The presence and impact of COVID-19 has caused us all to live life differently…likely for longer than we would all hope. Our small business prides itself on working with and supporting other locally-owned small businesses. These friendships and our willingness to support their small businesses is as strong as ever. And for now, the Wine Wise experience will be coming to you virtually and it’s going to be awesome. We hope to see you on the screen—fine wines in hand of course!
Join with Sommelier, Erica Archer and Chef/Co-Owner Damian Sansonetti of Chaval and recently closed acclaimed restaurant Piccolo (forced to close due to the pandemic), for a Virtual Wine Dinner from the comforts of home and technology. And we’re delivering it all to your door. 1-2 hours before our event you’ll receive your dinner-for-two box containing your wine and food with easy instructions to reheat for our 7 pm start.
This is part of a series of Virtual Wine Dinners with Sansonetti and Archer (and perhaps we will have a guest appearance or treat from Chef Ilma Lopez from time to time). Each week we’ll touch on a different region of the world through wine and cuisine using the produce of local Maine farmers. harvesters, and purveyors. For this dinner, we’ll travel to Central Italy for the beautiful wines and food of Central Italy and the incredible food of Piccolo.
Featured Italian Wines
2018 Leone de Castris, Messapia, Salento Verdeca Bianco
2016 Marina Cvetić, S. Martino Rosso, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Piccolo Menu Favorites
Salami and Pickles
Burrata , Citrus, Hazelnut and Castelfranco Salad
Lamb Ragú and Cavatelli
Chocolate and Black Trumpet Mushrooms
Due to the nature of this event, we regret that we cannot accommodate food substitutions.
We are excited to have you join us as we gather online from the comforts of home to discuss the featured wines and food pairings, create community and support small businesses and local purveyors.
Price is all-inclusive of your wine-dinner-for-two, 2 bottles of wine, tax, service, download materials, event experience, and delivery. “Seating” is limited to 12 deliveries in the Greater Portland area which includes Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Foreside, Falmouth, Gorham, Old Orchard, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, and Westbrook.
Live outside of our Greater Portland delivery area? No problem. You may meet us for contact-less curbside pick-up at 4:00 pm at Chaval. Just make sure to put a note in the comments section at checkout that you’ll do 4:00 curbside at Chaval.
For delivery and curbside, you can rest assured that we are exceeding all requirements for your safety and the safety of our teams in preparing, pick-up, and delivering.
Chef Damian Sansonetti, a Pittsburgh native, grew up exploring fresh, local ingredients, making pasta with his grandmothers, curing meats with his grandfather, and assisting his father in the family kitchen. A career in food was practically his birthright. Graduating from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Sansonetti worked at Nantucket’s Brant Point Grill and Pittsburgh’s Steelhead Grill, moving to New York to open Heartbeat in the W Hotel. Sansonetti met Daniel Boulud while working at Shallots in Midtown and eventually took a position at Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne.
Training rigorously under Chef Olivier Muller, Sansonetti became chef de banquet at Daniel and then sous chef under Jean Francois Bruel. Promoted to executive chef of Bar Boulud in 2008, Sansonetti was named a 2009 StarChefs.com Rising Star. Now ensconced in the burgeoning food scene of Portland, Maine, Sansonetti’s partnered with his wife, Pastry Chef Ilma Lopez (a 2014 StarChefs.com Rising Star Pastry Chef and nominated in 2018 for a James Beard Award as Outstanding Pastry Chef), to open their Italian fine dining restaurant Piccolo and in 2017 Chaval.
Chef Ilma Lopez has worked in some of the most demanding and rewarding kitchens in the industry, such as DB Bistro, Corton, Tailor, El Bulli, Café Boulud, and Le Bernardin. When she left New York City to the quieter reaches of Maine, Lopez found a new terrain she couldn’t resist. Arriving with a mastery of colors, flavors, textures, and spices—and a seasoned ability to work under pressure—Lopez makes classic dishes her own, with attention to micro-detail and thoughtful twists. For her work, Lopez earned a 2014 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Star Pastry Chef Award, has been a twice a semi-finalist James Beard “Best Pastry Chef” (national), and you may have seen her name in an issue of Bon Appetit Magazine highlighting her incredible talents when naming Portland, Maine as their pick for ‘Restaurant City of The Year’.
Sommelier Erica Archer is Maine native and a true oenophile, having obtained high levels of certification in her field. In 2010, she was awarded the Wine Spirit and Education Trust Level Three Advanced Certification in Wines and Spirits (with merit), became a Sommelier in the American Court of Master Sommeliers, and received her Certified Wine Professional award from the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. Erica is the principal of Wine Wise, a wine education and events service and is skilled at creating truly creative and memorable wine experiences that take guests beyond a typical tasting with her intimate understanding of what makes each wine unique. And she’ll do it with her trademark down to earth style and sense of humor.
Where do we meet?
On your computer screen at 7 pm on the day of the event. You’ll download the Zoom app and access our event through a link that we will send you.
What do we need?
Set your dinner table with a fork, knife, spoon, napkin, water, and a wine glass per person. You’ll also need a corkscrew, an ice bucket is you’d like to keep your wine chilled, the downloaded materials for this event, and a computer with internet access, sound, and video capability. Be sure to download the ZOOM app before this event as that is the platform we will be using so that we can all see and hear each other.
Tell us about delivery.
We’ll deliver your box of goodies between 4:30-6:00 pm on the day of the event. They’ll be a form for you to fill out at check-out with specific delivery instructions and the best number to text you at. We’ll text you when we’re on our way and again when delivery has been completed. We are vigilant about abiding by all safety and physical distancing requirements for your safety and that of ourselves and our teams. Delivery is limited to the Greater Portland area. If you live outside of the Greater Portland area and would like to pick-up your own box curbside at Chaval in Portland, we can arrange that.
Cancellations/Reschedules/No Shows
Because of our size, and the need to purchase the wine and food to accommodate the number of tickets sold, we will be able to refund you only if we can re-sell your tickets (minus the $20.00 credit card transactions we have to pay) OR reschedule you to a different event (there is no credit card transaction fee in this case). There are no refunds or reschedules for no shows or if we are not able to resell your tickets. Makes sense, right?
