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Broadening My Wine Horizons
One of my favorite restaurants (well actually it’s two for one) Twinside, through their Mixologist Supreme, Daniel Benoni, has established occasional menu pairings with wine and spirits. We are going to our third one next week. Their debut was one in which he matched cocktails from Gotha Spiriti Nobili to a series of small dishes that I described in this post. Although I embraced Italian Amari quite easily, this event changed my mind about vermouth – no longer just a nameless fixer of sauces at my stove or a joke in a martini.
The next one featured Terčič, a small but very distinctive winery in an area of
Italy that in one sense has defied the borders fixed by monarchs and secular rulers alike – the region is noted for its strong and successful presence of small to mid-size enterprises – and while Friuli Venezia Giulia (currently unhyphenated) is the home of my preferred prosciutto – San Daniele – it also produces a prodigious variety of grapes and wine.
Over 30 grape varieties, in fact – and vintners in Friuli Venezia Giulia (shortened to FVG) are rightfully sought after for lovely white wines that are a joy to have on their own and also make nice partners with food. FVG is currently the RWM’s* favorite wine hunting ground. He has a lot of ground to cover, as there are astonishingly over 1700 vineyards to be explored in this region. He’s a bit giddy at the prospect
Food And Wine
But back to the food and wine pairing with Terčič: the staff at Twinside chose a menu of salumi and cheese as a starting point, followed by a drop-dead beef tartare and a herby pumpkin soup with a blue cheese garnish – a luscious combination -and then a boneless chicken with a fruit stuffing. The dessert was a Ciambella, which is a dry cake with vanilla/lemon flavoring – a traditional Italian sweet that will never be in my recipe box.
The Terčič family opened our meal with a wine made from Ribolla Gialla. This is a new-to-me white wine from a grape grown predominantly in this area. It is considered, in fact, by some wine critics to be the flagship grape of FVG. I definitely got the light peach flavor along with that clear mineral finish I adore in a white wine. I now look for their
Ribolla Gialla wine in stores here.
Terčič produces a dependable Merlot that I don’t think is available in the US, but you can purchase their white wines domestically and should definitely look for them. They are reasonably priced stars, well structured with defined tastes and pleasing aromas. The Terčič family served glasses of Chardonnay Planta and Friulano. While the RWM loves a really oaky California style Chardonnay, I much prefer this more restrained style, where you definitely get the oak barrel flavors of honey, but with a more subtle touch. Their Friulano is fresh and slightly herby.
The surprise marvel for both the RWM and the assistant quaffer is their Pinot Grigio. I have always thought of Pinot Grigio as the wine slugged down on a girls night out like in Netflix’s Big Bang Theory. This one had crisp flavors and actually had a lovely finish. Definitely far above a tee shirt wine.
Terroir Education
The Terčič vineyard is nestled in San Floriano del Collio – this most eastern part of FVG – Slovenia is to the east, Austria to the north, with the Adriatic Sea toward the south and its terraced hills are surrounded by a range of the Alps. Generations of vintners in Collio have planted their hillsides to take advantage of the wind conditions, which keep the grapes dry and provide advantageous temperature changes between night and day. I think you will find the Terčič history an absorbing read.
A lot of stuff is written about soil, which used to make my eyes glaze over, but it really is important in how a wine’s flavor is realized in the glass. The region’s earth is defined as ponca a prized soil type for winemaking, which is alternating layers of sandstone and clay. While the clay absorbs water, the sandstone forces the grapevine roots to search for the water. This soil, combined with attention to forestation, optimal weather conditions and centuries of winemaking knowledge, have made the wines of Friuli Venezia Giulia an easy pick if you are not knowledgeable about what to choose – a quandary I usually am in when I am staring at shelves full of wine. 
Some words of advice from Vanessa Moore, the owner of Unwined, a wine shop with two locations and Revel, a terrific wine bar on my former turf. Her shops don’t feature just also rans from big labels. Vanessa has a curiosity about small vintners who produce intriguing and well priced wines. Unwined carries several wines from this area in Friuli Vvenezia Giulia and presells others during special offers throughout the year. “Wines from this area are super approachable -read affordable and straightforward – not volatile and funky”. She’s happy when you’re happy.
*Resident Wine Maniac
After owning one of the best cooking stores in the US for 47 years, Nancy Pollard writes a blog about food in all its aspects – recipes, film, books, travel, superior sources and food related issues.
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