Treating wine as an integral ingredient in a dish rather than a separate component can transform our relationship with both. A bite of food layered with flavor combined with a sip of wine packed with aromatic complexity, and you have an experience to transcend the sum of its parts.
Denver’s Michelin Guide-recommended Restaurant Olivia offers a superb opportunity to explore such flavor sensations. I sat down with Olivia’s wine director, Scott Thomas, to discuss a few of the outstanding combinations the restaurant is serving this summer.
Thomas, who has a master’s degree in wine culture and multiple wine certifications, believes in the magic of learning comes from hands-on tasting. He does this both for the Olivia diners, and students attending his Grappolo Food & Wine School in Denver.
For now, here are ways to best dive into Italian wines and school yourself on what goes with what.
Simplify The Pairing Process
While food and wine pairing can be overwhelming, key concepts help simplify and enhance the joy of a meal. Food and wine should contrast but never compete. Instead, aim to understand which flavors work best together and make pairing not only manageable, but delightful.
“Food and wine pairing is part science, a lot of luck, and calls for an adventurous spirit,” said Thomas.
Consider the weight of the dish you plan to enjoy. Regardless of your experience with food and wine pairing, you likely know whether you’d prefer a light appetizer accompanied by a mouthwatering vinaigrette or a straight dive into one of the hearty, handmade pasta dishes.
Understanding the weights, textures, and intensities of what you eat and drink provides guidance to creating winning combinations. Wine styles range from light and elegant to bold and rich. Often complementary pairings work best, but sometimes a contrasting combo creates sweet harmony as well.
From Italy, to Restaurant Olivia
Olivia’s cuisine spans the breadth and depth of Italy and steps beyond the borders to include unexpected flavors from the imagination of chef and proprietor Ty Leon. His handmade pasta dishes garner inspiration from Italian classics, and presented in fresh new ways. Ingredients come from local, often organic vendors, including ultra-sustainable perennial grains from The Land Institute.
Part of Italy’s culinary magic lies in its diversity. Although the country is only about 12-percent bigger than Colorado, it’s home to varied terrain and microclimates, each producing unique flavors and styles of food and wine.
The north offers rich meat dishes cooked with butter and cream, while the south features fish and veggie-based dishes with olive oil. Wine, critical to the meal, also changes regionally. Across Italy, fresh, bitter flavors and outstanding acid structure often unify the styles, making them superior for pairing with food.
In creating the list, Thomas mirrors the kitchen’s commitment to sustainability, choosing mindfully crafted wines made by people with stories and values that resonate with the restaurant’s philosophy. Scott loves a good wine story, and why shouldn’t he? The stories about the people behind the bottles connect us to them through their craft without meeting them.
Wine and Food, a Match Made in Denver
Our tasting began with two white wines: a lively organic Verdicchio by Accadia winery in Marche and Berlucchi’s Franciacorta ’61 Extra Brut. These were paired with tempura squash blossom, creating a delightful contrasting pairing. Scott points out how white wines and bubbles can be underutilized in pairings, offering refreshing and food-friendly flavors.
Olivia’s squash blossoms, with baki bean flour, Rocky Mountain alpine fontina, caramelized silflower honey, and onion soubise, is a tribute to summer. This dish combines fat components like cheese and breading, with a touch of salt, and sweetness. The wines’ levity and bright acidity enhances the flavors of the dish.
Next, mafaldine with lamb ragu and crispy red onion, and a plate of eggplant parmesan. The eggplant dish was light with fresh flavors and a crispy coating. The mafaldine was rich and satisfying with lamb and onion ragu–a notable comparison of light and rich preparations.
For these dishes, Scott served three red wines.
First, a Barbera d’Asti called Libera from Bava Winery in Piedmont. This bright, fragrant wine is versatile with soft tannins and mellow acidity. It pairs well with countless dishes and works seamlessly with the pasta and the eggplant.
We then tried a 2020 Bramosia Chianti Classico from Donna Laura and a 2018 Brunello di Montalcino from La Rasina.
Both from Tuscany, these wines are based on Sangiovese but differ in style. The Chianti has a light touch of wood and some Merlot, while the Brunello is 100% Sangiovese aged in oak for 24 months. The Chianti is more rustic than the Barbera or Brunello with its sunbaked fruit aroma, and delightful with eggplant. The Brunello was too intense for the eggplant but perfect with lamb pasta. This is the magic of comparative tasting in action.
Don’t Miss a Dessert Wine Pairing
We finished with panna cotta made with silflower, honey, strawberry, almond, and brown butter kernza cookie alongside icy cold Biancospino Moscato d’Asti from La Spinetta. Scott held to a key pairing guideline here, ensuring the dessert wine was sweeter than the dessert in order to savor the fresh fruit flavors, smooth cooked cream, and buttery, crumbly cookie.
Dining at Olivia and experiencing various plates with multiple wines is an inspiring opportunity for any food and wine lover. The seasonal menu changes frequently, so make your reservations and try these outstanding summer pairings.
Visit Restaurant Olivia Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. 290 S. Downing St., Denver, oliviadenver.com
