The Angelini family owns Enoteca Properzio, the third-oldest wine shop in Italy, founded in 1800 in the small town of Spello in Umbria. The family has been in the business for seven generations — they are experts in Italian wine, with more than 2,200 labels in their shop. I knew none of this before meeting them at the truffle wine dinner they hosted at Quattro at the Four Seasons Hotel, but I felt their warmth and generosity immediately when I set foot inside the restaurant.
It was Luca Angelini who greeted me first. Clad in a light-colored jacket and bow tie, the smiling host stood just inside the entrance, coming over to offer a taste of olive oil that the family had brought from Italy. "This is the same olive oil that is served at Alain Ducasse in New York City," he said as I bit into a crostino drenched in a vibrant, boldly flavored extra virgin olive oil.
We exchanged pleasantries before I was seated, and that was when the magic began. The Angelinis travel all over the world for three months out of the year, putting on special wine dinners to which they bring their own wine — carefully curated, top-notch wines from Italy — hoping that they'll introduce you to something so extraordinary that you'll fall in love and want to order it. That's where Enoteca Properzio comes in.
Any wine that you want can be ordered directly from their shop, shipped directly from Italy to your doorstep in just two weeks. Many of the dinners are held in private residences, the homes of people who have been to Enoteca Properzio or who know the Angelinis personally. In these cases, the chef and matriarch of the family, Daniela, cooks an authentic Italian meal, while Roberto and his children pour the wines and walk you through the unique properties of each.
For the Enoteca Properzio dinner at Quattro, executive chef Maurizio Ferrarese had prepared a special five-course black truffle menu; each dish was finished with black truffles from Umbria.
The meal was excellent (how could a black truffle dinner be anything less than spectacular?), but beyond the meal were the wines, each and every one the kind that makes you look in wonder at your dinner companion and exclaim: "Wow! That was fantastic, wasn't it?"
This is what happened even before the first course was served, when I took a sip of an organic, biodynamically produced 2012 Grechetto by Tili, a white wine that knocked my socks off. I like white wine well enough, but I typically prefer reds over whites, and very rarely do I drink a white that makes me want to buy a case. The Grechetto was one such wine — smooth and supple, with a fruity-floral bouquet and a lasting finish that resonated deeply on my palate. Paired with a starter of bufala mozzarella on pappa (potato) pomodoro, topped with freshly shaved black truffle, it was the first of several wines that captured my fancy.
That night, the Angelinis poured a dizzying array of wines — so many that I almost lost track despite having a list in front of me: a Novelli Sagrantino sparkling Rosé; a 2011 Redigaffi Tua Rita Merlot; a 2009 Sassicaia Super Tuscan; a 2009 Arnaldo-Caprai 25 Anniversario Sagrantino; a 2004 Tili Sacreterre Sagrantino; a 2009 Fendi Pinot Noir (only 300 bottles produced); a 2011 Oasi Degli Angeli Kurni Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; a 2011 Tili Delicious Sagrantino-Merlot blend; and a Grappa di Barolo. I fell in love with the 2009 Sassicaia Super Tuscan, known among wine connoisseurs as the definitive Super Tuscan, the Italian grande dame of Bordeaux-style blends. It was my first time tasting it, and when I took a sip I immediately wanted more. I tasted it against the other wines presented that evening — it stood out as the one that I liked the most — and it was lush and full-bodied, complex yet smooth on the finish.
The Fendi Pinot Noir (from a winery owned by the fashion house of the same name) and the Kurni Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (described as the No. 1 wine in all of Italy) were also noteworthy, but every wine that was poured was of inarguably high quality — the kind you could collect, give as a gift or save for a special occasion.
From the kitchen, Ferrarese offered classic Italian dishes created to enhance the wine experience: an aphrodisiacal handmade strangozzi pasta with wild mushroom, black truffle and cheese fondue; a dish of beef three ways, with braised short rib, strip loin and crispy beef-stuffed agnolotti; aged Italian cheeses (Sottocenere, Pepato, Grana Padano) with black truffle honey; and panna cotta with fresh berries in a mixed-berry wine sauce. Each dish was finished tableside with freshly shaved black truffle.
