Keste Wall Street | Charles Scicolone on Wine

A number of years ago Michele and I were on a press trip to Puglia and we visited Cantina Due Palme. Recently I received and invitation for an event called “Wines of Excellence Made in Puglia: Cantine Due Palma at Keste Wall Street.”

It is always a pleasure to go to Keste and I wanted to catch up on the wines of Due Palme.

Roberto Caporuscio, Pizzaiolo/Owner of Keste, was the host for the evening.

We started with a focaccia typical of Puglia, made by Roberto. The flour is a mix of Super Nuvola “0” flour from Caputo, semolina and potato. The topping is tomatoes and olives.

There was Buratta, a cow’s milk cheese, which originated in Puglia that has an outer shell of mozzarella and inside a mix of shredded mozzarella and cream called stracciatella. It is made fresh everyday at Keste.

Olives from Puglia-Cerignola

Roberto with his former students

Two former students of Roberto, Penelope and Lucie, made the pizza. They have since opened a pizzeria in Quebec City called Nina Pizza Napolitaine. Roberto said they were his best students and after I tasted the pizza I could not agree more, it was that good.

I asked Robert what flour he uses for his pizza. He said he uses a mix of 50% Tipo 1 and 50% Super Nuvola Tipo 0 from Caputo.

The Pizza

Pizza with a mix of homemade straciatella, and smoked and regular mozzarella infused with fresh mint and limoncello, and topped with fresh figs – fantastic.

Pizza with stracciatella cheese, broccoli rape and sausages

Pizza with ricotta and onions sauteed with mixed berries

Vegetarian pizza

Figs marinated in red wine

Cantina Due Palme is a Social Cooperative with its main headquarters located in Cellino San Marco, Puglia. It was established in 1989 but its roots go back to 1943. In the beginning there were only 15 members and today there are 1,000 and they have merged with 4 other large wineries with a total capacity 10,000 HL of wine.

Salice Salentino DOP Riserva “Selvarossa” made from Negroamaro and Malvasia Nero. The soil is baked red clay and the training system is alberello. The grapes are hand harvested and some of the grapes are dried in the cellars to concentrate the sugars and flavors and to enrich the structure. The wine is aged for 9 months in French oak barriques and then in bottle until it is ready to be released. The wine has hints of cherry jam, dates and vanilla with a note of toasty oak and a touch of spice.

Primitivo Di Manduria DOP “Sangatano” made from 100% Primitivo Di Manduria. The soil is red in color because of iron oxides with a rocky limestone substratum. The wine is aged for 6 months in American oak barriques followed by maturation in the bottle for a period of time. This is a wine with black fruit aromas and flavors with hints of vanilla and chocolate.

Rosso Salento IGP “1943 The Presidents Wine” made from Primitivo and Aglianico from vineyards planted in 1968. The grapes are hand harvested and some of the grapes are dried (appassimento) in the cellars which are kept humidity free to avoid spoilage. The wine is aged for 9 months in new barrels and for a period in bottle before release. This is an intense and complex wine with hints of coffee, ripe cherry, plum and spicy notes of vanilla. It is called The Presidents Wine because it produced from the old vineyards planted by Angelo Marci, founder and president of the company, in 1968 using the alberello vine training method.

A glass of wine or a drink in a cafe or wine bar in Italy typically brings with it an assortment of finger food. Now, Roberto Caporuscio is following this custom at his Keste Wall street location. He calls it “Happy Hour Italiano” and it takes place Monday to Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Nine red wines and seven white wines are offered by the glass. The more expensive the wine the more and better finger food you will get.

The assortment might include focaccia, miniature rice balls, fried burrata, tuna stuffed peppers, and more. If you order a bottle of wine you might get all of them.

Roberto talking about his Sfincione

When I arrived at Keste recently Roberto took me to where he was making the sfincione and explained to me how it was made and how high the dough had risen once it was baked. Sfincione is a Sicilian style pizza with a thick crust and topped with onions, tomato sauce, cheese and anchovies. It was very tasty and I limited myself to one piece because I know there was a lot more to follow.