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But this one I wrote for the Seattle Weekly go re-run for the dreaded V-Day and picked up by Digg. There are over 300 comments. Judging by the woman-hating comments by spurned males on already on the SW site, I’m afraid to look. So You Want to Hit on the Bartender
A few weeks ago, when organizing the London Food and Wine Blogger’s Gathering, I was asked whether Henrietta Lovell, owner of the Rare Tea Company, would be able to conduct a tea tasting during the wine tasting. My first reaction was that of astonishment, wondering who in their right mind would want to sip on a hot bitter tea after a glass of cava and before a sip of sherry? Wouldn’t that be rather, off setting? But the request continued to suggest that the tea tasting would teach us the subtle qualities of good tea, and its capacity to cleanse the palate, leaving your mouth feeling refreshed and invigorated, as if nothing had ever touched your palate previously. Clearly, I couldn’t say no.
Not surprisingly, the tea did exactly as promoted. Having enjoyed a big, bold Tempranillo from Rioja and a thick slice of Camembert cheese, I was a little astonished to find that the luke warm paper sippy cup filled with a light, herbal smelling green tea literally washed my palate clean. So clean, that when I purposefully filled my glass with a German Reisling, it was if the gripping tannins of the Tempranillo that previously wrestled with my tongue into submission not 2 minutes earlier, had never existed.
I admit that I am rather addicted to Henrietta’s teas. Having quit coffee not 1 month ago, I now wake up and savor a pot of her green tea every morning. But it was Henrietta’s passion when talking about tea and its relationship to wine that truly piqued my curiosity. And if it piqued my curiosity, I had faith it would incite yours as well. So today, I bring you a short interview with Henrietta Lovell, and thank her for taking the time, after her whirlwind trip to Malawi, to answer my questions.
1. How did your incredible passion for tea grow?
I used to work in financial print- not the zenith of excitement- but it did take me round the world. Working in Asia I was privileged to be ‘wined and dined’ by clients and in China that often meant tea. They are extremely proud of their teas which have been cultivated for around 5000 years. Instead of buying an expensive wine to impress a guest they would think nothing of ordering a $100 pot of tea. That might seem extraordinary but so was the tea.
Coming from a proud tea drinking nation I was so often stunned by the incredible complexity and variety of teas from around the world that just weren’t available at home. I began to realise that we only knew one kind of tea- mass produced, industrial black tea. What was worse was the low quality green tea the unsuspecting consumer was being fobbed off with. Interest peaked in green teas because of the health benefits of less processed teas but the UK consumer has been lead to believe that it must be a bitter brew for the virtuous because they had no access to the delights of the good stuff. Over and over again I meet people who say they don’t like green tea only for them to dry a decent one and be immediately won over.
You can buy tea for pennies a kilo and thousands of pounds. I realised that BIG TEA was all about margins and volume and both the farmer and the consumer were getting a bad deal.
2. What makes the Rare Tea Company so “rare” or “unique”?
I started Rare Tea to cause a revolution- to give people access to the very best teas they had been missing out on. Not just tea connoisseurs but every day tea drinker’s. I didn’t want to put people off with complicated names and a vast array from the mediocre to the good. I offer a small selection of the best. I’ve traveled the world seeking out the finest so that my customers don’t have to be experts to enjoy good tea. Hopefully people will trust me and branch out into new worlds of flavour. I source all the teas myself and work directly with small farmers.
What is rare is that I am not looking for vast volumes so I can work directly with small farmers and craftsman. I don’t buy from a faceless tea-broker. I’m not looking for massive margins and I can pay my farmers what they need to craft their tea.
3. Where do your teas come from, and what is the deciding factor in choosing which teas to carry?
Flavour. It has to taste good. There are terroirs for tea just as there are for wine. The finest White Silver Tip Tea, for example, is found near the small town on Fuding in the Fujian mountains of China. Just like champagne the tea differs from farm to farm depending on varietal uses, soil, rainfall, growing methods, harvesting and production. Teas may have the same name and come from the same place but they are not all equal. I look for the best flavour.
However, its not always that simple. The environmental impact and conditions on the farm are also important. I just got back from Malawi where I’m working with a farm that is doing amazing things to help the local communities as well as protect the delicate ecosystem.
4. At the tasting, your eyes literally sparkled with excitement when sharing each of the tea’s unique aroma, color and flavor. As a wine lover, can I transfer any of skills I use to appreciate a wine to the way I might appreciate a tea?
All of them. A tea tasting is very much like a wine tasting. The aroma comes first. You suck in as much oxygen with each sip as possible and roll the tea around your mouth, Unless you want to be awake for a week you must spit which is just as hard when you’re tasting gorgeous teas as it is when tasting fabulous wines.
There are as many different teas in the world as there are wines- maybe more. The tastes are just as fabulously complex and diverse. One of my first advocates was the Sommelier Katie Exton from Chez Bruce, in London. From her I realised that people who were interested in wine were fascinated by flavour and easy to win over with their first taste of the good stuff.
5. Wine has very specific way in which it should be cared for, depending on the specific style of wine. Are there specific ways we should care for a tea in both its storage and preparation?
Yes- most teas are very sensitive to light and air. They really should be kept cool and dark and most importantly airtight.
When making good tea the leaf to water ratio is crucial. It is best to measure a teaspoon of tea per cup and infuse for about 3 minutes. Pour all the infused tea leaving the leaves dry (not steeping) in the bottom of the pot. It’s a bit like taking a steak out of the frying pan when it is cooked to perfection. The leaves can then be re-infused several times revealing different subtleties of flavour. This can’t be done with cheap tea-bag teas because the tiny particles have a massive surface area and give up their flavour straight away like floosies.
6. Like wine, there are high quality teas and low quality teas. Are there specific signs we can look for when searching for a high quality tea?
If it comes in a paper box, and inside are bags, the people who made it don’t care about it. The tea will be stale before you open it. It’s like leaving a fino sherry in a decanter or wine without a cork.
The best teas come from whole or large pieces of leaf- these need room to unfurl as they infuse so they are always better loose. Cramped in a tea-bag whatever shape or material- even the best tea wont be at its best.
Like wine you get what you pay for. If it costs 99p there is a reason and you can be sure they have compromised on taste.
If the tea is full of herbs, flowers and flavourings its generally because the tea itself is no good.
7. In a wine tasting, you showed us that tea can be used to cleanse the palate? Are there specific teas we should use for white wines, heavier red wines, sparkling wines, fortified wines, sweet wines, etc.? Or is there a tea that is essentially, the jack of all traits in cleansing the palate?
Oolong is the most flexible. Good oolong has such depth of flavour it can stand up beside the richest reds but is subtle enough to work with delicate white.
Generally I would suggest using whole leaf green teas with white wines. With softer red you need a good oolong and as you move into really full bodied reds the best pairing is a rich black tea like the malty caramel of Emperor’s Breakfast.
The important thing to remember is the first sip of tea is overwhelmed by the residual wine in you pallet. It is the second sip that the flavours are revealed.
8. What is the number 1 misconception you come across with people’s perceptions of tea?
That tea needs milk and sugar to make it palatable. The good stuff is delicious on its own. I’m not saying you must drink it black or that its sacrilege to add sugar but that it is GOOD on its own. This is not true of industrial teas, of course.
Second misconception: Tea is cheap. It can be made cheaply by vast agribusinesses so that our supermarkets can use it as a loss leader. But the good stuff needs to be crafted and what you pay for is a concentration on flavour rather than volume. If we were prepared to pay a bit more for our teas it would benefit not just us in terms of flavour but the small farmer.
9. If someone is conducting a wine tasting and would be interested in calling on your services to guide them through a wine and tea pairing, is this something you can offer?
Claro que si! [Which I assume she means, "Absolutely Gabriella, I would love nothing more than to infuse the masses with my undying passion for tea"...or something to that affect]
10. If we are interested in purchasing your teas, where can we find them?
Henrietta will also be conducting tea and wine tasting at The Taste of London. For more information, please contact Henrietta at henrietta.lovell@rareteacompany.com
To celebrate the end of May, which was an hellacious month for the wine world, Paul and Annette DiCarlo graciously opened up their home in East Dallas for a Sunday afternoon of eating and drinking. Summer is bearing down upon us, a time which we find ourselves embroiled in heat and heated debate about almost anything. Tempers flare, lines are drawn in the sand, swords are sharpened, clocks are set. But not before one last meal. One last great meal.
Sausage Paul had called me. ?You coming?? I reply, ?Hi Paul. Yeah, I?m coming. What? Where?? I was dreading that I had forgotten a tasting or an appointment, so I was ready to bolt out the door, one week in advance. I happened to be in Way west Fort Worth, so I figured I?d show up late and make an appearance. ?Next, week, the Amarone dinner. My house.? The line goes dead. My friend Paul, isn?t one for long good-byes.
But I was spared. It was in a week, so I had time to get back (and over) the meal I had just had, which was this larger-than-life chicken fried steak. You had to be there, it was one of those road-house food places that are rapidly disappearing in Texas and probably anywhere else.
One week, later, I have had time to prepare. Exercise, fasting, high colonic. Hey, you don?t go to Paul and Annette?s house and ?pick? at eating. You feast. And in today?s time when everyone is trying so hard to be frugal and inauspicious, this would be a little over the top. It always is. Some of the best chefs and restaurateurs in town would be there, so this wouldn?t be a time to say no.
We get there in time for a round of sparkling rose wine from the Veneto, all the rage now that they have saturated the market with Prosecco. I brought a bottle of Gruner just to be a contrarian. I figured after I blasted it in the last post, and some of the somms were chiding me for hating on the Gruner. Actually I like Gruner. And Zweigelt. But that?s another post.
Anyway, we get to the house and Sharon Hage of York Street is heating up a skillet for the foie gras. We were eating those things like catechumens sucking up Necco® wafers. We were getting ready for the miracle of the wine, so why not?
Major Domo Adelmo was modeling his newly acquired seersucker shorts, which showed off his tanned and muscle-bound legs, gained from his early morning walks (stalks?) in the neighborhood. Adelmo is irreverent to anything that has been established as a custom. Wine in a wine glass? Why? When it is so much more fun to pour a rare Casa dei Bepi Amarone in a jelly glass? It was Sunday, these restaurant owners work, work, work all the time. Son of a gun never rests. Let him be.
The room was getting crowded what with the short ribs and the foie gras and the pasta course all heating up the kitchen, which is where everyone was congregating. The AC unit was on overload, set at 60. The room felt like 80+. Seersucker was a good idea, after all.
So after the foie gras apps and all the other salumi scattered around the room, we head straight into the pasta course, some funny looking maccherone with those wonderful baby tomatoes from the south. Simple and good food. Great with the Valpolicella lined up in pole position, waiting for their moment. Also waiting for those Amarones to chill down a little, nestled in the fridge with the dessert wine and the Dublin Dr. Pepper (after all, we are in Texas).
About the Amarones: Quintarelli '97 and '98, Dal Forno '01, Tedeschi '03, Masi '01, Viviani 'Casa dei Bepi' '01.
Good Lord!
We started with the Masi Mazzano 2001. What, do you want a tasting note? It was a good start. Kind of that old memory of Amarone from 30 years ago when the wines made were rustic with a little stink. Not too ripe, the funk was in check. How can I say it? Attractive but not sexy.
The Tedeschi Amarone "Fabrisieria" ?03 was more like a Recioto than any of them. This reminded me of the wines I read about in the past about Amarone, really a time trip. I would have like o try this wine when it was winter and we were eating polenta and a big slab of meat. But it was good.
The 2001 Viviani ?Casa dei Bepi? was among my faves. Maybe because the folks are familiar. But the wine had nice body, solid flavors, some elegance, the wood was subdued (thank God) and it complimented the food. Deelish.
The Dal Forno 2001. It reminded me of a Pontiac GTO that restaurateur Van Roberts once bought and had the engine stoked up to 600 horsepower. Lot?s o? pony in that bottle. And definitely a show pony. And a high maintenance one at that. At $400 a pop, yeah it is. Thanks loads to Paul for ponying up and sharing it.
And the twin vintages of Quintarelli, the ?97 and ?98. Now that was the moment of meditation for me. Everybody loves the ?97, the fruit, the power, the big balls. I get it. Or rather, I don?t get it for me. It was all that and a bag of chips, but the wine of the night, for me, was the 1998 from Quintarelli.
There are far better places to compare and analyze the two vintages, 1997 and 1998. For me, having them both there, sitting and staring at me, was great. Wonderful. I just found the 1998 to have this restraint, you know like when a gorgeous woman comes in to the room and she so seductively doesn?t show you her body with the way she dresses but you nonetheless get stirred up? That was what the 1998 did to me. ?Nuff said.
Ok, so this has been a bit of a mommy blog with seersucker and expensive wines thrown in. Not bragging. Celebrating. May was a tough, tough month for the wine business. We?re going to need more than a new set of tires to get ourselves dusted up and back on the wine trail, in Italy or Texas.
Anyone who hasn't yet discovered Paso Robles wines is missing some of the most interesting and dynamic wines that California has to offer. And anyone who hasn't discovered Paso Robles, would do well to mosey on down there for their 27th Annual Wine Festival in a couple of weeks. Once a sleepy undiscovered little wine town, Paso has become the epicenter of a wine explosion in the last decade with wineries popping up like Spring crocuses every year. The limestone terroir of western Paso Robles in particular is producing some absolutely stunning Syrahs and other Rhone Varietals that every wine lover in California should know about.
The Wine Festival takes place over a (usually sunny) weekend in May. Starting off with events and dinners held at wineries around the area on Friday, the event culminates in a Grand Tasting in the town park on Saturday, which is certainly the highlight of the weekend and should be the goal for anyone looking to learn more about the area's wine.
At only a three hour drive from San Francisco, it makes for a very nice weekend trip should you feel inclined.
Paso Robles Wine Festival Grand Tasting Saturday May 16th, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Paso Robles Downtown City Park Paso Robles, CA 93447
Remember to wear something you don't mind spilling red wine on; drink lots of water; make sure you have a full stomach; and spit out the wine if you want to actually learn something and avoid a nasty headache the next day. And for this event, I also recommend sunscreen and a sun hat.
Every time Spring rolls around, I find myself thinking wistfully of Argentina. I spent a wonderful three weeks there a few years ago just after the harvest eating, drinking, and generally appreciating everything about the country. Now, especially as our family budget gets tighter, I reminisce about amazing dinners for $25 and great bottles of wine for $15.
So I dug through my notes a little just for nostalgia's sake and found a really nice wine that I discovered while I was there, but didn't end up writing about for some reason. I had asked the sommelier at Cabaña Las Lilas to recommend a Malbec that I likely couldn't find easily in the United States, and ended up with this gem from Adagio.
Sure enough, when I got home, I searched far and wide to find it, and couldn't, at least not on the Internet. Which may be why it took me so long to review this wine. I hope you'll forgive me for waxing enthusiastic about it in the absence of my ability to provide you with an easy way to get a bottle.
A joint project between four entreprenurial friends, Adagio is located in Mendoza's Lujan de Cuyo appellation or "department" as it is locally known. Of the 17 different departments in the province of Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo has the distinction of being the only DOC designated growing area (and one of only three in the entire country). Located in a region known as the Northern Oasis, an odd name considering the region is technically a desert, this appellation sits in the foothills of the Andes where it receives very little rainfall and extremely large differences between day and night temperatures, two key characteristics that make for excellent growing conditions. Most vineyards lie in a relatively wide band between 1500 and 4000 feet in altitude.
There seem to be two primary stylistic directions for higher-end Malbecs made in Mendoza: those which lean towards the earth, and those which lean towards the fruit. The former have a leatheriness to them, and more tannic structure, while the latter are rounder and more polished, with more characteristics of California Cabernet, including sweet oak tannins. Adagio's wines are in the former camp.
This wine sits at the top of Adagio's portfolio of wines, and represents their best efforts every year. The grapes for the wine are hand picked into small boxes, which are then sorted carefully when they reach the winery. With the boxes containing lower quality grapes relegated to other wines, the clusters are then destemmed and the grapes sorted individually to remove anything but the most perfect fruit.
About half of the grapes are crushed, and the rest are poured into the fermentation tank whole, where they all soak together for several days at low temperature before fermentation is allowed to begin. After fermentation, the wine ages in new French oak for about 14 months before bottling, and then for another 12 months in bottle before release.
Tasting Notes: This wine is a dark garnet in the glass with a slight cloudy opacity that hints at the lack of filtering or fining. The nose has subtle, restrained aromas of dark wet earth, dust, and a graphite-like minerality. As it sits for an hour or so, the nose begins to show more cassis aromas, which, along with earthy black cherry flavors make up the fruit flavors on the palate. The more air the wine gets, the more the cassis begins to show. In the mouth, the wine is smooth and round with very well integrated tannins. A hint of leather enters the finish, which is long and with singleminded intensity similar to the wine's flavors. This focus is both to the benefit and detriment of the wine, which has a very distinct personality, but is missing a certain depth of complexity that would take it from being an excellent wine and push it into the realm of stellar. Having said as much, this is one of the best Malbecs I have tried. Based on the wine's performance over the course of a day or so, I'd suggest this wine will improve with 5 or so years in the bottle.
Food Pairing: I'll save you the trouble of ever asking an Argentine what to eat with your bottle of Malbec. There is only one answer, with many variations. I chose a rib-eye, grilled to perfection, accompanied by fried potatoes.
Overall Score: between 9 and 9.5
How Much?: $30
This wine is sadly not available for purchase on the Internet.
A rosé by any other name is Leonardo. This little guy, who looks strikingly like his handsome dad, Giulio and beautiful mom, Stacy and sister Gia, is Leonardo Galli. He came into this world not long after Jan 1 of this year, but way before he was ?due.? At a little less than 2 pounds, little Leo, the young lion, roared into this world. On Mother?s Day weekend, he finally came home to live with his mom and dad and sister in San Antonio. Welcome to the world, Leo! We are so glad to see you, growing up so fast and healthy. I?m going to cry now.
But they?ll be tears of joy.
Somebody open up a bottle of Franciacorta Rosé, preferably Contadi Castaldi.
Good Times!
Little Leo with sister Gia and proud Papa
Leo the Warrior with Papa's wedding ring on his arm - long before he came home
Papa Giulio with a cold bottle of Maremma Rosé at Stout Vineyards in Blanco, Texas
Papa Giulio and sister Gia under the portico at Stout Vineyards in Blanco,Texas
Papa Giulio, sister Gia, Devin Broglie and IWG kicking back at Stout Vineyards in Blanco,Texas
Brightwell Vineyard is a quintessentially English vineyard overlooking the Thames in South Oxfordshire; family owned and run the estate is small (14 acres) and still in an experimental stage with new plantings, grubbing up and so on on-going. Things must be going well as there are plans for extensive Pinot Noir plantings next year where the pig field currently stands. They do not, currently, make their wines on the estate although most of the equipment is now in place to do so in the future; but like so many other English wine estates they utilise another estates wine making facilities.
Six wines currently in the range - two blended whites Oxford Flint and Crispin, a single varietal Bacchus, a rosé Oxford Rose , a red Oxford Regatta and a sparkler. Given the climate and the generally accepted assumptions of English wine you might be surprised at the results of our tasting.
The bloggers involved - sadly four had to drop out at the very last minute - were Denise the Wine Sleuth, Jeanne Cooksister, Helen of Food Stories, Mark 'the beer guy' who writes at Pencil and Spoon and Niamh of Eat Like A Girl. Plus myself. All travelled out to Oxfordshire for a little English wine exploration as part of English Wine Week.
With the exception of Jeanne all were twittering on the day hence the use of tweet extracts in the report below. The tag #aeww (awesome English Wine Week) was used (when remembered) so you can read the full days events via that tag. More images and tweetie-bits are on Spittoon Extra and more aeww pictures on flickr.
Vinrock has been growing grapes in McLaren Vale for 30 years though traditionally most of the grapes have been sold to Tatachilla. They now make wine under their own name too. You need a subscription to The Wine Front to see this part of the post
Quite an unusual combination for the Balkans, since Syrah is fairly rare in the region. Skovin is probably trying to follow the world commercial trends with this Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon combination, and it’s not doing a bad job. Syrah brings in the spiciness and the earthy taste, which brings memories of those strong South African tastes of Syrah wines. Cabernet softeness it a bit, so overall it’s a nice wine, but distinctively dryer than the famous Australian Syraz-Cabernet’s.
Rating: 6/10 Price: 400 RSD (5 euro) Retailer: Super Vero
This week has been the most important in the British wine trade calendar, especially for those members of the Circle of Wine Writers. The three day London International Wine Fair with its accompanying flurry of parties, private tastings and get-togethers was held at Excel in London and the Circle of Wine Writers held their annual dinner and a pre-dinner Wine and Charcuterie Tasting last Monday.
Just one day at the London show for me but plenty of wines tasted and lovely people met, one after show party (a Bisol Prosecco Aperitivo tasting at the Wine Theatre, Southwark) and of course the Circle's dinner and tasting. Sorry the pictures are not that great - low light being the main culprit.
Then the Circle Dinner. Here we have Fiona Beckett (matchingfoodandwine) on the right and Gabriella of Catavino on the left over looking a particularily fine chunk of aged Gouda.
It's not a huge leap from veterinary medicine to winemaking, and that leap is made even shorter when you're enrolled at UC Davis which happens to be the top school in the nation for both. Dan Lee initially thought he wanted to work with animals, but a few courses as electives during his vet school tenure were enough to convince him to immediately enroll in the Enology program as soon as he finished his undergraduate degree.
While he still loves animals, Dan hasn't looked back, graduating and continuing on to become a winemaker for Jekel and Durney (now Heller Estate), all the while plotting to start Morgan Winery. In 1982 he and his wife Donna celebrated their inaugural vintage with the release of a Chardonnay and since then have been making a wide variety of high quality wines with fruit sourced from other vineyards, and starting in 1999, with fruit from their own vineyard, the "Double L."
With the maturation of their estate vineyard, Lee switched to focus exclusively on Monterey County fruit as well as to completely organic farming at the estate. Winemaker Gianni Abate also came aboard, fresh from a career as winemaker at some of the country's largest wine companies, including Bronco, Delicato, and Robert Mondavi Winery, allowing Lee to assume the title and responsibilities of "Winegrower."
After more than 25 years, the Morgan portfolio includes nearly 30 wines, including those produced under the second label "Lee Family Farm." Lee has been making this Metallico Chardonnay for the last 7 years, with fruit primarily from the Arroyo Seco appellation of Monterey County. The bulk of the grapes come from the winery's estate vineyards along with their neighbors, the Lucia Highlands Vineyard.
The grapes for this wine are crushed from whole clusters into stainless steel fermenters that are cooled to make sure the fermentation takes place slowly and in a controlled fashion. After the primary fermentation, the wine is racked into neutral, three-year-old oak barrels and is not put through a secondary malolactic fermentation (one of the chief sources of the buttery qualities of most California Chardonnays). It is aged for several months in these barrels on its fine lees (the yeasty sediments that fall to the bottom of the barrel) which are stirred to give the wine more body.
Unoaked Chardonnay is a wonderful invention as far as I am concerned. I think I had my first such wine in Australia about a decade ago, and fell in love with Chardonnay all over again. While it doesn't achieve the profundity of some of the great white Burgundies, unoaked Chardonnay from the New World preserves some of their most appealing characteristics: crisp, pure fruit coupled with a nice minerality, usually accompanied by great acidity. More versatile than their heavily-oaked brethren, these wines are yet more proof that anyone swearing off Chardonnay on principle is really missing the boat.
Tasting Notes: Light gold in the glass, this wine has a lively nose of crisp apples and unripe pears, with a hint of guava. In the mouth it is crystalline in quality, with restrained lemon curd, cold cream, green melon, and wet slate flavors that slide refreshingly across the palate. A hint of buttered sourdough toast creeps into the finish, which, like the rest of the wine can only be characterized as refreshing.
Food Pairing: I had this wine with a crab, tomato, and watercress terrine, and while most Chardonnays would have been a little heavy for the dish, this wine was a great match.
Last Rays Vineyard The only thing that would improve this view of a Paso Robles vineyard at sunset would be the ability to enjoy it with a glass of wine in hand. Which, I suppose is the appeal of having a house in wine country. OK, maybe if you had a glass of wine in hand, AND you were sitting in a pool while enjoying this view.... Sigh. -- Alder Yarrow
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There are those who cling to the 'romance' and 'tradition' of popping the cork prior to imbibing. Then there are those who think such 'romance' and 'tradition' are ridiculous if these totems potentially mean stinking, spoiled wine. Both camps have valid points. I'm a sentimental, shmoopy sucker for the romance involved in popping the cork. But then, If I've dropped 40 or 50 clams, and my just-popped bottle of wine smells like a box-full of soggy, old Boys Life magazines, I set up camp amongst the pro screw-cap crowd.
Must the wine lover chose between faulty corks and sterile Stelvins when it comes to bottle closure? Would that there were a closure, which could preserve in an aesthetically appealing manner. Thank the cosmos for Vino-Lock. This glass stopper is much prettier than a Stelvin and, of course, more reliable than cork oak bark cylinders.
Just a few weeks ago I took home the first glass-stopped wine to appear in the wine shop. I loved it. And the wine wasn't too bad either.
Cusumano IGT Sicily Merlot 2006 ($12) - A simple, exuberant Merlot made more appealing by its aesthetically cool glass stopper. This inky-purple wine offers scents of cherry jelly and baked strawberry. Its flavors a simply tangy fruit. Cusumano Merlot is nothing if not pleasant and eager to accompany pizza.
There’s an urban myth that we can get all the vitamins and nutrients necessary to survive from Guinness. I’ve made the pilgrimage to Dublin, Ireland, to see if the myth is indeed true. My quest is being documented by a five man TV crew for my new series Glutton for Punishment (now airing on the Food Network in The U.S. and Canada). My plan: to live on nothing but Guinness and water from 6pm Monday until 6pm Friday. Fiachna Oâ€Braonain, co-founder and guitar player of the popular Irish Celtic-rock band Hothouse Flowers has generously agreed to show me around the pubs of Dublin and act as my tour guide for the week.
My good friend Colin Devlin (who introduced me to Fiachna) is in Montreal recording an album, and I’m staying in his vacated flat. Colin bet me a hundred dollars that I wouldn’t survive the week on my self-styled diet. When I arrived at his flat, I discovered a chicken suit hanging in the bedroom with a note pinned to it. It read:
Dear Bob,
This suit is your end of the bargain. Fiachna will be happy to show you a fantastic time in Dublin. But if you cave in, you’ll have to wear this chicken suit for the duration of your stay.
Cheers,
Colin
PS: Please water the plants.
Day 1 (Monday)
Today Fiachna and I mucked about, had a couple of warm-up pints, then headed down to The Purdy, one of Dublin’s many gastropubs, for a fabulous last supper. Like a man on death row sitting down to his last meal, I ordered oysters (accompanied by Chablis), tagliatelle carbonara (accompanied by a Borolo), sea bass on roasted vegetables, garlic fried potatoes and stir-fried veggies (with a full bottle of [white] Mercury from Burgundy) and a multitude of desserts – followed by Irish coffee, a shot of Bailey’s and a Blackbush Irish whiskey (on the house).
In a spontaneous show of solidarity (or drunken moment – you choose), Fiachna surprised me by announcing that he was going to join me on the diet. At the stroke of 6 pm the two of us ended the gluttony and officially embarked on our week-long Guinness diet. If all goes well, neither of us will have a morsel of solid food, or any liquid other than Guinness (or water), until 6pm on Friday.
We headed to Searson’s, “the localâ€, for a couple of pints before calling it a night.
Day 2 (Tuesday)
At about 9 am, I stumbled into the living room of Colin’s flat to discover two beautiful Irish girls sitting at the dining room table. One was salaciously juicing fresh oranges as the other set out a full-on Irish breakfast. A place had been set for me and all was offered up. While I was surveying the spread, Fiachna arrived and informed me that this was a regular monthly gathering. Even though it was too late to cancel it, he promised to persevere with his half of the deal. We cracked a couple cans of Guinness and watched the girls eat (and believe me, these Irish lassies put the girls from Los Angeles to shame when it comes to eating). The beer was surprisingly satisfying and the company almost made me forget what I was missing.
After our breakfast of champions, I visited a local doctor for a brief assessment. He was a bit shocked by my report on last night’s alcohol consumption (note to self: remember the 50 percent rule when responding to doctor’s questions about alcohol consumption), but after taking my vital stats, he pronounced me to be in fighting form.
Fiachna and I headed to an illustrious local pub to celebrate the positive prognosis. We had a pint while the camera crew ate a HUGE pub lunch in front of us. Afterwards, Fiachna headed to the studio to mix a track for an album he’s recording with the drummer of the Flowers and the original bass player of the Pogues (and Elvis Costello’s former wife). And I headed to another pub for a prearranged meeting with Father Brean.
I was seeking council in the art of avoiding temptation, and the good Father chose to dispense it while feasting on a delicious-looking plate of shepherd’s pie. Actually he was quite a hoot and gave me the best tip so far. His advice: to plug my nose when I was around aromatic food. I responded by sticking a napkin up each nostril, then sending our production assistant out for swimming nose plugs.
After bidding adieu to the man of the cloth, it was on to Fiachna’s studio to hear a few tracks. His band mates were both there – munching on a freshly delivered pizza.
As if that wasn’t enough temptation for one day, Fiachna insisted that we go to a party thrown by The Dubliner magazine to celebrate their “Top 100 Restaurants†issue. Naturally, the place was lousy with food, wine and chefs. We made a few friends, then headed off for one last pint.
The Daily Count:
Pints of Guinness: 7 (or 8 depending who was counting)
Water: at least a gallon
Pees: About 15.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
Another day of temptation and torture.
A beautifully presented plate of eggs Benedict greeted me as I opened my bedroom door this morning, but naturally it was no match for a cool pint of the brown stuff which I quaffed while reading the morning paper.
After a bit of e-mailing and general housekeeping, Fiachna took me to meet a chef friend of his at L’Ecrivian, one of Dublin’s only restaurants to earn a Michelin star. As is my nature, I ended up in the kitchen where Chef Derry showed off several of his Guinness-infused dishes. Seems as though he thought my “Guinness diet†included anything made with Guinness and he was eager to feed me. He must have anticipated my love of bacon, because just about everything from the oysters to the braised beef included it in one form or another. Frankly, it was his freshly-baked Irish soda bread that really made me weak at the knees. Chef Derry promised to pack me a box lunch for my flight on Saturday – if I last the week.
After the demo, I headed out for a pint on my own. When I came back to meet Fiachna at the restaurant, I discovered him chowing down on plate of quail and sipping an Italian red from a fish bowl-size wine glass. THE FUCKER had caved! Frankly I was impressed that the rocker had lasted this long. And after a brief brow beating, I commended him on pacing me for the first 42 hours. After Fiachna’s betrayal, I had to endure the crew moaning in delight over a stunning lunch that Chef Derry prepared.
From there we toured a few other pubs where I learned to “pull a pint†and met a few nice – albeit plastered – locals. Then after the crew stopped for a quick fry-up at the local chippy stand, Fiachna took me to a pub where he sat in on the penny flute with some traditional Irish musicians. Needless to say, a couple of pints were added to the mix.
In case you are wondering about my state of well-being, it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. At the end of day two, I had developed a raging head ache. But it later dawned on me that it was probably due to what I wasn’t drinking – caffeine – then the all-day drinking or lack of food. I am finding myself vacillating from moments of euphoria to periods of grumpiness (yes, really!). And as I type this I’m feeling quite light-headed. So far, I’ve never felt drunk – just slightly buzzed for brief periods. And one other thing of note, I can’t turn around without seeing food or references to food everywhere I look.
The Daily Count:
Pints of Guinness: 8
Water: tons, but probably still not enough
Pees: I lost count after 20.
Day 4 (Thursday)
This morning’s offering in front of my bedroom door was a dessert plate sent over by Chef Derry. Needless to say, the double chocolate brownie, fig shooter and vanilla custard were no match for my “pint of plain†which I enjoyed at the local at 9:30 am.
After breakfast, Fiachna sent me to his hairdresser-to-the-stars for a Guinness shampoo. Wow, the man who touched Bono’s mane touched mine. Come to think of it, Bono doesn’t have much left these days.
The rest of the day was consumed (or not as the case was) with a visit to the grave of Arthur Guinness, the founder of Guinness. Arthur died in 1802, but his great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson, Patrick Guinness is still dining off the family name. Patrick, to be fair, was very cordial (in that upper crust, self-aggrandizing kind of way) and was happy to spin truths and a half-truths about the family history until Will mercifully called “cutâ€.
We wrapped early and I took in the Borat movie at a packed cinema. Despite the wafting popcorn aromas, it was a welcome distraction – and wickedly funny in a juvenile kind of way.
The hunger pains have subsided, as has (most of) the grumpiness, and I’m shocked at how much energy I have considered my limited caloric intake. That said, and despite the conventional wisdom that says the stomach shrinks, I do feel as though if I let my guard down for a second, I could do some serious damage to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
I am cautiously optimistic that I’ll make it to the finish line. However, my bravado is tempered by my fear that the entire crew is still determined to take me down – after all, they’ve had every culinary resource in Dublin at their fingertips. With only 18 hours to go, the proof, as they say, will be in the pudding.
The Daily Count:
Pints of Guinness: 5 (today was the Guinness diet diet!)
Water: who cares any more
Pees: let’s just say the soles of my shoes are wearing thin
Day 5 (Friday)
Nothing could have prepared me for the challenges that would face me today.
There was a note outside my door in the spot I’d come to expect my daily breakfast offering. It read “Townsend Street #2.†I dressed quickly, glanced at the chicken suit, then ran out of the flat and waived down a taxi. The cabbie deposited me in a scrappy part of town in front of a dubious looking pub called The Windjammer. When I entered I saw Fiachna sitting at the bar devouring a plate of poached eggs on mushrooms and toast. In fairness, he was accompanying his breakfast with a pint, so naturally I joined in. The Windjammer is an “early house.†Early houses, for the initiated, are pubs in Dublin that’re licensed to open at 7am in order to serve shift workers as they get off work in the early morning hours.
After we finished our respective breakfasts, Fiachna took me to the coast to see the James Joyce museum. It was cold, overcast and rainy. As we approached I noticed several swimmers braving the icy waters. I looked at the swimmers, then at Fiachna. Suddenly my mind scrolled back to a moment as we left the early house when the soundman took my microphone pack from me “to fix a loose connection.†The penny dropped just seconds before Fiachna dropped his trousers, revealing a pair of plaid swimming trunks. Coincidentally, he just happened to have an extra pair of shorts with him, and insisted that I join him. Before I could decline, he cannon-balled into the drink and I had no choice but to follow. The 40°F ocean waters would have been a shock to any system at the best of circumstances, but they were even more jarring to my weakened body. At the same time I must admit that the experience was quite invigorating. We scampered out onto the rocks shivering. There were no towels in sight, but Fiachna produced a steaming thermos of chicken soup and held the cup up to my nose. Weakened, but not yet broken, I took the soup and poured the whole lot over my head. Chicken soup never felt so good.
With the ruse up, we toweled off and headed to a pub for a quick warm-up pint. I can’t say that it warmed my body, but it certainly took the edge off the shock. From there, Fiachna brought me to one of Ireland’s finest cheese shops. Great cheeses of the world are one of my weaknesses and this shop had them all. I did my best to ignore the wafting aromas as Fiachna and the crew devoured a tasting. Our next stop was a specialty wine store around the corner. The owner had set out a luscious food and wine pairing for us and Fiachna dove in with the same wild abandon he had displayed at the sea side. Then he announced that I could pick any wine in the shop – as long as I opened it and had a glass. I looked around the well-stocked shop and eventually spotted the reserve case. Closing in on my prey, I discovered a 1985 Petrus – one of Bordeaux’s most legendary wines, and an excellent vintage. The price was 1,250 euros, well beyond the budget of my weenie cable show. It seemed like a toothless ploy until Will, my director (and the show’s true protagonist) whipped out his wallet and produced his credit card.
At this point it should be noted that Will and I have been traveling on the magical mystery tour we call Glutton for Punishment for the past six months. By now he’s well acquainted with my many weaknesses. Will’s as competitive and tenacious as I am (but in a much more Zen-like way). Usually he’s my staunchest supporter, but in this particular episode he took it as his personal mission to take me down. He also happens to LOVE wine and wanted to taste the Petrus as much as I did.
“Drink it now and I’ll pay for it,†he said.
He was dead serious.
It’s not often in one’s life that they have the opportunity to drink an ’85 Petrus. With less than two hours left, Will taunted me by saying that I could have my wine and drink it too, then only have to endure two (humiliating) hours in the chicken suit. It was painfully tempting, but I knew the finish of the wine would fade long before the stories of my demise.
Next up was a visit to the doctor who’d examined me earlier in the week. Despite his pronouncement that I was “slightly pale and tired looking,†I was feeling surprisingly spry. He quizzed me about the week and shook his head in disbelief at how much I’d consumed. According to his scale, I lost more than five pounds. The mild-mannered doctor was quite shocked (and dismayed) to find that all my vital signs were exactly the same as my first visit. (Note to Morgan Sperlock: choose your poison wisely). Moving in for the kill, I challenged him to an arm wrestle. I’m sure I detected a flicker of fear in his eyes as he politely declined.
With a renewed spring in my step, we moved on to the market bar where my victory dinner was set to take place. Even though there was less than an hour remaining until the 6 pm finish line, many details had yet to be arranged. Peter Devlin (our local production coordinator, and Colin’s brother) was dispatched to accompany me for a last pint. Six o’clock came and went. I got a hand shake – and another pint – from Peter, but at this point, all clocks were reset to television time which basically meant that I couldn’t have my first bite until we were ready to roll. 6:30…7…7:30…another pint…8. Finally Peter’s cell phone rang with word that everyone was ready. As we walked across the street to the restaurant, it began to dawn on me that I had actually survived all the physical challenges, temptations and hurdles of the Guinness diet.
Fiachna was waiting at the bar to greet me with a victory pint. He announced that the table was almost ready. We were to be joined by chef Darry, orange juice girl, his band mates, the Guinness barber and a few other sorted and assorted characters that we had encountered in our travels. Fiachna excused himself for a pee and I nursed my last pint, thinking about how long it would be before I would order another one on my own volition. Much to my pleasure, one of the most stunning woman I had seen all week sat down on the stool Fiachna had just vacated. Needless to say I had no intention of saying it was taken. Moments later, a curvaceous full-lipped-dark-haired beauty sat down on the vacant stool to my left. Apparently the two were friends and we immediately struck up a conversation. I could tell that the fair skinned girl was Irish and the dark haired girl seemed Spanish. The Irish maiden was plucking ripe strawberries from a bowl and dipping them in freshly whipped cream. Seeing the hunger in my eyes, she generously offered me a strawberry. In my slightly buzzed state, I tried to explain my predicament. This amused her, but she would have none of it. The two of them took it as some form of challenge complete the mission that the rest of Ireland had failed to at. I held my ground, which only made them more determined. Sensing my weakened state of willpower they both offered me a long slow kiss if I would just take one bite. Eyelashes fluttered, nostrils quivered and lips curled.
Would anyone really know…after all Fiachna was in the bathroom and…hey…just a minute…
Having survived the last temptation of a very, very long week. I was shepherded to the table where I joined the waiting group (and the two girls from the bar) for the final countdown. For the record, in real time it was 8:30 pm.
5-4-3-2-1!!!
After the big hurrah everyone was curious about how I intended to break my fast.
“What I would REALLY like is nice glass of red wineâ€, I replied, “but there’s something I want first,†then I grabbed a long slow kiss from the two girls – who it should be noted were a bit shocked by the unscripted moment.
Moral of the whole experience: With a little will power and perseverance, you can have your cake and eat it two.
The Daily Count:
Pints of Guinness: 8
Everything else is a blur
Saturday
As I type this, I’m 36,000 feet in the air, en route home to Los Angeles. Chef Derry over-delivered on his promise and I’m munching on a pheasant, tomato confit and Gubbeen cheese sandwich – just one of the many delicacies in my well-stocked lunch box. To heighten the pleasure, and make up for lost time, I’m washing it down with a full-bodied Spanish Rioja that the flight attendant brought me from First Class in trade for some of my fois gras. My week’s experience has made me even more appreciative of the things I’m fortunate to take for granted, and it’s a renewed pleasure to be able to describe food that I am actually eating.
Glutton for Punishment airs on the Food Network in the U.S. at 9:30pm Tuesdays. In other episodes Bob Blumer enters a chili pepper eating competition, a flair bartending competition, the New York City waiter’s race, and attempts to run the Medoc marathon while sampling all 23 wines along the route.
From popular wine reviewer "Dr. Debs" at Good Wine Under $20: "In the spirit of the New Year, a group of bloggers decided to start an online Wine Book Club. Many of us want to read more--hands up if you've got a stack of books sitting on your bedside table with an inch of dust on them . . ." The first bi-monthly book is Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy, and the discussion will be hosted by Philadelphia retailer David McDuff at McDuff's Food and Wine Trail.
Josh Hermsmeyer, the guy behind the must read Pinotblogger site, has issued a challenge to all wine bloggers and will reward the winner with a prize of up to $1,000 depending upon how many respond to his call. In a nutshell, he is asking us to answer two questions:
Why are you passionate about wine/what motivates you to blog about it?
Is it appropriate for a wine reviewer to prescribe the ways in which a wine should be made or is their job chiefly to review what?s in the bottle?
Times being what they are, I will attempt to answer these somewhat provocative questions and perhaps give you some more insight into what makes amateur wine writers tick. Or at least how I come at this craft.
So the first question is pretty straightforward. I blog and podcast about wine because I can and like to do so. Like a lot of wine bloggers, I was the guy everyone asked for wine tips so I found it easier to just write them down and record reviews. Now I just point people here for my picks as opposed to trying to remember them at will. My podcasting got me into blogging due to the same software being used (Wordpress). It was easy to blog so I did so soon after I started to podcast in late 2004. I got into podcasting after something clicked with me in September of 2004 when I first discovered the genre. At the time there was something like 25 podcasts but no one was doing anything about wine so Winecast was born. Over the years the podcast has ebbed and flowed but I still will be posting shows and continuing until I don’t find it enjoyable. So I guess I do this because I love wine and like sharing what little I know about it. I had much the same answer a couple years back but with a slightly different spin.
The second question is a bit more complicated. I think Josh is asking this in response to Robert Parker’s recent statements about wine bloggers (or shall I say “blobbers”?). Mr. Parker has long been accused of influencing winemaking styles in order to garner higher scores which many times leads to more demand and higher prices. The biggest beneficiaries of his ratings has been the classified growths of Bordeaux but some Cali cult wines and Aussie Shiraz has benefited, too. And I don’t blame any producers for making such changes in order to get the scores. It helps sell their wine but is also something that I hope we will get away from in the next decade as Mr. Parker retires and drinks down his cellar.
Wine writers of any level should tell the story of the wine they are reviewing and not dictate what that story should be. Sometimes this is a terroir story, sometimes it’s not. For a review to communicate the essence of the wine, as much context as possible is required. I’ve not delivered on this ideal as much as I would have liked in the past but hope to help invent the new language of wine reviews going forward. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I’ll keep trying new things to communicate how a wine moves me. Wine is a living being that is in constant change. Those of us who write about it should respect this and attempt to bring all the nuances displayed in the glass into our writing.
I love a winery that has their stuff together with regards to technical information, bottle images and other resources. Makes life so much easier when you don’t have to keep an avalanche of winery bumf in hundreds of bulging folders…which I don’t do anyway, as it happens. You need a subscription to The Wine Front to [...]
As a wine hobbyist among professionals and experts, I often feel that I have the advantage of being able to sit back and enjoy what comes to hand rather than having to analyze endlessly. Another privilege of the enthusiast, be it golf, sailing, ornithology or anything else, is the feeling that you can drop your subject into conversation to universal approval. We all know that this is not always the case, but while attending the Seville Book Fair in a professional capacity this week, I was out having tapas with some competitors (or as we like to say “people who share the same market space”) and from what started off as rather a stiff conversation, when I mentioned that I also did bits and pieces relating to wine, the head honcho of the other, Seville-based, company perked up no end. He asked me all about wines from the Valencia region, which he wasn’t very familiar with (though everyone seems to know Enrique Mendoza wines, which are appearing on smart wine lists everywhere), and the next thing I knew we were agreeing to send each other some wines.
This led me to point my computer towards a couple of online wine sellers when I got home to Valencia. I first visited Vinos-Valencianos, which I’ve browsed before but never bought from. It has an interesting array of bottles from all Valenciandenominaciones de origen, but you can only buy unmixed cases of six, which is not what I wanted on this occasion (even if delivery is free). I then went to Lavinia, which I have bought stuff from a few times before, but their regional offering was a bit high end (kicking off around the 20 euro mark and rising), which I wanted to avoid both out of meanness and to keep this as a personal rather than corporate exchange. I had a further look and ended up at Vinissimus, which was just what I wanted. You could mix your own selection and there were less expensive wines along with the luxury stuff. I picked a few in a hurry, and it was only when I’d finalized the order that I noticed that I was top-heavy on Alicante wines. My selection was:
Cristal·lí: a light, elegant sweet moscatel from the mountains of Alicante, 9.30 euros,
Mestizaje 2007: a heady blend of 50% bobal with cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot for good measure, from the grand Bodegas Mustiguillo, which is in Utiel-Requena but has its own Vino de la Tierra El Terrerazo status, 9.95 euros
Laderas de El Sequé 2007: monastrell, with some cabernet sauvignon and syrah, and another Alicante wine project involving winemakers from outside the region excited by the possibilities here, 4.90 euros
Impromptu 2007: I reckon that it’s not a bad idea to pay a little more for an interesting white wine and this is a sauvignon blanc from another ambitious young bodega, Hispano-Suizas, in Utiel-Requena, 17.75 euros
I don’t know what the recipient will make of these wines, but looking again at what was a quick buying trip rather than a deeply thought-through selection, I think that it suggests that there’s a real buzz about Alicante, with winemakers and investors being drawn from all over Spain to join the party, and that DO Valencia may lagging behind its neighbours when it comes to eye-catching wines. It also strikes me that it is the thrusting new bodegas that have worked to get their wines into online wine stores. I’d have liked to include a traditional wine from a long-established bodega, maybe Raspay from Primitivo Quiles, but I couldn’t see anything along those lines. But what I put together isn’t a bad snapshot of what’s going on out there. A bit of bobal, plenty of monastrell, often in interesting conjunction with international varieties, red predominating over white, it could have done with a dry moscatel and a cava to give it greater range, but there you go. All in all, it’s a selection that I’d be happy to receive, and I hope it helps turn a business rival into a personal friend.
I don’t drink much Riesling these days, not sure why but I always seem to want Chardonnay or an older Hunter Semillon…or a Red. I think Mattinson is starting to have a bad influence on me… You need a subscription to The Wine Front to see this part of the post
We all know Brown Brothers as Australian pioneers of the unusual grape variety - amongst the usual shelves of Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet you'll find more esoteric bottlings of Vermentino, Tempranillo, Albarino and Sangiovese all from Brown Brothers.
New to their range is a Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine (made from the grape of the same name). Plantings of this grape in Australia are miniscule. In fact, I wasn't aware there was any Prosecco grow outside of Italy until this sample arrived.
"This is the first release of the Brown Brothers Prosecco. The wine is part of our limited release range and will be available at Cellar Door and restaurants for this first release. The Prosecco is another example of Brown Brothers innovation and experimentation as we bring more and more styles of wine to our portfolio. The Prosecco has a pale gold colour with subtle green hues and a delicate nose displaying citrus, apple and pear characters. These characters follow through to the palate which is fresh and crisp with tight natural acidity from the cool climate fruit. Prosecco is made to drink young while at its light and delicate best."
Review0.3 Wine Tasting Note: Brown Brothers Prosecco, 2008, King Valley, Victoria, Australia. Available from Christopher Piper Wines £11.13 [More: Adegga / Snooth] Delicate fizz of the first order.. Lovely deep colour and firmer palate than an Italian version. Fresh, bubbly, apple, a litte citrus and flowery. A fine aperitif. Stylish packaging too. Alcohol 12%. Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating - 92/100 [4 out of 5]
Bisol is one of the largest Prosecco producers in Italy; but a producer that retains quality and finesse in its large range. Has it really been two years since I enjoyed the Bisol dinner at l'Ortolan? Some superb Prosecco and Food matches that evening. Just added to the Bisol range is a rosé: Review0.3 Wine Tasting Note: Bisol Jeio Rosé, NV, Veneto, Italy. Available from Bibendum Wines £10.01. [More: Adegga / Snooth] As with all decent rosés it is the colour that attracts; here its a firm rose colour with hints of orange. Delicate cherry and rose aromas and flavours and a great mass of refined bubbles. Light, fresh and delicate. Citrusy, a touch of sweetness countering the acidity. New to the UK. Alcohol 11.5%.
The Bisol was designed with food matching in mind; so recommended as an awesome match with shrimp, lobster, seafood in general and salami. For me though a vividly coloured Baked Beetroot Risotto made for a rather scrumptious match. Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating - 92/100 [4 out of 5]
UPDATE: Technically the Bisol is not a Prosecco; it is not made from the Prosecco grape but from a mix of Pinot Noir (95%) and Merlot (5%) which accounts for the colour! All the grapes are frm Bisol owned vieayrds and it is made in a similar way.
Italy Abroad recently posted details on Prosecco being bottled in Germany and the various DOCG/DOC labeling rules that now apply; if that is your bent.
One of my favorite things about setting the goal of drinking wines from every region in Italy--a process that began in 2008 and will continue through 2009--is that I buy wine I wouldn't taste otherwise. These are often the wines I remember months later because they were unexpected treats, wines that caught my imagination even though I often have low or no expectations and no real frame of reference for what I am tasting.
That happened last week when I opened up the 2005 De Tarczal Cabernet Franc. I purchased this in April 2008 from Garagiste in Seattle, received it in November, and promptly put it in the back fo the cellar for the month I finally got around to Trentin0-Alto Adige. ($16.90, Garagiste; available elsewhere for $19)
When I opened it, I was greeted with promising aromas of bell pepper, sour cherry, earth, and minerals. It struck me as less weedy than Cabernet Franc from the Loire, with a depth to the cherry aromas that made me eager to taste the wine. Flavorwise, the wine had a lovely, satiny texture wrapped around earth, leaf, and sour cherry notes. This was a really lovely, well-balanced Cabernet Franc from a region that (perhaps in my ignorance) I don't usually associate with Cab Franc. Excellent QPR.
Mushrooms go beautifully with a wine with this kind of flavor profile. Make yourself a portobello burger slathered with pesto mayonnaise and topped with roasted peppers and arugula--your tastebuds will thank you.
This time of year the wine lover is inundated with T-day wine recommendations..."German Riesling is perfect with turkey"...."A Beaujolais is a sure bet on Thanksgiving"...."Burgundy, both red and white are ideal on your Thanksgiving".....etc. etc.
I for one am tired of staid poultry & stuffing wine pairing suggestions.
How about something different to eat and drink on Friday - the day after turkey day? May I suggest a Vermentino, not from the sardinian coast, but from Lodi, California. Who knew the California version of this hefty-spicy-herby-citrusy grape could be so true to its Italian roots? After racking up mo' mo' credit card debt on Friday, take the edge of with a plate of turkey enchiladas paired to Uvaggio Vermentino 2006 ($10). It will be the best wine-food match you will sample all week.
I?m in Austin this week and enjoying the company of people who are really interested in wine, even Italian wine. Business here seems to be revving up and after a day with a producer from Montalcino, the reception has been, well, humbling.
I say this because we are just beginning to get into the 2004 Brunellos after what has seemed to be one of the longest years of selling a vintage. The vintage has been the 2003, which got hit by the perfect storm of a lesser than great vintage, the ?little problem? in Montalcino and the October 2008 world financial meltdown.
So the warehouses and shops and restaurants have an ample supply left of the 2003 Brunello. Pity, because today as we tasted the 2004 from Caparzo, I really felt sorry that a great vintage like the 2004 is suffering only because of the circumstances we have all found ourselves in.
What to do? Is the '03 Altesino Montosoli so terrible? Of course it isn?t, after all it is the sibling rival to Caparzo and Guido Orzalesi would tell anyone that the wine is sound and bonafide. By the times aren?t yet receptive. Or the ship has already sailed for the 2003. So, once again, what to do?
I would (and do) advise to simply take the hit and close them out. Now. Lesser wines are taking the hit. Dolcettos and Barberas are streaming through the wine bars having been discounted to ridiculously attractive levels, ones that even I would bite on. And I need no more wine in my closet.
In the case of the 2003 Brunellos if only to give the 2004 their time under the spotlight, even if it is only the life cycle of a drosophila.
Which leads me right into this question: Why is it the market seems to get so interested in Italian wine after it has been discounted to cost or below?
Really, three times in this month I have had wine buyers, somms and restaurant managers wax the glories of a particular wine or two. After the third one mentioned it, I started to wonder how wines like these got their legs so deep in the community. We?re talking Dolcetto and Barbera and from producers that are well known, Einaudi and Vietti. And let?s throw in the Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva, too. I heard that one lately too, even though it probably is a residual memory serving only to try and diminish any of the legitimate attempts to sell Italian wine for what it is worth. More on this to come.
The Dolcetto. I saw it on a list Out West and thought, what the heck, seems like a good wine that someone bought and didn?t know what they had. It was lively. And then again, I saw it, in another fancy place. Ok, good, the wine buyers have sussed out a sleeper, and we all benefit from their acuity. Hoorah for us!
The Barbera. I started hearing about this little beauty from SB (somm-buddy) who comments on this site. I knew the place, went up to the estate in Castiglione Falletto back when the crust of the earth was cooling. I got it then, just stood up a bottle of their ?81 Nebbiolo to let the dust settle. Had first communion with Alfredo, OK? I get it.
And then the dirty little secret comes out. The wines were ?discounted?. Closed out. Disontinued. Disco?d. Why? Upon a little digging I hear that Remy Amerique, the importer for Vietti, is sandbagging their wine division. So these folks are possible soon without a home. No future? Time to disco? Sure seems like it.
And Einaudi, are they without an importer? They still show up on the Empson site, so it doesn?t look like that is their fate. Overzealous buyer at the distrib? Perhaps, but I?m not sure. Maybe my Empson peeps reading might share some insight. The wine is real. Good. So, what happened?
How to get excited about Italian wine when it is not on close-out?
Look, for a generation now some of us have been carrying this donkey up the hill. The Italians always undervalued their wine, almost apologizing for it because of the price. A Chianti Classico Riserva selling for $7 when a 3rd growth was going for $12. And the Italian was contrite, ashamed, sorry. So the wine got discounted down to $3 and all of a sudden lots of buzz from a restaurant here, a wine shop there. It was rampant in the 1980?s with Rosso di Montalcino, the ?throw away? wine. The distribs had to buy the Rosso to get the Brunello and when it didn?t sell they?d schlep a bottle to Don Cazzu and make him an offer he couldn?t refuse. Great stuff, from Costanti to Il Poggione to San Restituta. I am not kidding. How many times I sat there with my bag of wine while Don Cazzu tells me what a great deal he got for the ?74 RdM for only $2 a bottle. And he was right! But it perpetuated the image of Italian wine value. A Rosso di Montalcino was only worth $2-3 a bottle because it wasn?t bought right in the first place and it surely was never sold right. And so the true value of the wine never made it into the hearts and minds of the wine buyers.
And now we stand here, once again, at the corner of Downturn and Summertime with Dolcetto and Barbera and 2003 Brunello and when will we ever get to the place where we can really rev it up on the Montalcino autostrada of life? I think our little vehicle needs some work on the engine, the little one that takes us up the hill, yes we can, I think we can, will we ever? Can we?
Deep breath. Close eyes. Relax. Maintenance light is flashing. Must consult the manual. Ad Occhi Chiusi.
Face it: when the term "baby" is attached to a well-known product -- unless that product is Ron Jeremy -- you expect miniaturization and, well, the short-bus version of the original. So when we scored the new Gaggia Baby Twin Espresso machine for abuse, er, review, we expected (yaaaawn) a smaller, plasticized version of their reg machine.
Our humble apologies and a deep Japanese-style bow.
Ain't nothing baby about this fab machine except its compact, low-riding size. It grips the counter like -- well, you might not have seen that Jeremy movie. The solid filter holder arm, which lets you make two cups at a time, twists and locks into place with the confidence of their professional machine (I know because I was a barista in a past life). The "turbo frother steam nozzle" (a name possibly larger than the machine) froths with the best of them, and the brewing selection panel allows you to brew at will (one strong, two weak, manual pour, etc.). Genius!
Only drawback (unless I misread the instructions -- which, knowing me, isn't out of the question) is that you can't brew two strong espressos at once. But you can adjust the amount of flow for each setting, so if you're not jonesing for a Big Gulp-sized espresso, you can manufacture two fairly macho average-size drinks. (Then you can do the walk of shame. Uh, same movie.)
Lots of other pro touches I won't bore you with, but this machine is a killer downsized version of Gaggia's commercial series.
I’ve just been snacking on a few slices of jamon, and today a special treat of some deluxe Iberico level (a snip at $350 per KG). I’m normally happy with Serrano but once you get the taste it becomes an increasingly expensive habit to maintain and I’m almost a pack a day man now…I should [...]
I've often wondered why New Zealand was anointed/anointed itself as the land of Sauvignon Blanc. To be sure, NZ SB has been quite successful as an import to the US wine market (and certainly names like 'Monkey Bay' don't hurt its mass appeal to the garanimal-wine-loving crowd). However, I think this success has come at a price. Kiwi Blanc has overshadowed every other grape variety. And this is a very sad thing.
Think about it. When was the last time you sampled a New Zealand Riesling or Gewurztraminer? These grapes have found a very cozy home on the Islands way down under. In fact, while I find most New Zealand Sauvi Blanc, easy-to-enjoy, I also find it a tad bit uni-dimensional (see here for a great descriptor of NZ SB). I have discovered extraordinarily sublime Riesling and intoxicating (in the figurative sense of the word) Gewurz. Think I'm nuts. Take this little NZ non-SB challenge:
Huia Gewurztraminer 2006 - A chewy, thick wine, which echos the Alsatian style but with a bit less earth
Villa Maria Riesling 2005- A remarkable feat of a wine. This Riesling stews together new world heft with teutonic crispness.
Am I alone in thinking the OenoKiwis might want to diversify their white wine portfolio?
Wine Magazine have announced their 2007 WINE Classification (South Africa) - the fourth since first published in 2004.
It basically identifies South African wines and cellars with the best track records in terms of consistently good reviews in WINE magazine panel tastings conducted blind (without sight of the labels) over the previous five years.
If anything it gives you an idea of what to look out for in the respective categories when you're in the shops and/or which estates may be worth visiting.
Rivalries and conflicts simmer throughout the world. At least one was resolved peacefully last week in a historic vertical tasting of the wines of the two Pichons.
Around 1850, faced with the inheritance laws of the Napoleonic code, Baron Pichon split his Pauillac estate among his five children: his three daughters got the larger share of the property but his two sons inherited the chateau itself and two-fifths of the vineyard. This action not only set up a rivalry between the two properties but also doomed legions of wine consumers to confusion between the two adjacent estates now colloquially known as Pichon-Baron or Pichon-Lalande.
In the 1987, AXA Millésimes, the wine holding unit of the multinational insurance group based in Paris, bought Pichon Baron, which had fallen into disrepair. Jean-Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch Bages ran the operations, which included upgrading the winemaking as well as overseeing a renovation the cellars and the chateau. But according to one account, tensions escalated between the two estates as Cazes laid claim to the Pichon name calling the property simply Chateau Pichon-Langueville with no reference to “Baron,” much to the dismay of Mme May-Eliane de Lencquesaing of Pichon-Lalande! In late 2006, Mme de Lencquesaing, in her eighties, confronted the same inheritance laws that had divided the original property. Rather than seeing it torn asunder, she sold a majority stake to the Rouzaud family of Champagne (Roederer).
The managing directors of both properties convened on New York for a tasting at the Wine Media Guild on April 27. Christian Seely, wearing his trademark bow tie, represented Baron while Gildas d’Ollone, formerly a professional opera singer who has overseen the last twenty vintages of Pichon Lalande, represented the Comtesse. Members and their guests packed the private dining room to (over)capacity.
First up was a walk around tasting of both the wines from 2000-2006. Unfortunately the room was quite a tight space, which made taking detailed notes problematic. Here are some rapid fire observations from this portion: Pichon-Lalande has a higher proportion of merlot in the final blend; coincidentally, it slightly rounder than its cabernet dominant neighbor, which may be why some who use anachronistically ascribe gender to wine attributes consider it the more “feminine” of the duo. I found the 00 and 04 Lalandes the unfortunately disappointing from this portion; the 2002 was particularly lovely, especially given the vintage; and the 03, 05, 06 were richer, with 06 carrying the style most successfully. On the Pichon-Baron side, things are really cranking under Christian Seely who took over in 2000, which produced an excellent wine. Of the 01, 02, 04 vintages, I preferred the 01 and 04. The 2005 was fantastic and the 06 excellent.
At lunch, we heard from our speakers who both talked about changes in vineyard practices with d’Ollone specifically pointing to deleafing, yield management, and grape ripeness, which, he said, explains why they haven’t used “concentration systems in the past five to seven years.” In the discussion about historical yields, both the speakers praised moderately high yields with d’Ollone pointing to the coincidence of high yields high quality in the 82 and 89 vintages while Seely talked of a balance, above “garagiste” levels and below the high levels of some years gone by.
Seely flashed his wit on at least a couple of occasions. Mark Golodetz, the member who coordinated the lunch, brought up the recent posts on this site pertaining to the policy and practice at The Wine Advocate and recommended it to everyone as a good springboard for a discussion about ethics and wine writing. Seely then deadpanned, “I’ve always found wine writers distressingly incorruptible!”
The 2008 vintage also came up in the discussion: d’Ollone said that they had priced the Lalande 08 futures already and had sold directly in China for the first time since eight is a lucky number there. Guild member Peter Sichel opined that the 2008 vintage “is an enormous opportunity” given the quality and the pullback in demand. After a brief discussion about the vintage of the decade, Christian Seely again deadpanned “I want to be clear: 2009 really is the vintage of the century.”
Putting away the crystal ball, we were able to look backward instead in our crystal glasses. With lunch we had both the wines from 1990, which, unfortunately didn’t show well. But the 1989s were superb in both cases–truly exceptional wines that still have many years in front of them. We also had a 1975 Pichon-Lalande from a double magnum, courtesy of one of a member’s guest. The wine was still intact, with high acidity, but it was a good thing that we drank it that day. But the wine of the lunch was the 1985 Pichon-Lalande, which had a beautiful patina of age, with a beautiful subtle intensity, and a long and satisfying finish. When Cabernet is on, man, it can be on fire.
D’Ollon declared the lunch a “historic event.” Now that there’s peace in Pauillac, hopefully more Pichon-Pichon tastings will occur around the world. Sign up for one if you can.
A 64-page softcover pocket guide that you can keep handy. Offers everything you've ever wanted to know about wine from A-to-Z. Learn about wine-production regions along with their maps major grape varietals storing pairing serving and selecting the perfect wine glass. Softcover 64-pages. Size: 8-'H x 3-'W
The Wine Bottle Glass Funnel is perfect for those instances when have a little wine left over in your decanter or even in your glass. The thinness of this glass funnel allows you to insert the funnel right into any bottle. Then easily and cleanly you can pour the wine back into the bottle for a later date.
The elegance of the Wine Enthusiast lead-free crystal 'U' Decanter enhances your wine experience with an inner dome to increase the oxygenation of fine wines. The finger-hold punt ensures controlled pouring every time. Gift Boxed. Recommend to hand wash. Size: 10-3/4'H 46 oz.
As Seen on Ellens 12 Days of Giveaways & Good Morning America The pocket-size electronic talking Wine Master offers a sleek and slim design easy control panel and over 10 000 wine and spirits reviews ratings and suggested retail prices at your fingertips. The newest version of the Wine Master is the most essential wine tool you can own. Bring along with you to wine shops and restaurants and never make another wine buying mistake again. Requires 2-AAA batteries (not included). Over 10 000 wine and spirits reviews ratings (100 pt. scale) and suggested retail prices from Wine Enthusiast Magazine Food and wine pairing guide Digital display screen with back-light and compressed text functions Talking navigation with on/off Type Varietal Winery or Vintage search option Handsome non-zipper black case Wine Master is a mighty wizard that gives you mastery over the most serious wine shop clerks and sommeliers. Brushed aluminum with chrome accents. The Wine Enthusiast 2008 Wine Buying Guide is also available. Size: 4-3/4'H x 3'W NOTE: The information included in the Wine Master is based on the reviews and ratings conducted by The Wine Enthusiast Magazine. For the 2008 edition we added 10 425 reviews. Therefore if you look at a review of a 2002 Caymus in 2007 and in 2008 the review will be the same. Since we cannot review all the wines produced in a year some wines may not appear with a newer year review which does not mean that the wine is discontinued but just that particular vintage (year) was not reviewed.
Always know 'whose glass is whose' with these wine cellar-themed charms! Set of 6 cast metal charms are finished in antique silver and dangle from 3 strands of glass-faceted beads. Magnetic closures make sure the these mini-medallions stay secure around the base of each guests' wine glass. Set of 6 charms includes a wine bottle corkscrew grapes wine glass chiller bucket and cheese wedge.
You needn't interrupt your enjoyment of the wine now to fuss with pumps and dispensers. Deliberately low tech our Wine For Later Set eschews pumps spray cans nitrogen gas canisters and complicated dispenser systems for the graceful time-honored process of decanting. When you uncork a bottle simply pour off the wine you wish to save for later using an elegant glass funnel. Top off either the 1/2 bottle or the 1/4-bottle decanter and seal it with our airtight glass stopper. Since no air comes in contact with your wine it remains unoxidized and unspoiled. Adorn the decanter with our ornate silverplated grape-cluster cork pin for easy identification. Only from The Wine Enthusiast. Gift-boxed 6-piece set includes: 2 Wine For Later glass decanters 1/2 bottle size and 1/4 bottle size. 2 airtight glass stoppers. A beautiful glass funnel. A silverplated cork pin.
Choose the right wine every time! From the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine comes the most current comprehensive and informative wine buying guide on the market. Based on tastings by a distinguished in-house panel this wine buying guide features qualitative ratings reviews and prices for more than 50 000 wines. Plus tips on when each wine is best enjoyed. Also includes expert advice on tasting and storing vintage wine charts and Top 10 lists. 990 pages. Softcover.
Pair your wine with top chef recipes! A memorable meal starts with the wine! Find over 80 delectable recipes organized by wine style. This first cookbook by the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine guides you in selecting the right recipe for your wine. Includes recipes from top chefs such as Bobby Flay and Rick Bayless along with expert wine pairing tips. Whether you're serving a light aromatic white or a big powerful red you'll choose the right dish here! 256 pages with full color photography. Hardcover. Take A Look Inside At Sample Recipes.
The Riedel Syrah Decanter is a great wine decanter to use everyday. It's perfect for Syrah or any other red wine. Crafted in Germany of lead-free crystal the Syrah decanter holds 49-ounces and stands 9-5/8' tall. Add to your wine decanter collection or give as a gift any season. Size: 9-5/8'H 49-3/8 oz.
Make wine your next party theme! Consider this your personal party planner! Step-by-step instructions and essentials make hosting a wine tasting easy. Includes 100 wine tasting sheets 6 cloth blind wine tasting bottle bags with embroidered letters A through F 6 wine tasting masts Wine Enthusiast Magazine vintage chart corkscrew and a 15% Off Coupon for Wine Enthusiast glassware. Sip save enjoy!
The Wine Clip uses principles of magnetics to improve the taste of wine as it is being poured out of the bottle. The effect is instantaneous and has been found by many wine professionals to result in a genuine improvement in flavor and mouth-feel especially when used on red wines. Using magnets to treat fluids water fuel wine etc. - is not a new idea and the technology has been applied successfully in many industries. What causes the effect has been the subject of some debate but it is generally thought that passing a conductive fluid through a properly designed magnetic field has an effect on the polar molecules in the fluid. In wine it is believed that the large polymerized tannins in wine that normally result in a high degree of astringency are broken up or otherwise affected resulting in a less astringent softer flavor. The Wine Clip may also accelerate aeration by drawing higher concentrations of oxygen to the wine as it is being poured. In contrast with most gases oxygen is highly magnetically susceptible and is attracted to a magnetic field. This would explain testimony from wine experts that The Wine Clip instantly produces the benefits of time consuming aeration. Lifetime warranty.
Learn how to host a tasting party! Host a great wine tasting party with this complete new essential wine tasting kit. Created by the editors of the prestigious Wine Enthusiast Magazine you'll find all the how-to's and essentials of hosting over 30 wine tastings. Kit includes: Wine Enthusiast Magazine Pocket Guide to Wine plus 2006 Vintage Chart 2 tasting checklist notepads 6 bottle bags 6 bottle stoppers 24 bottle tags a blank wine journal 2 wine label removers and a coupon for two free issues of Wine Enthusiast Magazine . Size: 6'H x 9'W x 3-'D
Luigi Bormioli Esperienze Wine Decanter is a complete innovation in the field of wine appreciation. Designed by Federico DeMajo the lead-free crystal wine decanter is a combination of technical skills and creative artistry. Made in Italy the interior base of the decanter is designed with ripples; tiered concentric circles that facilitate rapid wine oxygenation as the wine is poured into the decanter and flows down over them for an excellent wine tasting experiences. Dishwasher safe. Size: 9-1/4'H 88 oz.
Love your wine? Show your metal! Serve it with the help of this animated bottle holder handcrafted from recycled steel copper and wood. German artist Guenter Scholtz skillfully bends welds brushes and carves these materials to bring this whimsical wine taster to life a discriminating gent leaning on a wine rack fitted with a wine barrel. Holds most standard size wine bottles. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. No two Scholtz pieces are exactly alike. 12'H x 6'W x 5'D
A One-of-a-Kind GiftFor the wine lover that has everything a fun gift theyre sure to cherish. Weve matted and framed our Wine Enthusiast Magazine cover with your choice of tiles (Man Woman Wine Enthusiast or Chateau of the Year). Theres a careful 7 1/4' x 7' cut-out in the cover so you can slide in a photograph of your favorite wine enthusiast. Every wine lover on your list should have one. You can purchase it as a special package with a one year subscription to Wine Enthusiast Magazine and SAVE $16.95 off the regular subscription price. Size: 14'H x 11'W Framed Print
An elegant arc turns serving into ceremony. Geometrically designed Parabola wine decanter offers a unique shape to a classic wine accessory. This stunning mouth-blown wine decanter is visually exhilarating and optimally functional. Made of 24% lead crystal the Parabola decanter offers a unique handle and spout holding a full standard-sized bottle of wine and provides flawless aeration. Size: 10-1/2'H 56 oz. NOTE: Please use the recommended Decanter cleaning balls when cleaning the Parabola decanter.
Make the hippest wine bar in town yours! Three wines any time no waiting! This professional wine preserve and wine serve system keeps 3 opened wine bottles fresh for weeks and primed for pouringright at home! Spigots serve as both stoppers and dispensers of argon gas. Argon prevents wine from oxidizing and spoiling over time. Non-electric and compact. Black with stainless steel trim. Accommodates most standard-size wine bottles. Non-electric and compact. Black with stainless steel trim. The argon gas cartridges are hidden in a compartment underneath your wine bottles. The system includes two argon cartridges which will power 12 to 15 wine bottles each. Size: 11-1/2'H x 10-1/2'W x 5'D
Attract more wine loversglass by glass! Increase your bar or restaurant sales by offering a wider selection of premium wines 'on tap'. This professional preserve-and-serve system keeps 5 opened wine bottles fresh for weeks and primed for pouring. Spigots serve as bottle stoppers. With each pour argon gas is dispensed into each bottle to blanket the wine's surface from oxygen and prevent it oxidizing and spoiling over time. Wine Saver PRO's commercial grade quality is ideal for restaurants hotels bars and wineries or for any wine lover that enjoys serving wine. Wine Saver HOME also makes the ultimate addition to any home wine cellar. Accommodates most standard-size wine bottles. Non-electric and compact. Black with stainless steel trim. The argon gas cartridges are hidden in a compartment underneath your wine bottles. Available here and sold seperately argon cartridges will power 12 to 15 wine bottles each.
Inspired by furniture pieces originally found in Bordeaux and used by the regions expert wine makers for tasting sessions of their Grand Cru wines. Special guests wine merchants or the wine makers themselves would taste some of the finest vintages at the very foot of elegant furniture pieces such as this. EuroCaves contemporary version has been designed to accommodate the needs of todays wine connoisseur. The Elite Wine Buffet is ideal for entertaining and can be placed in any room. The ample display shelves are ideal for storing glasses displaying decanters keeping reference books and storing spirits. The storage drawers can hold other accessories such as corkscrews label savers tasting albums and much more. The Elite Wine Buffet can hold a maximum of up to 20 bottles. Sold seperately the wine cellar space can accommodate a EuroCave Performance 83. Size: 56-5/16'H x 54-5/16'W x 29-9/16'D. Light assembly required.
Tecnorati
A few weeks ago, when organizing the 
To celebrate the end of May, which was an hellacious month for the wine world, Paul and Annette DiCarlo graciously opened up their home in East Dallas for a Sunday afternoon of eating and drinking. Summer is bearing down upon us, a time which we find ourselves embroiled in heat and heated debate about almost anything. Tempers flare, lines are drawn in the sand, swords are sharpened, clocks are set. But not before one last meal. One last great meal.
We get there in time for a round of sparkling rose wine from the Veneto, all the rage now that they have saturated the market with Prosecco. I brought a bottle of Gruner just to be a contrarian. I figured after I blasted it in the last post, and some of the somms were chiding me for hating on the Gruner. Actually I like Gruner. And Zweigelt. But that?s another post.
Major Domo Adelmo was modeling his newly acquired seersucker shorts, which showed off his tanned and muscle-bound legs, gained from his early morning walks (stalks?) in the neighborhood. Adelmo is irreverent to anything that has been established as a custom. Wine in a wine glass? Why? When it is so much more fun to pour a rare Casa dei Bepi Amarone in a jelly glass? It was Sunday, these restaurant owners work, work, work all the time. Son of a gun never rests. Let him be.
The room was getting crowded what with the short ribs and the foie gras and the pasta course all heating up the kitchen, which is where everyone was congregating. The AC unit was on overload, set at 60. The room felt like 80+. Seersucker was a good idea, after all.
So after the foie gras apps and all the other salumi scattered around the room, we head straight into the pasta course, some funny looking maccherone with those wonderful baby tomatoes from the south. Simple and good food. Great with the Valpolicella lined up in pole position, waiting for their moment. Also waiting for those Amarones to chill down a little, nestled in the fridge with the dessert wine and the Dublin Dr. Pepper (after all, we are in Texas).
About the Amarones: Quintarelli '97 and '98, Dal Forno '01, Tedeschi '03, Masi '01, Viviani 'Casa dei Bepi' '01.
The 2001 Viviani ?Casa dei Bepi? was among my faves. Maybe because the folks are familiar. But the wine had nice body, solid flavors, some elegance, the wood was subdued (thank God) and it complimented the food. Deelish.
And the twin vintages of Quintarelli, the ?97 and ?98. Now that was the moment of meditation for me. Everybody loves the ?97, the fruit, the power, the big balls. I get it. Or rather, I don?t get it for me. It was all that and a bag of chips, but the wine of the night, for me, was the 1998 from Quintarelli.
A rosé by any other name is Leonardo. This little guy, who looks strikingly like his handsome dad, 
Quite an unusual combination for the Balkans, since Syrah is fairly rare in the region. Skovin is probably trying to follow the world commercial trends with this Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon combination, and it’s not doing a bad job. Syrah brings in the spiciness and the earthy taste, which brings memories of those strong South African tastes of Syrah wines. Cabernet softeness it a bit, so overall it’s a nice wine, but distinctively dryer than the famous Australian Syraz-Cabernet’s.
Must the wine lover chose between faulty corks and sterile 
As a wine hobbyist among professionals and experts, I often feel that I have the advantage of being able to sit back and enjoy what comes to hand rather than having to analyze endlessly. Another privilege of the enthusiast, be it golf, sailing, ornithology or anything else, is the feeling that you can drop your subject into conversation to universal approval. We all know that this is not always the case, but while attending the 
I would (and do) advise to simply take the hit and close them out. Now. Lesser wines are taking the hit. Dolcettos and Barberas are streaming through the wine bars having been discounted to ridiculously attractive levels, ones that even I would bite on. And I need no more wine in my closet.
The Barbera. I started hearing about this little beauty from SB (somm-buddy) who comments on this site. I knew the place, went up to the estate in Castiglione Falletto back when the crust of the earth was cooling. I got it then, just stood up a bottle of their ?81 Nebbiolo to let the dust settle. Had first communion with Alfredo, OK? I get it.
Look, for a generation now some of us have been carrying this donkey up the hill. The Italians always undervalued their wine, almost apologizing for it because of the price. A Chianti Classico Riserva selling for $7 when a 3rd growth was going for $12. And the Italian was contrite, ashamed, sorry. So the wine got discounted down to $3 and all of a sudden lots of buzz from a restaurant here, a wine shop there. It was rampant in the 1980?s with Rosso di Montalcino, the ?throw away? wine. The distribs had to buy the Rosso to get the Brunello and when it didn?t sell they?d schlep a bottle to Don Cazzu and make him an offer he couldn?t refuse. Great stuff, from Costanti to Il Poggione to San Restituta. I am not kidding. How many times I sat there with my bag of wine while Don Cazzu tells me what a great deal he got for the ?74 RdM for only $2 a bottle. And he was right! But it perpetuated the image of Italian wine value. A Rosso di Montalcino was only worth $2-3 a bottle because it wasn?t bought right in the first place and it surely was never sold right. And so the true value of the wine never made it into the hearts and minds of the wine buyers.
Around 1850, faced with the inheritance laws of the Napoleonic code, Baron Pichon split his Pauillac estate among his five children: his three daughters got the larger share of the property but his two sons inherited the chateau itself and two-fifths of the vineyard. This action not only set up a rivalry between the two properties but also doomed legions of wine consumers to confusion between the two adjacent estates now colloquially known as Pichon-Baron or Pichon-Lalande. 
The managing directors of both properties convened on New York for a tasting at the 
Seely flashed his wit on at least a couple of occasions. Mark Golodetz, the member who coordinated the lunch, brought up the recent posts on this site pertaining to the policy and practice at The Wine Advocate and recommended it to everyone as a good springboard for a discussion about ethics and wine writing. Seely then deadpanned, “I’ve always found wine writers distressingly incorruptible!”
