Ordering “Potato Cheese Flatbread” (potato, rosemary, blue cheese and fromage blanc on flatbread), “Radishes” (organic radishes sliced in half with a side of house made butter, fleur de sel, and lemon juice), “Almond Stuffed Dates” (dates stuffed with almonds and tied together with speck and a sauce made from balsamic brown butter), and “Pork Belly” (small pieces of crispy pork belly with spicy braised greens and mint-chive gastrique).

Well, my first question for our server Allison was “What the heck is speck and why is it wrapped around a date?”  Allison didn’t skip a beat.  With a smile she told me that speck is simply a thinly sliced smoked prosciutto.  Right on Allison…an A on the quiz!

Next, our wine tastings were set up and I had chosen the Italian Wines of Intrigue.  Yes, one of them did intrigue me.   I couldn’t figure out why anyone would drink that particular wine. The wine was from the Piedmont region of Italy.  A Cantine Sant’Agata / Cavaliere/ Ruche.  It was an 08 and maybe a bit too young to enjoy, it was harsh and ubalanced.  The nose was interesting with dark fruit forward and black pepper, but that’s where it ended for me. So my next move was to try it again with food.  Thank god we ordered those dates!  Between the sweet date and the salty speck, something wonderful happened.  The wine became palatable.

The second Italian wine was an 08 as well.  It was from Italy’s southern hot and dry area.  It was Statti/Gaglioppo/Calabria.  I noticed a small amount of fruit and then it ended.  It was a one dimensional wine.  The flavor was unbalanced and high acid and harsh. I was really looking forward to this one too.  So let’s try to marry this wine with some food.  It was no use, this was a rough one indeed.

At last the third wine was a sangiovese from Tuscany and it was an 07, my favorite.  Fattoria de Magliano/Heba/Sangiovese.  This particular wine had great color, fruit forward nose with an interesting earthiness.  It was smooth for a sangiovese, and had a wonderful richness and long finish.  I could put this wine with almost all of our different foods and not be disappointed.  Most everyone decided to get a glass of this wine for $11.00 each.

I had been tasting my husband’s Pinot Noir flight also.  If you sit too close to me I will taste whatever I can reach.  So I decided to purchase a glass of the Pinot Noir from Adea, Dean-O’s Pinot, an ‘06 from Gaston, Oregon. This wine didn’t even need food to be pleasant.   So I ordered a glass of this for $14.00.  The other two Pinots that were in the flight were not so lucky.  They were also from Oregon, but not balanced well and the acid was over the edge.  My mother always told me, if you can’t find something nice to say….don’t say anything at all.

Would I recommend Vino Paradiso? Yes I would.

Good food, good atmosphere, good wine, good service.  Thanks Allison.