Finally got around to correcting some errors on the Domenico Selections site. Flavia is no longer Matilde. Monte di Fice is no longer oaked -- well, it never was, but I made a mistake and there it was, allegedly oaked. And so forth and so on.


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Finally got around to correcting some errors on the Domenico Selections site. Flavia is no longer Matilde. Monte di Fice is no longer oaked -- well, it never was, but I made a mistake and there it was, allegedly oaked. And so forth and so on.
Posted on 04/30/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Keith Beavers, the East Village Wine Geek, is not only a blogger in the traditional sense, he's a fanatical Tweeter (user of Twitter). So yesterday when I was at In Vino, his wine bar/resto in Alphabet City, he pulled out his iPhone and caught me at the end of a long, frustrating, thirsty day...
Posted on 04/30/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I got tearsheets of the June issue of Wine & Spirits magazine today, specifically of the pages where two Domenico Selections wines are given good thumbnail reviews. The roundup is of Southern Italians, so not surprisingly our two featured wines are both from Campania Felix. The labels will be there so even if you're blasting through the pages, chances are they'll register with you.
Posted on 04/27/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
David McDuff has posted a fair and largely positive of this wine on his blog, McDuff's Food and Wine Trail. I contributed the first comment, which I hope elucidates a couple of things.
Posted on 04/25/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
When I bought all my wine at retail, I was as a child. I never poured
any down the drain. Almost
never. It had to be absolutely poisonous,
rank and life-threateningly over-sulfured for me to throw my hard-earned
pennies (pennies is right -- most of the wine was pretty cheap) into the
kitchen sink. I drank it because,
damn it, I’d paid for it.
My my.
How things have changed. I have put away childish things.
Last night, for example, I poured the sometimes
substantial remains of five bottles down the sink. There was one bad bottle, yes, but the others were perfectly
fine. The only thing wrong with
them was that they’d been sitting in the fridge for days -- we just couldn’t
consume them. I’m on a plane to
Virginia now. Ken heads to
California on Monday. The
neighbors can’t drink all this stuff.
The remaining half-bottles of tasting samples aren’t
going to get any better over the better part of a week. So -– dump ‘em.
This despite that fact that, damn it, I’d already
paid for the wine. I don’t like it, but it’s inevitable. This sacred, mysterious liquid becomes
a commodity. Not as much as the heap
of condiments you toss out when the diner delivers your hamburger, but a
commodity nevertheless.
I try not to think too much about this necessary
waste. (Necessary both to protect
my health and the business, since you can’t take stale wine when you present to
a new or existing customer.) But
sometimes, as I’m pouring, I envision the unremitting labor of the
producer. I fret, “What would
Luigi say if he saw this?” “Sorry,
Raffaele! Sorry, Francesco!” Guilt wracks me.
If it’s a bad bottle? I curse the producer. Loud and often.
After all, "I paid for this damned wine, you careless son of a bitch!"
Posted on 04/18/2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
In a recent email exchange with an Italian producer, whose wines we hope to import, I wrote:
Posted on 04/16/2009 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Specifically Trasubie, a Sangiovese (85%) Syrah (15%) blend from the Montecucco zone of Tuscany. The wine is from Schiaccionaia, a certified biodynamic farm.
Posted on 04/13/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea minima culpa.
Posted on 04/10/2009 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
I've been using this word to describe the San Vito from Villa Monteleone, so I thought I'd give you the first part of the definition provided in the Oxford Companion to Wine:
Posted on 04/10/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"An excellent ripasso for you."
Posted on 04/10/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Last week at Vinitaly, we were pleased to sign agreements to import the wines of two additional producers, Musto-Carmelitano of Basilicata and Mustilli of Campania.
Posted on 04/09/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We met with some of our Campanian producers at Vinitaly the other day, and I'm only just getting to a brief post with new pictures. I haven't cropped or adjusted them, but at least I'll take the time to give you a few captions, some of which will actually be informative.
Luigi Reale of Reale, whose new vintages composed of Tintore and Piedirosso, red and rosato, will be sensational when they hit the market. Unidentified American moved during the taking of this picture. Americans are a restless people.
Raffaele Boccella with his wife Angela, whose mission in life is to overfeed her America guests with delicious home-grown, -raised and -slaughtered food. We were very happy with Raffaele's 2006 Rasott and will be at least as happy with the 2007. The Taurasis are developing splendidly; the 2005 will be available this fall. The sample of the 2006 Taurasi shows immense promise. It will be released early next year.
Roberto Nicodemi and his wife Maria Luisa Zottola of Terra di
Vento. The 2007 Fiano is stunning. The 2007 Aglianico ("Petrale") has a fresher fruit profile than the so-far wildly popular 2006. We are well pleased
Posted on 04/05/2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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