Ancora Wine Dinner with Anne Zakin, Marco De Grazia Selections

Fine Italian wines from small growers were virtually unknown in 1980 when importer Marco de Grazia first offered a handful of estates from Tuscany and Piedmont. Driven by fascination and passion with a vision of great possibilities, he progressed through the northern regions, then the central zones and finally into Italy’s rich and promising south. 

In 2004 Marco established a U.S. based company, little used until 2008 when Anne Zakin became the director. Thanks to Anne and our friends at Uncorked, the wines of the Marco de Grazie have a prominent presence in our shop and we are excited to have her host this dinner at Ancora.  Please join us in celebrating the wines of southern Italy tonight paired with chef Jeff Talbot's regionally inspired menu.

Ancora

Date: Tuesday, September 24

Time: 6:30 apertivi, seating @ 7pm
Where: Ancora, 4508 Freret Street, New Orleans

Reservations: Call Swirl @ 504.304.0635, credit card required

$80 all inclusive

Apertivi   

A Selection of House Made Anti Pasta

2011 Vini Iovine Gragnano Rosso Frizzante Terre del Gragnano, Campania

NV Cantina del Taburno Vino Spumante 'Folius', Campania 

2nd

Gnocchi and Lobster with Butter

2011 Terre Nere Etna Bianco Le Vigne Niche, Sicilia

3rd 

A Tasting of Local Rabbit with White Beans and Wild Mushrooms

2011 Centonze Frappato, Sicilia

4th 

Roasted Wild Boar with Local Braised Greens, and Louisiana Polenta 

2008 Pardi Sagrantino di Montefalco, Umbria

Dolce 

Chef's Selection

2008 Pardi Passito, Umbria 

Marco De Grazia at Swirl in 2010

Maximo's and Marc de Grazia Selections Wine Dinner

Join us at Maximo's Italian Grill with Anne Zakin, president of Marc de Grazie Imports USA, for a dinner featuring an outstanding selection of wines from the portfolio paired with Chef Thomas Woods creative cuisine. 

We're taking you on a tour of Italy presenting wines from the Veneto, Campagnia, Sicily, Tuscany and Alto Adige with a mix of obscure and well known grape varieties while Chef Woods' regionally inspired menu provides the perfect pairings. 

Date:
Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Time:
6:30pm Cocktails (cash bar), 7:00pm Dinner

Cost:
$95 per person, tax and tip included (prepayment is required with reservation)

Where:
Maximo's Italian Grill, 1117 Decatur Street

Reservations:
504.304.0635


Tonight's Menu

 

Wild mushroom veloute with confit green apple 

and shredded ham hock
2009 Kofererhof Kerner, Alto Adige


Marinated grilled sardines with baby arugula, capers, heirloom 

tomato and shredded Reggiano

2010 Cantine Antonio Caggiano Greco di Tufo Devon, Campania

 

 

Veal Napoleon with roasted red bell pepper marinara 

and braised fennel
2008 Mazzi Valpolicella Classico Superiore Sanperetto, Veneto

 

House made crushed red pepper fettuccini served with duck confit, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and baby portobello, tossed in a mascarpone duck demi-glace

2007 Azienda Agricola Dei Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Toscano
 

Brown sugar pork belly accompanied by spicy whipped sweet potatoes 

topped with a black cherry compound butter

2009 Terre Nere Etna Rosso Guardiola, Sicilia


Braised farmers market peaches with toasted walnut and aged 

gorgonzola, accompanied by a vanilla gelato  

2007 Azienda Agricola Gini Recioto di Soave Col Foscarin, Veneto

Selecting the Wines: Dinner at Maximo's

Selecting wines for our dinners with local restaurants is one of my favorite things to do.  And believe it or not, there's a lot more to it than just opening up a bunch of bottles we like and designing a menu around them.  It is a process that involves the input and collaboration of quite a few individuals who all have a vested interest in you having a great wine and food experience.

I've been to dinners where it was obvious that there was not much communication between the wine people and the food people.  The latest experience, believe it or not, was in Tuscany. And as bad as the event was, it was actually very good for me to see what happens when proper planning is obviously not involved. Food comes out without wine or wrong wines in your glass when the food comes out and little or no thought going in to the actual food and wine pairings which means neither the wine nor the food really gets to shine.

Anne Zakin

Now onto our upcoming dinner at Maximo's...We are working on an event in late September when Anne Zakin, President of Marc De Grazia Imports USA, will be in town to host the dinner and present the wines. I met with sommelier Michelle Gueydan, who has been working with the staff at Maximo's, Chef Thomas Woods, General Manager Eric Solis, and Nick Selby from Uncorked, at his office to put our heads together to make the selections.   And I am really excited by the line up!

Chef Thomas Woods

We wanted a wide range to show case the depths of the portfolio and Chef Thomas' diversity in cooking styles.  We needed interesting wines but with good acidity and structure to pair with foods and even turned down a wine that we all fell head over heels for because we felt another would better fit our purpose (more on that wine later...). And although we tend to want to taste higher end wines at these dinners, it is important to present selections at various price points to show that not all wine needs to be expensive to be good.

So we decided to take you on a tour of Italy, presenting wine and food from the Veneto, Campagnia, Sicily, Tuscany and Alto Adige with a mix of obscure and well known grape varieties. The list is now in Chef Thomas' hands and it is up to him to create some culinary magic in the kitchen to pair with the wines.  The dinner is Wednesday September 21 and menu and pricing will be coming soon, but here's a little information on a few of the wines we selected:

2009 Kofererhof Kerner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 pts:  The 2009 Kerner bursts from the glass with an exciting array of mint, flowers, passion fruit and crushed rocks. This is a beautiful, vivid white that takes shape in the glass, continuing to show off its remarkable class. A textured, creamy finish rounds things out in style. The estate’s Kerner is one of the great, great wines of Alto Adige, and the 2009 is nothing short of breathtaking. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2015.





2007 Az Agr Dei Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Robert Parker's Wine Advocat, 90 pts:  Dei’s 2007 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is wonderfully soft and expressive in this vintage. Bright red cherries lead to subtle notes of earthiness and pipe tobacco as this sexy, radiant Vino Nobile opens up in the glass. Fine, silky tannins frame the long, beautifully articulated finish. This understated, delicate Vino Nobile is a gem from Dei. 


2008 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso Feudo di Mezzo, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, 92 pts., (RP 93 pts) - Good deep red. Delicately smoky, penetrating aromas of redcurrant and crushed rock, with a liqueur-like nuance; seems a bit less intense than the Guardiola. Supple, creamy and sweet, which is typical for this vineyard bottling, but with very good acidity and a recurring rocky quality nicely complementing the berry and smoke flavors. Finishes with sweet but mounting tannins and notes of aromatic herbs. This has the structure to age but also offers considerable up-front appeal, though the tannins are such that I'd suggest laying this away for another couple of years.