A Taste of Italy

Darwins Restaurant is one of Dublins best known steak restaurants, in fact to be totally honest the steak are “to die for”, and they can proudly keep their claim to fame.
 A little bit of history about Darwins, they have been open for 6 years which in this day and age is a remarkably good length of time.  Interestingly the restaurant is named after Charles Darwin the naturalist who put forward the notion of evoloution (“The Origin of Species”). 
Darwins is not only well known for its friendly and relaxed atmosphere but also for the excellent range and standard of food.  Naturally they pride themselves on their excellent quality of steak which is sourced from their “in house” butcher.  For the steak lovers you can be assured that all the meat is Irish, which comes from the Boyne Valley.  The steaks are succulent, soft and so so flavoursome!! The chefs do a fantastic job of ensuring that all steaks are cooked to everybodies liking no matter how you like it!!
Darwins also cater for the seafood lovers and naturally vegetarians as well. Possibly their signature vegetarian dish is the Honey, Lime, Sesami and Tofu steak so not only can the meat eaters enjoy a steak but so too can the vegetarains, nobody is left out there!! 
For the sweet tooths there is a large selection of deserts from light enoyable sorbet’s to a rich warm chocolate brownie with chocolate raspberry and creamy bourbon vanilla ice cream, in my oppinion a “must have” if your going to go down the desert road.
For the wine list Darwins have a range of wines from all around the world, the Italian wines include a rich and fruity Nero d’Avola by Tola. The house white is a light and crsip Bianco Sicillia and of course my favouite which is the San Vincenzo by Anselmi which is a medium bodied elegant and full flavoured white from Veneto.

Darwin’s Restaurant,
80 Aungier Street,
Dublin 2
Tel: 01-4757511 , Fax: 01-4758942

Despite the fact that it’s still 5 degrees outside, summer is not far away. Already the days are getting slightly longer, and the sun is just that little bit warmer, in other words, there’s a ligh at the end of the tunnel.  Having not experienced many COLD winters, being from Brisbane,which is considered to be a “sub tropical” environment, I wondered to myself in November how on earth I would get through the long, cold, argious winter. However suprisingly I found that winter isn’t  all THAT bad! One things for sure sailing, and swimming goes out the window however there are many aspects that I DO enjoy about winter. The main aspect being the change in diet, to be honest our diet in Brisbane never really changes, simply because it’s not cold enough and winter doesn’t stretch long enough for things to change too dramatically, the temperature on everage  in winter is about 20 degrees during the day and perhaps in the dead of the night the temperature may drop below 8 degrees.  So as you can imagine there is no real need to eat wholesome warming meals, and drink rich full bodied reds.  So although we would crack out the soups and perhaps eat inside rather then on the verandah, nothing much changes for us during winter. 
However as I’ve discovered this is not the case here, rack’s of lamb, stew’s, casserol’s, slow cooked meat, polenta, pudding,  and warm soufle’s are all wonderful winter dishes which I’ve come to know and love.  It really makes such a nice change to sit down to a good bowl of hot soup, or a hearty casserol with a little bread and butter to mop up the sauce.  Naturally with these types of dishes requires a good full bodied red. Which is why I chose to pair this dish with a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.  The Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Coste delle Plai by Jarno Trulli comes fromt the Abruzzi region, and this wine is usually medium to full bodied.  It is a wine renowned for being jam packed with flavour.  Because Abruzzi is in East/central Italy the climate is lovely and warm, which consequently increases the sugar and alcohol levels in the grape. The Montepulciano grape ripens quite late so it’s unsuitable  for the North of Italy,   however it thrives in the long warm summers of Central Italy.                                                                                                                                                                      
Montepulciano d’Abbruzo has a lovely deep rich purple colour, with soft tannins.  The Coste dell Plai is medium bodied and has a strong aromas of prunes, black cherries and red fruits  On the palate it has flavours of red berries, plum,  and notes of mature fruit.  It is rich and balanced with a long finish. The strong fruit flavours went very well with the rich flavours of the beef, onions, and juices of the guinness and it is a wine that you can continue to enjoy well after your meal.

Beef and Guinness Stew 

 Method:

1. Cook the onions, thyme and garlic with a little olive oil in a large casserole until the onion is softened and translucent. Dust the braising steak in the seasoned flour and brown in a hot pan with a little oil.
2. When the beef has a good, even colour, add it to the pan with the onions and pour in the Guinness. Top up with the stock to just cover the beef.
3. Cover and simmer over a very low heat or transfer to a 150C/fan 130C/gas 3 oven for 2-3 hours until the beef is meltingly tender (check after 2 hours). Season to taste and add some chopped parsley. Serves this with colcannon.

Enjoy!!!

Inez O’Shea
“A Taste of Italy”

Just because christmas is over doesn’t mean to say the food and wine has to end, well not in my world anyway!! I made this recipe for the girls I live with and it went down a treat.  Im not suprised that it they enjoyed it so much normally they have a diet of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Lyons Tea so it was only natural that the lamb was a welcome change!!!

Herb Encrusted Lamb
1 rack of lamb, enough for 4 people with the fat taken off
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of dried Thyme
1 tbsp of dried Rosemarry
1 tbsp of dried Oregon
1 tbsp of dried Parsley
2 tbsp of bread crumbs
2 or 3 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Method: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.  Mix all of the ingredients into a bowl then simply smear the the herb mixture over the rack of lamb. Place the lamb on any container which will contain the juices and put in the oven for 40-45mins.  Ensure that the oven is not too hot as the herbs on the outside will burn.
I then prepared some mash potatoes with dill, and some carrots and beans with butter and a little onion. 

A dish like this must have a good wine to go with it,  lamb being a highly flavoursome and fairly heavy meat should have an equally flavoursome and full bodied wine to match.  As I was lashing out I decided to have a Barbaresco by Elvio Cogno.
Elvio Cogno is a winery situated in the heart of the Langhe district in Piedmonte and naturally they produce two of Italy’s most famous red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco!!! The Barbarescois made from the same Nebbiolo grape as the Barolo however it is not as full bodied as the Barolo.  Barbesco is a very elegant and aromatic wine and this is because of the excellent vinification methods. It must be aged for at least 2 years one of which must be in oak barells, and is best drunk after 5-10 years.  The Barbaresco is rich and spicy and has wonderful flavours of  rose petal, red fruits, tar, and earth.  It does need to be decantered though but after good 30mins it was smooth, and soft and lived up to its name of being a highly elegant wine.  These wondeful array of flavours and aromas make it a perfect match for the lamb and all in all you have an amazing meal on your hands.

Enjoy!!

Inez O’Shea
“A Taste of Italy”

Salchetto is based in the Montepulciano region very close to Siena. The estate stretches over 113 acres 81 of which are vinyards. There are many remarkable aspects about Salcheto but probaby the most outstanding is the simple fact that Salcheto have decided to go ”green”, this for a winery is not easily achieved!!

Up until a few years ago Salchetto was like any other winery, they had power supplied by the local power company, they plugged in their computers, they they used air conditioning in summer and heating in winter,  basically they were normal !! However Salchetto has decided to change their ways and become completely “environmentally friendly” As you can imagine this is a huge investment and one which has taken a huge amount of planning, time and money.

Salchetto will use all natural methods of heating, lighting, and airconditioning. There will be no electric lights in the different working areas, but only solar light panels, since they plan to work only during daylight hours. An efficient insulation system, together with many other innovations for example, cooling of the roof by recycled water evaporation will reduce energy consumption. Heating will be provided by using the excess foilage from the vineyards and tree cultivation. Cooling will come from the geothermal exchange of temperature with the soil, a natural and simple system that will bring their tanks during fermentation from 25 to 14 degrees with a small, 1 kilowatt pump.  Of course they will need some electricity to run things. As a result they will use 20 kilowatts of solar energy.

 Along with the complete reconstruction of their winery they are still managing to produce their award winning wines. Rosato di Toscana, Chianti Colli Senesi, Rosso di Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, and the famous “Salco” and “Salco Evolouzione”.  For those of you who aren’t aware of the story behind the “Salco” phenomenon, basically the workers in the winery  kept noticing that grapes from a particular section of the vinyard were arriving in near perfect condition, which is very unusual. After closely studying the grape they discovered that the grape is a native clone of the  Prugnolo Gentile grape.  It’s cluster was well spread and, therefore, better able than others to resist light over-ripening and reach “full maturation.” 1.5 hectars were then replanted and in total just 9000 bottles have been released 5000 were were aged in oak for 18 months and then left to age in the celler for 4 years this is called ”Salco” and 4000 bottles were left to age for a further 6 years “Salco Evolouzione” and thus an extrmely rare and particular wine was born.

Salchetto have achieved a huge feat and are to be commended. We look forward to visiting the winery and seeing this amazing achievment for ourselves. Well done!!

Inez O’Shea
“A taste of Italy”

It seems as though when it rains it pours, last week we had a wonderful book launch and this week we have Roberto Bosticcio coming to visit us from Italy. Roberto works for Salcheto and supplies us with “Chianti Colli Senesi”,  Rosso di Montepulciano, Vino Nobile, and the famous “Evolouzione”. 

Salchetto is a winery based in Montepulciano, Tuscany. They are renowned for their excellent red wines. The winery at the moment is undergoing huge renovations, so that the entire winery will be “green” in other words extremely environmentally friendly.  We are very pleased to be associated with Salchetto and we welcome Roberto!!

Inez O’Shea
“A taste of Italy”

While travelling in the Italian region of Piedmont I was eating in a small pub in the town of Castognole, this small pub was totally my style: simple, easy, laid back, with of course briliant food and wine. What made this pub also so special was the ”randomness” of the clientele, there were families having dinner, teenagers having a few beers,  couples enjoying a quite dinner together, even a group of elderly locals had gathered to enjoy a grappa and a chat. With the mixture and confusion of everybody it created an energetic and exciting atmosphere.  It was here that the owner who runs the pub with her husband recommend I try a Ruche wine with my meal. 

My response was Ru…. what???Having never heard of a Ruche, she explained that Ruche is from the Castognole region which is a small zone of about 10kms comprising of the 7 small villiages in Castagnole Monferrato.  Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato is now a DOC production region. Ruchè wine is made from a rare indigenous grape variety, which has been researched and discovered to have its very own DNA.  The annual production is around 450,000 – 500,000  bottles of wine, with only 75 hectares of Ruchè vineyards existing.

Ruche wine is revered in this small area because of its rarety and uniqueness. Traditionally only the locals drank it however word is slowly starting to spread about this wine and its starting to creep over the borders and even abroad, slowly but surely. 
It is produced in the traditional method and is drunk quite young, due to its age it is has a lovely ruby red colour, the aromas are of red berries and very floral!! To be honest the taste is like nothing I have ever tried.  It is so particular and different I really can’t compare it to anything!! Medium bodied,  fruity and faintly sweet.  It is not tannic but rather soft and smooth!! The fruity red berry and plum flavours make it an easy drinking and extremely pleasant wine which I continued to enjoy well into the evening!! It goes very well with the local cheeses of Piedmont, as well as a good old Piemontese pasta.  Ruche is well worth a try and I can guarantee like nothing you have ever tried!!

Enjoy!!
Inez O’Shea “A taste of Italy“

Certainly there are wines which are very subtle and you really need to look deep into them to feel and sense their flavours, and then there are others which nearly knock you out.  One which stands out in particular for me is the Amarone. For those who have never tried an Amarone  its an explosion of flavour!

To begin with just the colour is amazing, a deep intense, ruby red. Just by looking at it, I had a rough idea of what I was getting myself into. Of course the aromas are just as strong and powerful as I imagined, rich and fruity, along with aromas of red berries and spices.  Drinking this wine is the pinnacle of the whole experience.   It is intense, rich, luscious, and fruity. It is also very smooth and velvety while at the same time quite thick, and unbelievably fruity!! I really had never tried anything like it, and was completely blown away.!  Now to the reason why this is such a unique wine….

In a nutshel Amarone delle Valpolicella comes from the Veneto region in Northern Italy.  Amarone is a blend of the Corvina, Molinara, and Rondinella grapes.  The grapes after being picked are dried for several months on straw mats in the lofts above the farm houses or barns at the winery before being pressed and fermented. The dried fruit has a higher residual sugar which is mostly fermented away. This results in a dry wine of tremendous depth and intensity; in addition to a generally higher alcohol content, normally around 15% but sometimes even higher. Its this process which makes the wine so concentrated with such a distinct flavour. 

I recommend this wine with pasta or red meat dishes, or simply with a nice cheese board. However be careful the fruity flavours leave you wanting more and its a wine which can easily be “sat on” for a long time, so watch the old 15%, it catches up you!!!

Enjoy!!
Inez “A taste of Italy”

                                          The drying process of  the grapes     

This week A Taste of Italy is encouraging you to try something different!! Lets be honest, 99.9% of us have tried a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay,Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz etc etc etc etc, but why not try a grape which is indigenous to Italy??
For me there is something really unique and exciting about trying a wine where the grape is ONLY grown in that particular region in Italy, so not only can you NOT find it in any other country in the world, but more often then not it cant even be found in other regions of Italy!!!!!

For example the Valpolicella wine, is made up of 3 grapes, the Corvina Veronese, Rondinella and the Molinara grapes.  All of these grapes are grown only in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, and for me,  knowing this is what makes drinking a Valpolicella or Amarone a real pleasure!!

Of course there are many other indigenous grapes for example many of the wines from the Pidemonte region i.e. the Nebbiolo grape which is the grape responsibile for the Barolo, and Barbaresco wine, as well as the Barbera and Ruche’ wines. Really the list is endless, but this is what distinguishes New World and Old World wine, being an Australian I’m open to all wines, however this is what makes drinking Old World wines enjoyable for me!!

Enjoy!!

Inez O’Shea “A taste of Italy”

Unlike the large department stores “A taste of Italy” sources its wines from local and small producers in Italy, we pride ourselves on the fact that the our wines are of good quality but at very reasonable prices.  Drinking mass produced wine isnt the same as drinking a bottle of wine produced in a small family run winery, coming from some of the top wine regions of Italy!!

We have only Italian wine, many of our wines are made from the typical Italian grapes ie Sangiovese, Barollo, Nebbiolo, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon etc however we also have wines are made from grapes which are not as commonly found. 

 If your looking to try some other wonderful Italian grape styles try our San Vincenzo made by Anselmi!! The grape used in this wine is the Garganega – The main wine varietal for wines labeled Soave.  Its is a crisp dry white wine from the Veneto wine region (very lovely)!! 
or 
Try our Gran Masetto by Endrizzi.  The Gran Massetto is made from a red grape called Teroldego, which is made from one of Italy’s oldest and finest traditional grapes. The style of Teroldego from Endrizzi is unique and quite stunning. The bouquet is a complex mélange of sweet black fruit redolent of cherries and dark berries, coupled with notes of blood orange, dark chocolate and classic Italian overtones of olives, herbs and soil!!

Inez O’Shea”A taste of Italy”

Give them a try!!