Caruso Minini Sicilian Wine Dinner Is Set To Impress at Double Zero Napoletana

Are you a wine connoisseur or just a novice looking to learn more about wine? Double Zero is hosting a Caruso Minini Sicilian Wine Dinner this Thursday, May 24^th. The dinner is $59 per person and includes a four course meal with four Caruso Minini Wine pairings. Patricia Mejia from the Caruso & Minini estate will be featuring two white grape varietals, Inzolia and Grillo, as well as Nero D’Avola and their prized red wine, Perricone.

The winery is located in the center of Marsala. The owners, Mario Minini and Stefano Caruso, built the winery together. Together, Caruso & Minini set out to achieve their common objective: produce wines that can charm and surprise the palate for their originality, character and elegance.

A few of the items featured on the menu are Insalata de mare of fresh scallops, calamari and seasonal seafood with red and yellow pepper aioli and crispy parsnip flakes paired with Caruso & Manini Inzolia ’09. The main course will be a Grilled beef hanger steak, gorgonzola-panzanella and salsa Toscano paired with Caruso & Minini Perricone ’07. For dessert you can enjoy Strawberry Napoleon puff pastry, fresh strawberries, lemon crème and strawberry basil compote. Is your mouth watering yet?

For a full menu and more information you can visit: www.facebook.com/events/404107149629873/

Test Your Knowledge at Davio’s Italian Wine Education and Dinner Series

It’s time for school—except this session, you’ll be learning about wine and dinner. Come to Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse for their newest Italian wine dinner series on Thursday, February 24. Your wine knowledge will expand with Prestige Wine Imports Regional Director David Harmon and Davio’s Sommelier Robert Evans as they guide you through Executive Chef Bennett Hollberg’s five-course menu and Italian wine pairings.

The dinner series menu includes: a selection of canapés including smoked salmon, prosciutto toast and shrimp with citron aioli paired with Rotari, Brut Rose Riserva, 2003; seared scallop with parsnip puree and apricot glaze paired with Fuedo Arancio Chardonnay, Sicily 2008; Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with polenta, roasted pears and currant raspberry compote paired with Querceto, Chianti Classico Riserva, Toscana 2005; roasted lamb loin with celery root-apple puree, golden raisins, olive-sundried tomato bread and lamb jus paired with Luigi Rhigetti, Amarone della Valpolicella, 2006. As a treat for your success through class, you will get the buttermilk panna cotta with caramelized blood oranges paired with Mezzacorona Moscato di Asti, 2009.

Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuition is $65 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Make sure you call 404-844-4810 to reserve your spot today! Davio’s will bring more of their Italian wine dinner series in March and April in case you can’t make this one. Leave your books at home; this school trip is going to be fun!

Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse:  Phipps Plaza, 3500 Peachtree Road, NE; 404-844-4810. 

Taste Spanish and Italian White Wines at Woodfire Grill Tomorrow

Co-Owner and Wine Director Nicolas Quinones of Woodfire Grill will host a wine tasting tomorrow, May 27 featuring Spanish and Italian whites. The floral, crisp whites are perfect for warm summer months we have ahead. Guests will taste Albariño, Verdejo, Soave, Pinot Grigio, Vermentino, Viura and others from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m for $15 per person. What I love most about the tastings at Woodfire Grill (besides the nice price point) is the fact that you can enjoy from wherever you sit - bar top, table in the dining room or even on the patio. It's as simple as that. Call the restaurant at 404-347-9055 for reservations. Located at 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road.

They are on facebook, too!

Will Earning A Guinness World Record Be Hard Cheese?

Will Whole Foods Market cheesemongers make more than one wise crack when they “crack” open hundreds of wheels of 24-month-aged, hand-selected Parmigiano Reggiano at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, April 12? Wielding the five knives from Italy’s Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano that comprise the traditional cheese-cracking tool set, a cheese pro at each of the 270 stores will simultaneously break into an 85-lb. wheel of artisan Parmigiano Reggiano in a carving and portioning procedure that eats up about a half hour.

Let’s hope for “grate” news that Whole Foods Markets will take over The Guinness World Record™ for “Most Parmigiano Reggiano Wheels Ever Cracked” at the same time. Atlanta-area stores will be handing out recipes that highlight Parmigiano Reggiano’s subtle bite and sweet nuttiness during the cracking event. Buy some wines to go-with: Italian wines are on sale throughout April!

True Parmigiano Reggiano hails from just one region of northern Italy that includes Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena and portions of Bologna and Mantua. A seal of authenticity marks each wheel. The cherished cheese is a testimony to the area’s culinary history, having been made and aged by artisans in the same way for almost 800 years! No wonder Whole Foods Market cheese buyers look forward to their purchasing trip . . . and we relish the results!

Buckhead: 77 West Paces Ferry Road, NW; 404-324-4100
Briarcliff: 2111 Briarcliff Road; 404-634-7800
Duluth-Johns Creek: 5945 State Bridge Road; 678-514-2400
Sandy Springs: 5930 Roswell Road; 404-236-0810
Ponce: 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE; 404-853-1681
Harry’s Farmers Market in Alpharetta: 1180 Upper Hembree Road; 770-664-6300
Harry’s Farmers Market in Marietta: 70 Powers Ferry Road, SE; 770-578-4400