Last March, my friend Piero Benvenuti invited me and some other friends\nto lunch at the “Salotto Portinari” restaurant, and each of us\nbrought a bottle of wine to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Piero had fun serving some wines blind, without letting anyone see the\nbottle during service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vito prepared dishes for us that would go well with the wines that would\nbe served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Portinari lounge was stunning, as was the table set aside for us. Liudmila Musatova, Piero Benvenuti, Stefano\nAmerighi, Francesco Tanzi, Aldo Fiordelli, Francesca Testi, Anna Paclet, and\nmyself were present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an aperitif, with some appetizers, we drank the Agrapart Terroirs\nchampagne, which was pleasant for its mineral notes. Next, we drank the\nJacquesson Cuv\u00e9e 740 champagne, d\u00e9gorgement tardif, which isn’t my ideal\nchampagne because, both on the nose and on the palate, it’s very woody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the table we were served the first course: “Royal oyster, apple\nand caviar soda, sea urchins, white potato mousse, red prawns with citrus\nfruits”, which was paired with the Dom Perignon champagne, Pl\u00e8nitude 2,\n2004 vintage, which, with its sapidity and minerality, was perfectly paired\nwith the dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Followed by “wild herb risotto with quail and almond rag\u00f9”\nwhich was paired with the 2018 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pairing was not at all easy because, in my opinion, the wine was too\nyoung and too demanding, both in terms of aroma and taste, compared to the\ndish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the “veal brain saltimbocca” we were poured what I call a\nwine-poem: the 1998 Vieux Chateau Certan, a Pomerol rich in pleasantness that\npaired beautifully with this delicate dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the “steamed egg with pigeon rag\u00f9 and comt\u00e9 foam” we were\nblindfolded and served a fine and elegant wine that perfectly complements the\npigeon rag\u00f9: the 2016 Chateau Margaux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was followed by another wine served blindfolded with “Poularde\nde Bresse, Morels, and Black Truffle.” The wine was difficult to identify;\nit was the 2009 Kupra, a Marche wine made with 100% Grenache. On the nose, it\nhad a green note, and on the palate, the tannins were a bit drying. The dish\nwas excellent, and the wine, in my opinion, didn’t live up to the dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To finish, Vito had us prepare an excellent zuppa inglese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As always, these lunches are very interesting and enjoyable, for the\ncompany, the atmosphere, the food, and the wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll move on to describing the wines tasted, making a preliminary note\nabout tannins, which normally concern red wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the width of the tannin, it’s\nimportant to clarify the following points so it can be understood. I taste the\ntannin in the wine on the upper gum. The total width of the tannin is 6\/6, that\nis, the entire width of the upper gum. Obviously, if the tannin is less wide,\nit could be, for example, 5\/6, and so on. The width of the tannin is important when\nits quality is good or high. The wider the tannin, the more worthy of attention\nthe wine is, but the tannin, as I specified, must, in any case, be of good\nquality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s now move on to describing the wines we\ntasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AGRAPART & SONS HOUSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n TERROIRS, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Extra Brut S.A<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Golden yellow in color, the bubbles are fine and\nquite numerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mineral, banana and brioche aromas rise from the\nglass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate the body is medium and the bubbles\nare fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-balanced wine with a freshness that\ncompletely envelops the alcohol. Its finish is long, but not overly long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (93\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n JACQUESSON HOUSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cuve\u00e9 n. 740, Degorgement tardif. Extra Brut S.A<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend: 53% Chardonnay, 29% Pinot Noir and 18%\nPinot Meunier)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has a bright golden yellow colour with fine\nand fairly numerous bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the nose, the woody notes stand out, with\nboth green and ripe banana, citrus fruits and minerals in evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate, it is medium-bodied and has a\nwoody flavor. Freshness dominates the alcohol, making the wine well-balanced.\nSince this champagne is heavily influenced by wood, its tannins dry out the\nupper palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wood is the characteristic of this champagne,\nwhich doesn’t excite me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its taste has a long persistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (90\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dom P\u00e9rignon House<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pl\u00e9nitude 2, vintage 2004<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend: 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It has a bright golden yellow colour, with fine\nand fairly numerous bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olfactory mix of lemon tea, flint, hints of\ngreen banana, rennet apple, chamomile, hints of peanut, finishing with puffs of\nwarm starched cloth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Savory and minerally on the palate. Medium body,\nalthough it tends to settle a bit towards the finish. The alcohol-fresh balance\nis balanced with a mineral, lemon tea finish. Its intense, long-lasting flavor\nlingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (94\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n VALENTINI FARM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n TREBBIANO D’ABRUZZO, 2018 vintage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend: 100% Trebbiano)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Straw yellow color with golden reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An intense nose of tannery leather and boiled\nrice starch is followed by notes of lemongrass, minerals, raisins, and the\nsweetness of the outside of a candy cane, finishing with hints of vanilla. When\nempty, aromas of zabaglione and peanut butter emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate, it’s medium-bodied, savory, and\nhas a mineral and tanned leather flavor. A fairly balanced wine, with the\nalcohol content slightly peeking out over the freshness. The upper gums feel a\nbit dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its persistence is long with a finish of India\nink, a very, very young wine that will need to balance more with the time spent\nin the bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion, it is a wine that will need to\nrest in the bottle for a few years to give its best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My score is with a view to future improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (94\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CASTLE OLD CASTLE CERTAN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n POMEROL, vintage 1998<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend: 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Light garnet red with orange rim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olfactory variety marked by aromas of cherry, mint, eucalyptus, light\nnotes of juniper berry, violet, finely processed tannery leather, boiled rice\nstarch, finishing with intense puffs of black olive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The body is medium-sufficient plus and the wine is perfectly balanced\nwith the freshness that envelops the alcohol mass. The tannins are sweet, broad\n(6\/6–) and silky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its taste has a long persistence. (94\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CHATEAU MARGAUX <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MARGAUX, vintage 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot and 1%\nPetit Verdot)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Intense ruby-purple red coat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nose punctuated by aromas of black cherry, mint, eucalyptus, blood\norange, chocolate, blackberry, cassis, black pepper with final caresses of\nnutmeg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the palate it has a medium body, not excessive, and has a perfect\nbalance between alcohol and freshness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tannins are sweet, broad (6\/6), and silky. Its intense aromatic\npersistence is long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a typically Margaux wine that tends more towards elegance than power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember that 2015 was, for me, superior in structure to both 2016 and\n2014, while in terms of the breadth of the tannins 2016 is superior to both\n2015 and 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (95\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n OASIS OF ANGELS COMPANY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n KUPRA, vintage 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marche red IGT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (blend:\n100% Grenache – called Bordeaux)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Garnet red coat\nwith orange edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Olfactory\nattack oriented towards the scents of mint, eucalyptus, camphor, black olive,\ncarob, chinotto and ending with green references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On tasting, you\nperceive a medium body and a good balance between alcohol and freshness, while\nthe tannins are sweet, quite broad (5\/6), initially velvety, then drying out\nand burning the upper gum a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its taste has a\nlong persistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It left me a\nlittle perplexed by the green note perceived on the nose and the quality of the\ntannins which I found quite drying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (90\/100)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As always, it was a pleasant lunch, thanks to the food, the company, and\nthe wines. Thanks to Vito, Piero, and all the other guests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last March, my friend Piero Benvenuti invited me and some other friends to lunch at the “Salotto Portinari” restaurant, and each of us brought a bottle of wine to enjoy. Piero had fun serving some wines blind, without letting anyone see the bottle during service. Vito prepared dishes for us that would go well with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG-20250310-WA0027.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pav13q-4fO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16356"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16359,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16356\/revisions\/16359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paolobaracchino.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}