A summers chronicle when Champagne expert Richard Juhlin contemplates about the sun, the people, the landscape & an island.
Inspired by our fantastic July trip around half of Italy, I felt that I would like to continue on the paved road and take my sun- and bath-loving little children Leo and Nora on holiday to Ischia. A favorite that we visited for the first time in 2018. An island highly regarded in Italy, but unknown to most other nationalities. A bit strange considering that the island is very reminiscent of the world famous Capri and is only 20 km away. This is where the Neapolitans go when they want to get away from their vibrant beautiful but messy city at the foot of Vesuvius.
Capri is certainly even more beautiful with its even more dramatic cliffs and breathtaking views, but the wonderful gem is unfortunately overcrowded with tourists with all that it entails in high season. Ischia is about twice the size of Capri and much more genuine and in my eyes more charming with a tainted air of history and Bella Notte romance from the 50’s when the movie stars gathered in clusters at the newly opened luxury hotel Isabella Regina in Lecco Ameno. The pace is slower and people radiate a warmth that is like balm for the soul of us freezing northerners. However, the island is not completely tourist-free.
The island has just received a boost through the film adaptation of Elena Ferrantes, “My Brilliant friend” which partly takes place here. Most of the biggest luxury yachts run their regular route every summer, starting in Ravello, Amalfi, Positano, Nerano, Il Faraglione outside Capri before passing Ischia on their way to Liguria with the Cinque Terre and Portofino to finally reach the French Riviera. This summer was still strongly marked by corona restrictions and the boats were fewer, but if possible even larger with several Russian oligarchs along with the Italian cream and me and my Swedish small blond tots who appreciated exotic odd elements in the folk mix.
Arriving in style – a Magnum 53
You can easily get to Naples airport from all over Europe, but it is quite messy and crowded if you try to find a taxi and then take the municipal small ferry over to Ischia. Great uncertainty and a very time consuming mess factor. If you can afford it, I recommend that you book with the hotel in advance and have a waiting car that comfortably takes you through the most beautiful parts of the city to the fantastically located port in less than half an hour. There, Luigi waits with the hotel’s grandiose motorboat, a Magnum 53, and what could have been a transport route turns into a fun-filled excursion through one of the world’s most beautiful bays. Vesuvius follows you all the way and Capri and Anacapri tower dramatically on the horizon as you pass the football stars’ beach villas on the outskirts of the city of millions and already after 40 minutes you land on the hotel’s jetty to be surrounded by luxury, warmth and glorious service as long as you can and want.
Isabella Regina
Welcome to Albergo della Isabella Regina! Because this is where you will stay ! At least for a few nights. Here you can take part in a time travel back to the La Dolce Vita era and feel like Lady and the Badger or Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton for real. There are other fantastic hotels such as Botania SPA, Terme Manzi in nearby Casamicciola Terme and above all super elegant San Montano with the finest view of all, but nothing goes up against Isabella Regina with its air of historical splendor that few can match. Hotel Negresco in Nice, Carlton in Cannes, Grand Hotel Excelcior Vittoria in Sorrento, Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Hotel Timeo in Taormina and Hotel Splendido in Portofino are the only challengers in the whole world.
The entire Gulf of Naples is created by volcanoes and Ischia is especially known for its hot springs which the Romans already enjoyed. Inspired by this fact, Isabella Regina was founded by the famous film director Angelo Rizzoli in 1956 on top of the ruins of the Romans. With prominent guests such as Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Charles Boyer, Clark Gable and William Holden, the hotel quickly became one of the most glamorous places on the Mediterranean. Even today you can see lots of famous faces like Leo Messi, Matt Damon, Christian De Sica, Francis Ford Coppola, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sting, Oliver Stone, Selena Gomez and Lola Punsch if you are interested in celebrities.
You might think that this makes the place a bit stiff and formal. Apart from the fact that you are not allowed to wear shorts at dinner and that the women then compete to dress up in their Gucci dresses or Dolce Gabbana outfits, there is otherwise nothing that does not breathe total relaxed leave. The rooms and balconies are lovely, but the common areas are most impressive with their grandiose mosaic floors and ceilings in the area’s flamboyant pastel colors. The entire hotel’s exterior blends perfectly into the small town’s color scheme with yellow like the lemons in the garden, orange like the oranges, pistachio green like the delicate nuts and ice cream in the small square by the fountain, apricots like, yes, the apricots on the slopes and pink like the garden’s roses or raspberry sorbets. Isn’t it wonderful with this generous color scheme? What are we doing in the Nordic architectural circles? Why constantly this grayscale?
Something that underlines how wonderful a stay at Isabella Regina can be is that the owner family and pretty much all their friends return here every summer and mingle seamlessly with us regular guests. All the staff from the cleaners of the rooms, the PT guy in the gym, the well-manicured women in the thermal bath, the chefs and the hotel’s super cool manager seem to love their job for real! But I’m most impressed with the hotel’s concierge, Raffaele, who actually has to be the nicest person I’ve ever encountered. How does he cope? No problem is too big to solve and he always tackles the problems with a de-stressed smile. You have to go there and check for yourself. Almost inhuman in all its human goodness.
The restaurants
The hotel has three restaurants plus dining in the rooms and on the sun loungers whether located by the pool or on the beach. At lunch, you just step directly in from the water to bright marine blue and white tables in the coolness of Sporting and take in your delicious uritalian and Campania-driven meal with simple dishes from fabulous ingredients. For dinner, you can choose from one of the few tables at the one-star slightly experimental fine dining restaurant Indaco or dine more classically and less hassle-free at Dolce Vita. Here the agile Natale reigns. He looks more like a football coach than a sommelier and he really shares his interest in football. It’s also like a modern Mancini he directs the course of events around the tables. Constantly offensive and foresighted. All team parts in place in full harmony and at a high pace without stress. I might have gotten a little too much VIP service because Natale loves champagne just as much as he loves football, but fast as a hawk he was there when my Cristal ran out in the glass or when Leo’s third serving of the incomparable gnocchi with 18 hours old mozzarella and fresh tomatoes from the slopes of Vesuvius would enter the table. What pasta, what herbs, what cheeses, what fruits and what vegetables!
the islands food culture
Italian food culture is often at its best when it is simple and not complicated. The mothers’ dishes based on old family recipes where you have competed with the neighboring farm for generations can be heavenly good. But what about the fine restaurants? Aren’t they often a little uncomfortable Michelin-matched? They try to play like the French, but the Italian acquaintance and culture is different. Around the Gulf of Naples with all its first-class ingredients, it is crowded with delicious restaurants with local food, but only two restaurants can aspire to world-class cuisine. Don Alfonso in Sant Agata sui due Golfi in the mountains outside Sorrento and a constantly fully booked modernist gem named Dani Maison with young chef genius Chef Nino di Costanzo deep into the interior of Ischia.
I was going there at all costs, but just like last time, the six tables were fully booked even though Nino and Raffaele did everything to make it work. Then one day a spot appeared at lunch and I set off immediately. On narrow small roads up in the mountains above the main town with the same name as the island, I sat and sweated in my suit in the taxi, as it was the only day with 40 degrees (cooler by the sea) despite the fact that Swedish newspapers at the time were horrified by fires and monster heat by the Mediterranean . Otherwise, Ischia’s climate is exceptionally pleasant. On the lovely hotel beach with the beautiful sandstone cliffs where me and the children bathed several times a day, and my daughter Nora learned to swim, it is always cooling and not for a single second did I think the weather was anything but wonderful.
Dani Maison **
The restaurant is so invitingly secretive as an oasis in the middle of nowhere. Behind the gate with the Michelin stars, Les Grandes Tables du Monde and the Dom Pérignon sign opens a majestic refined jungle garden filled with sculptures and futuristic art signed Lello Esposito with strong ties and references to the culture and tradition of Campania. Dani Maison is truly a magical place. So beautiful and almost tropical despite its at the same time strong local profile.
The dining room is modern, almost Scandinavian, sparse and spiced with masks and figures from Campania’s folklore. The beautiful young guys and girls who served me were unfortunately masked, which made the communication a bit less personal as you do not see faces and reactions in a normal way. Something I think is extremely important during my restaurant visits. Knowledge, refinement, but also with a bit of subtle humor. We had that mood until the youngest male waiter accidentally smashed my far too fragile and strangely designed glass 2008 Dom Pérignon in small pieces all over me and my table. After that he unfortunately became a little more reserved. Otherwise, the service was a wonderful part of the spectacle as it should be. After half an hour I began to wonder where the other guests had gone as I sat alone in the whole restaurant with a whole staff and two vintages of Dom Pérignon in front of me. The restaurateur had received a last-minute cancellation without compensation from one of the Russian oligarchs. In any case, Sweden is at the forefront there. Pay for god sake in advance!
This is actually the second time I go to a star restaurant all alone. The first time was a Maundy Thursday at the wonderful three-star German restaurant Victor Gourmet-Schloss Berg in Perl after a VIP trip to Champagne. That time it ended with the sommelier sitting down and drinking Eiswein at my table. It did not become really so familiar this time when I, with all my senses in full swing, enjoyed myself through the beautiful and different food journey that Nino orchestrated. His foundation is modern technology and ingenuity based on his mother’s kitchen at Ischia. After many years on the road, he returned to his hometown and created a gastronomic gem through research and innovation of tradition, where the tradition is dynamic with development in harmony with full respect for the tastes of the past.
His parade dish “Pasta and Potatoes” is primarily an aesthetic and knowledge-oriented experience. 34 different types of pasta from the same number of regions on the same dough and a plethora of small inserts of potatoes in different colors and shapes. Tomato, mini basil, crispy parts, play with eggs, parmesan and panchetta, etc. So impressive and awesome, but honestly, the classic pasta dishes at Isabella Regina tasted even better. No, Nino’s greatness lies in the aesthetic and technical skill more than in the high flavors. Most impressive in terms of taste was the general purity and lightness with floral accents and every time parmesan was included as an element.
I have never met anyone who so deliciously highlights parmesan in different creams before. The bread and pork chops serve as well as the 34 different olive oils, again from as many regions. As usual, I came to the conclusion that Liguria is the most elegant and Umbria and Tuscany have the greatest depth. My bottle of 2008 Dom Pérignon was served through the entire menu until the desserts that I skipped when I would continue with Champagne Hiking immediately after lunch and wanted to be clean in the oral cavity. For a repeat of the beautiful introductory friendly dish, I took a glass of 2010 Dom Pérignon, which this time was as good as the serious and currently somewhat confined 2008.
Before I said goodbye to the staff, they wanted to test my aforementioned blind test skills and came up with something they themselves were amazed at. A German wine youthful wine with 51 years on the neck. 1970 Urziger Würzgarten Kabinett, Moselle. I guessed at the neighbor 1971 Gracher Himmelsreich Kabinett, Moselle. They looked a bit shocked, but they had no idea that I started my vineyard in the Moselle when I was 8 years old.
Champagne Hiking on a Vespa !
A wonderful four-hour lunch was to the end and pleasantly lightly salon-drunk, I walked out through the gate where Natale stood ready with her Vespa, helmets and Champagne Hiking equipment. Maybe because I had Dom Pérignon in my blood or maybe because I had just had such a wonderful experience at Dani Maison, but most of all I think the euphoria I felt was due to the wonderful feeling of freedom that it was to whip through the wonderfully beautiful landscape , I was saying with the wind in my hair, on just a classic Vespa. If you have not seen the Disney movie Luca, do so. It is actually based entirely on the feeling of freedom you get when you get on a Vespa along the Italian west coast. The Neapolitans drive the worst in all of Europe, but I felt completely safe with Natale even though I lured him on unknown roads and paths in my perfectionist pursuit of our 2007 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Rosé.
Three years ago, he took me to the beautiful filming location for The Talented Mr. Ripley, Castello Aragonese and I were then very happy with my choice of a Louis Roederer Millésime Rosé so the style I had already nailed. The last bit towards the top of the long-extinguished volcano Monte Epomeo at 788 meters had to be on foot. Not entirely risk-free with slippery fine shoes in the sun-dried slopes. The last hurdle looked to be a private property with an angry barking watchdog. I do not take that fight after being bitten by a dog four times. But Natale, who looked like a space creature in her helmet, had the right touch with both the dog and its mistress, who was quickly on the notes and accompanied us up the cliff with utmost hospitality.
What an unreal view of half the island. If you looked closely, you could even see Capri in the distance. Until the 2007 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Rosé which was absolutely wonderful on the spot. Cooling like a sea breeze, but also with a different force in the strawberry-driven fruit ripening here in the really far too hot air. Natale just took a glass and cursed himself for having to hop on the Vespan again. I too was happy after two glasses, so the sea captain and the old hard-working couple on the farm drank a few glasses of the best wine they had ever tasted.
Definitely not a perfect Champagne Hiking in 38 degree heat, but extraordinarily memorable and beautiful on all levels. Just as happy as on the way up, I sat down behind Natale and let the warm air cool me while the late afternoon light created a light trailing light of orange over the northern parts of the island. Giggling like two naughty boys, we got off outside Isabella Regina just in time for dinner. Natale to work and I to chop into Aubergine Melanzane alla Parmigiano and Linguine al Limone tonight without any Super Tuscan.
Otherwise, I made my habit a proper review of top Italian wines for the dinners with memorable bottles from Ornellaia, Jermann, Vie di Romans, La Spinetta Starderi and Biondi Santi il Greppo. Below, however, you have the journey’s five main wines. As well as a point rating of Ischia’s most beautiful restaurants and hotels. Go there. You will not be disappointed and if you meet Natale, ask for a ride to Monte Epomeo. I already think he longs for a new tour and a glass of Elisabeth Rosé.
| Wines | |
| 1 2012 Louis Roederer Cristal | 95(97)p |
| 2 2008 Dom Pérignon | 94(97)p |
| 3 2010 Dom Pérignon | 94(95)p |
| 4 2007 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Rosé | 94(94)p |
| 5 2015 Castello di Ama l’Apparita Merlot | 92(92)p |
| Restaurants | |
| 1 Dani Maison, Ischia | 96 |
| 2 Indaco, Lacco Ameno | 90 |
| 3 Regina & Isabella La Dolce Vita, Lacco Ameno | 90 |
| 4 San Montano, Lacco Ameno | 90 |
| 5 Hostaria Il Buco, Chianciano Terme | 87 |
| 6 Sporting, Lacco Ameno | 86 |
| 7 Umberto a Mare, Forio | 85 |
| Hotel | |
| 1 Regina Isabella, Lacco Ameno | 97 |
