set table #3
edit by Laura Riolfatto
I like to think that a wine can be considered as a project, behind each production there are studies, trials, failures and final successes.
Psyche is an unusual project, thought and strongly wanted by Professor Marco Sambin, of the company carrying his own name, who has experimented with a wine macerated through a long-term aging inside a stoneware jar.
We are in the luxuriant Valley of Valnogaredo, in the Euganean Hills, and the Company certified as organic has been following, for what concerns the vines, a biodynamic regimen since 2011.
Professor Sambin strongly believes in a white berry grape native of the Veneto, the Garganega, which for him represents the Euganean territory and has the virtues of being flexibile and multi-shaped, features that not many other grapes have.
Psyche is a wine macerated on the skins obtained from pure Garganega grapes, before undertaking this experimentation process, Professor Sambin studied a lot and confronted himself with a Spanish producer that uses the long maceration technique, producing rather complex and structured wines that remain in contact with the skins even for over a year.
Lately, macerated wines or orange wines have been imposing themselves on the market and we can easily find them in wine bars and osterie. The vinification technique is very ancient, these are wines produced from white berries that undergo a vinification in red, meaning that the must remains in contact with the skins and the grape seeds (sometimes even the rasps) for short periods, perhaps a few hours or some days, or long periods. This gives shape to more structured white wines, slightly tannic, with complex perfumes and an orange amber color.
The origin is ancient, we can traced some examples in Georgia and Armenia and their typical wines, structured and tannic, the wine-making process of which, inside a jar, has been recognized by UNESCO as world heritage. At the time, wine was produced naturally, both for what concerns the cultivation of the vine and also the canteen. Huge "qvevri" clay placed on the soil would guarantee a slow and gentle fermentation of the must in contact with the skins, preserving the wine from thermal shock and favoring a gradual release of the aromas and the tannins, giving shape to structured wines with complex and amber color like perfumes.
In Italia, Josko Gravner – also knowns as the progenitor of the copper-colored Renaissance, brought to Friuli and the boundaries with Slovenia, high stoneware jars from Georgia. He was the precursor of this wine-making technique and his wines are currently an example of authenticity in Italy and in the world. For Josko, there are no compromises, his wines are natural, philosophically, they are the result of nature, which we must preserve, take care of and wait with patience and perseverance.
His quality and attention for the territory, wonderful boundary land, brought him to produce the yellow ribolla in a unique way, like for all his wines, able to go beyond the definition of organic or biodynamic.
Psyche is a wine produced from garganega grapes grown in soils rich in limestone and silica, the fermentation takes place with no yeasts, in the first days many fillings are carried out, after which the wine is left in contact with the skins in a stoneware jar for 7 months and no other operation takes place. Eventually, following the racking with no added sulphites, the wine is left resting in steel tanks. The result is a nice ancient gold yellow wine, complex at the nose and intense, with perfumes of dandelion flowers, candid citrus, camomile, hay and incense, soft and salty at taste, with a full flavor and a good persistence.
Many people consider these wines difficult to combine with food, normally people are used to fresher and salty wines, not as complicated. For this 2018 wine, I tried two pairings: a summer version and a winter version.
For summer, I proposed Psyche at a lunch with friends, serving it at 14° with a salmon tartare, chickpea hummus, avocado cream, fried sage and rye bread. I found this combination tasty, rich in perfumes and flavors, an explosion of beauty and aromas. A perfect balance of flavors.
As for the winter pairing, I combined it with a Japanese recipe: chicken in teriyaki sauce. The sauce is very simple to prepare: soy sauce, lemon juice, grated ginger root, sesame oil and honey, but please don’t ask me the doses as in the kitchen I like to improvise. I also used a good amount of toasted sesame seeds. I bought the chicken at the butcher’s and left it macerate in the sauce for about 2 hours, then I sautéed everything in a wok pan. As for the vegetables, I steamed carrots, zucchini and cavolo nero leaves and sautéed them in the pan with sesame oil. I garnished the chicken with sesame seeds and a few drops of e.v.o. oil. A good pairing, in which the aromas and the spices balanced the structure of the wine, which I served at about 15°.
Excellent symmetry at taste, balanced by the softness of the wine.
