The Sales Rep
Recently I was invited to a wine tasting at Nick’s Italian Cafe in McMinnville hosted by my good friend Earl Cramer-Brown, whom I know from working in the wine industry together. Earl is a sales rep for C&G Wines and for those of you lucky enough to befriend a wine rep, you should count your lucky stars.
In Oregon we clearly have many fantastic wineries and winemakers who show us new and interesting wines each vintage. Here they show off their unique style along with a lesson on what a good and bad a vintage can bring. Besides wine tasting, wine bars and restaurants also offer a wide selection of local wines as well as those made from around the country and the world. And since Oregon has fabulous food and chefs, why not see what they can do with the wines made from some other far off place? If anything, it is a chance to broaden one’s palate and enjoy a local venue or restaurant.
Earl was showing all Italian wines at this dinner and the pairing couldn’t have been more perfect sitting in Nick’s. First of all, Earl is the most welcoming, jolly guy you could meet walking into a bar. Plus he could swoon you with any glass of wine in C& G’s excellent wine portfolio. We started off clinking our glasses with Prosecco. This is Italy’s bubbly. While perhaps not as famous as Champagne, it is crisp and refreshing and often a more affordable way to start off an evening. Joining me were others in the wine business giving Earl their honest opinion on new wines C&G is considering to add to their portfolio. While there were a few wines I could live without, there were many more I couldn’t imagine not passing my lips again.
During the tasting we sampled wines made from unfamiliar varietals along with the familiar. All of them were unique but streaming with hints of spice, extreme fruit and pepper. We sampled around 17 wines during the evening and Italian wines beg for Italian food. To start off, we had a selection of charcuterie and bread. While some of the meats paired excellent, some spices contrasted with those detectible in the wine. But it all made the tasting more interesting. It was fun to see how food and wine can be the best of friends, or just good neighbors.
Nick’s offers a pre-fixed five-course meal every day except for Monday. Here you choose an appetizer, soup, pasta, salad and entrée, however you can do a la carte as well. I chose to indulge in three of the courses and it was clear that all ingredients were fresh and locally produced. Nick Peirano is the owner but his daughter, Carmen Peirano and son-in-law, Eric Ferguson, recently took over the kitchen. I started with grilled Jerusalem artichokes with green garlic, kalamata olives and butter lettuce. This was definitely my favorite course. This paired best with a 2005 100% Sangiovese by Agricola Piscinale Poggio Di Ponte. The wine smelled of toasted nuts and popcorn with a bit of earthy mushroom. The taste was smooth yet nutty and the saltiness of the olives and earthiness of the artichokes was fantastic. The wine became silky and a fine companion to my starting course. For my second course I had tagliatelle (flat ribbons of pasta similar to fettuccine) with lamb ragu. This paired nicely with another Sangiovese by Podre L. Aione Salve ’04. The pepper in the nose and medium to high tannins in the wine were a perfect match with the rich, meaty sauce. My third course was halibut cooked in parchment paper with artichokes, asparagus and pancetta vinaigrette. A light and summery dish, it was best with the Grottarosso Bianco Aniko made with a grape called Grecanico, which is grown mostly in Sicily. With a tangerine nose and juicy mouth feel and medium body, it was fantastic and able to stand up with no food at all.
Being a dessert lover I had to indulge in one last course. Here I had profiteroles with anise gelato, chocolate sauce and hazelnuts. At this point coffee was my only companion since I had a long drive home. There was no better way to finish the evening.
It is clear that one should never underestimate the wine distributor and how he can teach you something while support a local business. They are often lurking in wine shops, restaurant bars, gourmet food shops or grocery stores. A great way to seek them out is to check local paper listings or get on the mailing list of your favorite places to shop for wine or food. And best of all, you get an education about the region the wine comes from along with a great story to go behind it. Distributors can bring more personality to the wine you are about to put in your shopping cart. And best of all, they always want to welcome you and say goodbye to you with something good in your glass.
Cheers
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