Please Help me Navigate this Massive Wine List -- Roscioli Restaurant in Rome

WINE TALK
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Gregg, Bill, & Richard,
I appreciate your input. Thank you!


Gregg,
I’ll put the Montepulciano on my list of possibilities. Thanks for the tip!

Richard,
There’s almost nothing anyone could say that would prevent me from ordering the burrata!

42

Buon Appetito. At the very least, you’ll be prepared for the dish’s subtleties.

RT

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I probably couldn’t bring myself to order them given the IT choices, but you’ve hit on many of the ones that I noticed among the non-IT…that 07 Rayas for 150 would be tough to pass up.

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i would drink 08 roulot perrieres at 140 euros all day long. ALL DAY!!! [snort.gif]

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[swoon.gif]

Dayyy-uuum! The food here absolutely rocked!
The four of us started with some burrata and and assortment of hand-sliced prosciutti to start. Wonderful.
I had the carbonara next. Stunning.
Finished with the roman meatballs. Probably the second-best meatballs I’ve had in my life, second only to the meatballs from Cosetta’s Italian restaurant in St. Paul, MN.

started with some Prosecho (I think it was the Extra Dry, but cannot remember; they were out of the Bisol); it was serviceable, and I think quite good at the price.

Next had the 2009 Fiano that was recommended a couple times up-thread. It was absolutely stunning!

We ended with a wine that was superb. Ordering it, however, was probably the weirdest wine-ordering experience I’ve ever had.
First, I asked for the 1989 Boca Gattinara. Our waitress said, “I will check to see if we have that.”
Then, our waitress came back and said “We don’t have that vintage.” So, I asked for the '90. She said she’d check and get back to me.
A couple minutes later she comes back and says, “Our sommelier recommends against it. She says it is a very weird wine, and most people it’s not to their taste.” I responded, “Well, weird how? Is it kind of earthy, funky, and leathery?” She responds, “Yes.” I say, “Perfect! That’s exactly what we want. We will have that please.”
A few minutes later she returns to my table with the wine list, and says “We don’t have any Boca.” I say, “O.K., we’ll just pick something else, then.” For the next three or four minutes we pore over the list: everything our waitress recommends is either way younger than I was looking for, and/or more expensive than what we wanted to spend, and/or they didn’t have it (I tried ordering the ‘06 Montevertine La Pergole, but they were out of it).
Eventually, I say, “So, you don’t have any of the Boca, huh?” She responds, “Oh, yes; we do. Which one do you want?” I say, “Ummmm, do you have the 1989?”, to which she replies, “Yes.” I say, “Great! Then we’ll have that, please.” She says, “O.K.”’ I say, “Thank you.” And that is how we eventually ended-up with the 1989 Boca Gattinara as our third wine. It did need a few minutes in the glass to sort itself out some, but it was very good, and fully mature — it was a stunning pairing with the meatballs, each making the other better. Ordering the darned thing, however … sheesh! rolleyes … really makes me wonder.

1 Like
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Heading to Rimessa Roscioli tonight (in just a few hours) and thought I’d take a shot at resurrecting this thread to solicit wine list advice from some of you sage experts. Here’s a link to the current list. Thanks in advance!

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I would do:

Cerasuolo Valentini - young or old, take your pick

Followed by:
2001 Produttori Barbaresco Rabaja
2001 B Giacosa Barolo Falletto
2005 G. D Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole

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Thanks for resurrecting the thread. I’ll be there in a few weeks!

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Definitely the 89 Boca Gattinara

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am i the only one that thinks this list isn’t that great? yes, it’s huge, but i was expecting more cool older stuff?.. anyway, i’ve been loving some of these older ronchi di cialla wines. had a 2006 last week that was fantastic.

Schioppettino 1996, Ronchi di Cialla 80
Schioppettino 1992, Ronchi di Cialla 92
Schioppettino 1983, Ronchi di Cialla 120

i think i’d go with the somm recommendations given lots of stuff that seems interesting but perhaps less known?

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Can’t go wrong with these choices

Tom

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Oops, ignore the below, this is Rimessa’s list. I thought it was the main place.

It’s not as good as my last visit a few years ago when I had old (88?) Monsanto Il Poggio.

I don’t even see the Pieropan Dennis mentioned in another thread.

I might go Etna Rosso but will check out the suggestions.

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Their somm at Rimessa is great - tell him what your hoping for and he will find something cool.

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Roscioli is just epic on the Roman restaurant scene, an oldie but a goodie. Make sure to get a table upstairs where the atmosphere is more lively (and there’s just a tad more seating room as the whole place is quite cramped, often off-puttingly so). I always get either the carbonara or the amatriciana (with Emidio Pepe to pair). That’s my evergreen order. The pizza bianca table bread is what put them on the map because Roscioli is also a bakery and you’ll se their bread shop just down the street. The service can be brusk, but that’s something of a Roman trademark. Buon appetito.

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If you have time, another place I go to often is the nearby Pianostrada on Via delle Zoccolette. It’s a similar genre of restaurant. Although the wine list is not as extensive as Roscioli, the choices are excellent and the food is inspired.

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Those are my go to Pasta choices as well!

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Ate late lunch there our last day in Rome on Tuesday. The list they gave us had only Italian wines, with no older Produttori Barbaresco like that. If I’d seen this list I would have ordered 2001 Barthod 1er crus at 200. Definitely ask for the full list. On our version, the days of 68 euro Pergole Torte long gone, didn’t see anything that made us want to order based on value, so got cheap Pian del Ciampola and some whites by the glass and focused on the food. Apps and pastas were by far the best we had in Italy, but mains and seafood were all very significantly overcooked. I sortof suspected but August in Italy for food is like France - at least three quarters of the places we wanted to eat at were closed.