Farmstead Cheeses and Wines

This month, we travel back to Campania, to the DOC of Sannio, where Antica Masseria Venditti has been producing organically grown wines of character for decades.  (In fact, Gambero Rosso magazine first used the Italian word for organic when describing Venditti's wines over 20 years ago!)

For over 20 years, Nicola Venditti has believed in tilling the soil and being certified organic. For those that still think organic equals non-scientific, think again. Nicola is an incarnation of an enologist and a contadino (farmer). The vineyards have been in the family for over 400 years (thus the Antica Masseria part); and he feels deeply passionate for his terrritory of Sannio, an area lesser known than the neighboring Taurasi. But, turning on the enologist in him, he's also happy to geek out about acid and PH, eschew oak, and kneel at the altar of steel.  Nicola himself explains this humanist-techno-geek approach as an admixture of the "humanity" of ancient methods and local varieties, coupled with the "rationality" offered by technology.

Venditti Barbetta Barbera  Sannio DOC  100% native grape Barbera-Barbetta. Name taken from the nickname given to an ancestor of the Venditti family who saved the vineyard from destruction in the 1930’s. If you like the floral notes in Lacrima di Morro, give this a try: Cherry, wild berries, and VIOLETS. Low tannins. 20 cases brought into the States. A great wine to figure out a pairing for; goes excellent with most agrodolce, or, sweet and sour dishes.  Wine Spectator 90 pts

Venditti Falanghina 'Vàndari'   Sannio DOC 100 % Falanghina. Fresh pineapple and the and creaminess of Lemon semifreddo. Straw yellow color. Smooth with fragrance of fruits and flowers and hints of green apple and banana. The taste is dry, correctly acidic and of noteworthy intensity. Dry, soft and full bodied with great character and personality. Best accompanied by hearty dishes, vegetables, red meats either grilled or with sauces and hard cheeses.Best accompanied by fish, hors d’oeuvres, grilled fish, fried vegetables, soft cheeses, swordfish, spaghetti and clams.  Hand picked under the cool of night. Fermented in steel.  Wine and Spirits 88pts.


Sannio DOC  The area where this wine is produced extends to the whole territory of ancient Samnium (Sannio in Italian), the land of the Samnites - a pre-Roman people of great history and tradition. This is a hilly area in the heart of Campania where the best land has always been used for growing grapevines. The climatic conditions here are ideal for the ripening of grapes. Pliny, Columella, Cato and Horace have written on the excellence of the wines produced in Samnium, some of which they praised for the "slightly smoky aroma" and others, for the "intense resinous scent."

Nowadays, contemporary Samnite winegrowers skillfully produce high quality grapes, which are then transformed into great wines in state-of-the-art wineries. To preserve the quality of the wines, only grapes from the best lands, and not those grown in the humid vineyards located in valley floors, can be used in their production. Strict rules also govern the intensity of cultivation and discourage filtration.

For the Falanghina:  Involtini di Pesce Spada serves 4

Rolled stuffed swordfish is another classic recipe of Italian cuisine. In this instance, the stuffing has the salty punch of capers and olives. This makes for satisfying dinner on a grill night. Enjoy the Falanghina from Veneditti as you grill and relax.

    * 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
    * 2 tablespoons capers, chopped
    * 2 tablespoons pitted green olives, chopped
    * 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
    * 1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves, chopped
    * Salt & pepper to taste
    * 4 tablespoons olive oil
    * 4 skinless swordfish steaks about 1/2 inch thick
    * lemon wedges

1. Start a fire in a charcoal grill, or pre-heat a gas grill.

2. Combine bread crumbs, capers, olives, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix well.

3. Place each swordfish steak between two pieces of wax paper and pound gently with the flat end of a meat pounder to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut each steak in half.

4. Place one-eighth of the bread-crumb mixture near one end of each piece of fish and roll it up as neatly as possible, tucking in the ends. Thread the fish onto a pair of wooden skewers held parallel to each other, 4 rolls per pair of skewers.

5. Brush the fish with the remaining olive oil and grill over high heat until firm to the touch, 8-10 minutes, turning once.

6. Remove rolls from skewers and serve with lemon wedges.

For the Barbetta:  Rabbit in Sweet and Sour Sauce    serves 4

Sweet and sour cooking is not limited to Chinese food. Italian cooking has a tradition of agradolce cooking as well. Here is a rabbit dish in this tradition that will marry beautifully with this month's barbetta from Venditti.

    * 1 rabbit cut into pieces
    * 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
    * 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
    * 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
    * 1/2 cup of green olives
    * 3 cups of tomato puree
    * 2 tbs of capers
    * 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
    * 1/2 cup of red wine
    * 2 tbs of granulated sugar
    * extra virgin olive oil
    * kosher salt
    * black pepper


Place a little olive oil in a large saute pan. Heat the oil on medium high heat. add the onion and celerry and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Next add the garlic. Make sure your pan is very hot and add the rabbit to the pan. Next add the wine vinegar and sugar as well as the tomato puree. Turn the rabbit and cook in the pan for about 20 minutes with the top on. Lastly add the olives and capers. When the rabbit is cooked at the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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