Not knowing your wine tastes as well as I know your beer tastes (no Racer 5 or Cantillon on the menu, I assume) I’d play it this way:
Pic the category you know the best or have the strongest draw towards, red or white, and pick that one yourself. Then go ‘dealer’s choice’ on the others and put yourself in the hands of your server. Sounds like they have great staff to steer you, and those are the sort of opportunities you get to have an unexpected ‘OMG’ moment. One of my favorite dining nights was when my wife and I went ‘all-in’ with our server (and owner) at this Italian place in Sonoma. Completely set us on our ass. I do know you’re one for experimentation, and for those prices it’s great chance for discovery.
We ate there on successive nights the summer before last. The excellent sommelier made suggestions, which we followed each night. Rather than give him some suggestions and ask for his advice, I asked him to pick wines that he liked that went with our meals that perhaps weren’t widely known. I don’t remember the wines offhand, but I’d never heard of any of them. They were delicious and none was more than €30-ish, that I recall. The best part was that the wines he chose were perfect accompaniments to our meals. All of which is a long winded way of agreeing with Steffen. Also agreeing with Steffen, we drank white wines because they better matched the summer heat and the great Roscioli pastas: carbonara, amatriciana, and cacio pepe, as well as our charcuterie starters, one of which was comprised of a huge selection of different buffala mozzarellas, some smoked, some not, accompanied by a huge helping of Jamon Pata Negra. Great place. Easy to over think their wine list.
I still stand with the 03 Monprivato,drinking especially very well now…and not necessarily connected to the “lesser” 03s,which IMO have Some compelling wines with great value.
As for the 06 Pergole Torte,a big favorite of mine,it’s in sleep mode now and would be a waste to try and pierce its outer electron shell…
If you’re ordering the burrata - you are ordering the burrata, right? - you’ll likely want something with bubbles. I’m hardly an expert in Italian sparkers, but I do find that I prefer Franciacorta to Prosecco.
In other related and good news: two of our friends will be joining us, essentially doubling the number of wines we’ll be able to order and dishes we’ll be able to try! Oh yeah, it will be nice to spend time with them, too!
If you venture to Campo dei Fiori (the neighborhood in which Roscioli is located) dueling the day, do yourself a favor and have a porchetta sandwich (I like mine with spicy chicory) at Aristocampo. Priceless at €5/6. One of the best I’ve eaten during my enduring obsession with porchetta sandwiches.
If you’re headed back through Campo di Fiori towards Piazza Navona, definitely put “Cul de Sac” on your list. Great little eatery and a very solid wine selection.
We sat in Roscioli’s basement (with their wines) for dinner and opted for their wine/food pairing recommendations…very respectable advice.
I don’t really “get” Burrata. It’s tasty enough in an ultra creamy way, but there’re so many other good cheeses. Check out their Selezioni di Formaggi.
Had a couple meals there a couple yrs ago and recall some well-priced Gravner and old Chianti in particular. Don’t miss the Joselito and Cinta Senese. Also a nice stash of very good old rum, if you’re into that.
Ate there twice this spring. It’s fantastic. Crowded for sure and we were in the entryway both times which would seem awkward but I liked it as you could watch them prep the burrata and slice the cured meats. Champagne list is very strong. Portions are generous to a fault. Don’t fill up on the cheese and bread they send out to start the meal. Get a jar of their sundries tomatoes to go. Where else in Italy are you going?
I would echo some of the above thoughts. I think it will be hard to go wrong here. If you have the degree of comfort, let it fly and let the somm take you for a vinous ride. One of the great wonders for me in wine is exploring the great- often inexpensive- indigenous varieties of Italy. It sounds like the somm is great and I would let them run the show and I bet in this case at least, you will have great experience that you cannot reproduce stateside. I’d let them pick you some cool wines that you have never heard of and have a run of it. Prosecco d V and Burrata sounds like a reason to fly out there in and of itself.
Also, FWIW, the 03 Monprivato rocks right now. A great '03, but I’d be brave, close your eyes, and open you mouth on this one.
BG - That is one awesome list. You guys are in for a treat. I agree with Mark K. Let the somm take you for a ride. I would avoid all the non-Italian wines. Nice as they are, you are in Rome with an opportunity to try some very cool wines that will pair exceptionally well with the food. Enjoy!
And for the record the ’09 Torre dei Beati Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo Doc at €18 is a great deal.
La burrata was recommended to me as a must-eat when traveling to Italy. Honestly, I didn’t know why. I like mozzarella well-enough, but it certainly never wow’d me.
But I quickly realized that I’ve never really tasted good mozzarella, real mozzarella, much less burrata as I’d never bothered to purchase product overnighted from Italy. I’ve since purchased burrata from a few local places that’s sold “within 48hrs of landing in the US”. I presume this was flown out of Italy on the same day it was made (I hope). And yet … not the same. With aged cheeses - so long as you have a good affineur - you can taste quality products from anywhere. Fresh cheeses simply don’t maintain, even when overnighted from Italy to your local grocer.
And, like American guanciale, I still haven’t found an acceptable local burrata or mozzarella. I thought it a matter of producers simply not trying hard enough, but apparently there are people devoting their lives to recreating fresh Italian cheese in the US. Still failing to do so, but still trying. It is, apparently, “perhaps the most difficult cheese to replicate”, as noted in this great article from last week’s NYTIMES: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magazine/buffalo-mozzarella-craig-ramini.html?ref=dining
“Buffalo mozzarella is the Great White Whale of American cheesemaking: a dream so exotic and powerful that it drives otherwise sensible people into ruinous monomaniacal quests. Despite all the recent triumphs of our country’s foodie movement (heirloom-turkey-sausage saffron Popsicles; cardamom paprika mayonnaise foam), no one in the United States has, as of yet, figured out how to recreate precisely this relatively simple Old World delicacy — a food with essentially one ingredient (buffalo milk) that is made every day in Italy. Over the last 15 years, in fact, the attempt to make authentic buffalo mozzarella — to nail both its taste and texture — has destroyed businesses from Vermont to Los Angeles. It seems truly doomed…”
So, yeah, at the end of the day burrata is just cream and really creamy cheese in a creamy cheese purse. But it’s the most exquisite fresh creamy cheese I’ve ever tasted. But go easy. Share it with at least one other person. Save room for all the delights to follow. But remember - you really can’t get this anywhere but Italy.
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