A last minute cancellation allowed me to attend a Sassicaia dinner earlier this week.
I haven’t been to many wine / dinner pairing events so I was looking forward to this.
I turned down Phillies tickets (Roy Halladay pitching) to go to this instead and it turned out to be a wise choice.
It was held @ Osteria which is a Marc Vetri restaurant.
Marc is arguably the top chef in Philly.
There were 3 tables of 10 and I was fortunate enough to be seated with Piero Incisa Della Rocchetta, who is the grandson of the winemaker.
Menu is below
1st
Grilled housemade mortadella
veal and melon involtini
oyster cacciucco
capasaldo, prosecco nv (veneto,it)
2nd
lamb tartar with pecorino mousse and carrot
bodega chacra, pinot noir 2009"barda" (patagonia/rio negor, arg)
3rd
olive oil poached rabbit with taccole and taggiasco olives
agricola punica, isola dei nuraghi 2005 “montessu” (sardegna,it)
4th
veal cooked in hay agnolotti with piave fonduta
tenuta san guido, guidalberta 2008 (tuscany,it)
5th
rib cap with house grown cavalo nero and pancetta
tenuta san guido, sassicaia 1997 (tuscany, it)
dessert -
peach sgroppino
grappa zabaione torta with green meadow farm blackberries
michele chialro, moscato d’astis 2009 “nivole” (piedmont, it)
jocopa poli, grappa di sassicaia nv (tuscuny, it)
Each course and wine was better than the next.
It was a great night.
There were a few guys from Korbrand (sassacia distributor) and capital wine (local distributor) who were at the table and their pours and fill ups were more often and larger than the rest, which irked me but it was to be expected.
A few of the personal highlights for me were:
Dick Vermeil happened to be eating in the restaurant that night and popped in to our private dining room to say hello and chat with Piero.
I had to explain to Piero who he was. “He is the equivalent of Marcello Lippi (head coach of Italian soccer team) except he won the Super Bowl, not the world cup.”
I got to chat a bit with Coach and naturally had to tell him I was an Eagles season ticket holder. He told me I probably wasn’t born when he took the Eagles to the Superbowl (I was 3).
The chef made an appearance as well.
I then decided to get Marc and Piero to sign my menu, which they did.
When Piero was signing it, he asked me what the date was, which I told him the 28th. He asked me if I was sure and I told him positive b/c it was my parents 43rd anniversary. He then scolded me for not being with my parents. I told him we were celebrating this weekend b/c they were 2 hours away. So he grabbed a bottle of the 97 Sassacaia, signed it and told me to give it to them for their anniversary.
The night could not have ended better.
