Barone Montalto Pinot Grigio and Baked Scallops with Shrimp by Philip S. Kampe

With the pandemic forcing us inside, there is little doubt that our cooking skills and wine drinking abilities should reach new heights. I’m from New Orleans, needless to say, my cooking skills have been useful for years. I used to help my mother cook, at age five, for my parents bi-monthly social gatherings at our house. My dad loved French wine- Burgundy’s  and Bordeaux’s. He was at the cusp of the wine world-way before it was fashionable.

Cooking secured my life, as my Italian (Capri), soon to be mother-in-law, had me cook for her before saying that I could marry her daughter. Fortunately, I passed the test (I cooked Italian) and the rest is history.

During the pandemic, at least in our household, meals are very important.

Matching wines with food is essential.

The best way to do that is to choose the wine first, and then build a meal around the wine. That is what was done in this case.

With warm weather lingering, it was apparent a white wine was the way to go. And Italy’s most famous white wine export is Pinot Grigio. With a search online, I found an interesting Pinot Grigio from western Sicily- a wine that can handle shellfish, in this case, sea scallops and shrimp.

New to me, Barone Montalto makes a Pinot Grigio that is exactly what a Pinot Grigio profile entails: a wine that is refreshing, crisp, full of fruit (apple, pear, dried flowers) and is clean. Sampling the 2019 wine, while cooking, I found good minerality, with additional flavors of lemon, grapefruit, papaya and peach. There were undertones of sage, lemon grass, pineapple and hay. A heavy dose of green apple and lime surrounded my palate, as well.

Using this wine in cooking the scallops and shrimp added the extra special necessary dimension.

The Wine: 2019 Barone Montalto Pinot Grigio from Sicily. 12% alcohol

The dish: Baked Sea Scallops and Shrimp

Ingredients:
8 xl Sea Scallops
12 16-20size Shrimp
1/4 cup Pinot Grigio
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 stick of melted butter
Quarter squeezed lemon
olive oil
kosher salt
ground pepper
butter
parsley

Procedure:
Pre-heat oven to 400F
Cook 16-20 minutes
Use a baking dish or divide into two ceramic bowls
Put a drop of olive oil in each dish, pat dry the scallops and peeled .shrimp. Put salt and pepper on both sides of the scallops and shrimp. Arrange them in the baking dish. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients. Spoon them on top of the scallops and shrimp. On top of the scallops and shrimp, pour the melted butter, wine and lemon juice. Put in the oven on a middle shelf and cook til brown (16-29 minutes). Take out of the oven and serve immediately.

Remember to sample the 2019 Barone Montalto wine while cooking the dish. That is part of the fun during preparation.

I’m happy to say that this Pinot Grigio from Sicily held up to the dish. It is a wine, I will order again.

Philip S. Kampe
Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Natural Origins Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon by Philip S. Kampe

The pandemic has changed my shopping patterns. It seems that hoarding groceries and libations is now common place. Unfortunately, refrigerators only hold so much-whether its fresh and cold or stored in the freezer.

Dry goods are different. If you have a basement, which most New Englanders have, storing dry goods like pasta, jars of artichoke hearts or boxes of Oreos is no problem. The same holds true for wine. It seems that the three liter (4x750ml) boxed wine that was once looked down upon, has emerged as a pandemic star. Sales, according to Nielsen data are up 53% since COVID-19.

As a wine writer and wine lover, it made sense to stock up on boxed wine- storage wise, each box was a drop larger, spatially versus a bottle of wine.

There are so many advantages to boxed wine. Space, price and most importantly, the wine doesn’t go bad in a day or two, thanks to innovative packaging. Once opened, the wine has a 30 day window. What could be better?

After sampling several boxed wines, I found an organic Argentine wine with 14.1% alcohol, made by the owners of Domaine Bosquet, Anne Bosquet and Labid Al Ameri. The three liter boxed wine is marketed under the name, Natural Origins and is a segway for the owners to enter the natural wine industry.

Originally, I sampled the Malbec and was curious enough to try the Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit used in both wines is from Argentina’s TupungatoValley, known for its extreme daily temperature variations. The differential produces grapes that are overly fresh, with an abundance of aroma.

One night I cooked stuffed portobello mushrooms and paired it with the Malbec. The pairing worked perfectly and now it will be a meal I can make for others, once, we can socialize.

I’m originally from New Orleans and seem to make up my own recipes.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Chorizo (I use ground chorizo versus the sausages)
4 Portobello mushrooms
1 Yellow or Red Bell Pepper
1 medium Red Onion
2 Celery Ribs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup Breadcrumbs (pancko is fine)
2 eggs
1/4 cup Mozzarella
Salt
Pepper
Sage
Olive oil
Butter


Procedure:
Chop all the vegetables and put them in a medium hot sauté pan after the olive oil and butter bubble.
Add the chorizo separately. After ten minutes the vegetables and chorizo should be cooked. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl until cooled. Add the sage, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs and cheese to the mixture. Break two eggs, mix them and add to the bowl. Mix well and put into a blender.

Heat oven to 400F
On a baking sheet, put the four portobello mushrooms. Rub oil on top and bottom of each mushroom.
Fill each cap with the mixture and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Pour a glass of Natural Origins Malbec while cooking and with your meal.

Philip S. Kampe
Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

The Botanical Drink of the Summer made with L’Apertivo Nonino by Philip S. Kampe

Since the pandemic has taken over our daily lives, cooking and drinking wine and spirits, daily, has become a ritual in our household.

I have been the sole cook in our family for the past 26 plus years. Since work is a thing of the past, my wife has started to join me in the kitchen. She has been using cher Caprese mother’s recipes to create several main courses. And has found a knack for creating desserts.

Having been in the candy and ice cream (Fabulous Phil’s Gourmet Ice Cream) business for several years, my yearning for sweets diminished because I over consumed during those years. My appetite for sweets had changed since my wife, Maria started making pastries.

My position of house sommelier has an added change, I am now the house bartender. What that means is, I can make up drinks and the two of us can enjoy the fruit of the labor. Negroni style drinks have been big hits, as we both love vermouth and Campari.

Maria’s mother, Anna, was known for her devotion to sweet vermouth and martinis at dinner time. We, now, call that ‘Happy Hour.’

One of the drinks that has taken our ‘Happy Hour’ by fancy is a cocktail made with botanicals from the famous Italian Nonino sisters (Elizabetta, Antonella & Cristina) 1940 recipe from their grandmother, Silvea Milocco.

Their grandmother was a pioneer in the spirits world, as she was the first woman in Italy to produce Grappa. Her recipe for the apertivo was lost during the war and recently surfaced. The sisters followed the recipe which includes sixteen vegan friendly, all natural botanicals. The infusion of berries, herbs, roots and flowers helped create a fruity, somewhat bitter, citrus product, full of white peach, lemon, rhubarb and gentian root, appropriately named L’Apertivo Nonino.

Distillation took place in a copper steam still with the head and tail removed. In layman’s terms, it was a modified copper still.

The result is a relatively new (2019 release) botanical apertivo called L’Apertivo Nonino.

As you can see in the photos, the bottle is quite elegant. The design includes the three sisters incorporated into a botanical design.

On the backside of the bottle is a recipe for a cocktail, which has become our favorite drink of the pandemic. It is simple to make and doesn’t seem to have a name. So, we call it L’Apertivo Nonino.

Ingredients:
2 parts L’Apertivo Nonino
1 part Sparkling wine
A splash of lemon juice

Preparation:
Add ice cubes to a bourbon glass, mix the ingredients above in the glass and add a lemon wheel to the glass and serve.

Its a hit in our home, thanks to this lost recipe of 80 years ago.

Philip S. Kampe
Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com