a bit big. Having said that, with the food I was eating it was nearly perfect, with the bitter elements of the wine mingling perfectly with the sweet tomato sauce.
We then tried the 2005 Merlot which despite being a very nice wine, I thought it was a bit pricy. Minty, menthol and a bit of cherry on the nose, with a firey alcohol element dominating the soft bramble and a strange, but nice, dark and white chocolate flavour. Very vegetal. It is not a sophisticated wine and beats you up a bit. The finish however is good, dry with tobacco to it and it is nicely clean. Shame that it is a bit of a bruiser. 8/10
Finally, and somewhat rushed, was the Muscat. It was nice, clean with a lovely honey and lemon flavour. Lots of buttercup syrup and a clean orange flavour. Good acidity with a balanced finish that cleans up beautifully. 8.5/10
Like most Italian wines, these are supposed to go with food, but the wines are as I remembered them from 3 years ago, slightly alcoholic and a bit 'new worldy'. These are good wines, and Francesco is a great person to sit down and have dinner with. The wines just aren't really my thing.
Planeta Wines
Vittoria Restaurant
But food doesn't have to be cooked in a great restaurant in the home of Romeo and Juliet. I love tripe, and when it is served cold, on a polystyrene plate, saturated in salt, white pepper and malt vinegar on a rainy market day in Yorkshire, I am equally as happy. And haggis around a fire in a Scottish cottage has to be one of the greatest culinary experiences. Food is not just about what is on your plate, but where you are eating it.
An invitation to an Italian wine dinner in an Italian restaurant had me excited, the fact that it was in Edinburgh, made my excitement less so. Certainly, there is a large Italian community in Edinburgh, and therefore a lot of Italian food, but without knowing the restaurant, it could be hit or miss. Vittoria, just off Leith Walk, was Italy the second you stepped through the door. A larger than life owner, Italian being spoken by customers and staff alike was a good thing. A huge plate of Antipasto, Calamari and Meatballs as a starter, got the wine flowing (will get onto that later) and everyone was abandoning "Thank you" and using "Grazie". Then when everyone appeared to choose steaks or veal, I made the choice of trying to revisit my great Veronese meal, and opted for the most peasanty thing (outside of pasta) on the menu. A ham shank with a bean and tomato sauce, slightly spicy, with mashed potato. It arrived, and it looked big.
Firstly, you need a degree in knee surgery to dissect this monster! With a big thick bone running down it, you carve away at the meat , hoping it doesn't fall off the bone, splatter into the tomato sauce and go all over your shirt. Taste wise - stunning. Texture - stunning. Status after devouring this monster of a meal - stuffed! It was quite salty, but this was tempered by the lovely tomato sugo and mashed potatoes, all balancing together very well. The meat was succulent and fell of the dinosaur sized bone. OK, so it wasn't as good as the pork shin in Verona, but it was nearly there. If you go to Vittoria, this is the dish to get... just don't eat before hand!
The reason for the dinner though was to try Planeta's wines. Francesco Planeta is a lovely man. With a slight similarity to Ken Dodd, with much less teeth, he loves talking about his wines. Admitting that he is particularly partial to his Merlot, I was pleased that we would get a chance to try this wine. We started with his La Segreta white from the 2007 vintage. It was clean, nicely lemony with a dry pithy flavour. Quite vegetal though with a metallic element to it A bit crude on the mid palate with quite a lot of alcohol. A nice wine though, and scored 7.5/10.
The new Rose was next. The '07 is the first vintage of this wine - 100% Syrah - in it's "fashionable" packaging, is like a bag of chips. It's alright but that's it. You will enjoy it when you are consuming it, but it won't stay with you, and if it does, it will probably be because you wish you had bought a salad or a different rose! But that's what I think, and others disagree with me so go to Planeta's website for other views.
The 2006 La Segreta Red is all about cherries, herbs and chocolatey tobacco. A dark, bramble jam flavour, but without the sweetness, and a lot of bitter liquorice. A long, clean finish but so much liquorice it could be a bit big. Having said that, with the food I was eating it was nearly perfect, with the bitter elements of the wine mingling perfectly with the sweet tomato sauce.
We then tried the 2005 Merlot which despite being a very nice wine, I thought it was a bit pricy. Minty, menthol and a bit of cherry on the nose, with a firey alcohol element dominating the soft bramble and a strange, but nice, dark and white chocolate flavour. Very vegetal. It is not a sophisticated wine and beats you up a bit. The finish however is good, dry with tobacco to it and it is nicely clean. Shame that it is a bit of a bruiser. 8/10
Finally, and somewhat rushed, was the Muscat. It was nice, clean with a lovely honey and lemon flavour. Lots of buttercup syrup and a clean orange flavour. Good acidity with a balanced finish that cleans up beautifully. 8.5/10
Like most Italian wines, these are supposed to go with food, but the wines are as I remembered them from 3 years ago, slightly alcoholic and a bit 'new worldy'. These are good wines, and Francesco is a great person to sit down and have dinner with. The wines just aren't really my thing.
Planeta Wines
Vittoria Restaurant
Comments