REVIEW : EAT - Piemonte, NEW regional menu at Divino Enoteca

Divino Enoteca is a very romantic venue where you can enjoy the true taste of Italy in both food and wine. They have phenomenal expertise to hand from their Italian chefs to Sommelier and staff. The wine collection is substantial.

Italy is made up of 20 different regions, each with their own cuisine and grape varieties which influence the wines. Divino Enoteca will be celebrating these regions each season and they’ve chosen a superb region to start with - Piemonte!

We head to the region of Piemonte which means ‘foot of the mountain’ and Piemonte is famed for its rich and savoury cuisine, matching its powerful, tannin-heavy Nebbiolo wines. Piemonte boasts a particularly impressive food pedigree - Italy is famous the world over for cheeses, wines, meats and truffles.

Here’s what to expect.

Review of the Piemonte Regional menu at Divino Enoteca Edinburgh

A wee taster of potato croquette, crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. This was a wee teaser along with a glass of Prosecco just to get you settled in.

Silvio, Divino Enoteca’s Sommelier was on hand throughout the night to talk through the wines, impart wisdom and a joke or five. Besides being utterly adorable, his knowledge of Italian wines will blow your mind. I’m quite nervous writing this review, as I hope I have done the wines justice (no doubt Silvio will shake his head).

Starter wine - Gavi di Gavi Caretta 2017.

This is a classically styled Gavi from a top producer made from Cortese grapes. It is quite dry with fresh acidity. The delicate lemon colour leads to a complex nose of citrus, apples, pears, wild flowers, and aromatic herbs. One of Italy’s most fashionable whites - white peach and acacia blossoms with just a hint of crystallised ginger.

Starter dish - Vitello Tonnato. A classic dish of thinly sliced marinated veal loin in a rich tuna and egg sauce, served cold and finished with fried capers.

The wine truly compliments the veal in this dish. The veal is delicate so you don’t want an overpowering wine. The saltiness from the capers and the tuna is evenly balanced against the acidity; and with the wine being dry it also cuts through the creaminess of the egg sauce.

Pasta Course Wine - Nebbiolo d’Alba Villadoria 2014

A red wine, that’s savoury and classic. Made with the Nebbiolo grape and a perfect partner to dishes with lamb or beef or pork. A full bodied red with a complex nose of cherries, red berries, basil, mushrooms, forest floor and hints of toffee. Palate is well balanced with striking acidity but balanced with good quality fruit and some tannins.

Pasta Course - Ravioli del plin al Tartufo. Homemade ravioli filled with pork and beef, served with a butter and parmesan emulsion and finished with fresh truffle.

This pasta dish is the pasta dish of dreams. You will want to eat this at every minute of every day. The emulsion is simply divine, a combination of scrumptious saltiness from the cheese and the butter, and mixed with the truffle - outstanding!

The pasta dish certainly handled this big robust juicy red wine with its fruity notes but adding in the earthy mushrooms notes too which only enhances the truffle on the pasta even more.

Mains Wine - Barbaresco Socre 2013

A deep dark cherry red. It’s quite aromatic and powerful on the nose and you’ll pick up liquorice, blackberry and redcurrants and perhaps some pepper and spices. The palate is fruity, well-balanced and offers a hint of minerality but you’ll taste some caramel, toasted oak, sweet spices and cardamom. A perfect partner to beef, lamb and venison.

Mains dish - Brasato al Barolo. Slow cooked braised beef in a deep red wine sauce served with creamed potatoes and a fricasse of wild mushrooms.

Superb pairing. The beef is unctuous and falls under from being cooked in the red wine. The wine cuts through the creaminess of the potatoes and contradicts the earthy flavours bringing them to the fore, but in a good way. The sweetness of the berries in the wine are enhanced by the beef. Very well balanced dish.

Dessert Wine - Roero Arneis Amondo 2018

A white tropical flavoured wine. Made from the Arneis grape which means "rascal" in Italian, and is so named for its ability to beguile the most patient winemakers. It is a delicate white wine grape that originated and is still grown in southern Piemonte.

It’s very perfumey with apples, pears and liquorice.

Cheese Course - Toma Piemontese. Toma Piemontese served with grissini, taralli crackers and a cherry chutney.

The cherry chutney was outstanding and I heaped it on all of the cheeses. The frozen grapes were a nice touch too.

Another great wine pairing with the dessert wine. The wine is crisp and clean with notes of green apple, lemon and white blossom. It’s fruity and easy drinking, with a lovely, harmonious acidity and a lingering fruit-forward finish. It’s quite dry and compliments yet cuts through the cheese and with it being quite fruity, it enhances the flavours of the cherry chutney. A great way to finish a seriously great dinner.

The Piemonte Menu is priced at £39 for 4 course, £26 wine pairing supplement. They can also cater for vegetarians too.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening and if you are looking to be taken on a culinary journey of Italy, away from the pizza’s and the traditional pasta’s, then book this. You will not be disappointed.

Divino Enoteca, 5 Merchant St., Edinburgh, EH1 2QD. Tel : 0131 225 1770 www.vittoriagroup.co.uk/divinoenoteca

My Spoon Award : Gold 9/10

I was invited by Divino Enoteca to review their menu. Food and drink were complimentary but the views are very much my own.