Ανάμεσα στα οινο-τουριστικά μου highlights του 2012 ήταν το ταξίδι στο Trento, στα Ιταλο-Αυστριακά σύνορα. Ήταν μια αποστολή του Βρετανικού Κύκλου των Οινογράφων (Circle of Wine Writers) του οποίου είμαι μέλος και στην οποία συμμετείχα με μεγάλη χαρά. Σε τέτοιου είδους αποστολές, κάθε συμμετέχων είθισται να γράφει ένα άρθρο για ένα στοιχείο του ταξιδιού που τον εκφράζει, και όλα τα άρθρα μαζί συνθέτουν ένα μεγάλο οδοιπορικό που δημοσιεύεται στο μηνιαίο ηλεκτρονικό περιοδικό του Κύκλου, που ονομάζεται Circle Update. Το περιοδικό αυτό διανέμεται σε όλα τα μέλη, ενώ συνδρομές επί πληρωμή σε αυτό έχουν οι μεγαλύτερες εταιρείες του ευρύτερου οινικού κλάδου στην Ευρώπη και τον κόσμο.
Το δικό μας οδοιπορικό, με τίτλο "A place of winds and mountains" δημοσιεύτηκε στο τελευταίο τεύχος του περιοδικού, αυτό του Δεκεμβρίου, που κυκλοφόρησε πριν από λίγες ημέρες. Η δική μου συμμετοχή στο αφιέρωμα σε αυτό το όμορφο ταξίδι αφορούσε στο δείπνο με το οποίο οι οικοδεσπότες μας μας καλωσόρισαν στο Τρέντο την πρώτη μέρα. Το δείπνο έλαβε χώρα στο καλύτερο - και βραβευμένο με αστέρι Michelin - εστιατόριο της πόλης, το Scrigno del Duomo, και ήταν μια πραγματικά εξαιρετική οινογαστρονομική εμπειρία.
Αμέσως πιο κάτω, λοιπόν, έχω τη χαρά να σας παρουσιάσω το σχετικό μου άρθρο, αυτούσιο στα Αγγλικά, στο οποίο ο αρχισυντάκτης έδωσε τον τίτλο "TED LELEKAS DINES IN STYLE WITH FINE TRENTODOC FOOD MATCHES":
On the first night of the CWW trip to Trento, we were treated to a very special dinner, hosted by the representatives of Cavit, one of the region’s largest and most significant wineries. The dinner was held at Scrigno del Duomo, arguably the city’s top restaurant, and prepared by celebrated chef Alfredo Chiocchetti and his team. The evening started with a presentation by the representatives of Cavit, Lorenzo Vavassori, Andrea Faustini, Paolo Turra and Andrea Nicolini, at the restaurant’s wine cellar, next to the private dining room. The four gentlemen, whose roles within the company range from marketing and exports to winemaking, took turns in presenting to us the history of the company, its activity across various markets in the world, as well as the different styles of the company’s wines.
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While we tasted the very refreshing and complex Trentodoc Altemasi Brut Millesimato 2008, wonderfully paired with a variety of nibbles such as autumn vegetable tempura, salt-beef bundles and mini-bruschette with rabbit liver pâté, the Cavit executives outlined their company’s leadership position in the region. Indeed, Cavit, a ‘cooperative of co-operatives’, brings together 11 co-operatives across the Trentino region, boasting more than 4500 members, who account for approximately 5500 hectares of vineyards. As a result, Cavit contributes around 60% of the total wine production in Trentino. Understandably, the Cavit range of wines is very extensive, including leading sparkling wine brands (Altemasi being the flagship amongst them), still dry wines based on both native varieties and international blends, as well dessert wines, with the renowned Vino Santo di Trentino being the top choice within the range.
After an informal Q&A session at the cellar, we all took our places around the table, to enjoy a delicious dinner, with dishes that featured local flavours chosen to match the selected wines from the entire Cavit portfolio. Indeed, the broccoli soufflé dressed with Puzzone cheese fondue was accompanied perfectly by the deep and complex Altemasi Riserva Graal 2005, while the earthy wholesomeness of the Gresta Valley potato velouté with pumpkin mousse and mushrooms was expertly matched with very similar qualities of the Altemasi Brut Millesimato 2002.
Possibly the most impressive match of the evening, however, was that of the pork tenderloin medallions au gratin with rennet apple, rosemary and bacon, served with celeriac puree and scallions confit with a most unusual Trentino Superiore DOC red, namely the Quattro Vicariati 2009, from the I Millesimati range. This Cabernet-dominated Bordeaux blend that has been aged in oak for 18 months was beautifully spicy in the nose and velvety in the mouth, and proved to be a very capable companion to the complex, multi-layered, winter flavours of the particular dish.
The dinner was concluded with a very elegant dessert, a biscuit and walnut cream with golden apple sorbet, which was very suitably paired with Cavit’s Vino Santo Arèle 1999, a dessert wine of unique aromatic finesse and elegant acidity.
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Our first dinner in Trento was a very well designed and executed mise-en-bouche for the entire trip, which both calibrated our taste and also whetted our appetite for the myriads of aromas and flavours that awaited us during the rest of the trip. We are very grateful to our co-hosts, Visit Trentino and Cavit, for this wonderful food and wine matching experience.
For further information on all parties involved in this excellent dinner see: Visit Trentino (www.visittrentino.it) , Cavit (www.cavit.it), Scrigno del Duomo (www.scrignodelduomo.com).
