A couple of days ago we went, with the excuse to celebrate my birthday, to spend a night at Enoteca Il Covo. Strange excuse indeed, since my birthday was gone already from few days. Well, any excuse is good, for us, since we are very fond to that place.
It is a restaurant, where the cooking is not elaborate, but genuine and always tasty. The menu, different day by day and written on a blackboard well exposed next to the entrance, never misses a good soup, particularily welcome in the cold winter days, pleasant surprise in this type of restaurant.
We chose the "cuori ripieni", a type of ravioli shaped like hearts (cuori), stuffed with ricotta, dressed with mozzarella, Pachino tomatoes, eggplants.
To this plate we followed a board of cured meats of the area, which included a couple of slices for any type of meat: lard, coppa, speck, prosciutto, bresaola.
Obviously the real appeal of this wine-bar is the wine. The wine menu is really large, and it includes also a lot of my favorite labels.
This time we managed to contain ourselves having glasses of wine, instead of draining one entire bottle, as it usually happens.
Excellent the discovery of a wine that i didn't know: the Passo Doble Masi Tupugnato y. 2006, a wine produced in Argentina by the Venetian company Masi, from Malbec grapes with a percentage of parcially dried Corvina rasins.
The very dark red color, almost violet, announce a bodied wine, and the scent does not delude, revealing not too violently the time spent in barrique. To the taste is full-bodied and strong, just a little sour. I could find a taste of liquorice and plum.
A little lower, in my opinion, was the Petit Verdot Casale Del Giglio IGT. It is a wine in purity from Petit Vertot grapes, original from France, but grown in the province of Latina.
As a first tasting we had one glass of Passo Doble and one of Petit Verdot, for the second tasting we adjusted our aim and we had two Passo Doble.
Wonderful dinner, for 37 euros.
It happened some times to be the only customers of this wine bar. In these occasions the host loves to chat. When we asked him if we could signal the restaurant for a mention by SlowFood, he answered that he doesn't have any ambition to enlarge too much the business. In his view, if somebody happens to enter the place for the first time and he is satisfied, he will be welcome whenever he comes back, and he's happy enough.
To preserve this philosophy what i can do is to suggest you all not to go ;-)
Il Covo
Enoteca Con Cucina
Via C. Cavour, 28
23875 Osnago (Lc)
Closed on tuesdays, long holidays in summer.
Dogs welcome.
Friday, January 11, 2008
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4 comments:
I really enjoy your travel and wine comments.
Unfortunately in the last few years our wine explorations have fallen due to my wife's health and incompatable-with-alcohol medications.
I suppose that's life - now we buy by the bottle instead of the case. I do have a couple of bottles of thirty-year-old vintage Port I've yet to open though.
I doubt we'll ever get back to Italy, which we liked very much, as my wife is now in a wheelchair and that's a real hassle when you try to travel - especially by air.
I love how you write about your country and the food. I have mellowed quite a bit since talking to you on xanga. Believe or not I am actually working as a DJ in a bar playing all kinds of songs. Hard to imagine from the person you talking to over a year ago.
Hope to renew a few conversations in the future :)
Oh, I feel like a dreadful spugna!
Rather instead of "a shot", the word tasting or glass would be more appropriate. I'm sure that you are aware of my drinking buddies back home and well, "shots" were reserved for tequila, jagermeister, and whatever else we could get our hands on! ;-)
Corrected, thanks Rowena.
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