Fall Festa Italiana

Comments

21 people, including one guest, attended this autumn event at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in central Omaha.   Dwight Becker from the Republic Wine Distributing Co. was very informative and entertaining  in discussing the wines that were paired in the menu for the evening.

      For the quaffing , the Chennin Blanc/Viognier blend, and Garnacha wines (both young and fruity & good summer wines ) were acceptable with the assorted flatbreads, which is a signature appetizer for this restaurant. 

The Banfi/ Tuscany wine served with the apple/ mixed greens ,& goat cheese salad, had a enough acidity to stand up to the raspberry vinaigrette dressing, making a nice pairing.  

For the 2nd course, people raved about the wood grilled scallop served with rissotto, and in addition, we were given tips on how to prepare creamy rissotto!  The Montalcino Chardonnay (with a tropical fruit and vanilla flavor) was a perfect pairing with this course.

The chef hit the ball out of the park in the third course with the beef tenderloin paired with the Tuscany Cabernet Sauvignon.  The full-bodied ruby red wine with notes of floral and red fruit & spice was was amazing with the tenderloin and mashed potatoes.  

For the dessert course, the  mousse cake was both attractive and tasty, and was also “over the top” with the Dow’s LBV Port (WE: 91).  This was a full bodied fortified, (19.5 % alcohol) port , which had a perfumed tone, jellied fruits, was balanced and slightly peppery.   Wonderful!!!

Although most of the wines served had no known ratings, the consensus of the group was that all of the wines were certainly acceptable with the foods they were paired with, while the wines served with desert and the beef were outstanding!   We felt the venue was a very good value, and most importantly the opportunity to share this experience with fellow wine lovers made this  a  very enjoyable culinary  experience!