<a target="_blank" href="http://www.lasubida.it/">Al
Cacciatore de la Subida</a>

Via Subida, 52

34071 Cormòns















Tel. +39 0481-60531

BY IAN D’AGATA | JANUARY 27, 2017

The food:

Venison carpaccio and fresh
horseradish (Carpaccio di cervo al kren)

Warm soft polenta in the style of
Gianni Cosetti (Il Toc in braide come lo
voleva Gianni Cosetti)

Small finger sized pasta “girini”(I girini, forte di salciccia e pinoli)

Small tortelli with roast meat sauce
and slivers of aged Montasio (Zlikrofi,
arrosto e scaglie di Montasio vecchio)

Deer filet with redcurrants (Filetto di cervo ai mirtilli rossi)

Apple strudel (Strudel di mele)

The wines:

<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 NV Jacques Selosse Extra Brut Aÿ La Côte Faron
 </td>
 <td>
 95+
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2014 Toros Pinot Bianco
 </td>
 <td>
 89
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2004 Kante Malvasia
 </td>
 <td>
 91
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2000 Miani Merlot
 </td>
 <td>
 92
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1998 Borgo del Tiglio Verduzzo
 </td>
 <td>
 94
 </td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>

































Friuli Venezia Giulia’s countryside
is one of Italy’s best if least well-known dining destinations. This pretty
region, tucked away in Northeast Italy, on the border with Austria and Slovenia,
has a very hearty, savory and flavorful cuisine strongly marked by influences
from its two bordering countries. Furthermore, Friuli Venezia Giulia boasts a
long history of truly iconic and distinguished restaurants and osterie (gostilne, in Slovenian), including Boschetti (in the town of
Tricesimo) and Roma (in Tolmezzo). Unfortunately neither one is still around, but
both are an important part of Italian culinary history and are fondly
remembered by all those who love good food and wine. Today, that tradition is
being carried on by the likes of the Gostilna Devetak (soon to be reviewed in
Vinous Table) and La Subida, true Italian countryside trattoria benchmarks.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485457987982-venison+carpaccio+copy.JPG"> 















Venison carpaccio and fresh horseradish 

















La Subida was founded in 1960 by Joško Sirk
and his wife Loredana. The place has long been a magnet for sybarites, a runaway
success that has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Today the family
runs not just the one Michelin star restaurant, but also a bistro and a country
inn.

















‘Chic rustic’ may well be the best
way to describe the look and feel of La Subida, with the restaurant exuding a
homey, warm feeling, no doubt reinforced by its plethora of exposed wooden
beams, tiled floors and family memorabilia everywhere (including old photos, copper
pans and coffee pots). The ‘all in the family’ atmosphere and feel continues
right into the kitchen, as the chef, Alessandro Gavagna, married Joško and
Loredana Sirk’s daughter, Tanya, and has worked at the restaurant for many
years. Gavagna is an obviously talented man and his dishes, which may not be
for everyone given their intensity and juxtaposition of flavors, are savory and
precisely cooked, with curious mix of tradition and creative twists.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485458172133-polenta+Montasio+copy.JPG"> 

Warm soft polenta in the style of Gianni Cosetti&nbsp; 

















A big secret to La Subida’s success
is the use of high quality local ingredients: the menu is a treasure trove of
prime foodstuffs, a veritable who’s who of purveyors including the prosciutto, lard and guanciale from D’Osvaldo (the best at
his craft in Italy), corn flour (used to make the polenta) from the well respected Mulino Tuzzi, pork meat sourced
from talented Isidoro Veliscek, trout farmed by Friultrota (an extremely high
quality trout farm: did you know Friuli is Italy’s biggest producer of trout
and the third biggest in Europe, after Norway and Turkey?), and the list goes
on and on. Clearly, great ingredients and someone who actually knows what to do
with them is always a good combination, so it’s hardly a surprise La Subida often
comes up aces. My most recent dinner was delicious, with dish after dish
redolent in remarkably intense aromas and savory flavors. Yet despite the
heartiness of the cuisine, I got up from the table feeling light, with
considerable spring in my step, another good sign.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485458292118-girini+di+pasta+copy.JPG"> 

Small finger sized pasta “girini”













The venison carpaccio
with horseradish, pumpkin oil and pomegranate is a marvelous way to start,
wonderfully light yet concentrated, benefiting greatly from the fruity acid
lift brought on by the pomegranate. Always one of my favorite dishes is the toc in braide, a soft polenta with
melted Montasio cheese with other seasonal additions (such as a piece of torchon of foie gras in the winter or asparagus when they become available).
It’s a recipe that was invented in the 1980s by Gianni Cosetti, one of Friuli
Venezia Giulia’s most important chefs, owner of Roma, the restaurant that
elevated the foodstuffs and recipes of the Carnia (in Friuli’s deep northeast)
to an art form. The toc in braide’s
role was that of an energetic pick-me-up for those people that had already been
up since the wee hours of the morning working in the fields, but still had a
long day’s work ahead. Clearly, those poor farmers probably didn’t have the
piece of foie gras torchon to look
forward to, so I’ll just count my blessings (foie gras torchon is a sibling of foie gras terrine, the main difference between the two residing
mainly in their respective shape and cooking preparations; for torchon, foie gras is packed into a
cylindrical shape and wrapped in a cheesecloth, then boiled in water or stock).
The other noteworthy dish on this particular night is the zlikrofi, small tortelli
with a chive and potato filling typical of the Val d’Idrija in Slovenia.&nbsp; &nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485458359426-deer+filet+with+red+berries+copy.JPG"> Deer filet with redcurrants 

















Joško and Loredana Sirk’s son, Mitja, looks after the
wine list, which is large and especially rich in great Friuli Venezia Giulia
wines (as it should be) though on this visit I found it had been considerably
picked over and a number of vintages and wines I would have liked to try were
unavailable. Still, there were many great choices to be had and I found myself
thinking long and hard at just what to go with. Nevertheless, starting off with
the Jacques Selosse Blanc de Noirs Grand
Cru &nbsp;La Côte Faron &nbsp;was a no brainer. Concentrated but vibrant
notes of red berries, dried flowers, sweet baking spices, and licorice are all
woven into a rich, tactile mouth-feel the creaminess of which may be less appealing
to those, like me, who prefer a more mineral style of Blanc de Noirs (such as another
of Selosse’s Lieux Dits six different bottlings, the mineral Le Bout de Clos from Ambonnay). Still, the Côte Faron is simply exquisite and a real tour de force;
it’s easily one of the three or four best non-vintage Champagnes I have had
this year. I have always thought that Toros makes some of Italy’s best white
wines, especially his Pinot Bianco; unfortunately, the 2014 Toros Pinot Bianco speaks of the
difficult, rainy vintage. While it offers lovely balance and aromas and flavors
of green apple, apricot, beeswax and jasmine, these are just a little less deep
and dense than is normal for this benchmark wine, normally one of Italy’s two
or three best Pinot Biancos. Kante’s
2004 Malvasia is drinking beautifully right now, with less of the earthy
tones that are more noticeable in the wine’s youth. It boasts precise, perfumed
notes of orange peel, minerals, and dried flowers. Another wine that is
currently in a sweet spot as far as optimal drinking goes is the 2000 Miani Merlot, a wine that with
time has morphed beautifully into a tactile, medium-bodied red offering soft
smoky plum, blackcurrant, coffee and cocoa notes, while losing some of the
leaner, high acid edges that were present in its youth. It’s clearly neither
the most concentrated nor memorable Merlot you’ll taste from Miani’s Enzo
Pontoni (who, ever the perfectionist, actually told me he thinks it’s the worst
Merlot wine he has ever made) but I like the wine’s lovely balance and easy
drinking charm. I don’t think there’s much to gain from holding on to it though,
so I’d suggest drinking this up over the course of the next three to four years.


<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1485458391844-da++wines+copy.JPG"> 

















Last but not least, the 1998 Borgo del Tiglio Verduzzo is an
absolutely beautiful example of what Verduzzo Friulano can be when in the hands
of a talented producer such as Nicola Manferrari of Borgo del Tiglio. This
lovely, delicately sweet white wine is almost weightless and still vibrant, with
harmonious acidity extending the apricot, pear and acacia honey flavors on the
long, precise, very clean back end. Unfortunately, in a sign of the difficulties
sweet wines are encountering in today’s marketplace, Manferrari no longer makes
the Verduzzo. It’s an absolute shame. This eighteen year old beauty clearly
shows how the variety can give age-worthy, multifaceted wines offering numerous
wine and food pairing options, ranging from outstanding aperitif to embodying
the perfect close to a meal.

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