Los Angeles fans of Italian wines have a great place to find the fruit of their passion and some pretty tasty eats, too. Cube on La Brea Avenue is a cafe, a wine bar specializing in Italian vino, a cheese bar and a market all rolled into one location.
We stopped in there for lunch during a break in a hectic shopping day. The place with the "What's Up D.O.C." sign above it was once again the right choice.
We opened with a couple of cheeses - Holzhofer (a strong cow's milk Swiss) and Smokey Blue (a delightfully pungent cow's milk blue cheese from Oregon.) I followed with the braised bacon on polenta. The "bacon" was more like slow-cooked pulled pork, only a hundred times more flavorful.
The wine - Luzzano's "Seta" Malvasia - is made from 100% Malvasia di Candia grapes grown in the Colli Piacentini D.O.C. of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. It is aged six months in stainless steel. The price is an affordable $9 per glass and the bottle price (to take home) is $16.
The Seta's nose is quite green. Mostly floral aromas with an herbal twist are laced with a bready, yeasty edge that's amazing and intriguing. Minerals and zesty lemon lime abound on the palate. There's definitely a steeliness there, but it flies in the face of the full, round mouthfeel.
It paired with both cheeses well - better with the Holzhofer - and was a near-perfect mate for the savory bacon dish.
We stopped in there for lunch during a break in a hectic shopping day. The place with the "What's Up D.O.C." sign above it was once again the right choice.
We opened with a couple of cheeses - Holzhofer (a strong cow's milk Swiss) and Smokey Blue (a delightfully pungent cow's milk blue cheese from Oregon.) I followed with the braised bacon on polenta. The "bacon" was more like slow-cooked pulled pork, only a hundred times more flavorful.
The wine - Luzzano's "Seta" Malvasia - is made from 100% Malvasia di Candia grapes grown in the Colli Piacentini D.O.C. of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. It is aged six months in stainless steel. The price is an affordable $9 per glass and the bottle price (to take home) is $16.
The Seta's nose is quite green. Mostly floral aromas with an herbal twist are laced with a bready, yeasty edge that's amazing and intriguing. Minerals and zesty lemon lime abound on the palate. There's definitely a steeliness there, but it flies in the face of the full, round mouthfeel.
It paired with both cheeses well - better with the Holzhofer - and was a near-perfect mate for the savory bacon dish.
