Tutto Gusto Wine and Cheese Tastings, Italy Pavilion, Epcot

Recently we were over in Epcot and since we haven’t visited Tutto Gusto in nearly 9 months, we thought it was time to see if things had improved or deteriorated. Last year, we really liked the small plates of things to sample (here and here). During the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival we learned from the general manager that they were getting many complaints about the small portion sizes and the lack of full meals (apparently the concept of a BAR WHERE YOU DON”T GET FULL MEALS was incomprehensible to Disney guests), therefore because of the complaints, going forward Tutto Gusto was to be more of an extension to Tutto Italia instead of it’s own unique offering (boo hiss!). Recently, we heard that there were lighter options and that the Tutto Italia “extension” was to be in the evenings… so time to stop by again.

We wanted to keep it simple, so we ordered wine flights and cheese pairings, and we luckily had a knowledgeable server, Andrea. We chose a red wine flight and a white wine flight (nice cards with the wine flights giving details, very good touch) and asked Andrea to pair three cheeses with the wines.

Wine Flights

Soft Elegant Reds $14

Mixed berry flavors of strawberry and raspberry with a lingering velvety finish are the hallmarks of these three elegant reds. Pay special attention to the gorgeous spice notes and incredible texture of the Valpolicella.

Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, La Quercia, Montepulciano 2010

Barbera D’Alba, Beni Di Batasiolo, Barbera 2009

Volpolicella, Bolla ‘Le Poiane’, Corvina, Rondinella 2009

Montepulciano was nick’s favorite on the table, nora says nose was very berry

Barbera D’Alba nora says nose has more tannins than the Montepulciano

Volpolicella nora says nose has more fuel

Anytime Whites $16

Cool off with this flight of light, crisp, clean whites. Find the pear, melon, and grapefruit with a slight almond finish in the Verdicchio, taste the minerality that only comes from being grown on the slopes of an active volcano in the Orvieto, and sun yourself on the Amalfi coast while you enjoy the beautiful lemon thyme flavors of a classic Fiano di Avellino.

Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi, Marchetti, Verdicchio 2010

Orvieto Rocca Delle Macie, Grecchetto, Trebbiano 2010

Fiano di Avellino, Mastroberardino, Fiano 2009

Verdicchio nora says nose is sour

Orvieto nora says “good!”

Fiano di Avellino nora says nose is mineral

Cheeses, creamy with the white wines & firm with the red wines

Each cheese was $9, thus this selection of cheese was $27 (whew!).

Cheese & Wine

Let’s start with the Ribiola and white wines

• Ribiola + Verdicchio Del Castelli Di Jesi, Marchetti 2010
  • nick thought that this combination was simply “uck”
  • nora comment was “okay”
• Ribiola + Orvieto-Rocco Delle Macie 2010 (described as sunshine in a bottle)
  • nick thought this was “much better with the ribiola”
  • nora thought this combination brought out a lot of fruitiness
• Ribiola + Fiano di Avellino 2009
  • nick thought there was some flavor in this combination that he doesn’t like very much, but it wasn’t so strong that it was off-putting
  • nora liked this best with the ribiola, the minerality of the wine went well with the richness and creaminess of the cheese
• After a few more samplings, we agreed that the ribiola paired best with the Orvieto-Rocco Delle Macie 2010

Next up, La Tur and white wines

• La Tur + Verdicchio Del Castelli Di Jesi, Marchetti 2010
  • we both though this was a much better pairing
• La Tur + Orvieto-Rocco Delle Macie 2010
  • we both thought this pairing was sour and not good at all
• La Tur + Fiano di Avellino 2009
  • nick thought this pairing was “eh”
  • nora liked the pairing
• We decided that the La Tur paired best with the Verdicchio Del Casetlli Di Jesi, Marchetti 2010

Third, we had the Fontina and red wines

• Fontina + Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2010
  • nick thought this was good with the cheese, reminded him of a Merlot without food, he could drink this by itself
  • nora’s comments were brief “yum, a lot of tannin without food”
•  Fontina + Barbera D’Alba 2009
  • nick said “eh”
  • nora thought it was good with the cheese, not great, just okay without food; lots of big body
• Fontina + Valpoliceila 2010
  • nick preferred this wine alone without the cheese
  • nora liked it with and without the cheese
• We agreed that the Montepulciano D’Abruzzo paired best with the fontina

Then, we decided to go against tradition and just try the different cheeses with the different wines, we have detailed notes for pairing the red wines with the Ribiola (the La Tur portion was the smallest)…

• Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2010
  • nick says sour
  • nora says it’s okay, but not very fruity
• Barbera D’Alba 2009
  • we both said that it was slightly sour, less so than the Montepulciano D’Abruzzo
• Valpoliceila 2010
  • we agreed immediately that this wine was very good with the Ribiola
• So, Valpoliceila 2010 goes best with the Ribiola

Further notes:

• The Fiano di Avellino 2009 paired best with the Fontina.
• Four of the six wines were “easy to drink”… Verdicchio Del Castelli Di Jesi Marchetti 2010, Orvieto-Rocco Delle Macie 2010, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2010, and Valpoliceila 2010
• The Verdicchio Del Castelli Di Jesi Marchetti 2010 reminded us both of the Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris
• Nick’s favorite was the Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2010
• We both liked the Valopoliceila 2010

Conclusions…

We were blessed with a good server (and we made sure to tell the manager on duty), the other servers seemed more interested in socializing with each other than in doing their jobs. Not good.

There’s enough variety in the offerings for this to be an occasional thing to do, but it’s pretty costly (about $60 for two) and there are better places at Walt Disney World to spend that kind of money on a regular basis (like dinner).

It seems that Tutto Gusto can’t decide if it’s a wine bar (as originally intended) or if it’s an extension of Tutto Italia.