If you’ve been following my articles lately, you may already know that Jason and I had an opera date in our future. Well, the date was last night, and we had quite a wonderful evening.

With our bottle of Pio Cesare Barolo 2001 in hand, Jason and I arrived for our pre-opera dinner at Mercato, an adorable Italian BYOB at the corner of Spruce and Carmac streets in Philadelphia (details below). The restaurant had a great “locals-only” feel and the decor was very minimal, allowing the building’s architecture to shine.

We opted to start our dinner with a plate of cured meats, olives, a selection of speciality olive oils and a fig vinegar. Jason chose pumpkin fettuccinni for a main course and I had diver Scallops and a wild mushroom and pea risotto. Needless to say, the food was delicious. Our meal wasn’t complete without a shared tiramisu and two cappuccinos!

As for the barolo, I think it needed a several years of aging (or at least several hours of decanting), but because it was a birthday gift and a key component of our Italian-themed evening, we drank the bottle anyway. The wine has a lovely burnt garnet red color - almost like the color of blood, if you can stomach it. Our first half glass was medicinal and overpowering. The second half glass and beyond were delicious. It has subtle black cherry with nice floral touches. The wine finishes with dried chili pepper and a little cherry-flavored jolly rancher (if you can believe it!). The strong acidity mellows drastically over time, letting the wine become more and more balanced and enjoyable. I think we are going to purchase another bottle and put it way for 3 to 5 years.

We finished dinner early enough to hop over to Estia (directly across from Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center) for more pre-opera drinking. Estia is a Greek restaurant with an extensive wine list from the Mediterranean and Middle East. Jason and I don’t know a thing about these wine regions, so we were basically stabbing in the dark with our choices. I got lucky with my Tsantali Sauvignon Blanc 2005, but Jason struck out with his Spiropoulous Moschofilero 2005. Still - we had fun trying some Greek wines and will try to learn more before making blind wine choices again.

More info about Mercato
Address: 1216 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 215.985.BYOB
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 5pm-10:30pm; Friday-Saturday, 5pm-11pm; Sunday, 5pm-10pm
Website: www.mercatobyob.com

More info about Estia
Address: 1405-07 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215-735-7700
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday, 11am-11pm; Saturday, 12pm-11pm; Sunday, 12pm-10pm
Website: www.estiarestaurant.com