Central Market’s Passaporto Italia is kicking off on April 30 to May 13 and I attended the media preview at the Lover’s Lane store in April. Think of this as a two week tribute to all things Italian – pastas to cheeses to foods to beers to winemakers to chefs.
I had a chance to talk to Timothy, the assistant wine buyer, who discussed the 350 new Italian wines being brought in for the event. We tasted through five wines from small producers. Poor Timothy drew the short straw as all the other wine buyers were in Tuscany experiencing the region, but someone had to hold down the fort.
Our line up included the following:
Riondo Prosecco Punto Rosso – lots of pear, apple and nuttiness. It was a very nice representation of Prosecco.
Castellari Bergaglio Fornaci, Gavi di Tassarolo – lots of citrus fruit, apple, pear and minerality. It was a very refreshing white wine for $20.
2009 Ormanni Chianti Classico – cherry, spice, floral notes and a herbal rosemary note. This was a good representation of chianti.
2009 I Giusti & Zanza ‘Dulcamara’ Rosso Toscana – dark fruit, coffee and chocolate with hints of tobacco, spice and leather. This was a big wine that would benefit with decanting.
2007 Orlando Abrigo Barbaresco Rocche Meruzzano – dark black cherry, black pepper, spice, marian berry and anise. This was great.
A quick run down of the wine events that Central Market is offering follows:
Weds, April 30
Wine tasting with Luca Speri, a fifth generator winemaker, from 4-7 pm
Friday, May 2
Francesco Daddi, Owner of Ormanni/La Leccia hosts an evening of food and wine pairing his wines with traditional Tuscan game dishes, from 6:30-9 pm, $65.
Passaporto Italia
Monday, May 5
Stefano Chiarlo, winemaker for Michele Chiarlo will host an evening in Piedmont. Chiarlo is noted as one of the ten best wine producers by Wine Spectator. This is event is from 6:30-9 pm and is $65.
Tuesday, May 6
Francesco Mazzei, owner of Mazzei family wines, is hosting a tasting from 4-7 pm.
Saturday, May 10
Winemaker Tancredi Biondi Santi is hosting a Tuscan food and wine pairing featuring his family’s wines from 6:30-9 pm, $60.
Reserve your seats at www.centralmarket.com for the Lover’s Lane store events. This is a great chance to try “off the beaten path” Italian wines at a great price point in a fun atmosphere. And, check out the best gift bag ever….
