The Winery
The Torciano Winery Estate was born just a little over 300 years ago in the little town of San Gimignano in the province of Siena, Tuscany, North Central Italy. It all began with Bartolomeo Giachi, the founding father, who left Florence in 1720 and settled permanently in Ulignano, a village belonging to the municipality of San Gimignano. The first walls of the residence and corporate center were called “Tenuta Torciano”. Over three centuries and thirteen generations later, the Giachi family is still making great “luxury” wines following many old traditions and culture of the past while evolving through modern innovations. Their philosophy emphasizes wines “handmade……made in Italy” with special attention given to “the finest quality, excellence, exclusivity and originality”.
Today Pierluigi Giachi, the current owner and winemaker, carries on the family tradition along with his wife Luciana Cilemmi and son Emanuele Bartolomeo Giachi plus many other family members. Torciano produces red, white, Prosecco and Toscano wines in standard size bottles as well as magnums, double magnums and imperials plus olive oil. They feature Chianti, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Super Tuscans, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Nobile di Montepulciano and others.
Tenuta Torciano is in proximity to the Mansion of Torri, with the Hospital La Scala and the Monastery of the Cistercian monks. They also own the Chigi Tower in San Gimignano which is one of the fourteen historic towers of the city. You can taste wine there, dine there, or maybe even get married there! If you visit Tenuta Torciano, you will find hectares and hectares of vineyards, a truffle ground with more than 700 trees and a green garden and vegetable garden. You can experience wine tasting lunches and dinners among the rows, wine tasting in the barrel room or under the stars. You can attend cooking classes, make pasta and pizza, and cook with truffles. You can go truffle hunting with the dogs and taste Torciano wines. Or go horseback riding or on a Vespa adventure and taste their wines. When you are exhausted from all of this adventurous wine tasting, maybe spend the night at the Torciano Hotel Vecchio Asilo. My personal favorite would be the “Ferrari Wine Tour”! Although we won’t be having any of those experiences or taking their helicopter tour or wine cruise, we were lucky enough to taste many of their wines right here in Southwest Florida when Luigi, from the Torciano family team, did a private Torciano Wine Tasting dinner for us at our friend Carol’s home on Sanibel. And as expected we purchased some of them to share with our local winelover friends at our own “Torciano Wine Dinner” – Rakos-style.
This is the story of our dinner party for eight foodie winelovers at our home on June 24, 2022 – complete with the menu, pictures and all of the wines that we paired with each course.
The Restaurant
An iconic Italian winery requires some very special Italian menu items. Since a cookbook from Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto was staring at me from my rack of cookbooks, I browsed through it once again and immediately saw some recipes that should pair beautifully with our chosen wines from Torciano. And just like that, our menu began to take shape! Here’s the story of Barbuto:
Barbuto is a neighborhood restaurant from Chef Jonathan Waxman located in New York’s West Village. It has been a gathering spot welcoming locals and visitors alike for over 15 years. Barbuto first opened in February 2004 in its original location at Washington and Jane Streets. It closed in 2019 but reopened in October of 2021 just 300 steps away from the original – 113 Horatio Street at West Street.
The name “Barbuto” means “bearded” in Italian and references Chef Waxman’s own facial hair. When the initial concept was developed, Jonathan and his business partner at the time Fabrizio Ferri both had beards plus Fabrizio’s Irish Wolfhound Gideon, who is immortalized in the logo.
Barbuto is a casual restaurant featuring Chef Waxman’s Italian cuisine filtered through a California lens. The food is simple and seasonal with signature dishes such as JW roasted chicken, JW potatoes, kale salad and pan-fried gnocchi. If you are in New York City and want to dine there, hope you made reservation on Resy 30 days in advance or plan to take your chances for the few tables saved for walk-ins each night. The bar is first come, first served.
Jonathan Waxman is a native Californian who grew up in a family that celebrated the culinary arts. He received a diploma from La Varenne Cooking School in Paris, then moved back to California and went to work at Domaine Chandon and later on to Chez Panisse with Alice Waters. In 1979, he became executive chef at Michael’s in Santa Monica moving on to his restaurant Jams in New York City at 1 Hotel Central Park in 1984. Back in 2016 he won the coveted James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York City. When in Atlanta, check out Baffi, his restaurant named after an Italian mustache. Never having eaten in any of those restaurants, I am familiar with Jonathan from his numerous TV appearances on Top Chef and Master Chef. He is the author of three cookbooks including: “The Barbuto Cookbook”, “A Great American Cook” and “Italian, My Way”.
I selected several recipes from “The Barbuto Cookbook” to pair with the wines of Torciano at our dinner plus a few Rakos-style variations that all sounded like excellent pairings for our very special Italian wines. “Meatballs and Polenta” with “Mushrooms, Ricotta and Parsley Bruschetta” should be – and definitely were! – superstars at our Antipasti course. Our Primi course included both Barbuto “Potato Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Corn” and a “Red Goddess Salad”. I made both dishes for this course according to the Barbuto recipes. Secondi superstars were “Pan Seared Red Snapper with Black and Red Lentils” and “Rib Eye Steak with Grilled Lemons and Greens”. Chuck and I prepared these items according to Barbuto generally speaking maybe with a little Rakos-variation here and there, but we will never tell! There MUST be dessert and some Barbuto “Chocolate Shortbread Cookies” made a perfect addition to our dessert table. Mariann made those cookies and they were fabulous! Panna cotta is always one of my “company dinner” go-to desserts and this one was superb. Dave made some homemade focaccia bread for us and we were ready for our culinary adventure.
Torciano – Barbuto Wine Dinner Menu
Aperitivo
Red Pepper Stuffed Olives, Pecorino, Provolone Piccante,
Salted Pistachios, Almonds, Chips and Parmesan Crisps
The Spritzes
The Hugo: Mint, Lime, Elderflower Syrup, Prosecco & Sparkling Water
B. Nardini Bitter Spritz: Bitter Nardini, Prosecco & Soda
Antipasti
Meatballs on Grilled Polenta
Mushrooms in Madeira with Ricotta and Parsley Bruschetta
Charcuterie Board:
Taleggio, Caciocavallo, Parmigiana and Mozzarella
Italian Cheeses with Smoked Beef Salami
Pickled Cauliflower and Carrots
Marinated Olives, Green Olives and Sicilian Herb Olives
Rao’s Roasted Peppers with Raisins and Pine Nuts
Rosemary Focaccia Bread by Dave
Sesame Grissini Breadsticks
2019 Chianti “Crete Rosse” Red Wine, Chianti DOCG red wine from Tuscany, Italy – Sangiovese and Canaiolo grapes, 12.5% alcohol
“It’s characterized by bright red color tending to garnet with age. The bouquet is intense and fruits and flavor is austere, full-bodied, tasty and slightly tannic, refining to smooth and velvety with time. This wine goes well with roast game, red meat, spicy cheeses, pasta and risotto with meat sauce.”
2015 “Cavaliere” Super Tuscan Blend Red Wine, IGT Toscana red wine from Tuscany, Italy – Sangiovese and Merlot grapes, 13.5% alcohol, 4 years in barriques
“It’s bouquet is round, complete and elegant with a dry, full and smooth flavor. Sangiovese almost always plays the dominant role in the blend with Merlot used to soften the wine’s texture and make it more approachable in its youth. The Merlot also adds fruitiness and juiciness complementing Sangiovese’s more savory and herbaceous qualities.” “This wine demands excellent first courses and risottos with sauces made from game, red meat, and mature spicy cheeses.”
Primi
Homemade Potato Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes & Fresh Corn
Red Goddess Salad
2016 “Baldassare” Super Tuscan Blend Red Wine, IGT Toscana red wine from Tuscany, Italy – Sangiovese Grosso, Cabernet and Merlot grapes, 13.5% alcohol, 4 years in barriques
“This combination (Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot), with clay-based soil and particular climate, are the ingredients which create a superior red nectar. With deep ruby red color tending to garnet with age has a round, complete and elegant bouquet. Hints of wood can be perceived amidst typical herbaceous notes. Its flavor is dry, full and smooth. The quality and structure demand excellent first courses and risottos with sauces made from wild board and hare, tasty red meat dishes such as roast game, vegetable soufflé and spicy mature cheeses.”
2016 “Bartolomeo” Super Tuscan Red Wine, Toscana red wine from Tuscany, Italy – Sangiovese and Cabernet, 13.5% alcohol, aged 4 years in barriques
“The Sangiovese is the predominant grape variety in this wine and the calm, elegant characteristic of the Cabernet give this wine ample olfactory complexity and greater strength to both body and flavor. The color is deep ruby red, tending to garnet with age. With dry, full and smooth flavor, rich with personality and well structured, complete and elegant, with an evidently aristocratic character; hints of wood can be perceived amidst typical herbaceous notes”. “This wine demands excellent first courses and risottos with sauces made from wild boar and hare, tasty red meat dishes such as roast game, vegetable souffles and spicy mature cheeses.”
Secondi
Pan Seared Red Snapper
with Seasoned Black Beluga and Red Lentils
2019 “Barona di Torciano” Tuscan Blend White Wine – IGT Bianco Toscana from Tuscany, Italy – Trebbiano, Sauvignon and other white grapes, 12.5% alcohol, aged 11 months in cellar
“….offers a straw yellow color with greenish highlights. The nose is delicate and elegant with notes of bananas, pineapples, white flowers and candied fruit. Palate is balanced and harmonious with good flavor persistence and mineral notes on the finish and aftertaste.” “Pairs well with fish hors d’oeuvres, crustaceans and shellfish, and all types of fish, white meats, delicate red meat carpaccio and rabbit.”
Rib Eye Steak
with Grilled Lemons, Spinach, Kale & Broccoli Rabe
Two Potato Gratin
2015 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, from Tuscany, Italy – Sangiovese Grosso grapes, 14.5% alcohol, 4 years in barriques
“Over the years it has gradually acquired greater fragrance, more velvety flavor, greater harmony and delicately intense bouquet. Its color is deep ruby red, tending to garnet with age. It has a strong personality with a dry, full, smooth, well balanced flavor. Excellent with pasta dishes garnished with sauces made from wild boar and meat, with tasty noble game roasts, poultry and Fiorentina Steak. Also exceptionally good with mature and spicy cheeses.”
Formaggi e Dolci
Gorgonzola Dolce DOP Cheese with a Honey Drizzle
Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries, Pine Nuts and Garnish of Chocolate Shavings
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies by Mariann
Italian Chocolate Pralines
2008 Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Vin Santo del Chianti Classico
Digestivi
Averna Amaro and Limoncello
And just like that, weeks and weeks of planning, preparation, cooking and serving came to an end! Dinner was a huge success. Our Torciano wines were enjoyed with our guests as were all of those food pairings. Thank goodness we were able to preserve the memories here in print!
7.24.2022
