One Good Bottle: Coenobium

Recently, at the Armani/Ristorante, inside the Armani store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, I had a revelatory glass of wine. As revelations tend to be few and far between on lists of wines by the glass, I believe this one's for sharing: Monastero Suori Cistercensi Coenobium 2009 ($25), a trebbiano-verdicchio-malvasia-grechetto blend made by — get this — nuns, at a monastery just north of Rome. Unfiltered and organic, this hazy, strawberry-blonde wine is part of a growing group of so-called "orange wines." These wines are vinified essentially like red wine: left in much longer contact with the grape skins than is normally the case with white wines, so that the fermenting grape juice takes on a slightly tannic and dry, delicious, cider-like quality. Stylish and rustic, citric and earthy all at once, my glass of Coenobium paired perfectly with Armani/Ristorante chef Roberto Deiaco's custardy leek flan with decadent gorgonzola sauce, and his ricotta and quail egg yolk ravioli dressed in black truffle shavings. And it will go with any rich, creamy, cheesy dish that you make at home.