Drink up: Raffaele Mastrovincenzo

Raffaele Mastrovincenzo (Photo : Supplied) 

Raffaele Mastrovincenzo

Sommelier, Kappo, Melbourne

Is food and wine matching overrated?

No, if the choices are made properly. If the matching respects the dishes, and most importantly stimulates the mind of the guest. Many restaurants do this in Melbourne, there are clever somms in town. Though sometimes it does feel as if you are just drinking what the somm wants to drink.

What’s your preferred drink at home?

Lately a Kombucha a sparkling probiotic drink, and the best water on the planet, Cape Grim from Tasmania.

What the most expensive bottle you’ve ever sold?

From the northern hemisphere, a 1978 Trebbiano D’Abruzzo Valentini. I was a young sommelier in Italy and at close to 1 million lira, it was almost the same as my salary for a month.

In the southern hemisphere, a half bottle of 1992 Klein Constantia, ‘Vin de Constance’ from West Cape South Africa. It was $A750, the most expensive half-bottle I’ve ever sold.

What do you do when a customer tells you a bottle is corked?

I taste the wine first so shouldn’t ever happen. If I feel there is anything that can be wrong with the bottle I’m not going to serve it. However, If the customer thinks so, I change the bottle and perhaps advise him to look at some other wine because that was the last bottle.

How do you keep your restaurant’s opened wine fresh?

Sell them quickly and keep changing the option by the glass frequently.

What’s the biggest-selling variety on your wine list right now?

The golden variety “riesling” and of course sake.

What’s the best question a customer has ever asked you about wine?

“Do you think a bad vintage shouldn’t ever be drunk?” Very clever question — sometimes drinking what is known to be a bad vintage at an early stage could be a superb wine. Normally a good vintage needs time before its character is shown.

What’s the stupidest question a customer has ever asked you about wine?

When they ask you for a recommendation and after you do; they ask you, “Is this wine good?” What the hell, I just recommended it.

What are pouring right now that you’re excited about?

2012 Koehler Ruprecht Riesling from the village of Kallstadt in Pfalz, in the Steinacker vineyards. It’s textural, oily but focused and energetic with a really precise minerality And in sake, Kameizumi junmai ginjo ‘‘cel 24’’ from the prefecture of Kochi Japan. So beautiful on the nose, and so perfect with the toful dish at Kappo.

What do you make of the craze for natural and orange wine?

We could write a book on this subject. If natural wines are made by someone highly skilled, there can be superb drinkability … the French use the phrase “vin de soif”. I most enjoy orange wines when they have got some age on them — When they are young can be sometimes unbalanced. Please store them. It does seem there’s a trend/interest in these varieties and sometimes people are only drinking them for this reason. If the wine is good it doesn’t matter if it is natural/orange/re/white etc. Saying that, a whole page of orange wines does seem to be overkill ….

What corkscrew do you use?

Always a cheap one, works better than a fancy one.

What wine glass do you use at home?

Pinot noir glass is the best shape ever. Perfect for my Champagne choice and my preferred wines Barolo, Burgundy and Central Otago pinot noir.

How do you justify your restaurant’s mark-ups?

Mark-ups need to be reasonable and in balance — enough to keep the restaurant in business, not so high to deter the customer from drinking. At Kappo, we always mark up less for more interesting styles/varieties or wines we really want to sell to encourage the customer and those in the know.

Source: The Australian  Necia Wilden   January 13th 2015