From: Alto-Piemonte, Italy
Varietal: Erbaluce
Taste: This ultra vibrant white dances out of the blocks. Lively wild herbs mix with candied orange and a sense of pure, breathy lightness. The wine is energetic, gliding along the palate with chamomile lift and a lovely light layer of apricot fruit that gently settles on the tongue. Great fresh wine for fans of Loire whites and singing, herbal freshness. We have long wanted to get our hands on this tiny volume expression of Erbaluce from the mighty Antoniolo - what a counterpoint to their stately Nebbiolo wines!
Pairing: Erbaluce di Caluso wine is ideal with Canavese (see below) appetizers based on vegetables and beans, but also with river fish and fresh goat cheeses.
Typical Canavese Cuisine.
In this area, antipasti, which are extremely important at any traditional Piedmontese lunch, begin with cured meats and lardo (seasoned bacon fat). The other antipasti are usually made with eggs or stuffed vegetables, or a combination of sauces made with anchovies. Then there is boiled tongue, and the use of aspic or pickling are also popular for the presentation of vegetables and meats.
One of the main ingredients of Canavese cuisine is cabbage, which we find in “caponet”, rolls made of cabbage stuffed with meat, and in cabbage soup, known as “supa mitonà”, with bread, stock and cheese (joined by sausage and onion in some versions).
Authentic local soups include typical versions made with milk, rice and chestnuts, or stocks made with meat or vegetables, which were once enriched with lots of grated cheese and a few spoons of red wine.
Dishes traditionally served on festive occasions were homemade agnolotti (similar to tiny ravioli) or tajarin (fine pasta ribbons), while rice was eaten frequently, with mushrooms, vegetables or yellow pumpkin.
Meat also used to be reserved for celebrations, with delicious combinations of boiled meats served with red and green sauces, or tasty stews made with game (hare, wild boar) cooked in Carema or Barbera wine, accompanied by polenta, not to mention the Piedmont mixed fry (with sweet and savoury components) or Canavese-style rabbit.
Canavese cuisine is based essentially on two fundamental dishes: bagna caoda, served with raw and/or cooked vegetables, and tofeja (beans with pig’s trotters and pork rind slow cooked in a wood-fuelled oven inside a traditional Castellamonte terracotta pot) which is often served at Carnival. Along with tofeja there are also fresse (meatballs made with offal and raisins, wrapped in pork omentum) and other dishes served traditionally as part of the “Seina del crin” (the Pig’s Dinner), the banquet that traditionally followed the home-production of cured meats and various cuts of pork.
