Nebbiolo Lunch with Jeremy Parzen & Friends
@ I Trulli Restaurant, NYC (7/6/2015)


Jeremy Parzen, who writes one of my favorite blogs on the Internet, Do Bianchi, was in town hosting a tasting of Franciacorta sparkling wines at I Trulli. I was able to take the train down and organize a lunch with a few fellow Neb Heads. Turned out to be a lovely way to spend a summer day.

Coincidently, the last time Jeremy and I were able to get together, it was over lunch in NYC.

For each image, I have posted a compressed (and possibly cropped) version. Click on it to see the original, much larger image.


Flight 1: Franciacorta SoloUva
Burrata: Creamy-centered mozzarella from puglia with chicory and radicchio.
Discussing the SoloUva Franciacorta with Jeremy & the winemaker Giovanni Arcari:
Carl and Iggy:
Ben, Mark, Jeremy:
Mark, Jeremy, and Giovanni:


Flight 2: Borgo del Tiglio
Polpo: Grilled baby octopus with potatoes, pickled beans and black olives.

Flight 3: Older Nebbiolo
Dora’s Sunday Polpette: Beef Meatballs in tomato sauce.

Flight 4: Younger Nebbiolo
Malloreddus: Saffron dumplings of Sardinia with pork sausage and tomato.

Lasagna: Dora’s traditional layered pasta.

The owner of I Trulli, Nicola Marzovilla, joins us for a little while:
Mark, Jeremy, and Giovanni:


Summary

As always, a joy to share good wine and good food with good people.

After looking at my notes and scores, a couple of the attendees wrote to say that they thought the WOTL (wine of the lunch) was the 1979 Giacosa. I took this to mean that they thought I enjoyed the 1999 Monprivato even more, so I replied:

If this is in response to the points I gave, don't take them too seriously. One of the reasons I feel comfortable using points is that I know their limitations. My scores are just some abstract idea of the overall quality of the wine. So in some idealized world, I do think the 99 Monprivato (at its peak) is a "better" wine than the 79 Giacosa (at its peak).

But that doesn't answer a lot of other questions, like if I could have picked only one of those bottles to have with dinner, which would it have been? Or which is more special? (Since I have no more of the 79 Giacosa and about a case of the 99 Monprivato.)

Then again, I truly did find each bottle special during this lunch. The chance to try the SoloUva with Giovanni. The Pora which was delicious and told me a few of the 1990 Produttori I bought and drank recently weren't as well stored. The Oddero was a great example of 1978. And sharing the 67 Giacosa with all of you (esp. Jeremy) made it extra special, even though it would have been better with a few more hours. Maybe instead of lunch, we should call it communion.


Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker.

Mark Scudiery's write up of this lunch.

Jeremy's commentary on this lunch.

 

 


All original content © Ken Vastola