When my friend Sandro told me about the Winter Wine Dinner honoring the Piemontese wine maker Enzo Boglietti from La Morra, I knew we had to attend. Not only was I excited to try the wines, but the dinner was at Sandro’s friends restaurant, Locanda Vini e Olii, a Northern Italian Restaurant on Gates Avenue in Clinton Hill that I have been wanting to try for some time now.

The Locanda Vini e Olii was the perfect setting for an intimate wine dinner. The space, a former drug store, features tin ceilings, original woodwork, and pharmacy bottles. This is the type of restaurant that you add to your “must take visitors to” list. It is certainly now on ours. We hustled in from the cold, hung up our coats, and were escorted to our seats. Our neighbors at the table were introduced to us by Rocco, one of the owners of Locanda Vini e Olii. Seated to my right was the honoree of this dinner, Enzo Boglietti, and across the table was his lovely wife.

We exchanged pleasantries, me in horrible Italian, and the Bogliettis in much better English. The Bogliettis spoke some English, but not much. I, unfortunately, used up most of my Italian skills when we said hello. Here I was, seated next to a highly respected wine maker from my favorite wine region, and we could hardly communicate. I did learn that Enzo grows his grapes on 22 hectares which yields 100,000 bottles a year. He, of course, is very passionate about his wine. This was apparent without the need for any translation.

Thankfully, the food and wine kept us occupied and the breaks in conversation were not awkward. The menu and wine pairings were exactly what I hoped they would be. We started with Bagna Cauda and vegetables paired with Enzo’s 2009 Dolcetto d’Alba ”Taglineri”. Next came a Piemontese beef tartare paired with a 2008 Barbera d’Alba, “Roscaleto.” Then came Swiss chard gnocchi with “fonduta” which was paired with a 2007 Barbera d’Alba, “Vigne dei Romani.” Finally came the course I’d been waiting for since seeing it on the menu, Piemontese beef cheeks braised in Barolo with cannellini beans in extra virgin olive oil. This was paired with, of course, Barolo. The wine was Enzo’s 2006 “Case Nere.” Delicious food and spectacular wine. Someone at our table said it best, when holding the 2007 Barbera to his nose. “This just smells like Piemonte!”

As we said goodbye to Enzo and his wife, I silently vowed that I wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip away again. I must speak Italian. We promised to call on them when we visited Piemonte again. I told them I would speak better Italian then. They promised to speak better English.

Now the search begins for Enzo’s wines here in New York. This dinner is a memory I will always be happy to relive through a glass of Enzo’s wine.

The Bogliettis