This year we decided to start the season off with a bang, and hosted our first wine dinner of the year on opening day. We featured wines from Tenute Silvio Nardi and featured host, Emanuele Nardi, European export manager and wine maker. The food was delightful and perfectly paired with the selected wines. Below is the dinner menu and wines that accompanied each course.
The Menu
Reception
Rolled Bell Peppers with Ground Beef, Mortadella and Pancetta, assorted Italian salami and olives, Shrimp Parmesan, King Crabmeat puffs with vegetable and Shrimp Sauce, assorted crostini and parmesan cheese with fresh fruit. Poema Cava Extra Dry
Pennette and Bean Soup
A traditional and hearty winter fist course, with a rich beef stock, canelloni beans and pancetta bacon. Nardi Rosso Di Montalcino 2005
Grilled Lamb Chops
Seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, seared on an open flame and served with a spicy orzo and lentil salid. Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino 2003
Winter Salad
Roasted beets, walnuts and goat cheese on a bed of baby lettuce and frisee, finished with tangy orange vinaigrette.
Grilled Veal Tenderloin
Grilled to perfection, with a fava bean and wild mushroom ragu with a Rosso Di Montalcino Drizzle, served with parmesan polenta fries and sauteed vegetables. Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino "Manachiara" 2003
Tuscan Trifle
Chocolate Italian Bignole, filled with chocolate pastry cream, floating in pool of chocolate whip cream and chocolate ganache then finished with shaved Belgian chocolate and fresh berries. Nivole
Tenute Silvio Nardi - History
In 1893, Francesco Nardi emigrated to the United States, leaving his wife, Maria Annunziata, behind in Italy to direct the farm and their children's upbringing. Upon his return in 1895, he brought back the design for a new plow which he developed and called the "Voltorecchio," described in 1903 in the American Encyclopedia of Modern Agriculture as the "Nardi System." This plow became the first of many highly successful machines developed by his business, Nardi Francesco E Gigli. These new designs contributed to the revolution which transformed Italian agriculture at the beginning of the 20th Century. At that time, Montalcino was no more than a tranquil Tuscan country village of a few houses, shops and vineyards.
In 1950 Silvio Nardi, Francesco Nardi's son, purchased the Casale Del Bosco estate and in 1958 produced his first bottles of Brunello di Montalcino. The family's spirit was re-energized, and for two consecutive years, in 1952 and in 1953, the Casale Del Bosco was recongnized as being among Italy's most innovative farms. The family's deep ties to agriculture and the optimistic atmosphere of Montalcino in the late post-war years focused their determination to produce a natural product of tradition and excellence.
In 1966, Brunello di Montalcino was among the first eight Italian wine producing zones to be desgnated a Denominazione Di Origine Cotrollata (DOC). In 1967, the Consorzio Del Vino Brunello was established as a voluntary association of producers who were determined to sustain and improve the quality of the wines of their zone as they gained prestige. Silvio Nardi was among its first members. In 1980, Brunello Di Montalcino became the first Italian wine to receive Denominazione Di Origine Controllate E Garantita (DOCG) status. The producers' awareness of the importance of astute viticultural practices and improved fermentation and maturation techniques led to a revolution in the eighties with the development of more sophisticated agronomic and enological concepts. The producers embraced these advances to the direct benefit of the wines. Brunello began to express its full potential.
Silvio Nardi focused on his vineyards, taking advantage of what technology offered and pursuing his belief in the importance of specific terroir, with the result that in the 1980's Casale Del Bosco and its Brunello were among Montalcino's best. In 1991, a new generation began with Emilia Nardi, who continued her father's philosophy with knowledge, understanding, enthusiasm and committed dedication. In the exceptional 1995 vintage she first produced Manachiara, a "cru" created from a specially-vinified selection of the finest grapes from a designated vineyard within the estate properties.
Soil studies and clonal selection are continuing projects in the estate's older vineyards. In 2001 analysis of the various terroirs was completed, identifying the estate's potential to produce distinctive, elegant wines of longevity. Careful clonal selection will allow production of a Brunello with characteristics unique to Tenute Silvio Nardi. Also at the vineyard level, phenolic maturation studies are being compiled to evaluate progression of ripening in the various vineyards so that harvest dates can be determined as precisely as possible based on the technical maturity and polyphenolic content of the skins.
The principle vineyards of Tenute Silvio Nardi are located on the original estate of Casale Del Bosco, a property of 2,022 acres in the northwest part of Montalcino overlooking the Val D'Orcia. The estate lies in a prevalently hilly area between the flood plain of the Ombrone river and the place name of Cerralti. The "Podere" of Oria, Sassi, Sant'Adele and San Michele, former sharecropped parcels of land, lie within the estate. Casale Del Bosco's current 100 acres of vineyards, lying at an altitude between 790 and 1,150 feet, are planted to sangiovese grosso and fall under the Brunello Di Montalcino and the secondary Rosso Di Montalcino denominations.
