Between Water and Land
Gò, Malvasia Nera di Lecce, and a Winter Table in Venice
The lagoon is not open sea.
It is still, borderland water, holding memory and silence. In winter, this character becomes even more evident, colors fade, the wind dries out sounds, and the horizon grows thin.
Walking along the lagoon at this time of year means entering a slowed-down time. A time that closely resembles home cooking: measured, patient, shaped by repeated gestures. It is a rhythm made of small routines, quiet observations, and attention to what is essential.
This is where this story begins.
The Gò — a small goby fish typical of the Venetian lagoon — lives on the bottom, where water meets land. Among mud, shallow channels, and slow currents, its flavor is born from this fragile balance. For centuries, it has been an everyday presence in Venetian kitchens, especially in winter, when the lagoon empties and everything becomes simpler.
It was never a festive fish, but a domestic one. An everyday presence. It was caught nearby, cooked immediately, without unnecessary transformations. A cuisine of proximity, based on immediacy and respect for raw materials.
I chose to prepare it in guazzetto, as in the past: a warm vegetable broth of carrot and celery, small pieces of Gò, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil, served with toasted bread. A preparation built on memory rather than technique, where gestures are inherited rather than invented.
The flesh of the Gò is intensely savory and, on the plate, reveals unexpected depth. It tells the story of a restrained cuisine, based on listening rather than spectacle, where flavor is the result of balance rather than excess.
Alongside this dish, I chose a Malvasia Nera di Lecce produced by Duca Carlo Guarini, in Scorrano, in the heart of the Salento area (Lecce, Puglia). Here, in a landscape shaped by red, mineral-rich soils, strong light, and Mediterranean winds, the estate cultivates Malvasia Nera in organic farming and vinifies it in purity through labels such as Malìa and 900.
This territory, deep in southern Puglia, gives the wine both warmth and tension, ripeness and freshness, generosity and precision.
For a long time, Malvasia Nera di Lecce was considered an everyday wine grape, robust, alcoholic, deeply colored, often used in blends with Negroamaro to add softness, warmth, and structure. It was rarely the protagonist.
In recent years, however, something has changed. Careful, precise vinifications in purity now produce wines of remarkable finesse, characterized by clean red fruit, elegant texture, and balance. Malvasia Nera does not deny its identity; it interprets it in a contemporary way.
It remains a territorial wine, deeply connected to its place of origin. It remains a human wine, shaped by hands, choices, and experience. But it also becomes a wine capable of telling stories.
In the dialogue between Gò stew and Malvasia Nera di Lecce, there is no contrast. There is continuity. The sip is warm and enveloping, supported by freshness and gentle tannins. Alcohol and softness sustain the broth’s savory character, while aromatic notes amplify its nuances without overwhelming them.
This is a pairing that does not seek effect. It does not aim to impress. Instead, it speaks of simple tables, of silent winters, and of an idea of food and wine that finds meaning in everyday life. It is an approach based on coherence rather than performance, on attention rather than display.
It is a cuisine and a wine culture that resist speed and excess. They are made of small places, familiar hands, and inherited knowledge. Of vines rooted in red earth and boats resting on shallow waters. Between land and water, between past and present, this table becomes a threshold.
A place where taste is not consumption, but recognition. Where drinking and eating mean remembering, reconnecting, and quietly continuing.
It does not tell the story of the open sea.
It tells the story of the lagoon.
And of home.
Laura Riolfatto
Wine storyteller & sommelier
🔗 laurariolfatto.com
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