By Chiara Pietrella
When wine is a meeting place.
The two thousand labels on display at the elegant Borgo del Riccio store are not enough: on May 10, the Enoteca Meucci will give life to an event that will bring together all local producers in a day of tasting open to all enthusiasts.
You don’t need to love wine to be enchanted: when you enter the Enoteca Meucci, you realize that the precious and ancient drink brings with it something more ancient and magical, perhaps due to the millenary tradition and legends, or perhaps just to the passion and dedication of those who often devote their entire lives to its production.
When we meet Mauro Meucci again in the garden of his charming village in the hamlet of Riccio, a few kilometres from the centre of Cortona, spring is now in the air. He is always very busy, but he welcomes us with the usual and calm smile of those who love their work and carry it out with seriousness, passion and competence. This time he introduces us to the “Cortona Wines”, the event that for five years now, in the month of May, the Enoteca has organized by inviting all the wineries in the area and some spirit producers to its private park, and which already in previous editions has recorded the participation of about five hundred people at each appointment, including young people, foreigners, connoisseurs or simple enthusiasts of the sector.
“There will be about thirty labels present” Mauro tells us. “Each one will have a space where they can exhibit their wines and reveal their secrets, as well as of course share their tasting.” “The idea – he continues – was born a few years ago almost as a bet: with one of the producers we realized that the wine of Cortona is little known to non-connoisseurs because the vineyards are almost hidden, you don’t see whole expanses of them as in other more famous places, such as Chianti, Montepulciano or Montalcino. Instead, the area is very suitable for the cultivation of Syrah, which is the main grape variety, but also Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. We therefore thought it appropriate to highlight the tradition of our lands, and the best way to do it was to network”.
The tasting day is scheduled for May 10 starting in mid-morning, and the wine tasting will be possible to combine the sandwich with porchetta prepared directly by the skilled hands of chef Massimo Romano.
For those looking for more relaxation and tranquillity, there is the Enoteca restaurant, an example of the perfect combination of elegance and tradition that we told you about in the last issue, and which never ceases to amaze us with its original and interesting initiatives. One of the most recent, we come to discover today, is “pizza and champagne”, born almost by chance and offered every Sunday evening. In spring/summer there will also be an aperitif corner, open every day in the garden, where incredibly alcohol will not be totally the protagonist.
“Aperitivo is more than anything else a moment of meeting and meeting, and we would like to give minors, or those who for other reasons cannot drink alcohol, the opportunity to enjoy a ‘real’ cocktail. This is why we have made a careful selection of de-alcoholised wines and liqueurs, finding the best on the market. The result was absolutely extraordinary.” Paired with wines and drinks will be croutons, platters and the chef’s iconic sandwich, a ‘gourmet must’ made with a frayed shoulder cooked at low temperature, green sauce and tomato.
We conclude this pleasant conversation with Mauro sipping our glass of wine, and while we look around we cannot help but admire this magical place, born from the passion and dedication of those who have been able to transform a small village into a meeting place, restoring to wine that role of centralizer that for history and tradition unquestionably belongs to it.
Info: Ristorante Enoteca Meucci
Località Riccio, 65/66 – Cortona (Ar)
Tel. +39 0575 67158 +39 333 1965439
