Ettore: Italy and Mendocino Meet Up at a California Landmark

melanie13116
20 hours ago
4 min read

Updated: 6 hours ago

The Original Farmer’s Market at Fairfax and Third in Los Angeles has been a landmark and tourist destination for almost a century. Today, while somewhat overshadowed by the massive Grove shopping center, it remains a place where LA’s past and present meet up.

In the 1800s, it was a 230 acre dairy farm, then, when oil was discovered, dotted with massive oil rigs. In the 1930s, after those derricks were removed and Los Angeles began to sprawl around the land, two entrepreneurs thought it the perfect place for local farmers to sell their produce from the back of their trucks. The rest is history: (https://farmersmarketla.com/history)

Today, it is a colorful place where stars, locals and tourists meet up to people watch, while sampling and shopping for some of LA's best fresh produce, meat, seafood, and poultry, with vendors as varied as a 100% vegan market, to one of LA’s best French gourmet marketplaces…..to a hidden gem Italian restaurant with its own winery – and that is where my story really begins: Ettore Vino and Cucino.

Ettore is nestled into a quiet corner of the Orignal Farmer’s Market and stepping into this space is like stepping onto the patio of an Italian vineyard, with its rough-hewn long wooden table and rustic feel. Ettore Vino and Cucina, and its eponymous estate winery based in No Cal, are, as it turns out, among the best kept secrets of Los Angeles wine and dining.

Ettore offers authentic, Lombardy-influenced Italian food and estate wines made, not from Italian varieties, but from classic French grape varieties, organically cultivated and nurtured amid the cool hills of Hopland, Mendocino – Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot. The winemaking, from winemakers Ettore Biraghi and Sofia Rivier, is low-intervention, careful, and focused on preserving what is unique about the terroir -- from vintage to vintage. As they say: “Our hands are Italian, our souls are Californian.”

While the winery dates back 100 years, Ettore’s first vintage, from their 35 acres of vineyards, was in 2018. Today, they continue their focus on just a few classic grapes, offering elegant wines at extraordinarily reasonable price points – their lowest is $18 and highest is $34. They sell their wines from the Farmers Market location and online at https://ettore.wine/. I was very impressed with the energy and philosophy of these winemakers, who have wine roots in Italy, Switzerland and Argentina, and with the elegance and balance their wines – and how well the wines paired with the fabulous Italian ‘winemakers’ lunch we enjoyed, transporting us for a few hours from Lombardy to Mendocino - with side trips to Burgundy and Bordeaux - and back again.

Lunch began with Ettore’s 2023 Pure Chardonnay, vinified in 100% stainless steel, paired with Gnocco fritto and proscuitto di Parma. Gnocco fritto is a cheeky delight, fried dough that puffs up into an ethereal golden envelope (a bit like a deep fried, very delicate Yorkshire pudding). This matched beautifully with the ripe Chardonnay, which had enough acid for a zesty dialogue with those gnocco, as well as to balance its creamy, tropical palate. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the freshly made, addictively pillowy, focaccia that joined the gnocco, paired with Ettore’s fruity, spicy olive oil from trees grown on their estate – it took every ounce of willpower not to take a second and a third piece to dip into that oil.

Next, the 2022 Ettore Reserve Chardonnay, deep gold in color, fermented, like the Pure, in stainless, and then 18 months in French oak. This is classic California Chardonnay, tropical, oaky, and buttery -- but not the perjoratives that those words have become -- because this full-bodied wine is balanced, with a freshness that makes it zing...orange peel wrapped around pineapple, but also touched with dried apricots and a hint of butterscotch. This was paired with Caprese - heavenly burrata and heirloom tomatoes. Again, the acid kept this wine from going over the Chardonnay ‘top’, and made it a good partner for the acidity of the tomatoes and richness of the burrata.

Then, on to the reds. Served with a melt-in-your mouth Tagliatetlle alla Bolognese that cried out for a luscious red, the 2022 Ettore Rosso, a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Petit Verdot and 25% Merlot, fit the bill. Violets and blackcurrants on the nose, giving way to blackberry, dark plum, clove, and baking spices on the palate. There is a silky luxurious feel to this wine that matched texture with the perfectly cooked pasta, while its tannins are plush enough to integrate well with the umami richness of Bolognese.

And as if this was not enough, two reds were served to accompany ‘Diaframma,’ slices of earthy skirt steak with mashed potato and broccolini: a spicy, very blackcurrant 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon and, my favorite of the day, 2021 Petit Verdot, full of black cherry, cedar and chocolate. I tried each wine with the steak and, not surprisingly, they were great matches. with enough chew to stand up to the richness of the steak, while the potatoes offered a creamy blank slate for each to play on. I was particularly impressed by the complexity Rivier and Biraghi had coaxed out of the Petit Verdot, which could definitely be a signature differentiator wine for Ettore.

The lunch ended with a cheese course as backdrop for Ettore's 2019 100% stainless, ‘no sulfites’ Merlot 'Zero', a light-bodied, extremely lively and fruity wine, crushed rose petals, cherry candy, plums and a touch of licorice. A buoyant choice to end the meal.

Ettore partner/GM, Fabrizio De Falco, winemaker Sofia Rivier, head winemaker/co-owner, Ettore Biraghi

I was last in Italy in 2022, and much of that in Lombardy. I have been craving a return; but, until I cross the ocean again, I cannot think of a better place in Los Angeles to feel a delicious touch of Italy than this quiet corner of the bustling Original Farmer’s Market (where browsing its eclectic vendors is part of the joy), nor of a better place to find affordable, hand-crafted, California-meets-Italy interpretations of classic French grapes.