The Giro D’Italia was the latest delicious serving from San Lorenzo Wimbledon and there is still time to book for their next evening.

San Lorenzo host a number of events throughout the year but Giro d’Italia is certainly worth attending.

The regional food & wine tour of Italy returns to San Lorenzo this autumn. A wonderful mix of wine tasting from wonderful Italian wine growing regions and a set menu of dishes that compliment them. The care and thought that has gone into the evening was unparalleled by other evens I have visited so far.

San Lorenzo Wimbledon Giro D’Italia menu

The set menu on the evening was simple, sophisticated and absolutely scrumptious. The evening was £39 plus wine including pre-dinner tastings and canapés, and a 3 course dinner. The wine was extra and the tasting gave you the best opportunity to find the wine that suited you the best.

The Wine Tasting

When we arrived at San Lorenzo we ushered into the tasting room and guided through the 6 wines, 3 red and 3 white. The detail and passion behind the wine made the experience really special. We discussed how the taste starts and evolves with and without food. How altitude can affect the wine and we had examples of wine from the same vineyard that spanned 300 to 500 altitude and the bottles had very different tastes.

My favourite white wine was the Pinot Bianco. The clean, elegant and soft tasting wine has a freshness that I really enjoyed. The wine is made in stainless steal tanks which gives the final wine a far less woodie flavour than you ever find in common wines which was very noticeable in smell and taste. I can best describe the wine as a wine that you can gently sip with or without food and no matter the weather. In summer I can imagine it being cooling, while on an autumn night it was light and refreshing in the warm restaurant and hot food. It also worked so well with the dishes by not over powering them with flavour but complimenting very well.

The best of the reds had to be the Brunello di Montalcino Docg. It was so rich, dark and utterly passionate with fruit and spice flavours. This wine deserved to be savoured and accompanied with red meat and strong flavours as it definitely could hold it’s own. The dark cherry flavour in the wine with the spices definitely would make this wine work with savoury and sweet dishes. I think it would also be a great with venison and even fruity winter puddings.

For Starters

For starters the bf enjoyed (I ate rather a lot of it too) the Porcini mushroom and cream soup. It was creamy but smooth and the mushrooms complimented the cream with their rich earthy taste. I had a glass of the Pinot Bianco with the rabbit and the freshness and elegant flavour of the wine worked with and didn’t fight the flavours of the dish at all. A brilliant pairing.

For starters I had the Pappardelle with rabbit ragu. It was incredible. One of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. The ragu was rich, meaty and the rabbit was so tender and pulled apart like a dream.

For our Main Dishes

I continued with rabbit for my main dish because I was so curious how the rabbit stew with prune and apple with polenta and rosemary would taste. They are such established falvours on their own that a combination should taste very interesting. I was right!

The boyfriend had the braised pork loin with sausage, served with stewed cabbage, celery and carrot. The pork was so well cooked and addition of the slightly salty sausage with the stewed cabbage made the dish very easy to eat. The red wine, Brunello di Montalcino, combined with pork and sausages with it’s rich berry flavour added the sweetness which bought the flavours together.

Time for Dessert

For dessert the boy went for the young ewe cheese (pecorino) with bitter chestnut honey. The cheese was creamy and honey had a slight bitterness that worked together to make a simple dessert very impressive. Plus with a little of the red wine left the boyfriend’s prediction of how well it would taste with cheese was proved correct.

The desserts at San Lorenzo are always delicious so I know I’m always safe ordering anything. I asked our wonderful server to recommend what the dolce part of my meal should be. I found myself with the homemade almond cantucci served with vinsanto. A dessert wine, I have found, can be great when properly paired with the dish. The sweet and delicate wine combined with the hard almonds biscuit (especially when dunked) worked very very well.

The next Giro D’Italia evening

Tastings between 6.30 – 8.30pm

the next tasting and set menu, which you can book now, is on the 20th & 21st November 2018.

Go to www.sanlorenzowimbledon.com to book.