Gran Galà della Grappa organized by Roberto Castagner, Monday evening, at the L’Alchimia restaurant in Milan with food/grappa pairing throughout the meal.
llustrious guests, journalists, opinion leaders, customers, distributors, restaurateurs, wine producers and friends of Roberto Castagner took part in a splendid evening organized on Monday evening by the master distiller at the restaurant L’Alchimia.
After Verona, the Gran Galà della Grappa stopped in Milan on Monday, November 25. The format, created by a distillation champion like Roberto Castagner, a well-known master distiller and founder of the homonymous distillery in Vazzola (Treviso), could only be a success. Contributing to the great success of the event was a prestigious location like the L’Alchimia restaurant, where the queen of spirits was the star of the entire evening, accompanying, with refined elegance, the sensory journey of the diners from appetizer to dessert. Guests included the director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, and the Olympic ski champion, Manuela Di Centa, as well as journalists, opinion leaders, customers, distributors, restaurateurs, wine producers and friends of the Castagner family.
After Roberto Castagner’s greeting, the restaurant’s owner, Alberto Tasinato, took the floor and, together with executive chef Giuseppe Postorino, explained how grappa has managed to carve out a leading role for itself over the years in a prestigious restaurant like L’Alchimia.
The evening will open with an aperitif with traditional Milanese mondeghili, shortcrust pastry tarts with creamed cod and puffed polenta chips accompanied by Casta Negroni made with Casta, the grappa created in 2017 for mixing, Bitter Castagner in which Treviso PGI radicchio is also infused and Vermouth Castagner made with Glera.
The Milano Treviso risotto with late radicchio and crispy sopressa was paired with the “Ronco Delle Cime” Friulano Doc Collio 2023 by Venica & Venica. The interlude with Grappa Prosecco Ice served chilled was much appreciated and surprised all the guests. The dinner continued with the Carmagnola grey rabbit in puff pastry and red pepper sauce accompanied by the Barolo Docg “Lecinquevigne” 2020 by Cantina Damilano.
The Tiramisu L’Alchimia was served with Grappa Fuoriclasse Leon Riserva 7 years, while the Criollo Domori chocolate flakes, an excellence in the world of quality chocolate from Riccardo Illy’s Polo del Gusto, were accompanied by Riserva 23 years, the grappa celebrating Roberto Castagner’s entrepreneurial journey. The story of the most iconic product of the Treviso distillery was brilliant and engaging, told by sommelier Sara Tosti.
The evening saw the participation of many women of value, such as Ornella Venica of Venica & Venica (Mario Damilano was present for the Barolo) and Cinzia Ferro, one of the most famous barladies in Italy, who verified the right balance of the Casta Negroni presented during the aperitif and, in reaffirming her bond with Roberto Castagner, explained that she believes in the importance of using grappa in mixing.
Manuela Di Centa at the end of the evening, on behalf of all the women present, recalled that too many women in Italy are still victims of violence and psychological discrimination. “Only a leap in quality in the education of our children – she declared – will lead to better coexistence relationships between men and women”. “It is beautiful to see so many women at this evening dedicated to Italian excellence where grappa gives emotions without discrimination”, concluded the Olympic ski champion on the sidelines of the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women”.