Casa Vinicola Zonin's Italian Culinary Experience Showcases Puglia Region With Help From Ritz-Carlton Chef Ezio Gamba

Kareem Shaker

CVZ's white wine Fiano was paired with a cuttlefish dish.

Step off the elevator and onto the third floor at the Miami Culinary Institute's main building downtown, and you come across an impressive facility. About 50 seats surround a stage kitchen where some of the city's finest culinary practitioners and educators lecture on the art and science of fine dining.

This past week, members of the media, foodies and fellow chefs were invited to the complimentary, invite-only August edition of the Italian Culinary Experience, presented by MCI, Cioppino restaurant and winery Casa Vinicola Zonin. CVZ is Italy's largest privately-owned company, with 11 wine estates in seven regions for a total of over 10,000 acres. August's featured wines came from the Masseria Aletmura estate in the heel of the boot Puglia, paired with a delectable five-course meal prepared by Cioppino at Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne executive chef Ezio Gamba.





"The uniqueness of these events from featuring a different wine region with Zonin properties to selecting a different restaurant partner, the most exciting part is having our guests enjoy this experience by being transported to Italy even for an afternoon through the beauty of wine and food," said Pietro Morelli, marketing director of Casa Vinicola Zonin USA.

Kareem Shaker

The first course (above) was a traditional bruschetta prepared using perfectly grilled ciabatta bread topped with heirloom tomato, garden basil and aged pecorino cheese. The dish reminds Gamba of his grandparent's farm growing up in Bergamo, Italy.

"Even though it was a small farm," Gamba said, "my grandmother was able to prepare a lot of different kinds of dishes."

The freshness of the ingredients used in the appetizer suggested they were just picked from a local farm. Gamba sources most of his ingredients locally, and brought all the ingredients with him from the hotel for all five dishes. To go with the appetizer is CVZ's most popular wine, Prosecco.