Festa di Friulano at Osteria

As my pal Jeremy might say, mimetic desire kicked in big time last week. As much as I've been enjoying Jeremy's steady output of highlights from the sommelier and restaurateur junket to Friuli that he and Bobby Stuckey organized back in September, there's been one thing missing: actually getting to taste some of the Friulano vino e cibo of which Jar's been writing.

To the rescue last week came Stephen Wildy and Joe Campanale (pictured at left and right above, respectively), two of the members of the Parzen/Stuckey band of gypsies. I was jazzed when I first learned that Steve, who is the beverage director for the Marc Vetri restaurant group (Vetri, Osteria and Amis) here in Philadelphia, was along on Jeremy's trip, as it's always good to see a hometown boy getting the chance to unwind and spread his wings. And I was doubly jazzed when I heard that Joe Campanale, sommelier and owner of New York restaurants L'Artusi, Dell' Anima and Anfora, was making the two-hour trek down to Philly to team-up with Steve for a recounting of their adventures in Friuli.

Steve and Joe chose wines from some of the producers they visited on that September trip. On the docket for the evening were selections from Plozner, Scarbolo, Venica e Venica, La Castellada, and Livio Felluga, each poured to accompany a dish (or dishes!) inspired by traditional Friulano fare.

Osteria executive chef and co-owner Jeff Michaud put together a fantastic five course meal, all of it served family style. The duo of rambasicci (a Friulano specialty of pork-stuffed cabbage) and venison "muset" may just have been my favorite of the evening's courses. It was arguably one of Joe and Stephen's more challenging matches of the night but they rose to the occasion with a surprisingly fine pairing in the form of the 2009 Collio Sauvignon "Ronco del Cero" from Venica e Venica.

My shoddy picture doesn't do it justice but Chef Michaud's next dual course, gnocchi stuffed with prunes (top) and porcini cialzon, nipped closely at the heels of the previous course in the running for most memorable of the evening. I've always really enjoyed the pasta at Osteria — pizza and pasta definitely seem to be the sweet spots at Vetri's "middle" child — and tonight's iterations were no exception. I was a little less enthusiastic with my first pour of the wine that Stephen and Joe chose to pair with the dish, the 2004 Ribolla Gialla from La Castellada. I thought it was suffering from a very subtle case of cork taint. Steve, on the other hand, thought it was the wine, chalking up what I found to be muted, slightly stale/musty character to bottle variation, an omnipresent aspect of so-called orange wines — white wines fermented on their skins — like the '04 La Castellada. It's always fun when a couple of "wine guys" can agree to disagree, all the while respecting each others opinion... even though I was right! A second pour from a different bottle offered redemption and again worked very well with the food it was chosen to accompany.

Forza Friulano? From left to right, that's Joey Campanale; a certain un-photogenic, bespectacled wine blogger; Stephen Wildy; and Aaron Tallon, the sommelier and beverage manager at Osteria, who did a great job overseeing the wine service for the Friulano dinner.

Steve and Joe are both super sweet guys. Both of them had nothing but praise for the acumen, enthusiasm and scholarly depth of knowledge of Professore Parzen. The two of them good naturedly forced me into the above photo opportunity, citing it as a perfect moment of what Steven later called, in tribute to Jeremy, supercalifragalisticextrablogaliciousness (okay, the "ness" is mine). As much as the curmudgeon in me would like to have ducked out of the frame, there was nothing doing. Joe and Stephen's enthusiasm was infectious. As if hanging out with them wasn't pleasure enough, I even got to spend a little time with Joe's equally sweet mother, Karen Campanale, the PR-natural and micro-blogger extraordinaire known in some circles as Dellanimom. Like mother, like son....

Big kudos to Steve, Joe, Jeff and Aaron for a job well done. I think it's fair to say a good night was had by all in attendance.

Osteria
610 North Broad Street (at Wallace)
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-763-0920

Intro only...

Sunday in the Parc, Part One – Sunday School Edition

A recent Sunday afternoon gave me a chance to spend some time in a neighborhood I generally tend to circumvent. Home to the wealthy and fabulous (and haunt of those aspiring to be), Rittenhouse Square’s energy, for me, tends to be driven more by style than by substance. The park itself, nonetheless, is the most popular and bustling of our fine city’s many public squares. On a pretty day, it can be a great place, in spite of – or for some, because of – the crowds, to take in a dose of Philadelphia’s natural beauty. And like any of Philly’s neighborhoods, it’s not without its gems, both subtle and shiny.

On this particular late October day, strolling somewhat aimlessly through the east side streets of Rittenhouse, I was pleasantly surprised to find the doors swung wide at Tria. They’d opened earlier than usual at their 18th & Sansom outpost in hopes of recouping some of the cash flow lost as their usual crowds emigrated elsewhere over the previous nights in search of screens on which to catch the Phillies’ post-season run. I teach wine classes on a regular basis at Tria’s Fermentation School and stop into both of their wine bar locations as often as I can, whether for a late night nibble (their truffled egg toast makes my short list of best bar snacks in town) or an early evening taste. This was the first time, though, that I’d made it in for Sunday School, their special offering of one wine, one cheese and one beer at half-price, with a new line-up every Sunday. Call this a shill if you’re feeling cynical, but I was digging the opportunity to taste a few new things without breaking the bank.

(Image courtesy of Tria.)
As good as was the locally produced pairing of Otterbein Acres Cheddar and Victory Brewing Company’s wet hopped “Harvest Ale,” it was the wine that stood out from the trio. Friulian producer Valter Scarbolo makes an expression of Pinot Grigio he calls “Ramato,” where half of the fruit macerates on its skins for four days followed by completion of fermentation in a mixture of oak tonneaux and steel. After fermentation, the 2006 spent nine months resting on its lees followed by a further six months of bottle aging prior to release. The resulting wine is a true “gris de gris,” more rosé than white but not entirely either. While it lacks the wild character and orange, oxidative style of the more intensive skin contact whites from Scarbolo neighbors such as Josko Gravner and Stanko Radikon, like them it benefits from being served at cellar temperature. Starting out cold, it offered up ripe, sweet-fruited raspberry and kiwi sensations – pleasant but simple. With time to open and, more importantly, warm up a bit, its aromas became more compelling – wild strawberries and dried herbs came to mind. And the tannins extracted during that four-day maceration became more apparent, lending the wine a textural component and refreshingly bitter flavor stamp that helped it to rise above typical Pinot Grigio expectations.

The mid-day sun streaming in through Tria’s Sansom Street windows lent an air of relaxed conviviality that’s all too rare in Rittenhouse haunts. The peace it offered made for a perfect prelude to further exploration of the neighborhood. More on that to come soon….

Tria
Rittenhouse Square location
123 S. 18th Street (at Sansom)
Philadelphia, PA 19103 [map]
215-972-TRIA

Intro only...