Coperta

Today's episode is sponsored by Cinquanta Farms and their locally cultivated mushrooms. We filmed at Coperta, the Italian restaurant in Denver's Uptown neighborhood at 20th and Logan. Paul Reilly cooked. Paul is the chef-owner of Coperta, recurring TBW figure, recently a James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef Mountain.

Paul made a hearty mushroom-and-bean soup with sumac-roasted mushrooms from Cinquanta. He also picked the wines. Sam and Justin were on the line.

The wines

Wine one — medium lemon color, floral, textural. Sam took a sip and called it "a punch to the throat." Italian whites, he was guessing — maybe Fiano or Greco from Campania, maybe Friulano from Friuli. Justin guessed Tokaj. Reveal: a Friulano from Friuli, Italian. Sam was geographically closest.

Wine two — golden-bronze, more body, a little bubble. Pretty floral, peachy, with what Paul called Mosel kerosene-Riesling tells. Sam went Riesling from Mosel. Justin went Sauvignon Blanc, new world. Reveal: German Riesling.

Wine three was the curveball — a rosé. Sweet-smoky notes, fuller body than the typical Provence pinkie. The kind of rosé that holds up to charred mushrooms and a hearty broth. Sam and Justin both leaned into it once it landed.

The pairing

The rosé won the dish. "You can't really have a lighter brothy soup like that with a really big red and high tannin," Sam said. "That has nothing on the tannin scale. But some of the more sweet and smoky notes of that wine, I thought would go really well with the soup." Paul agreed. "That was my call from the get-go."

The meta-joke

I didn't get to eat the soup. After fondling mushrooms and then eating the mushrooms in the dish on camera with the others, well, I had to be satisfied watching Sam enjoy his meal while making a lot of noises. Paul kept grinning.

Thank you, Chef Paul. Thank you, Cinquanta Farms.