This is going to be great! Winemaker Leonardo Bellacini of San Felice winery is joining us from his home in Tuscany for this Virtual Wine Dinner with Solo Italiano. We tasted these wines recently and they are excellent. We can’t wait to share them with you, together with the winemaker and such incredible, authentic Italian meal, prepared to pair perfectly with these high-quality wines.
Join with Sommelier, Erica Archer and Solo Italiano / Solo Cucina as they welcome winemaker Leonardo Bellaccini to join with you all from, Tuscany to Maine, 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 6 pm start.
Delivery is limited to the Greater Portland area. If you live outside of the Greater Portland area and would like to pick-up curbside with us at 3:30 at Solo Italiano you are welcome to do that. 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.
For the menu, Paolo is eager to create an authentic Italian meal to pair beautifully with these wines as well as using produce from Italy and small Maine farmers. For this dinner, we are featuring three beautiful San Felice wines. You’ ll receive a bottle of each with your delivery and an incredible meal to accompany them. At 7 pm you’ll join with the winemaker, Chef Paolo Laboa, and GM/Wine guy Jesse Bania of Solo Italiano, Sommelier Erica Archer of Wine Wise, and other community members for an incredible and undoubtedly delicious evening
We are excited to have you join us for this incredible wine dinner with Solo as we gather from Maine to Italy online and from the comforts of home to discuss the featured wines and food pairings, create community and support small businesses and local purveyors.
Cost is $210 all-inclusive of dinner-for-two food, wine, tax, service, download materials, event experience, and delivery. Deliveries are limited to the Greater Portland area. You can rest assured that we are exceeding all requirements for your safety and the safety of our teams in preparing and delivering.
The San Felice winery Borgo San Felice stands in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, located on a hill 1,148 feet above sea level, about an hour from Florence and two-and-a-half-hours from Rome. Located between mountain ridges and valleys, Borgo San Felice truly embodies Tuscany in all aspects thanks to the painstaking restoration work that has preserved not only its medieval architectural structures but its vineyards as well.
The surrounding view is the result of the geological structure of the territory where irregular rock formations favor cultivation of vineyards and olive groves. In fact, these are predominating elements in a landscape where flourishing forests alternate with rows of cypress trees and shrubs. San Felice is situated between two different areas with distinct natural features: on the southwest orderly cultivated fields reign, while the northeast is characterized by rugged dark green hills filled with dense forests of oak and chestnut trees.
The soil in this region has a rich structure and is mainly of clay and limestone, although in some areas sand and silt are more prevalent. 70% of the vineyards are dedicated to Sangiovese vines, followed by Pugnitello, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Colorino, Petit Verdot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Trebbiano and Malvasia del Chianti Classico.
All ingredients used at Borgo San Felice have been carefully selected and painstakingly maintained by winemaker Leonardo Bellacini since 1983, leading their research, innovation and experimentation. From classic Chiantis to interesting alternative whites, San Felice continuously produces highly awarded and recognized wines and brings them to the world.
Leonardo Bellaccini is the soul of San Felice. Born in Siena in 1963 and graduated in Viticulture and Oenology at the local Institute of Agriculture in 1983, with training periods in France (Bordeaux) and in Switzerland (Zion). After winning a scholarship from the Consorzio del Chianti Classico, in 1984 he joined San Felice as oenologist and responsible both for wine and olive oil production. Inquisitive, creative, and always ready for new challenges, Leonardo Bellaccini has carried out always an intense research activity together with the University. At the beginning with the Consorzio del Chianti Classico, being part of the panel of the “Chianti Classico 2000” project, a long and deep study aimed to upgrading the quality of the sangiovese in the region. In the late ‘80s, with the University of Florence, focused on the rescue of native varieties in order to preserve them from extinction, which brought lately to the revival of pugnitello, a forgotten Tuscan grape which showed to have the pontial of producing a great red wine. In 2008, always in collaboration with the University, he started at San Felice a “school of pruning” to reach new concepts and methods of this important operation in the vineyards. Nowadays, he’s involved at San Felice on a special project called “precision viticulture”.
Your ChefPaolo Laboa’s journey started in his mother's kitchen, where he learned the secrets of real Genovese cooking, the pinnacle of Northern Italian cuisine. Every ingredient chef Paolo touches is fresh from the farm and sea to his kitchen to your table. Some of his favorite farms are Stonecipher Farm, Dandelion Springs Farm, Valley Farm, Olivia’s Garden for greens, vegetables, basil and herbs, and Northspore for foraged mushrooms. Fresh fish is brought in each day through Upstream, Harbor Fish Market or Browne Trading Co. Also sourcing other proteins like wild rabbit from Sumner Valley Farm and lamb and pork from Two Cove Farm, while dairy comes from a variety these local farmers. “Cooking is what I love and I want each ingredient to sing. Simplicity is my goal. If there are five ingredients, I want you to taste all five of them.” Breads and pastas are all made in-house from scratch using traditional Genovese recipes. “It is very important–the food that you eat,” says Laboa.
Your Sommelier
Archer is 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 night of our dinner. 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 4:30-6:30 pm on the day of our dinner. 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 Solo Cucina in South 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 $15.00 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?
