Gary Westby (K&L) Angelo Ferrio (Cascina Ca’ Rossa) and Mario Roagna (Cascina Val de Prete)

Lucky me—with Greg St. Clair in Hollywood and Guido Parres tied up for the night, Cinnamon and I had a chance to represent K&L at a great dinner in Palo Alto. La Strada restaurant is a big personal favorite of ours, located right in the middle of downtown on University Ave, and we try to dine there at least once a month on our own. This was no normal night at La Strada, however, Chef Elide Cordero had flown in from Piemonte where she is co-owner of Ristorante Il Centro in Priocca and she prepared a fantastic meal with head chef Donato Scotti of La Strada. Accompanying the food we enjoyed the wines of Cascina val de Prete presented by winemaker and owner Mario Roagna and Cascina Ca’ Rossa presented by winemaker and owner Angelo Ferrio.

The meal began with a great starter of pureed cauliflower with sausage and balsamic next to a frittata layered with cotto salami. It was paired with the very rich, aromatic 2006 Cascina Val del Prete Arneis “Luet.” The stone fruit flavors in this quite decadent and full-bodied white soared with the frittata in particular.

The antipasti course was actually two courses, first a tuna caper and anchovy stuffed pepper dish and then the best fresh ham I had ever had… The “Cosciotto di Maialetto al Sale e Intingolo di Erbe” a ham from a suckling pig cooked in salt and herbs and then cut impossibly thin on the Testarossa meat slicer by Donato.

Intingolo Ham

Donato Testarossa

These two antipasti were paired with the 2006 Cascina Val del Prete Barbera d'Alba “Serra de Gatti,” which I thought was incredibly adventurous with the tuna stuffed peppers, but turned into a revelation for me. Cinnamon thought it was the best course and the best pairing of the night, and I was impressed with the rich texture and wonderful freshness of the wine with the very savory tuna. The wine was very dark, and the tuna was very light, but the pairing was a huge success. With the delicate, melt-in-your-mouth ham the rich-textured wine also showed well. This barbera is stainless steel fermented and then aged for only three or four months in old barrique, and the varietal’s natural low tannin and good acidity eliminated the usual metallic flavor problem that is often encountered when pairing red wine with fish and ham. Yum!

The meal then began in earnest with the primo or first course and Cinnamon was already complaining of being full. We also started getting into the big hitting wines, the Roero’s proper, an appellation that was just elevated to full DOCG status for the 2005 vintage. Roero is a bebbiolo appellation and the wines must be at least 95% composed of that varietal to qualify. Two single-vineyard Roero’s were poured; the 2005 Cascina Ca' Rossa Roero “Audinaggio” from a sandy vineyard that was vinified in new barrique and the 2004 Cascina Ca' Rossa Roero “Mompisano” from a calcareous vineyard that was aged three years in old, large botti. The primo was super-rich ravioli that were stuffed with three meats and then sauced with a veal and sausage sugo… The picture below tells the story better than I can, trust me when I say it was rich! I think one could die if one tried to eat this great dish without some wine!

Ravioli Sugo

The Audinaggio was a very modern nebbiolo with plenty of flashy new oak, extraction and ripeness. It was a very impressive and showy wine, but with the food I gave the more traditional Mompisano the nod… I thought it was the wine of the night! It had a nose reminiscent of Musigny, with black cherry fruit and a mineral streak that headed in the direction of iron. Like all the other great nebbiolo that I have had, it was the chorus of complexity that this wine had aromatically that most impressed me. It also had the tannin and mid-palate punch to handle the over-the-top sugo. Some of this will certainly be going into my cellar! I can’t wait to check in on this wine in another 10 years!

The secondo was the richest dish of the night, a beef course that had been braised in Roero wine and accompanied by potato puree. I would compare this to a Provençal daub, but rather than have the beef cut into small pieces before cooking, it is cooked whole and then sliced and served with the ultra-rich sauce. We had the 2004 and 2005 Cascina Val del Prete “Roero” to accompany this big time meat dish.

Brasato al Roero

These wines both had massive tannins—and with the brasato we needed those tannins! They both showed more of the new-style Barolo side of nebbiolo and definitely had the barrel spice from the barrique that they were brought up in. The 2004 had a fresher zing than the more opulent 2005 and also had more smoke and complexity than its younger brother. The 2005 showed a lot of promise and a lot of body nonetheless.

It was then on to dessert: a chocolate mousse on the top a crisp hazelnut cake paired with the bubbly, red, off dry, powerfully aromatic and completely charming 2006 Cascina Ca Rossa “Birbet” Brachetto. After enjoying this pairing it was time to say our good byes and walk home. What a great time! Thank you Donato, thank you Angelo, thank you Mario and thank you Elide!

Elide Cordero of Ristorante Il Centro in Priocca and head chef Donato Scotti of La Strada

—Gary Westby

Editor’s Note: Many of the wines mentioned in this piece are set to come to K&L shortly (if they are not already in-stock). Follow the link to add yourself to the waiting list for any of the wines not yet available. These are gems you won’t want to miss.