It was a great day; we were having Italian drinks at the bar.  Arta’s Italian is out in Brighton, an Italian restaurant located in a medical enclave outside of the downtown area.  Since our friend had never been there, I am sure that is probably true for a sizable amount of the locals, but people that enjoy dining out, eventually find out about a new venue.  I don’t have a problem telling people about a restaurant that we enjoy, even if it means that it will be harder to get a last minute reservation down the road.

We started off by sharing a couple of appetizers.  We had the Carpaccio di Filetto, choice tenderloing, thinly sliced, topped with grain mustard, baby arugula and shave Parmigiano-Reggiano.  We also shared Capesante Proscuitto or seard sea scallops wrapped in Prosuitto de Parma on a bed of arugula and polenta with a roasted red pepper coulis.  The ladies had Fruti di Mare Misto, a medley of grilled salmon, scallops and shrimp with herbed garlic lemon butter, with grilled asparagus and mushroom rice pilaf.  While I had the Ravioli alla Aragosta or Zebra-striped lobster stuffed ravioli with a seafood saffron cream.  The hardest thing with the meal was selecting a wine, and everyone reading this, will say, a piece of cake, just get a white wine.  Which was the plan, but you realize that my Bride wanted the same wine, that we had the last time we were here,  and I told her, that I have to switch things up.  Our waitress was a trainee, and the wine arrived a little late, and I forgot to take a photo of the bottle, cork and glass of wine, but it is good that I take the empty home as a muse, until a write the story.  We had a bottle of Simone Capecci “Ciprea” Offida Pecorino DOCG Marche 2021, and the winery was formerly known as Poderi Capecci San Savino and that they are all organic.  The town of Offida is located in the Marche region of central Italy, and received classification in 2001 and then DOCG status in 2011. The white wines must either be Offida Passerina or Offida Pecorino and Pecorino only has official status in Offida.  Pecorino means “little sheep” and the grape even though indigenous was rescued from obscurity (in the 1980’s), as it was being replaced by Trebbiano, but it thrives in higher altitudes with plenty of sun and cool breezes.  The vineyard is twenty-sis years with clay and silty soil.  Hand-harvested grapes in bunches, with a short maceration and fermentation in concrete tanks in September, and then aged on the dregs until Spring for bottling.  A nice straw-yellow with distinct green tints with notes of yellow fruit, sage, pepper, and like a touch of peat.  On the palate the wine is very crisp with fresh acidity, refreshing salinity and a nice medium count finish of terroir and spice.

The ladies had Cappuccinos and shared some assorted gelato and sorbet offerings.  I really didn’t want the evening to end, so I had a glass of Blandy’s Madeira Rainwater Medium Dry NV.  Blandy’s Madeira was founded by John Blandy in 1811, is well-known and one of the original houses of the Maderia wine trade, and is still the only family to own and operated their original wine company. With interest waning in Madeira wines, all the houses united under the Madeira Wine Association in 1925, with the Blandy family heading the group.  The Association merged with the Symington family of Port producers and it became the Madeira Wine Company in 1989.  The Blandy family headed the association and was able to stay in business while many individual Madeira companies ceased to exist. Madeira lacked the popularity it once had so in order to expand the global market, the Blandy’s offered the Symington family (Port producers since the 19th Century) a partnership in the newly named Madeira Wine Company in 1989.  Blandy’s is famed for their vintage Madeiras that have been capable of aging for 150 years.  The wine is made using Tinta Negra Mole, which accounts for at least seventy percent of production on the island.  It is popular because it is disease resistance and prolific yields.   Since 1983, Madeira wines must be at least eighty-five percent of this varietal, and this wine is pure.  It is felt to be a cross of Grenache and Pinot Noir.  Rainwater Madeira is a lighter, dryer style and one still hears of bottles still being opened from the 19’th Century.  There are romantic stories of how the wine evolved, but from a technical and logical view, the wines are on such steep slopes, there is no irrigation, so the vines survive on the rain waters.  The rules for Rainwater is rather easy going, so the few houses that produce it, have their own procedure, but Blandy’s has a tradition.  The grapes are tank fermented in Stainless Steel, and the fermentation is stopped after four days by the addition of neutral grape spirit.  All the wines are then heated for months, sometimes years in a process known as “estufagem” – designed to mimic the original barrel storage under the hot roofs of Madeira houses in American Oaks casks for three months.  After the warm environment, the wines are moved to a cooler environment, for three years with scheduled racking, the wines become oxidized, which creates the characteristic flavors of the island wines and then fined before bottling.  The wine is a garnet color with some brown hues from the oxidation and offers notes of Crème Brulee, almonds and a touch of orange zest.  On the palate it was just fresh, bright and an appealing ‘nuttiness” especially in the long finish accompanied by a salty tang.  I think I get tongue-tied trying to verbalize this wine, even still after all of these years, but I still continue the sensation.