When we were at the International Wine Academy in Rome the other night, Ian D'Agata mentioned the third "noble grape" of the reds of Italy.
It's pretty obvious that Nebbiolo is one of them. In fact, it's the first one most people in Italy or America will think of.
What are the other two?
Operators aren't standing by, unfortunately. But Typepad craves to receive your comments.
Grazie, amici.
670 W. 3rd St.
859-291-2550
Fort Thomas Store
90 Alexandria Pike, #1c
859-781-8105
And Don't Forget the Tasting Dinner at Vito's
On Wednesday evening at 7 there will be a tasting dinner -- 7 courses, 7 Domenico Selections wines -- at Vito's in Fort Thomas. An amazing bargain at $35 a head, plus tax and tip. A great opportunity to taste some of DS's most interesting wines.
Vito’s Café
654 Highland Avenue
Ft. Thomas, KY
859-442-9444
We're happy to announce that Domenico Selections will be represented in the Bay State (Strappo's home state) by Hangtime Wine. Hangtime is owned and operated by Jeff Slavin and has a choice roster of customers in the Boston area. Among these is The Wine Bottega in the North End of Boston, the traditional heart of the city's Italian population, run by italophile Kerri Platt.
See here for a wine-shop review by Robert Dwyer.
Grazie, Beantown!
Just wanted you all to know that Domenico Selections is proud to have its wines poured at the following fine restaurants.
The original "mother ship" of the Joe Bastianich empire, presided over by the warm and real Lidia Bastianich.
243 E. 58th St. -- New York, NY 10022 -- 212.758.1479
The Tribeca edition of the well-known steakhouse.
206 West Street -- New York, NY 10013 -- 646.395.6391
And let's not leave out New Jersey, where some fine dining establishments do have a liquor license.
740 Boulevard -- Kenilworth, NJ 07033 -- 908.241.0031
2230 State Rt 10 -- Parsippany, NJ 07054 --973.267.4006
14 Elm Street -- Westfield, NJ 07090-2148 -- 908.232.1101
141 Stirling Road -- Watchung, NJ 07069-5904 -- 908.755.9344
78 Albany Street -- New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1227 -- 732.296.1600
300 N Maple Ave -- Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 -- 908.953.3000
I got to the venue about 8:30, a half hour before it was scheduled to begin. They told me that the small room between the large front bar area and the big dining room in back was going to be emptied out and devoted to the event. Within 20 minutes it was clear that the benefit crowd was going to need a great deal more space, so the whole event was relocated to the front bar.
Typical: I was so preoccupied with something on my BlackBerry that I crashed right into Mario Batali.
The pictures I took give some small idea of the crush of people who showed up to donate to the Jed McGiffin fund and drink wine and eat Otto snacks.
After I demanded that the bartender open a bottle of Cascina Gilli Freisa d'Asti "Vigna del Forno," I walked the three minutes along the north side of Washington Square Park to Babbo, the Batali flagship where Jed worked. I chatted with the bartender, Tereza, a lovely young woman from Prague, who told me that after their shift, the Babbo staff were all headed to Otto in support of their colleague.
New York can be a cold place. It can also be surprisingly warm and kind.
Still wearing the green band for Jed. Makes me feel important, like Stephen Colbert
This is a worthwhile event and we encourage you to come and taste a lot of terrific wines from various importers/distibutors. Domenico Selections is contributing wines, of course -- not only because Babbo and Otto are excellent customers. Like so many young workers, Jed McGiffin does not have health insurance. He's lucky in that he has a lot of friends who care about him.
Hope to see you there on Monday night!
Just in: Friend Gianni Lovato sent this link to a piece in the NY Post. If this doesn't motivate people to go to the fundraiser, nothing will. Jed McGiffin suffered a horrifying, life-altering accident:
Mario Batali is sadly down a man at his Manhattan flagship Babbo. Jed McGiffin, 32, a waiter at the Waverly Place eatery, had his left leg amputated below the hip after being hit on Dec. 19 by a sanitation truck on West Eighth Street on his walk home from work. He remains in a medicated sleep at St. Vincent's Hospital. To date, no charges have been filed against the driver. McGiffin's brother, Aengus, told us, "I am stunned at the lack of follow- through by the police and the carting company."
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/traffic_victim_RSCLYcjGCbZtm9OxwznULP#ixzz0bUGiawHc
Twenty-ten is here. May this be a far far better year for everyone than 2009.
All the best to the producers of Domenico Selections wines. May your excellent work be rewarded with reorders.
Happy New Year to the customers of Domenico Selections. May you be blessed with lots of business, not to mention profitability.
Thanks to the sales people of Domenico Selections. May you be rich with commissions in 2010.
Best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year to the drinkers of all wines, doubly so to those who drink Domenico Selections' selections.
And bless all of you who read Muddy Boots. We hope to make this blog ever more interesting and informative as the year progresses.
Strappo hates to venture north of 66th Street on the East Side. (He hates going to the West Side at all.) Yet, today, he was filled with the spirit of adventure and lousy with Christmas cheer. He rode the 6 train all the way to 96th Street. And he kept thinking, "Are we headed for White Plains or what?"
The long long journey and the schlepp up Carnegie Hill were worth it. He went to K & D Wines and Spirits on Madison Avenue. It's a beautiful store and -- I think this may be the point of the voyage and the post -- an excellent customer of Domenico Selections. God bless them every one.
Here are a few of the phone pix he took today, with his usual "clever" captions. God help him every day.
Best sellers? I'll take the third from the right.
Another display. Il Selese with his somewhat older, suaver brother, Toni
Sorry it's so big and glary. What a bargain!
Hard at work two days before Christmas. Note delivery guy on right. New Yorkers would have air delivered if they could
There's the Zagat commendation with all the balls in the window
Noel, Noel, etc.
OK, the pic's a bit blurry. The photographer has a shaky hand. But look at the wine in the middle: Boccella Rasott, poured by the glass at this great, funky little resto-and-wine-bar. (Click for In Vino website link.)
Rasott is one of my favorite Campanian wines, a powerful organic Aglianico available by the glass at In Vino for $16. Or, of course, by the bottle. Grazie, In Vino.
Here is the label in splendid isolation:
For a couple of years now I've written about a Campanian grape that captured my affections, Tintore. We're lucky enough to have two wines on our list that contain this rarity. Both wines are from Luigi Reale, and his Borgo di Gete is one of the very few made entirely of Tintore.
Imagine my delight last evening when I saw a link, on Facebook courtesy of my amico Luciano Pignataro, to an article by Michela Guadagno, in which she reported on an event Wednesday called "Tintore Day". Here's the link to the piece, which is informative and thought-provoking if you read Italian.
I'll not attempt to translate the whole piece -- I've spent entirely too much time at the computer today and this week -- but I will pluck out some of the most interesting tidbits.
The headline makes it clear you're in a special place: Tintore is grown on a grand total of less than 10 hectares in the Amalfi Coast area (20 acres or a bit more), and just 8000 bottles are made in any given year by all the producers. And by "Amalfi Coast area" I should specify the little inland town of Tramonti, where Reale, Gaetano Bove and other protagonisti del Tintore have their wineries. This is verily the hometown of Tintore.
Our buds Fortunato Sebastiano and Luigi Reale. (Photo by Michela Guadagno, stolen without consent)
Guadagno devotes a long, dense paragraph to the roundtable presentation given by the enologo at Reale, our friend Fortunato Sebastiano. He described the history and characteristics of the grape, in effect explaining why several of the vineyards feature ancient vines (up to a century old): the variety is highly resistant to insects and mold; the grapes have thick skins which contribute to the dark color ('Tintore" means "dyer", hence its use as a coloring grape); and a bracing tannicity.
Fortunato, who studied with Italy's most respected scientist in the field, Attilio Scienza, traced the likely origins of Tintore to around 1800 AD. DNA analysis strongly suggests that Tintore is the "son" of Aglianico (masculine) and the related Tintora with its feminine flowers -- an autochthonous grape with a vengeance.
While the producers are pushing for DOC recognition for Tintore, this "local hero" is hardly known within its native zone, and it doesn't exist as far as the ampelographic powers that be are concerned.
Wines made with a large percentage of Tintore require 18-22 months ageing in wood. The rough tannicity is softened in oak, although my feeling is that these wines are released before they're ready. I understand the financial pressures small producers face, but a few more years' bottle time would benefit Tintore immensely. Reale's Borgo di Gete 2005 is only just now acquiring the tertiary characteristics that make for more than a simple, pleasant drink but, rather, a serious red that you can savor all evening long.
I'd like to see "Tintore Day" become a regular feature. Next time, though, I want to be there.
Michela Guadagno in another time, another place
On our last stop before heading to Rome for the flight home, Jeff and I stopped at an enormous wine installation outside Modena. We were there specifically to discuss the wines of of producer whose methode Champenois Lambruscos make the designation "Lambrusco" seem pathetically undescriptive and unjust. (Made from the Sorbara subvariety, not the more common Grasparossa.)
We had tasted the wines at Vinitaly. We liked them then and loved them now. Stay tuned for further developments.
You enter the restaurant through the salumeria ("Enogastronomia Famiglia Morandi"), which faces the arcade running down the length of the street. The enogastronomia is a small jewel of the finest foods of the region -- the best salamis and prosciuttos, cheeses, breads, wines, olive oils, Modena vinegars -- and the aromas are intoxicating.
You step past the counters, down a couple of steps, zigzag a bit and find yourself in a traditionally-decorated Italian dining room. (Heavy on the lace.) Roughly 14-16 people at a time eat as well as anywhere in Italy, I imagine.
The walls are lined with relics of old vertical tasting dinners -- Ch. Petrus springs to mind -- and old pictures of Modena and the Morandi family.
By the way, there is another entrance, outside of which is a tiny courtyard area for drinks. The name of the street is Vicolo Squallore -- Squalor Lane. If this be squalor, roll me in muck.
The meal was by no means one of those gut-busters that Italy so often presents to you at midday. But it was probably the most satisfying meal either Jeff or I had ever had. The starter was a small zucchini stuffed with pork and parmigiano, delicately spiced, prepared in a big padella (skillet). The cotechino fritto with zabaione, which is featured in one of Batali's books, is a stunning marriage of savory and sweet -- and, by the way, a superb pairing with the most fined of "our" producer's spumantes.
Matteo was proud of the Batali connection and noted that several of his family's recipes had shown up on Mario's menus. "We are collaborators," he beamed.
By the way, Hosteria Giusti is booked till February at this point. Reserve your part of the table, hock your diamonds and GO. Telephone: +39 059222533
One restaurant at a time
It's up! The expanded Domenico Selections website!
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PRODUCERS FROM PIEDMONT
Cascina Gilli
PRODUCERS FROM VENETO
I Stefanini
Villa Monteleone
PRODUCERS FROM TUSCANY
Piandibugnano
Schiaccionaia
PRODUCERS FROM ABRUZZO
Costantini
PRODUCERS FROM PUGLIA
Mazzone
PRODUCERS FROM CAMPANIA
Angelarosa
Boccella
Mustilli
Reale
Terra Di Vento
PRODUCERS FROM BASILICATA
Musto-Carmelitano
We searched high and low for these new producers, always aware of the basic requirement to source
good wine, full of regional and varietal character and at an attractive price.
In these hard economic times, it's why the start-up (or up-start) Domenico Selections has begun its life
prospering while others are taking a hit.
By the way, it's no accident that we are still weighted toward the South. Campania and Basilicata,
for example, still offer relatively low prices next to Tuscany and Piedmont, and their wines are not only better-
priced, they're far more typical of their terroirs that many of the "blasonati" (ballyhooed) wines of the
northerly regions.
It's been an eye-opener. Place a wine at Babbo, as we did (here), and suddenly people are doing searches for it. The effect is immediate and striking.
Strappo will be pouring twice at East Side wine shops this week. Stop by, say hi, try some wine, buy some wine at...
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