Wine & Opera

By Gal Zohar

The real star

The world of wine is constantly expanding and always in search for new wine and the other pairings. New concepts are invented and Sommeliers then try to execute the bizarre task of matching wine to art, music or the colour of the walls. But this is not always  just a simple PR stunt. A food, wine & music matching even happened at one of the Winefuture dinners in Rioja, and there were serious wine peeps participating.

Our main course

This is why couldn’t stop wondering when I first heard about the concept of Viva Verdi. Can matching Italian food & wine to Opera actually work? Now this might be a bit strange, I thought. Do I really want to eat my lunch while listening to Ottelo or Falstaff as a relaxing background tune? Do I need to worry that my wine won’t work with a specific Aria? As a big fan of classical music myself I had to go and find out.

Meeting Stefano Potorti from Viva Verdi turned into a very enjoyable afternoon. The bespoke Opera and wine matching happens only once a month, he reassured, yet is very popular. It is more of a general practice though, the wines are Italian and so are the Arias. I was relieved  that I was not about to discover my ignorance on food & music matching. Having cleared that we could now get to the food.

Viva Verdi puts a different Italian heritage on stage, not opera but its cheese and salame. They offer 7 types of Cheese and 6 different Salame. And a serious mission it is. They go way beyond the Prosciutto di Parma & 18 month old Parmigiano Reggiano. Above all I enjoyed the creamy Burrata, the outrageously unhealthy (yet so so delicious) Lardo di Colonnata. The menu is a cheese lover’s delight.

On the Vino side the list is an obvious all Italian ranging from the heath of  Sicily to the breeze of the Piedmontese hills. There is even a fine wine section with the 3 kings of Italy: Brunello from Banfi, Barolo from  Ceretto & Amarone from Nicolis. Good wines even on their own, with no added Opera!

I left happy and will  come back and listen to some Verdi without picking my brains if Sangiovese or Nebbiolo are a better match.

Viva Verdi · 6 Canvey Street · London · SE1 9AN   02079286867

Tags: Castello Banfi, Ceretto, food and wine, Nicolis, Restaurant Review

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Food & Wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.