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Over the past year a little thread has been drifting past me. I hear a story about a couple going to Italy to spend time on a large yacht, another story about a fellow who travels to Italy with a concierge-in-waiting. A trend, or something that has always been there? It seems there is a whole 'nother Italy for a group of people who travel. I call it Italy-in-a-bubble.
For Americans who don?t travel much outside of their comfort zone, which in the last eight years there seems to have been a surge, there is the experience of getting on a very comfortable plane and going to the Italian peninsula. Once the craft touches ground, it seems everything is done to make sure this elite group of travelers never touches their feet on true Italian soil. Usually some kind of driver is waiting there to pick these affluent souls up out of the squalor in which the natives squat, and then there are whisked to some 5 or 6 or 7 star resort, the ones with the 800 count sheets and the white-goose-only down pillows. Or better yet, whisked straight to a port, like Naples or Ostia, where an offshore vessel awaits, private chef, staff and ambience included.
In the last month I have had a handful of people tell me they were ?going to Italy? and described something similar to what I just laid out. Then they asked me where they should go once they got to Italy.
My first answer? How about going off the reservation? Dump the boat, get on land, get your Cole Haan?s dirty, and step outside of your protective cover. Inotherwords, go to Italy.
First of all, you are not a high ranking government official who needs security. What you need is some oxygen. Dress down; you can ?do a Google? to help you find out how to do that. And get out of the hands of your handlers.
I understand it is difficult to go into a strange land where the language is different and the food comes from a garden instead of a freezer. Or that you might have to try the fresh Swordfish when you?d really rather have Chicken Parmesan.
Chi mangia solo crepa solo.
So you travel halfway across the world in your private jet or in business class with the headphones and the champagne and the lay-down seat. And you get to the airport where someone is waiting for you. And you are whisked away to a private resort on some secluded hilltop town that has been remade for the travel-elite, so you can rest from your journey. Then what? Is there a plan B, someway to escape the Stalag?
A million years ago I was in Naples for the first time. I was traveling alone, with a backpack and a couple of cameras. I decided to walk west from the Marina, see what I could see. It was August. About 10 miles later I end up in a little place called Pozzuoli. In those days there were lots of cork products, shoes made of cork, you name it. I didn?t have a lot of money, but I wasn?t too broke to buy a groovy pair of cork-soled sandals. I was surely not traveling the elite route, but it was the real Italy.
Along the way I met scads of children who were amazed at this tall, Italian-looking, jean-wearing alien. I spoke even less Italian than now. But you know what? That day was one of the great memories of travel for me, ever.
Sure I was out of my element. And I was walking alone in a poor part of Italy, that only 25 years earlier had seen war and destruction and famine. Starvation. Poverty. Got the picture? The children, many of whom are now the folks running the place, what were they going to do to me, rob my soul? Let?s say someone took a roll of film or even a camera, or a pair of jeans, so what? But it didn?t happen. Old women sitting on the outside of their homes greeted me as if I were a grandson. Some invited me in for a bowl of pasta, a glass of wine. That wonderfully real Campanian stuff. Kids wanted me to take pictures of them and kick the soccer ball around with them. Merchants wanted me to take things home for a pittance (this was the era when the dollar was worth 600 lire, and you could buy a meal for about 1100 lire).
I didn?t have a place to go back to. The super yacht wasn?t waiting off the coast for me to finish my day with the natives. There wasn?t a concierge in a Mercedes waiting up the street, car running, air conditioner conditioning. And guess what, I survived. Not only that, but with memories more golden than the sunset from that isolated cruiser that was never there waiting for me. And for those souls on those super-yachts who think they got a taste of the real Italy, or real anything, I am sorry for them. Because they got the freezer. For those who take that step outside of their Italy-in-a-bubble, they get the garden.
So who is basking in affluence, in the end? Is it the wealthy trophy wife who got off for an hour to go shopping at the boutiques in Capri? Or the young student with a backpack and a dream? I know which road I took, and will continue to take, as long as the real Italy will be there for me. And the deeper you go, the more gold you will find. And that is something that can never be taken from you, never pick-pocketed, never, ever goes away. Because it is the stuff of memories. And memories are the elite treasures of travel.
Last year I ran a 'subscription and book deal' that a lot of people have been asking me to run again. The book last year was the Wine Hunter - this year it's the Why the French Hate Us: The Real Story of Australian Wine book. Once again I've slashed the price - it wasn't all that long ago that a new subscription to The Wine Front was $55, and the book retails for $28.95. And yet I am offering both a full year's subscription and the book for just $49.95, and that includes delivery of the book.
My affection for dry rose wines in the summertime began a lifetime ago when I was studying in the South of France one summer during college. That region is well-known in Europe for its dry, lightly fruity, crisp Rose de Provence wines. They were affordable and tasty-the perfect combination for a struggling college student.
For some reason, dry rose wines have never become popular in the United States. Here, pink wine seems to mean White Zinfandel-an other thing entirely. The nearest wine that's readily available here in Ohio is Bonny Doon Vineyards' Ca' del Solo "Big House Pink." This California creation has many of the same characteristics as Rose de Provence. It's dry, crisp, and affordable, with hints of citrus and explosions of tropical fruit and strawberries. It retails for just $10 (a little less in some places) and is perfect as a before-dinner beverage or to accompany summer favorites, such as light pastas, salads, and shrimp dishes.
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Ringing in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, this cheap wine was an equal match to the FishEye Merlot. From Ripon, California, this wine lets the fruit speak for itself. Along with the dark plum taste, I also experienced a little pepper in the nose.
At only 8 dollars a bottle, I found this to be a great wine. I had mine with Spicy Montreal seasoning. Try it! Rating: 7/10 Price: 7.99 Place of purchase: L&L Grocery Vineyard Info: FishEye Winery Ripon, CA www.fisheyewines.com
Here it is. Wine Life Today in all its glory. Just spent a little time updating the look and adding “My Story” (which I happen to think summarizes whats going on here pretty well).
I like the Digg-clone for wine that was formally WLT, but I have bigger fish to fry. I’ll soon make an announcement of what my next move is in the wine industry but I can assure you things are gonna change - there is a Vincent in the wine industry now and I intend to make that mean something.
Cubicles suck and as of July 3rd, the paperwork I handed in is my official “Hasta La Vista” to cubicle nation(hence my “fugitive of a cubicle nation” tag) but there’s no denying that we all may have to work in them some day. My intention is to make sure that if/when I do, its on my terms.
I don’t feel like I’m going it alone though. As word trickled out that I’ve made a move to the “free” world, friends from all over (virtual and real world) have offered me great advice, support, and love. This is going to be fun!
Rocket Science 2004 Proprietary Red $45 Wine Label says: “Son, your 21 years old. It’s time you learned the art of wine tasting.” “I already know how you taste wine,” replied the sure young man. “This wine has an inky, purple hue with a sensational purity, flavors of a blackberry liqueur with a creme de cassis intensity and [...]
The topic of price vs. quality in wine keeps coming up, and not just among savvy wine drinkers looking for the most bang for their buck when they buy a bottle. Last week, Steven D. Levitt, an economics professor, made a pretty bold assertion in his Freakanomics blog for the New York Times .
I somehow weaseled my way into a Vegan cooking class this weekend to give a talk about organic wines. Shameless self/company promotion? Why do you ask!
SO, if you have nothing to do between 1:30 and 3 on Sunday, December 2nd, feel free to register to learn how to cook all sorts of yumminess (which is, apparently, a heavily-used wine descriptor) sans animals or animal by-products. I don't claim to be vegan (as the mountain of cheese in my belly can attest) but I do agree with the principles of it all.
Anys.
Come to Shakti Yoga Studio at 220 Lexington Ave this Sunday to hear me and to get your vegan feedbag on. I think it's $20 per person. Call 716 884 YOGA to register. I'll be the one with a cork in my hand stinking of butter.
Get lucky this summer with a bottle (or two) of "Lucky White," a dry and refreshing white wine by Saint Laurent Winery in Washington's Columbia Valley. The taste of this blended wine is light with subtle hints of apricot and citrus, perfect with grilled chicken or fish. I really liked this wine. It's affordable too. Suggested retail is just $13 and they are distributed in 25 states, in all parts of the country.
Saint Laurent is a family-run winery that evolved from an orchard. They still grow cherries, berries, and apples as well as grapes on their 500+ acre property.
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2006 beaujolais Man I love this wine and its $9 dollars a bottle, I heard that 06 wasn't to be a good year( I don't remember where I read this/ or how credible it was) I think this stuff is great, a little more concentrated than some years but by know means big or jamy either, its very fresh and filled with berries and a bit of earth, almost cru style.....
Although aggregator readers might have thought I was taking some more time off, those who visited this site over the past few days noticed that Winecast was down. Most of the time this is due to a short term outage with my web host but this time it was a corrupt Wordpress installation.
So if you use Wordpress, a few words of advice. First, upgrade to Wordpress 2.6. It’s solid and worth the upgrade for it’s ability to activate multiple plug-ins at once and addition of Google Gears compatibility. But when you do your upgrade, look at your plugins, particularly those with some age on them and eliminate anything you are not using. It is also a good idea to delete your cache folder and files if using WP Super Cache. The plugin will recreate what it needs when you reactivate.
And finally, check out your wp-config.php file against the sample in Wordpress 2.6. There were several lines missing in mine as I have not touched it since Wordpress 1.5. I think it was a corrupt plugin or two but it also could have been these missing elements in the config file. If you are looking for more Wordpress tips, follow the series on my company blog.
I'm in the Napa Valley for a few days, visiting wineries and sampling wines and participating in the 2008 Robert Mondavi Taste3 conference at Copia. There I should hear prognostications from some of the leading lights in food and wine regarding where they think we're heading in the future in terms of sustainability, food culture, and of course good taste. (picture of the Taste3 conference between sessions, taken this morning)
Please accept my apologies for slow responses to comments this week and for the lack of a proper post here today. I'll have a lot to say in the upcoming weeks about what I'm learning here, both about food and wine and about the flavors and textures of the Napa Valley.
Te Whare Ra ( "Tee Faree Ra" is supposed to mean house in the Sun in Maori)is based in Marlborough New Zealand. This is on the south Island in the town of Renwick which is host to quite a few wineries including Cloudy Bay, Montana etc...
Established in 1979, this small boutique winery probably has some of the oldest vines in the area. In 2003, the husband and wife team of Jason & Anna Flowerday took the helm and have significantly upgraded various aspects of the winery. Although offering a Pinot Noir, IMHO they are a white wine producer with offerings mainly from Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling, Gerwurztraminer and Chardonnay. It's their aromatic wines which to me show their stuff here. Current size of the vineyards ~9 hectares with many coming from the older vines planted in 1979 ( almost 30 years ago) - I was told the Gerwurztraminer. Fruit is basically hand sorted and picked - now we are talking.
Cutting to the chase, my favorite wines from their lineup would be the "Toru" bottling and their Gerwurztraminer.
The "Toru" is a blend of several aromatic grape varietals consiting of Riesling, Gerwurztraminer and Pinot Gris. While tasting this wine, images of a picnic & grilled seafood keep popping up - probably my mind telling me that's where I should be with this. 89 points The 2007 Gerwurztraminer to me is a standout here. The concentration and flavor in here just screams of old vines and low yields. The typical Lychee notes were present although not overpowering, minerals, hints of sweetness from the fruit with 22g/l of residual sugar - nice finish ( the wine was still going strong after being opened more than 24 hours). The best thing to compare this to would be an Alsatian Gewurtz VT. 92+ points
Driving along the scuttled roads of urban Austin, I finally found a parking place, after 10 minutes of searching. By some twist of fate, I managed to find a place in front of a building that once sheltered one of the most wonderful Italian spots in Texas. It was long gone now, replaced by serial restaurateurs with cash and concepts. The place was called Speranza?s, run by a young couple, Michael and Hallie Speranza, and it was a Mecca for anyone trying to show offbeat Italian wines in those days. The era was the early 1980?s and in those 25 years or so, many places have come and gone, and come again, professing to hold high the banner for all things Italian.
Austin is a place that defies categorization. So I won?t. But I am not sure the place is ready for the real deal, this time again. Italy isn't a fashion, not a flash-in-a-pan kind of thing.
Back to Speranza?s. Hallie was in the kitchen, and Michael would guard the door for interlopers. I remember him once telling me that people would come in looking for spaghetti and meatballs, or lasagna, and he would escort them out the door and show them to the nearby Spaghetti Warehouse, send them on their merry way. Speranza?s wasn?t a spaghetti and meatballs kind of place. Though if you wanted a really authentic Bolognese, you hit the jackpot.
Wine wise, we would bring in Dolcetto?s and Nebbiolo?s, Montepulciano d?Abruzzo?s and Tocai?s and they would be welcomed into this crazy little vortex of tipicita?. For a few brief moments, you were in a little trattoria in the Langhe or of some little side road in the Chianti zone. And then it went away. The Speranza?s shuttered their wonderful gem of a restaurant. It was like a death of a friend.
These days Hallie has rekindled her love for things Italian by offering to cater for private parties. And here we have the crux of the dilemma. Why does something as wonderful as the real Italian thing have to resurface on the side street of an emerging culture? Is it that the culture of Austin is so dominating there isn?t room for another ?real? experience? Is the importance and coolness of Austin so restrictive that there isn?t any air in the room for poor little Italian culture to breathe? Is the heat from a Neapolitan kitchen just a little too hot for the cool culture? I find that really hard to believe.
Don?t get me wrong, there are some wonderful experiences that have sprung up. There is the casual and laid back Asti, which is always fun to see the convergence of things Italian in the spirit of Austin. There is Siena, which is this lifelike reproduction of an Italian Castello, complete with the smells of the open hearth. And there is Vespaio, with its frenetic, Italian-with-a-nod-to-Nice fare. Good times. And there is Damian Mandola?s Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood, which gets so close you can almost smell it. But the real deal, without compromise, hasn?t been back since the Speranza?s shut the door on their little place.
I was talking with my Italian friend Daniela, a wonderful lady from Naples, who runs an Italian-styled place in Austin. I believe if she had the proper finances behind her, she would bring not only la cucina Italiana, but even better, la cucina povera, from the alleys and backstreets of Naples and Pozzuoli. That would be a dream worth hatching. With all respect to the hipness of Austin, to bring the ancient soul of Naples to the streets of Austin, complete with the proper, unspoofulated wines of Campania; a full-out love-fest from the Mezzagiorno.
I?m not talking about some Dellionaire who has a place in Tuscany and wants to impress their friends back in Austin with their manipulation of millions to appear to be Italian. I?m talking sweat, warts, octopus, Margherita pizza without Parmigiano, real, real, real. No compromises.
The Spaghetti Warehouse that Michael Speranza used to shuttle wayward clients off to is still there. OK, fine.
But for one moment, to just dream of gnocchi like Aunt Jena makes, to have an insalata di mare like one can only hope to find in Naples, or Ischia, or Mondello, or Austin? That is madness beyond anything imaginable, no?
Or maybe Austin will be remembered for its shrines to Tacos and Tex-Mex, and Bar-B-Que beyond belief, maybe that is really the channel for this lifestyle center. I?m OK with that, too.
But what if we could give someone like Daniela the means to fly her kite high and bring to Austin the thousands of years of imbedded love and lust and sweat and inspiration from Campania? Would that this were also a sweet dream of someone out there reading this, with a few extra dollars and would love to see, with those of us who know it is possible.
Then maybe we could feel the heat from an authentic Southern Italian sizzle.
Joe Fiola, Maryland Cooperative Extension specialist in viticulture and small fruits, has helped move the wine industry into 15 Maryland counties.
The following is a piece about the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension. As in many states, like New York, Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota, and other states, these researchers and scientists help the local grape growers identify trends, fruit, disseases, and other important information. They are the unsung heroes of the winery business.
Growing Maryland?s Fruitful Wine Industry
Joe Fiola, Maryland Cooperative Extension specialist in viticulture and small fruits, has helped move the wine industry into 15 Maryland counties.
Joe Fiola, viticulture and small fruit specialist at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center, has a strange introduction to his beginners? grape growing workshops.
?My object here is to scare most of you away from doing this,? he tells would-be vintners who flock to his presentations. If you don?t want to be a farmer, don?t get into grape production, explains the viticulturist with almost 20 years of experience. Growing grapes is intensive small fruit farming; amateur growers need to understand there?s nothing romantic about mid-winter pruning or mid-summer vine training.
With Fiola?s help, the 28 licensed wineries in Maryland?up from 11 in 2002?like well-trained vines, might just make it. Fiola?s viticulture and enology program concentrates on variety and clonal testing he conducts on the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources? four vineyards. Fiola?s goal is to develop variety recommendations?like those from southern Italy, France and Spain, and even Eastern Europe?best suited to a vineyard locale. Wine production in the state increases an average of 15 to 20 percent each year, and Maryland wines?numbering more than 225 different varieties?consistently win gold medals at national and international wine competitions.
Fiola?s own wines have moved him into the top 20 all-time award winners in the American Wine Society?s national wine amateur competition. Fiola?s Linae, a vine existing nowhere else in the world, garnered the vintner a Best in Show in 2003. Boordy Vineyards, located in Baltimore County, has since requested an acre of the vine from Fiola who hopes to patent it.
On the horizon for the burgeoning Maryland wine industry?
?Farmers need to take advantage of the interest in wine and work with apples, which are much less expensive to grow than grapes,? Fiola says. The northern tier counties are well suited to grow this hardy fruit. This is not your grocery store cider turned hard. Apple wines can have a bouquet similar to a dry chardonnay, Fiola says. He also creates Madeira-style wines and products similar to ice wine and ice-port wine from apples.
?Since I do so many fermentations each year, sometimes one gets away without getting the proper attention and oxidizes or turns to vinegar,? he says.
But the wine industry, stoked by Fiola?s research efforts at Maryland, promises to remain sweet. ?RR
Courtesy of University of Maryland www.terp.umd.edu/3.8/mfile/
Editor’s Note: Andrea Smith is one of our newest additions to the Catavino crew. A 25 year old budding wine enthusiast, chef and linguist, Andrea is no stranger to seeking out great food and wine combinations. Having grown up in Northern Virginia, 10 minutes outside of the capital Washington, DC and in a highly diverse international setting, she was taught the basics of food and wine appreciation from her Italian background, where she inherited a deep love for culinary exploration. Now, living in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon, she will draw upon her CIA and sommelier studies, as well as her intimate knowledge of the Portuguese culture to bring us her favorite Portuguese food and wine combinations. We’d like to warmly welcome Andrea and hope that you will provide her with feedback as to what Portuguese cuisine you would like Andrea to seek out.
It?s another beautiful weekend in Lisbon, and I?m off to lunch to with my boyfriend - something I have been looking forward to all week. In a wealthy, historical part of the city called, Belem, near the outer rim of the city and down by the river lies Cais de Belem. Cais de Belem is an outdoor restaurant with a splendid view of the park, which serves not only some wonderful Portuguese wines, but also my favorite grilled fish - Dourada Grelhadaa.
What makes this area so special is the amount of restaurants lining the streets grilling freshly caught fish. This is Portuguese for grilled Dourade, a light, white fish found on every menu. The fish is simply grilled whole, rubbed with coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper and usually served with melted butter, boiled potatoes, vegetables or salad. Now, many people might be turned off by seeing an entire fish on their plate, but in my opinion, whole fresh fish tend to be juicier and more flavorful, and to cover them in any sauce would be a sin! Dourada?s flavor is no different - very clean with fresh ocean flavors given from the fish bones when it?s cooked whole.
As for my wine, there?s nothing like a basic white wine made from native Portuguese grapes to compliment the light, fresh flavors of the fish. Jose Maria da Fonseca, a very well known producer in Portugal, bottles some great everyday wines. His BSE white is a tasty pairing to my Dourada. Made from a native blend of Fernão Pires, Arinto and Antão Vaz grapes grown in the Setùbal Peninsula (only 40 minutes from Lisbon), the BSE completes my favorite meal of tasty, local fresh fish and excellent wine! The BSE has the color of sunshine and a light floral and tropical fruit aroma that mimics its soft palate with balanced acidity. As I lift the glass the sun enhances the BSE?s color and each sip makes every bite of my Dourada taste like heaven.
Another great white wine accompaniment for the summer months is a Portuguese favorite. Made mostly from the Alvarinho grape (Albariño in Spanish), Vinho Verde is a very light wine and sparkling wine alternative because it’s natural, refreshing effervescence. This is a perfect summer cool-down and goes really well as an aperitif for all the little entradas (appetizer plates) that we enjoyed at our lunch before the Dourada. We nibbled on some soft, creamy Portuguese cheese, presunto (similar to prosciutto), marinated olives, and my favorite at this restaurant, marinated roasted red peppers with garlic and mushrooms. My pick for a producer of an inexpensive but high-quality Vinho Verde is Quinta da Aveleda, who happens to also make the internationally known Vinho Verde brand, Casal Garcia. However, unlike Casal Garcia, Quinta da Aveleda is a single estate Vinho Verde with the best grapes selected from the Alvarinho, Loureiro and Trajadura varieties.
After feasting on my grilled Dourada, my boyfriend patiently waits as I linger over my last glass of the BSE 2007, continuing to pick at the cheese and the olives left from the entradas (main meal) while the server tries to clear the plates for the third time. As we walk out of the park, I give him a big fat thank you kiss for the lovely lunch and, as usual, he makes a face from my ?lovely? garlic and wine breath that will plague him the rest of the afternoon. What can I say; I have to savor all these flavors for as long as I can to make it to the next weekend!
Cheers and Happy Lunching,
Andrea
Restaurante Cais de Belém Lisboa - Santa Maria de Belém R Vieira Portuense 64, Lisboa 1300-571 LISBOA +351 213 621 537
Don’t even tell me that you didn’t think “Orange!! Orange!!” If you’ve ever been a kid in the USA, you are well aware of the famous Valencian orange. Like Kleenex, Q-tips and Chiquita bananas, the name has been embedded in our heads related as a juicy, sweet fruit. However, I would suspect that the majority of people have zero idea where this city is located? I can admit, with my tail between my legs, that I honestly believed that Valencian oranges were from Venezuela as a child. I figured that because much of our fruit came from South America, this one was no different, and the name itself derived from a city deep in the jungles of the country. Shows you how well I was taught geography in Chicago.
So today, allow me to give you a quick recap of our trip, before we provide you with some deeper studies on the area.
Where is Valencia? The political region of Valencia is located just south of Catalunya on the eastern coast just north of Murcia in Spain. Within this political region you also have the Denominacion of Valencia containing several vineyards that are all in Valencia province but are generally at least 30 km inland and often tucked within pocketed valleys. There are four subzones within DO Valencia, but I’ll get more into the regional wine information in a future article. For now, what I’d rather focus on is Valencia’s wide diversity and beautiful scenery.
Boats, Cars, Fruit and Fireworks This was my first trip to Valencia, and hopefully, not my last. A city filled with sleek modern white architecture such as the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) and the Museo Príncipe Felipe (Prince Philip Museum), alongside old ornately decorated buildings complete with iron street lamps and shell shaped cornices, it’s an odd patchwork of old memories and new visions.
Valencia is also interesting in that it embodies the cliché of Spain. Snuggled up to the Mediterranean, you only need to stand on heart of the city to experience its swaying palm trees, aromatic flowers, rich and diverse paellas, lapping shores and, of course, falles, booming fireworks that occur for two weeks straight in celebration of Saint Joseph’s Day (19 March). Diverse in population, edgy in architecture and open to change, this is a city of growth and development, eager to embrace the world, as seen not only in its hosting of the America’s Cup, but also Formula 1. Yet, I can’t say that I’m totally sold on it either. Having only visited it once, I don’t truly feel qualified to judge, but it gave me a sense of despondence and disjointedness that I made me a bit uneasy. If anyone has visited the city of Valencia, I’d be curious to hear your feedback.
What I did thoroughly enjoy, however, was the region itself. Travel 15 minutes outside of the city and you are surrounded in a lush, sweet smelling haven of orange, lemon, caqui (cross between an apricot and a tomato) and apricot trees, alongside dense forests of olives and almonds trees. It would be impossible to go hungry in this region, but you could easily pass out from the oppressing heat. With temperatures consistently over 90+ degrees, it only takes a few minutes before your head is spinning and your stomach is nauseous if you don’t drink enough water, a rare and coveted resource here in the south of Spain.
Should I Visit Valencia? It would be tough for us to argue that there could exist a place in Iberia that isn’t worth visiting, but yes, we do highly suggest you come to Valencia. Over the next week, we’ll be writing a few more articles on the food and wine of region, but in meantime, put this region on you “must visit” list. It is absolutely stunning and filled with hidden treasures that are absolutely worth you stumbling upon, such as the International Puppet Museum in Albaida, housing two of the original Fraggle Rock characters, or the river Clariano, which boasts of cool, clear waters to bathe in. Trust me, there is no shortage of adventures to be had!
Till soon,
Gabriella Opaz
PS- The picture above was taken at the Puppet Museum where I suited up for battle with my modest little cow-horse.
Tecnorati
Over the past year a little thread has been drifting past me. I hear a story about a couple going to Italy to spend time on a large yacht, another story about a fellow who travels to Italy with a concierge-in-waiting. A trend, or something that has always been there? It seems there is a whole 'nother Italy for a group of people who travel. I call it Italy-in-a-bubble.
For Americans who don?t travel much outside of their comfort zone, which in the last eight years there seems to have been a surge, there is the experience of getting on a very comfortable plane and going to the Italian peninsula. Once the craft touches ground, it seems everything is done to make sure this elite group of travelers never touches their feet on true Italian soil. Usually some kind of driver is waiting there to pick these affluent souls up out of the squalor in which the natives squat, and then there are whisked to some 5 or 6 or 7 star resort, the ones with the 800 count sheets and the white-goose-only down pillows. Or better yet, whisked straight to a port, like Naples or Ostia, where an offshore vessel awaits, private chef, staff and ambience included.
My first answer? How about going off the reservation? Dump the boat, get on land, get your Cole Haan?s dirty, and step outside of your protective cover. Inotherwords, go to Italy.
Chi mangia solo crepa solo.
A million years ago I was in Naples for the first time. I was traveling alone, with a backpack and a couple of cameras. I decided to walk west from the Marina, see what I could see. It was August. About 10 miles later I end up in a little place called Pozzuoli. In those days there were lots of cork products, shoes made of cork, you name it. I didn?t have a lot of money, but I wasn?t too broke to buy a groovy pair of cork-soled sandals. I was surely not traveling the elite route, but it was the real Italy.
Sure I was out of my element. And I was walking alone in a poor part of Italy, that only 25 years earlier had seen war and destruction and famine. Starvation. Poverty. Got the picture? The children, many of whom are now the folks running the place, what were they going to do to me, rob my soul? Let?s say someone took a roll of film or even a camera, or a pair of jeans, so what? But it didn?t happen. Old women sitting on the outside of their homes greeted me as if I were a grandson. Some invited me in for a bowl of pasta, a glass of wine. That wonderfully real Campanian stuff. Kids wanted me to take pictures of them and kick the soccer ball around with them. Merchants wanted me to take things home for a pittance (this was the era when the dollar was worth 600 lire, and you could buy a meal for about 1100 lire).
I didn?t have a place to go back to. The super yacht wasn?t waiting off the coast for me to finish my day with the natives. There wasn?t a concierge in a Mercedes waiting up the street, car running, air conditioner conditioning. And guess what, I survived. Not only that, but with memories more golden than the sunset from that isolated cruiser that was never there waiting for me. And for those souls on those super-yachts who think they got a taste of the real Italy, or real anything, I am sorry for them. Because they got the freezer. For those who take that step outside of their Italy-in-a-bubble, they get the garden.
So who is basking in affluence, in the end? Is it the wealthy trophy wife who got off for an hour to go shopping at the boutiques in Capri? Or the young student with a backpack and a dream? I know which road I took, and will continue to take, as long as the real Italy will be there for me. And the deeper you go, the more gold you will find. And that is something that can never be taken from you, never pick-pocketed, never, ever goes away. Because it is the stuff of memories. And memories are the elite treasures of travel.
Driving along the scuttled roads of urban Austin, I finally found a parking place, after 10 minutes of searching. By some twist of fate, I managed to find a place in front of a building that once sheltered one of the most wonderful Italian spots in Texas. It was long gone now, replaced by serial restaurateurs with cash and concepts. The place was called Speranza?s, run by a young couple, Michael and Hallie Speranza, and it was a Mecca for anyone trying to show offbeat Italian wines in those days. The era was the early 1980?s and in those 25 years or so, many places have come and gone, and come again, professing to hold high the banner for all things Italian.
Austin is a place that defies categorization. So I won?t. But I am not sure the place is ready for the real deal, this time again. Italy isn't a fashion, not a flash-in-a-pan kind of thing.
Wine wise, we would bring in Dolcetto?s and Nebbiolo?s, Montepulciano d?Abruzzo?s and Tocai?s and they would be welcomed into this crazy little vortex of tipicita?. For a few brief moments, you were in a little trattoria in the Langhe or of some little side road in the Chianti zone. And then it went away. The Speranza?s shuttered their wonderful gem of a restaurant. It was like a death of a friend.
Don?t get me wrong, there are some wonderful experiences that have sprung up. There is the casual and laid back Asti, which is always fun to see the convergence of things Italian in the spirit of Austin. There is Siena, which is this lifelike reproduction of an Italian Castello, complete with the smells of the open hearth. And there is Vespaio, with its frenetic, Italian-with-a-nod-to-Nice fare. Good times. And there is Damian Mandola?s Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood, which gets so close you can almost smell it. But the real deal, without compromise, hasn?t been back since the Speranza?s shut the door on their little place.
I?m not talking about some Dellionaire who has a place in Tuscany and wants to impress their friends back in Austin with their manipulation of millions to appear to be Italian. I?m talking sweat, warts, octopus, Margherita pizza without Parmigiano, real, real, real. No compromises.
But for one moment, to just dream of gnocchi like Aunt Jena makes, to have an insalata di mare like one can only hope to find in Naples, or Ischia, or Mondello, or Austin? That is madness beyond anything imaginable, no?
Editor’s Note: Andrea Smith is one of our newest additions to the Catavino crew. A 25 year old budding wine enthusiast, chef and linguist, Andrea is no stranger to seeking out great food and wine combinations. Having grown up in Northern Virginia, 10 minutes outside of the capital Washington, DC and in a highly diverse international setting, she was taught the basics of food and wine appreciation from her Italian background, where she inherited a deep love for culinary exploration. Now, living in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon, she will draw upon her CIA and sommelier studies, as well as her intimate knowledge of the Portuguese culture to bring us her favorite Portuguese food and wine combinations. We’d like to warmly welcome Andrea and hope that you will provide her with feedback as to what Portuguese cuisine you would like Andrea to seek out.
Another great white wine accompaniment for the summer months is a Portuguese favorite. Made mostly from the 