Help me pick a bottle from the list at Lidia's KC

Taking the parents to Lidia’s (Bastianich) Kansas City over the long weekend for their 44th anniversary, and am seeking suggestions from the list. I’m really only starting to explore Italian wines, so any recommendations for standouts would be appreciated. I don’t see anything on the list that scares me from a pricing standpoint (most of it seems quite reasonable, actually). Knowing the crowd, they’re more likely to want cocktails and then a red, as opposed to a white/bubbly and a red. Personally I’d rather stay with varietal wines rather than Super Tuscan blends, but if there’s a Must Have, I’m listening.

Wine List: http://www.lidias-kc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/lidias_KC_list_4_2016.pdf
Menu: Menus | Lidia's Kansas City in Kansas City, MO

Thanks in advance!

Pretty boring/quotidian list…as I always think when I eat there. The Vespas (Bianco/Rosso) are decent.
The Vinaia Pinot is decent. The Grechetto & the Fiano are good. The Freisa is the only one that interests me.
That’s about it.
Tom

the vietti perbacco is very nice wine. around 30$ retail always pleasant and complex at that point (mid 50’s)

if the 2004 Mascarello is Bartolo Mascarello it would be a legend. a young and reticent legend but able to be coaxed out if you open as soon as you sit down for cocktails and decant for an hour.

if the 2004 is Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato its also a beauty but different. more floral more transparent more fleeting. probably can use an hour or more as well.

2004 is as fine a vintage in last 20 years. just young. and 180$ but there you go

Are they wine people? Do you need a knockout bottle? If not the Vietti Perbacco is always very good.

I’d call ahead and ask either of these be uncorked in advance if they have that kind of trustworthy wine program. Alternatively the Borgogno Riserva bottles will work, inquire as to drinkablity between the 98 & 00. There is the 1982 as well; enjoy, I have seen lists 100X worse than this everywhere.

Native Kansas Citian. There’s some good higher-priced options, but the Antinori Il Bruciato is a screaming deal at $45. Second wine of Guado al Tasso. Also, make sure to try their delicious house-made grappas.

My parents are not wine people at all. They enjoy it when we bring/provide it, but at any price point it’s a treat or splurge item otherwise. So it’s safe to say we’re looking for ourselves somewhat, knowing that they’ll like just about anything we order.

Thanks all for the suggestions - lots of good thoughts thus far!

I don’t know what an aged Barolo would taste like after drinking hard liquor.

Could you convince them to hold off on the liquor until dessert?

Maybe something like:

STILL WHITE: 2007 Jermann Tunina
STILL RED: 2004 Mascarello -vs- 1997 Borgogno Riserva
DESSERT: Macallan 18 Year

Cellar Tracker says that the 2011 Jermann “Dreams” needs more time in bottle, whereas the 2007 Tunina is said to be drinking very well right now.

And Cellar Tracker indicates a lot of bottle variation on the 1982 Borgogno Riserva, with the more recent vintages looking like much safer bets.

[Personally, for dessert, I could drink Moscato d’Asti from now until the cows come home.]

Last time I was at Lidia’s, corkage was $20 per bottle. You might consider picking something up from Jim Coley at Gomer’s (2.5 miles away) and bringing it in.

Thanks again for the advice. It turned out the family was more in the mood for mixed drinks than wine, so we kept it simple with the Vietti Perbacco 2013. It was surprisingly forward and ready for business, though obviously quite primary. It went adequately well with everything from ossobuco to the fish soup. Saved room for the house made apricot and cherry grappa for dessert, with a good time had by all!

So what’s it like to start with hard liquor and then move back down to mere wine?

I don’t get the sense that most wine folks drink much hard liquor.

In fact, the guys ITB mostly talk about drinking beer rather than wine.

Well, I started with an aperol spritz, and my wife had a limoncello based drink, so it wasn’t too hard of liquor in our case. With some starchy food in between drinks and wine to clear and refresh the palate, it wasn’t too bad. But we we certainly weren’t trying to do a critical tasting. My parents, like I said before, have no real appreciation or understanding for fine wine, so there was nothing to lose for them. They’ve started a nice meal out with a vodka martini for as long as I can recall - its their thing and I’m certainly not going to force a change at their anniversary dinner :slight_smile: In all, though, the cocktails played a large part in our decision to skip the aged Barolo this time around.

I’ve never found a cocktail before dinner to be a problem. I’m not ITB or otherwise an authority with the need to discriminate with unerring precision. It’s still easy to appreciate the subtleties in a wine as long as you’re not chasing shots with it. Time and food allow the palate to reboot.

You can’t go wrong with any of the Vajra wines – barbera, dolcetto, or the 11 Barolo. The 11s show well know and the pricing is not too bad (compared to Bastianich NY pricing). Their own Vespa Rosso can also be tasting, if I recall there is some ripasso fruit (that is, dried grapes) that give the wine an extra dimension