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Archive for Brunello

Fiorita Centro

Dec06

Restaurant: Drago Centro [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 228-8998

Date: October 29, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great high end Italian

_

Back to Drago Centro for “another” Brunnello dinner, featuring the wines of La Fiorita. Liz Lee of Sage Society kinda co-hosted, but this wasn’t a full on Sage dinner (hey, only 4 courses — Liz would have had 10!). But any trip to Drago is good anyway, as Celestino and I have been friends for 20 years!


Located on busy Flower in DTLA.

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La Fiorita is a new and up and coming Brunello producer — more on it in a sec.
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But first a bunch of us including Erick and Liz snacked on the patio with:

Arrancini “rice balls”.

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Fried zucchini. About the only good zucchini is a fried zucchini!
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Crab toasts.
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Then we moved inside to this large central table.

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A bit about the winemaker.
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On the left is Natalie Oliveros, owner of La Fiorita. She’s a NY native with a love of wine and all things Italian. In the back is Chef Celestino Drago.

Photos are a bit rough tonight as I was evacuated from my home because of the California wildfires and had to use the cel phone camera!

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2015 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino.
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2014 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino. VM 89. Medium red. Clean, fresh aromas of cranberry cocktail and spicy herbs. Then spicy in the mouth too, with savory herbs and red cherry flavors offering good intensity. Starts very savory and broad, then nicely integrated acidity gives the wine a more buoyant and linear mouthfeel while providing good grip. Finishes long and clean. A much less fleshy, tactile and musky Brunello from La Fiorita than the wines typically made here over the past decade, and I have to say I like this style better. (Drink between 2020-2027)

agavin: drinking great right now

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Tonight’s menu — short by my standards.
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Australian A5 wagyu steak tartare, shallots, chives, parmesan cream, truffle tuile. Nice dish, but if it’s Australian, it’s not “really” A5 — at least not the way the Japanese do it. No way are the Aussies — as wonderful as they are — going to massage the cows like the obsessive Japanese.
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2011 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino. 90 points. A bit more sour.
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2008 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino. VM 88. Bright red-ruby. Subdued but precise aromas of strawberry, cassis and licorice. Nicely layered and rich, displaying an enticing sweetness to its red berry and red cherry flavors. Finishes a bit simple and only moderately persistent, but with fine-grained, pliant tannins and a strong note of violet. This attractive Brunello is ideal for early drinking.DSC04691
Fresh fettucuni, shaved black truffle. Very nice simple pasta emphasizing the truffles.
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2012 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. VM 88. Good bright ruby-red. Aromas of blackberry and violet, plus a whiff of smoked meat. Big, deep and rich on entry, with black pepper and spice notes complicating savory dark berry and licorice flavors, but turns mountingly astringent in the middle and on the long, mouth-puckering finish. This broad, structured but ultimately only moderately complex wine could use a touch more grace and charm. (Drink between 2024-2029)
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Braised ossobuco, broccolini, cipollini, creamy poleanta, salsa verde. Modern form factor on the ossobuco, and I actually prefer the classic messier one — particularly with a great risotto! Still this was good and one could scoop out the marrow!
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NV Vigna Dorata Franciacorta Brut Saten. Nice inexpensive bubbly.
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Chef’s selection of assorted cheeses.
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The wine lineup.

Overall another fine evening at Drago Centro. The wines were great, Natalie Oliveros a lot of fun, and the food and company fabulous as well.

Still, as it was only 3 savory courses (plus our warm up) it was off to Korea Town for second dinner for us — Korean Army Stew!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Drago Centro
  2. Vietti Centro
  3. Eating Montalcino – Le Potazzine
  4. Italian House Party
  5. Eating Assisi – Buca di S. Francesco
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brunello, Celestino Drago, Drago Centro, DTLA, Italian cuisine, Wine

Eating Assisi – Buca di S. Francesco

Jul26

Restaurant: Buca di S. Francesco

Location: Via Eugenio Brizi, 1, Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 812204

Date: June 17, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun meal, good food

_

Night three in Assisi and we search out a third place.

We actually found this one just walking on the way to the square.

The menu looked pretty good.

It had both a large outside patio.

And a vaulted interior.

All those plates are from sister restaurants in some kind of hand painted “signature dish” club.

1970 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. 92 points. These grapes of this beautifull wine were on the vines when I was born! Amazing that this wine is still so full of character. This bottle has once and for all confirmed for me that Brunello di Montalcino can be a real classic. It tasted much like an older Burgundy but was full of character and depth.

The waiter decanted it of course.

The usual insalte mista.

Salmone affumicato. Smoked salmon.

Penne pomodoro (of course).

Spaghetti with mushrooms.

Tagliatelle alla norcina. The sausage and cream sauce!

Tortellini with cheese and cream sauce.

Piccione all’assisana. Pigeon with liver again, this was fine, and the bird very rich and meaty, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the awesome version we had in Orvieto.

Onions with balsamic. Delicious sweet onions.

Torta con pere e ciocolato. Tort with pear and chocolate!

Tortino di ciocolato. Like a chocolate cupcape.

Torta di ricotta alle nocciole. Ricotta tort.

Semifreddo al Bacio. A semifreddo with bacio (chocolate and hazelnut flavor). Given that Perugina (the chocolate company that makes Bacci) is just 40 minutes from Assisi, it seemed apropos.

Biscotti. Some strange cornflake covered cookies!

Overall, this was a fun meal even if only because the setting was great and the service and waiter were absolutely delightful. The food was good too, not mind blowing or anything, but that kind of solid that you find in kitchens all over Italy.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

They had cool ancient caves carved in the limestone below too

Related posts:

  1. Eating Assisi – Locanda del Podesta
  2. Eating Assisi – Osteria dei Priori
  3. Eating Montalcino – Le Potazzine
  4. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Arnolfo
  5. Eating Tuscany – Villa Breakfast
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Assisi, Brunello, Buca di S. Francesco, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, pigeon, Wine
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