TN: Lamb Kofta & Barolo

WINE TALK
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had a friend over last weekend, and we kicked off the evening with the 2018 Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs—serious stuff with four years on the lees. Precise, bright, and mineral-driven. My guest, hailing from France, was mildly annoyed that England is making sparkling wine of this caliber.

For the main event, we went with heavily spiced lamb kofta alongside an herb salad—mint, parsley, dill, red onion, peppers, lemon, and olive oil—plus a garlic and Espelette yogurt. We paired it with the 2017 Cordero di Montezemolo ‘Monfalletto’ Barolo, which hung out in a decanter for about two hours while we cooked and sipped bubbles. I had no prior experience with this producer, but it turned out to be a fantastic bottle, in a great spot to drink.

The real revelation, though? How beautifully the Barolo paired with the kebabs. Now I can’t stop thinking about a restaurant that serves Middle Eastern cuisine with an exclusively Italian wine list—maybe even entirely Piedmontese? Timorasso, Ruché, Barbera… so much exciting ground to cover alongside falafel, baba ganoush, saffron-scented Persian rice…

Who’s ready to invest?

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Turkish cuisine is pretty wine-friendly. I think you’d find a lot of Sangioveses work well, too, and Rhone wines, both northern and southern.

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Yeah most of those red varietals pair well with Middle Eastern food as long as you don’t veer into the spicier North African cuisine. I echo John’s thoughts and N. Rhone Syrah is always very good with lamb. Also Musar, and Bandol. Where I would probably run into issue with your concept was limiting white selections to Piedmont. Nebbiolo is my favorite grape and I enjoy several of the other reds, but I find the whites mostly underwhelming. Another good option for pairing with similar cuisine is both the reds AND the whites of Sicily.

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I enjoy pairing kofta with Xinomavro, which can be very similar to Nebbiolo. I’ll have to give Barolo a try next time we have it though.

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I don’t know I think there a handful of tasty whites, and enough that we could put together a tight list:

Roagna’s Chardonnay and Timorasso
Ettore Germano’s ‘Herzu’ Riesling
Ferrando’s Erbaluce
Giacosa’s Arneis

I stand by the viability of this far fetched restaurant concept

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I think it’s a great idea, look at how well the Slanted Door combined good wine with a non-traditional cuisine.

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Sounds good to me but if it was my money I’d probably do a Piemonte and Friuli focus. Would be glorious and even further raise the levels of white wines, addition of top level amber wines and a bunch of interesting red wines on top of it. Or solely focus on Friulian wines, name the restaurant Colli Orientali.

I’ll send you and invoice for coming up with the name :wine_glass:

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Castello di Verduno BTG !

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Count me in.

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Hey, whatever works for you. I’d just drink red.

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We eat at a local Turkish BYO, either take out or on premise, almost weekly. We bring a bottle of rose to go with the apps and dips, and a bottle of either Cote du Rhone or Langhe Nebbiolo (or Roagna Rosso) to go with the mains.

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