Just as Amy Brandwein and I are winding up this edition of “Wine of the Week,” the chef of D.C.’s Italian hot spots Centrolina and Piccolina drops that she’s been pinch-hitting at the restaurants as wine director.
“We’re changing wine directors right now so I just took the job over and starting handling the list myself and it’s been so much fun,” Brandwein says.
Not many chefs running restaurants in a pandemic possess the depth of wine knowledge to take on such a task, let alone be happy about it, but Brandwein clearly knows her stuff. She tells me that after Centrolina’s first year she took her management team to Piedmont and Lombardy to visit wineries, mainly to meet and dine with producers that work with her restaurants.
“We got a chance to do a lot of exploring and visit with the producers and have lunch with them, which was an incredible experience. We went to Cleto Chiarli in Emilia-Romagna and had a lunch with lambrusco and a little tortellini and it was great,” she says.
Centrolina in Washington D.C. Credit: Courtesy of Centrolina
One of her more recent trips in late 2019, when we could all travel freely—sigh—was to Sicily, which may explain why she’s so high on pairing Sicilian wines with her food these days.
For Brandwein’s wine of the week, she chose Paolo Cali Pruvenza Vitorrio Frappato, a 100% frappato that she says pairs well with pasta, fish, and light poultry.
“Frappato is one of those grapes that people don’t look to because the name recognition is not there, but especially right now, as we head to warmer weather, it’s a red that can pair very well with many different things,” she says.
She added the frappato on the wine list just last week and says, “I paired it with a duck dish we’re doing right now that has charred radicchio and endive. We make a sauce out of orange and vanilla and we braise the endive in orange and vanilla with a bit of white wine and brown sugar, and it was a perfect pairing with the wine.”
Talking to Brandwein, you can sense that this means more to her than just preparing the dish itself, which, if we’re being honest, sounds really damn delicious.
Centrolina's Pinot Nero Tagliolini. Credit: Courtesy of Centrolina
“I’m really interested in the synergy between the wine and the food and how the right glass or bottle of wine can dramatically improve the overall experience,” Brandwein explains.
Her approach clearly informs the success of Centrolina, a market and osteria which opened in Northwest D.C. not far from the White House in 2015, and nearby Piccolina, both of which have built followings in part for the wood-fired meats and seafood, and in part, of course, for the thoughtful wine pairings. She’s also an excellent ambassador for both wine and food. When she talks about her dishes, Brandwein’s voice takes on a mellifluous tone, and you can almost see the ingredients coming together in her head—and the wine she’s considering for the pairing.
“During the winter we do a chestnut pappardelle with a white bolognese, which is made out of beef and veal. It’s braised in white wine with chicken broth and a little bit of milk. That has a really nice mellow, earthy flavor profile, so in that case, we recommend a Nebbiolo, and that works really well.”
Somehow, this chef who’s also temporarily serving as wine director while recently having to steer her small businesses through a pandemic and a political insurrection—an ordeal which the New York Times recently discussed with her—keeps a positive attitude.
“It’s been amazing,” Brandwein says, “and I really enjoy the process of understanding the wine, the people, and how the wine interacts with the food.”