Enio Ottaviani Caciara: un rosso “food friendly” per l’estate o per qualsiasi altra stagione

Enio Ottaviani Caciara: un rosso “food friendly” per l’estate o per qualsiasi altra stagione

Le dolci colline della Val Conca nell’entroterra riminese ospitano l’azienda Enio Ottaviani, gestita da quattro giovani – Davide Lorenzi, Massimo Lorenzi, Marco Tonelli, Milena Tonelli – con l’intento dichiarato di “fare vino per gli amici”.

Difficile immaginare un vino più “food friendly” del Caciara 2018, un Sangiovese Superiore romagnolo che mi ha colpito per la sua verve, il suo vigore e la sua potenziale versatilità, quel tipo di rosso che invita a sorseggiarlo in sintonia con i menù più variegati. Di colore rosso rubino inteso con riflessi violacei, il bouquet suggerisce ciliegia matura e frutti di bosco con note di erbe aromatiche e spezie. Al palato è luminoso e rinfrescante, con un ottimo equilibrio tra frutta e tannini. Il team Ottaviani serve il Caciara fresco, anzi direttamente dal frigo o immerso in un secchiello del ghiaccio in piena estate.

Il Caciara può essere abbinato a una miriade di piatti, ma visto la cucina romagnola abbonda di piatti di terra e di mare, non c’è bisogno di allontanarsi dal territorio riminese e dalle colline dell’Adriatico per comporre un allettante menù da servire su una terrazza all’ombra, accarezzati dalla brezza marina.

Ma l’anima gastronomica di Caciara non si esaurisce a fine estate, è chiaramente un vino per tutte le stagioni, comprese quelle in cui il ghiaccio non è solo dentro il secchiello.

ENGLISH

Enio Ottaviani Caciara: a “food friendly” red for summer—or any other season

The gently rolling hills of the Val Conca in the hinterland of Rimini accommodate the Enio Ottaviani winery, founded by four young people—Davide Lorenzi, Massimo Lorenzi, Marco Tonelli, Milena Tonelli—with the avowed purpose of “making wine for friends.”

It’s hard to imagine a wine more “food friendly” than Caciara 2018, a Romagna Sangiovese Superiore that struck me with its verve, vigor and potential versatility, the kind of red that invites you to sip it right through the most variegated of menus. Of intense ruby violet color, the bouquet suggests ripe cherries and wild berries with notes of herbs and spices. On the palate it is bright and refreshing, nicely balanced between fruit and tannins. The Ottaviani team always serves Caciara cool, indeed straight from the fridge or an ice bucket in the height of summer.

Caciara could be matched with most any dish, but since Romagna provides a wealth of foods from land and sea, there’s little need to stray beyond the Rimini area and the hills along the Adriatic to make up a hypothetical menu to be served on a shady terrace wafted by sea breezes.

To broaden the scope, I’d suggest opening a bottle of Strati 2019 Romagna Pagadebit, a white of youthful energy marked by scents of flowering meadows and the herbaceous hints of hawthorn that grows in the scrub along the Adriatic coast. Of straw yellow color with greenish tints, it has dry but mellow flavor of scintillating freshness.

Here are some food suggestions for summer dining inspired by Massimo Lorenzi.  (Don’t be misled by the timeworn adage of red wine with meat, white wine with fish—in most cases either Strati or Caciara would go well, but your best bet is to try each and see).

• – Piadina (Romagna’s legendary flatbread) with prosciutto crudo, soft and creamy squacquerone cheese and rucola sandwiched in between
• – Prosciutto and melone with rucola and aceto balsamico
• – Raw fish in general, taking in various shellfish, seafood carpaccio, tuna tartar, sashimi and sushi
• – Garganelli allo scoglio (hand made short pasta tubes with a sauce including clams, mussels and shrimp)
• – Strozzapreti (“priest stranglers,” short pasta strands with mussels, manta shrimp and prawns)
• – Fritto misto di pesce (scrumptiously crisp deep fried squid, shrimp, anchovies, moscardini baby octopus and more)
• – Grigliata di pesce (charcoal grilled seafood seasoned with herbs)

Oh, by the way, Caciara’s “food friendliness” doesn’t stop with the end of summer. It’s clearly a wine for all seasons, including those when the ice is not just inside the bucket.