On Sept. 18, Merriman’s Fish house in Po‘ipu hosted a special Italian wine dinner. As I arrived at Merriman’s, I really didn’t know what to expect. The upstairs restaurant of Merriman’s overlooks the beautiful South Shore. I stood by the balcony with the sun in my face and the cool breeze blowing gently.
Before I knew it, four special guests arrived, tapping my shoulder and greeting me with their curious smiles. These four guests represented four different wineries from Italy. Enrico Valleferro represented Adami; Urs Vetter represented Alois Lageder; Marianne Carpene represented Inama; and Roberto Stucchi represented Badia a Coltibuono.
Each one of these guests represented a fine wine that was paired with that night’s four delicious courses. Before the courses, however, the first wine on the list was the Prosecco of Adami winery.
“This sparkling wine is well balanced and a pleasure on the palate,” said Erico Valleferro, export manager of Adami. “It is a brut. It is very dry, tasty and very drinkable. It can match really well with seafood and is really versatile.”
After guests had their taste of the first wine of the night, the first course was served: a house-made Kaneshiro Pork Terrine. The pork terrine consisted of pork tenderloin, herb focaccia croute, pickled mustard seed, compressed dragonfruit and micro frisee. The wine that accompanied this dish was the Pinot Grigio of the Alois Lageder.
“Pinot Grigio of Alois Lageder has a lot of character,” explained Urs Vetter, director of sales and marketing of Alois Lageder. “Here you have a wine that has a lot of weight on the palate, crisp, delicious and fruity.”
The second course of the night was the Diver Sea Scallop Carpaccio. I wandered into the kitchen to check out the inner-workings, making sure to not get in the way, but still close enough to watch the skillful chefs at work. Mark Arriola, Executive Chef of Merriman’s, gave the spiel on the Carpaccio: “The scallops will be topped with local citrus, chopped avocado, coriander and extra virgin olive oil.”
This dish accompanied the Soave Veneto, a white wine manufactured by Inama.
“It’s a good everyday wine,” said Marianne Carpene, export director of Inama. “The taste of this wine is mineral and floral. It’s great to have with this dish because it helps to clean the mouth and has a very good acidity and minerality.”
For the main course, guests were served a helping of Big Island Red Veal Striploin.
“The veal striploin is from Kahua ranch on the Big Island,” explained Chef Arrioloa. “It’ll be served with local mushroom ravioli, braised Kalani farm’s greens and herb natural sauce.”
The wine that complemented the veal striploin was the Chianti Cassico of Badia a Coltibuono.
“This wine is medium color, not very intense,” explained Roberto Stucchi, owner and winemaker of Badia a Coltibuono. “It has really nice combinations of fruity and floral aromas and it’s a nice balance of acidity. It’s medium body. It’s really nice with food.”
The last course of the dinner was a delicious Hawaiian Chocolate Custard. This custard came with house-made marshmallow, Kaua’i Chocolate caramel and a graham cracker. The wine that complimented this dessert is also a Badia a Coltibuono: the Vin Santo dessert wine.
“All the Vin Santo is sweet and slightly oxidized,” said Stucchi. “It is sweet and complex.”
All in all, the Italian wine dinner at Merriman’s was magnificent and classy. A truly great evening of drinks and food. At Merriman’s Fish house, kama‘aina receive a 25 percent discount off all food when dining at the bar. Fridays are wine nights. All bottles of wine are marked 50 percent off. Choose from a selection of more than 300 affordable wines from all over the world. On Sundays, kama‘aina receive 50 percent off all entrees.
Be sure to make reservations for the upstairs restaurant between 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. For reservations call (808) 742-8385 and for more information visit merrimanshawaii.com/kauai.htm.
