WINE & CHEESES with Liz Wheadon

Our monthly Channel Wines and Cheeses columnist is Liz Wheadon, General Manager of Glengarry Wines. Initially interested in a career in the culinary area, whilst living for a year in the UK, Liz had the opportunity to attend a Cordon Bleu course in London. She found herself drawn to wine, which quickly became her passion and her career. Late in 1994, Liz started working for Glengarry Wines. Interestingly, her first role was as Retail Sales Assistant in the Glengarry Takapuna store. Whilst wine is a passion, and now the direction of her career, Liz is also a passionate foodie. Weekends are often spent first planning the event and then entertaining friends and family with magnificent food and wine experiences.

Parmigiano Reggiano

Early September I spent a week in Italy and fell even more in love with the Cuisine. Whilst most of the time there was spent in the Marche region, the culinary delights were to be found in Emilia Romagna – home to Parmigiano Reggiano, Aceto Balsamico and some of the best Pasta in Italy. Straddling the top of the Italian boot, the region starts in Emilia in the North and heads to the Romagna situation on the Adriatic. It’s capital Bologna is a colourful city, full of culinary delights.

The cheese of this region is often referred to as the King of Italian Cheese – Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s probably best to start this article with a little clarification, there’s parmesan and parmesan style cheeses (those made from similar techniques), then there’s Parmigiano Reggiano. Like Champagne, which can only come from the Champagne region in France, Parmigiano Reggiano can only come from Emilia. It’s closest Italian cousin is Grana Padano – which can be produced in Piedmont, Lombardy, Venento, Trentino and some parts of Romagna, but Parmigiano Reggiano only comes from Emilia. Firm cheeses made in a similar style outside Italy and outside these regions are referred to as Parmesan, but are most commonly pour imitations.

So what makes this cheese so special? Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard cheese that is made from cow’s milk and is ‘cooked’ but not pressed into it’s shape. In the production only natural whey culture is allowed and the addition of salt, nothing else is allowed to be added. Whilst none of this may sound particularly different to regular production, it’s the raw material – the milk and the collection of this – morning, evening, what the cows have eaten and their environment that makes the raw material unique. After the cheese making process is complete, the Parmigiano Reggiano then spend 2 years ageing – sometimes longer. This develops the unique ‘crystal’ character in the firm cheese.

How do you recognise a true Parmigiano Reggiano? A law defined the standards required for production, including the definition of the area and the marking – the traditional marking with the inscription in full “Parmigiano - Reggiano” is impressed along the side of the whole cheese and enables the identification even on small pieces.

At Glengarry we have been fortunate over the years to have Christian Pol Roger visit, although now retired from his family’s Champagne house, Chirstian seems to always have time to visit New Zealand. His favourite match with his non vintage Champagne is Parmigiano Reggiano – it’s easy to serve he explains – slice the cheese, pour the glass and that’s it, no need to make anything with the cheese, simply eat the cheese and drink the wine.

Didas Takapuna, Victoria Park and Jervois Road all stock an excellent Parmigiano Reggiano.

Gianni Gagliardo – a shining light in Peidmont

Gianni Gagliardo In picturesque Northern Italy there are four wine regions, Lombardy, Liguria, Valle d-Aosta and Piedmont. Piedmont is home to what many consider to be the greatest Italian wines produced - Barolo. Made from the native Nebbiolo variety, the wines are often very tannic when young and demand 10 – 15 years in the cellar to show their beauty.

Gianni Gagliardo family wine estate is located in Piedmont and was started in the 50’s by Paola Colla, himself a fourth generation wine grower. Through marriage Gianni joined the family in 1974, later taking over control of the winery in 86 and later changing the name to Gagliardo. As well as the name change, Gianni made numerous modifications around the winery including a change in oak in 1987 (from large casks to new small French barrels), production and styles changes. Gianni also introduced the top Barolo’s, Batie and Preve.

Still a family owned company; they have 30 hectares of vines in the areas of Barolo, Monforte, La Morra, Serralunga and Monticello d’Alba. All of the parcels off the 16 different plots are vinified separately and treated with the utmost care. Production annually is limited with over half of this staying in Italy. There’s good news though – we have managed to secure a small allocation of these rare and beautiful wines to sell at Glengarry.

My favourite in the range is the – a Barolo Riserva, the current vintage in stock is the 2003. Made from 100% Nebbiolo grown on vineyards in Parafada, Serralunga d’alba and Conterni in Monforte d’Alba. Having spent 18 months in oak, this wine demands time in the cellar and would benefit from 15 years.