Rinaldo's in the King Valley
We’d just sat down for lunch at Rinaldo’s
in the King Valley when winemaker Otto Dal Zotto bounced in
from the cellar door exclaiming “It’s raining!”
The twinkle in his eyes was so contagious that we all
picked up our glasses of Prosecco to toast him.
“The water situation here is still critical,” he
explained. “About 50 centimetres below the normal
average.”
As we’d driven up the valley earlier that morning,
there was little evidence of a lack of water nor of the ravaging
by bush fires last summer: the pastures were lush and green, the
poplars lining the road were bursting into leaf and brilliant
yellow daffodils and wattle were in bloom. The further from
Milawa we drove the more bucolic it became, like Shangri La
or some secret valley hidden away from the world.
Our reason for being here was to attend owner/chef
Adam Pizzini’s cooking class, a full day foray into how
to make light-as-a- feather potato gnocchi plus a variety of
home-made pastas and sauces including tortellini, ravioli and
agnolotti.
Pizzini is the nephew of Alfred and Katrina Pizzini
(Pizzini wines) and worked with them at the Mountain View Hotel
in Whitfield for six years before opening Rinaldo’s in
early 2006.
On arrival, we found Adam out in his garden picking
large heads of radicchio and endive for the lunchtime salad.
“As a child, I was happiest wandering through
my nonna’s extensive vegetable patch in the valley,” he
told us. “She would describe the different Italian varieties
of herbs and vegetables to me. Those visits laid the
foundation for my style which has developed into simple, modern
cooking based on Italian flavours and traditions.”
In the class was Elena Dal Zotto, wife of Otto, and
another aunty to Adam.
She had come along to refresh her memory, for despite
having learnt how to make pasta when she was younger, she’d
forgotten a few of the intricacies.
“The filling squirts out at the side when I make
tortellini,” she laughed. “Adam pays so much attention
to detail and his are always perfect.”
The Italian connections are also very intricate (there
are now 70 – 80 Italian families in the valley) and it
required extra coaching from Adam to understand them.
“My grandfather Roberto and his three brothers
(Arnold, George and Alfonzo) migrated here from the Alto Adige
region of northern Italy in the early 1950s,” he explains. “He
had four children - Elena, Alfred, Carla and Rinaldo,
my father.”
Elena met Otto (who had migrated from Valdobbiadene
in the late 1960s) at the local food store in Whitfield and
they now have four sons Michael, Julian and twins Christian
and Simon who all play a part in the family wine business.
For many years Otto grew tobacco in the valley but
as tobacco became less viable, he turned to growing grapes
initially planting cabernet, merlot and chardonnay.
With encouragement from the savvy winemakers at Brown
Brothers in Milawa, he began trialling Italian varietals
and the family now produces a range of exciting fruit driven
wines which include barbera, sangiovese, pinot grigio and arneis – and
their fabulous sparkling, Prosecco, which is the only commercial
Prosecco grown and sold in Australia.
“Then there’s my uncle Alfred Pizzini who
lives down the road and is married to Katrina. They own the
Pizzini winery and also have four children, Natalie, Nicky,
Joel and Carlo who are involved in the family business.”
Pizzini is famous for its outstanding nebbiolo and
sangiovese wines, and excellent verduzzo, arneis, pinot grigio
and rosetta.
Italian reds are made to go with food and the families
are more than happy to share their wine and food knowledge
with you at the cellar door – or in the family kitchen.
On a fleeting visit to the Pizzini homestead, we caught Katrina
in her industrial-style kitchen rolling, cutting and freezing
her famous potato gnocchi for the forthcoming “La Dolce
Vita” festival.
We were also fortunate to be shown around the Pizzini
vineyard by the rusty haired Fred.
“Never in all of my, or my father’s years
of farming in the King Valley have we experienced such an emotionally
draining year,” he told us. “Depending on what
stage the fruit was at during the long period of smoke haze
determined the amount of smoke effect suffered by the fruit. We
harvested the pinot grigio, one parcel of shiraz and some sangiovese
but the rest was dropped to the ground.”
Undaunted, he pointed to a 15 hectare north-east facing
hill which will be planted out soon.
“ And even with these drought conditions the
vineyards in the King are looking fantastic.”
If I’d had a glass of his Rubacuori (Italian
for “stealer of hearts”) Sangiovese 2003 in hand
at the time, I’d have toasted him on the spot. No doubt
about it, these Italian families know a thing or two about
setbacks but they also know how to celebrate ‘la dolce
vita’ - and how to steal your heart.
Fact Box:
Getting there: –
approximately 3 hours drive from Melbourne
Or catch a plane to Albury and hire a car at the airport – the
drive to King Valley is 120K’s.
Rinaldo’s Cooking
Classes: $250 per person (includes
morning and afternoon tea, lunch,
3-course dinner with wine,
handouts and potato press); or $335 per person twin share accommodation. Summer
classes start November 28th.
Ph. 03 5729 8000
www.rinaldos.com.au
Stay:
Casa Luna B&B, 1569 Booky Creek Rd., Myrrhee –
hosts Gwenda and David will prepare a lovely home-style Italian
meal if you ask ahead.
Ph. 03 5729 7650
www.casaluna.com.au
Email: info@casaluna.com.au
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