Three of us met at Marea, which describes its food as coastal Italian seafood. It was their first time and my third time there, and I suggested we put together a crudo and pasta tasting menu. It was fantastic.
To drink with the assorted crudo, I chose a 2001 DeFaix Chablis Les Lys. This was a producer with whom I was unfamiliar. It was explained that the wine sees no oak, but I detected a hint of vanilla that puzzled me. Other than that, it was austere with a core of minerality, good from beginning to end and a nice counterpoint to the fatty fish.
With our 3 pasta dishes of spaghetti, crab, and sea urchin; fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow; and agnolotti with veal, mushrooms and sweet breads we drank a 2004 Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja. This showed beautiful aromas of fresh flowers and raspberries. The palate started out very open and juicy with berries and florals, but started to close up after it sat in the decanter for about a half hour. It surprised me as to how delicious it was right out of the bottle, into the decanter, into the glass.
My two dining companions desired more wine, and so they ordered a 2005 Aglianico to accompany a cheese plate. I still had some Cortese in my glass and was happy with that, so no Aglianico for me, and so I don't even know the producer.
Marea is part of the restaurant empire that includes, a couple of my favorites, Convivio and Alto. When it first opened a year or so ago, I thought it was a crazy time to open such a high end restaurant. They knew what they were doing - the place was packed last night