Taste
A taste of L' Italia

• Savory dishes will tempt festival's participants
• Festival benefits Hawai'i Lupus Foundation

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Staff Writer

The wine merchant can't help himself. When he speaks of Italy, its people, food and wine, he gushes.

"I've got one of those born-in-Italy souls, and being in Italy for the first time confirmed that ... like that first bite of pizza, or seeing Sophia Loren for the first time, or test-driving an Alfa Romeo, or trying on Armani. I realized that the Italian experience was one of joy. It was the tastes, sights, feel ... all of it worked to impact me enormously," said Fujioka, who was born and raised in Hawai'i.

Unfortunately, Italian wines are little known in the United Statesæ— beyond chianti and Bolla, few people know the names of Italian wines, and many are intimidated by the mysterious labels and unfamiliar grape varieties.

Saturday night, Fujioka will do his own small part to change that at the 12th annual Honolulu Wine Festival, a benefit for the Hawaii Lupus Foundation that will celebrate the food and wine of Italy.

It's a menu designed by a French chef, Daniel Delbrel of the Sheraton Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian hotels, with a wine list overseen by a Japanese American from Hawai'i ... but it's imbued with the two men's love of things Italian.

"Love energy is the magical force that will make the event special," Fujioka said. They're even calling it "L' Italia Il Mio Amore" (Italy My Love).

French chef Daniel Delbrel of the Sheraton Waikiki/Royal Hawaiian hotels, has designed a special menu in celebration of "L' Italia Il Mio Amore,"a benefit for the Hawaii Lupus Foundation. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser 12th Annual Honolulu Wine Festival Event: "L' Italia Il Mio Amore" (Italy My Love) What: A benefit for Hawaii Lupus Foundation When: 6-10 p.m. Saturday Where: Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel, Waikiki Ballroom Cost: $65 per person Information: Hawaii Lupus Foundation, 538-1522

He is possessed of an uncanny calm, given the magnitude of the food operation he supervises at two landmark Waikiki hotels. Smooth and sophisticated, he takes in his stride the notion of an event for several hundred people.

A few weeks ago, Delbrel and Fujioka, whose company is Fujioka Wine Merchants at Market City shopping center, allowed a reporter to sit in as they prepared a first tasting of the menu for the event. They're planning a series of serving stations, which will feature pretty much everything you'd expect from a dinner with an Italian theme: carpaccio (raw shaved beef drizzled with olive oil and other ingredients), pasta, risotto, canneloni, tomato-mozzarella salad, caponata (eggplant relish).

But they're also preparing some less common specialties, including Roman gnocchi (sturdy dumplings made with semolina, not the usual potato/flour combination), a carpaccio made with mushrooms instead of meats, a silky roast garlic panna cotta (literally, "cooked cream," a savory version of a custard that's more usually served for dessert) and fritters made with salt cod, baccalá.

The dolci (sweets) station will showcase a concoction that Delbrel's mother used to prepare: rich mascarpone cheese ice cream with fresh summer berries, in a peppered red currant sauce. (Mascarpone is a delicately flavored double- or triple-cream cow's milk cheese that is a specialty of the Lombardy region.)

Fujioka said his connection with the Honolulu Wine Festival began five years ago, when he was asked to help with it, the Hawaii Lupus Foundation's primary fund-raising project. "The challenge has been developing a new theme on an annual basis," he said, but this year he decided to set a precedent that he hopes to continue: placing the focus on Italy and keeping it there with the hope of building an annual celebration in a similar spirit to the annual French Festival.

"People who visit my store know we are the foremost proponents of Italian wines in the state, with the passion to back it up," Fujioka said. "It has always been a personal dream to create and direct an all-Italian wine event."

In the back of his mind is the annual VinItaly event in Verona — the biggest wine show in the country. "It's like this ... you've got six days to attempt to taste over 2,000 wines from over 800 different producers. It's a daunting task even for wine professionals."

Lyle Fujioka connected with the Honolulu Wine Festival five years ago and has worked to develop new themes each year. However, he hopes to expand on the Italian theme, similar to the annual French Festival. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Italy is a land of vast geographic diversity ranging from its northern cool-temperature vineyards in the foothills of the Alps, to the hot southern regions, Fujioka said. Wine has been made in Italy for at least 3,500 years in a variety of styles (dry to sweet, still to fully sparkling) and in a variety of ways from many grape varieties not widely grown outside of Italy.

Fujioka said that this wide range of Italian wine styles represents the opportunity to pair them with all types of the food.

There are more then 600 different varietal wines, from all over Italy, and many of them are indigenous to that particular region, and pair with foods typical of that area. For example, in the Piedmont region nebbiolo grapes are used in making barolos and barbarescos, sturdy wines that speak to the Piedmontese's beloved hearty meat dishes.

Some other significant and well-known grapes include sangiovese, primarily grown in Tuscany, used in making chianti, which matches well with olive oils, braised meats and tomato-based pasta dishes. (Sangiovese is being grown with some success in California now and is a bit of a fad.) Cortese grapes are also grown in the Piedmont, famous for making Gavi wines, fabulous with shellfish and creamy sauces. Pinot grigio is grown in northern Italy and produces a light, dry, crisp wine; it matches well with a light pasta primavera. Garganega makes the well-known soave wines grown in the Veneto region of northern Italy, an excellent match with baked seafood dishes, salads and antipasti.

Fujioka plans to showcase exclusively Italian wines at the upcoming benefit, except for a Cal/Ital table, where he'll serve wines produced in California from Italian grape varieties. The wines will be poured at stations arranged in the shape of Italy's boot, a technique designed to teach, as well as entertain: To find a particular wine, diners will go to the geographical location where those wines are produced. (Maps will be provided).