Muddy Boots

Terra di Vento in Vini d'Italia Guide for first time

We've always been big fans of the organic wines of Terra di Vento, which is located near the sea in southern Campania. Under Roberto Nicodemo, the winery has gone from strength to strength the past few years. The 100% Aglianico "Petrale" and the 100% Fiano "Faiano" have great fruit and balance, and they really sing their terroir. For the quality of the wines, they are an exceptional bargain.*

Imagine my delight this morning when I found an email from Roberto with the newest "results" of the 2012 Vini d'Italia, which is one of the better ones in the country, published by the magazine L'Espresso.

Below is a picture of the guide's review of Terra di Vento and the wines that it reviewed.

Enjoy! And brush up on your Italian...

"A brilliant debut in this Guide for this winery at the foot of the Picentine Mountains..."

*Note that the Italian prices to the consumer in euros are very similar to shelf prices here in dollars. We're lookin' out for ya.

The sweetness of American food

On her return to Italy, Chiara Martinotti, la Regina della Freisa, sent an email from Cascina Gilli. Most of the contents were business details about her recent trip to the States, but she stopped me short with a comment about the sweetness of American food.

"I found very sweet, almost childish flavors, especially in Ohio [take that, Buckeyes!]. I don't like this, but I do begin to understand the American preference for sweet drinks, including wine."

I hadn't thought about the sweetness of American food even though I've been in Italy dozens of times. It's very different here, granted, but I also don't glop up my food as so many people in America do -- you know, the sour cream on the baked potato, melty cheesoid product on everything from popcorn to noodles, heavily sugared prepared spaghetti sauce, etc. I also avoid chains like Olive Garden. But don't most aware food and wine geeks avoid that kind of thing anyway?

That observation doesn't address the larger issue of sweetness in the drinks we, as a people, prefer. After all, we oldsters have lived through many crazes having to do with sweet, unstructured alcoholic products: Mateus, cold duck (the nadir, IMO), hedonistic fruit bombs and, currently, those too-sweet fruit beers. There hasn't been one major marketing barrage pushing steely Muscadet or broad-shouldered Aglianico to the masses. Never happened, never will.

As I tiresomely point out to people, our national fondness for sweet drinks was firmly established in Colonial times. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. That rum, made from molasses, was aged in toasty oak barrels and combined with all sorts of sugars and spices to ease the weariness of the working man. Toddies and shandies and all sorts of concoctions that sound like a recipe for instant diabetes. (The rich had their Madeira and Port.) Bourbon -- treated in a pretty similar way. (Look at America's classic cocktails -- heavy on the sugars, whether via fruit or the cane variety.)

But I'd like to pose a question to all five of you who read this blog [people still write blogs? how cute!].

Do you find the food here all that sweet? That much sweeter than, say, in Italy or France? 

And are your food choices determined, in part, by the necessity of pairing them with the wines that you favor? 

Aggiornamenti -- Updates

I finally got around to updating the Domenico Selections website last night, with a number of small changes and additions. Nothing momentous, but, as we know, a well-functioning society gets that way by paying attention to details. 

* Finally added the newest wine in our lineup, the refreshing and very pretty Barbera d'Asti "Vigna delle More" from Cascina Gilli. Reason for delay? Um...

* Addition of recent scores to wine spec sheets from top American publications - for example here. (I know, I know. So craven, blablabla.)

* Correction of a couple of transposed vintage years of the L'Arco wines Pario and Rubeo. This is what happens when you're a tad dyslexic.

Open a week: Wine with a backbone

Sunday night, October 2, 2011

 

Every once in a while somebody blogs [people still blog? how cute!] or tweets a nugget like:

Mierda Hills Cabernet '00 open 3 days. Wow! Better than when I opened it, 95 pts! :))))!!

It is a marker of quality -- of excellent winemaking -- when a wine improves for some days after opening.

We all know the sinking feeling when, the evening after opening a bottle, we pour and taste and realize that, despite TLC in a wine fridge, the left-over bottle is characterless and off. So we either open a new bottle or do without wine. 

I was going to say that it "sucks," but I overcame the age's bush laziness and decided to ennoble my statement with "characterless and off." Give a guy credit for sort of trying.

Now to get to my point in under 150 words.

Friday, when I was wrestling with some cases of samples chez moi, I noticed that in a box under another box there was an open bottle from our tasting last Monday, September 26, 2011 A.D. -- that's how momentous it was, though if it had been all that momentous I'd have written "Anno Domini" despite the highest of Jewish holy days going around right now -- where am I in this sentence? I am no Addison and Steele, O! English majors.

Ah yes. I discovered an open bottle, hardly touched, of the 2005 Rosso Veronese from L'Arco. L'Arco is the winery owned and operated by Luca Fedrigo, who, as we have told everyone we've met in the recent past, learned his art from the one and only Giuseppe Quintarelli. The lad has learnt well. 

But I digress.

There was a slow-pour cap on the bottle. The bottle was hidden from the stresses of heat and cold in my apartment -- corrugated cartons have impressive insulating powers -- but, still. It had been opened and was slowly but surely aerating.

FF to now. Sunday evening. We had tuna steaks in an umami* kind of marinade, rice, bok choy. We drank the left-over, open-for-six-days Rosso Veronese with it. 

Can I tell you, without all the damn "!!!!!!!," how good the wine was after all that time? How well it paired with the umami-ish tuna and all the other fixin's? It was perfect. Delicious. Moreish.

L'Arco Rosso Veronese 2005. Some damn fine wine. And it's Luca's "base" wine at that. If that was his base...exactly, my friends. Ex. Act. Ly.

 

*I'm told the marinade was salt, pepper, garlic, white wine and olive oil. Who knew it was so simple and could deliver such yummumaminess? Hats off to anyone who can cook more than toast.

 

  

 

New York is Naples without palm trees

In their recent visit to Our Fair City, Chiara from Cascina Gilli and Francesca from Aquila del Torre expressed amazement and horror over several aspects of New York life. 

They were shocked by the amount of trash in the streets, and the rats. 

They were horrified by the desperation on the faces of the poor. And that there were so many of the poor. They were even more horrified by the evident consequences of lack of access to decent health care.

The gap between Haves and Have-nots seemed very Third World.

The noise and crowding were suffocating. Not to mention the clammy humidity. 

On another note, the food was too heavily seasoned (piccante) and the amount of black pepper on some restaurant food made it hard for them to choke down. The amount of wine poured by the glass was excessively large. Did we drink to get drunk? (Um. Sort of.)

It's good to get an outsider's view of things. And note that these Italian ladies had the same reaction as many Americans from less pitiless places, down to the pepperiness of the food. It does no good to point out that, compared to the 1970s and 80s, this New York is a dream. 

As Chiara, a self-confessed country girl, said at one point, "You are very brave to live here." This took me aback. I feel extraordinarily fortunate to live here. But...

This is what I saw. (Francesca at the Conservatory at east 106th Street, Central Park)

 

This is what they saw. Naples West, insomma

 

Hard times: VINO2012 New York cancelled

Austerity is striking deep into the heart of the government-subsidized Italian wine promo effort.

Today an email was sent regretting to inform U.S. importers that "Italian Wine Week," as we local yokels call it, will be off in 2012.

Gone is the chance for mid-winter junkets to balmy New York, often really family-winery vacations on the governo's dime. Alas, the Apple Store will be a little less crowded, not to mention Dylan's Candy Bar and, for the moneyed ones, seemingly bargain-basement prices at Saks and Bergdorf.

To rectify this situation -- to bring back VINO2012 and shore up the city's rather shaky economy -- I suggest that Berlusconi and Bloomberg join forces and tickle their own bank accounts to save the Italian wine. 

Shall we start an email chain letter? Mount a Facebook page? Are you with me on this? Or do you actually have lives?

 

Around Manhattan yesterday: One important stop

At one of our stops, the lovely and talented Francesca Ciani of Aquila del Torre (Friuli) and Chiara Martinotti of Cascina Gilli (Piemonte) 

Tuesday night at Eataly NY

Our experience pouring the wines of Cascina Gilli last night only reinforced what we already knew about that shrine to all things Italian, Eataly: The place was jammed on an ordinary Tuesday night. It's a phenomenon. It's a bloody goldmine.

Our little part in the attaction to Eataly was the tasting of three Cascina Gilli wines in the wine shop, which, according to New York State's antique laws, is required to have its own separate entrance (on 23rd Street right between the main entrance and the main exit of the food store.)

Whatever contortions the state made Eataly go through to create the wine store, this compact but ingeniously laid-out space provided us with one of the most commodious tasting stations in our fair city. Lots of glasses, lots of bread for palate-cleansing, attractive displays of the product, lots of product most conveniently on hand to be sold.

Which we did. I filled in for Chiara when things got very busy -- Friday-night busy at most shops -- but her charm and sense of humor, not to mention almost perfect American English, made her and her wines a big hit. The Barbera d'Asti in stock -- gone. The Freisa (my personal favorite), half gone. The sparkling Malvasia, at least a case down. In two fast-paced hours.

Thus is the magnetic magic of Eataly.

Of course, dealing with the public is always funny. One couple, well-born and high, enthused forever about the wines and kept asking for more tastes. Not a bottle did they buy.

A serious guy who lives in the neighborhood asked a lot of questions and went home with five bottles.

A quiet woman tasted the sparkling Malvasia and said, "It's sunshine on your tongue." We told her we were stealing that one. I guess we just did.

And I do believe that calling the Freisa "Nebbiolo in a bustier" really helped move some of that wine. Everyone likes sex, or at least something suggestive of it.

Anyway, at the end we wanted to go to the new beer garden atop the building. There was a 45 minute wait or standing-only at the bar. Waiting in line is something this one doesn't do. Sometimes you can get too popular. (I imagine so. Never having experienced it personally.)

Instead, we headed over to Apiary, and we had a delicious meal in attractive, unfrenetic surroundings. This was most welcome after the producers, both Chiara and Francesca Ciani of Aquila del Torre, had seen wide swaths of New Jersey all day long with the tireless Jeff Mazen. Tuesday was a long but highly productive day. 

 

In photo at top: La Bella e la Bestia

Yesterday at Anfora

The place. The buzz. The wines. The cool

Yes, finally we held the trade tasting that was so long heralded. The wines showed well, and the three producers we had on hand were charming and informative.

A moderate-sized crowd showed up, including good media people. And some top-flight restaurant people attended as well. Very gratifying.

Today's follow-up has been gratifying as well. 

And why not? The Valpolicella wines of Luca Fedrigo of L'Arco drew a consistent crowd. This young man of 33 has been making wine, or involved in its making, since he was 17. He worked for Quintarelli for 11 years until he broke up with Signor Giuseppe's niece. Time to leave the vinological nest.

The relations between the established great of Valpolicella and the young man with a vision are close, cooperative and warm. On a personal note, Luca and his young lady are expecting a second child. This is man who gets up at 4 AM to Skype his wife and 3-year old daughter. This is also a man who says, "I make wines that I like." No trend-chasing here.

Charming was Francesca Ciani of Aquila del Torre, and the rave comments of her organic, unoaked Friuliano (Colli Orientali) whites centered on her Friulano and the Sauvignon Blanc. We loved these wines the first time we tasted them. They possess wonderful balance and finesse. On a Ciani family note, the first person we met of that family was Francesca's brother Michele, the enologist, who became a papà just a few weeks ago. Auguri!

This is the young Italian wine generation, striving to make ever better wines, committing themselves to this often unremunerative way to make a living because it's in their blood. I mean, what would Luca Fedrigo do if he didn't make wine? The question doesn't even compute.

In case you think I forgot Chiara Martinotti, the GM and guiding hand at Cascina Gilli, how could I? Looking as elegant as any chic Upper East Side lady, she poured the three wines that we currently import: the Freisa Vigna del Forno ("Nebbiolo in a bustier"), the surprise hit sparkling Malvasia, and the newly arrived Barbera d'Asti, unoaked and fresh as a bunch of spring's early violets. Whatever I once said about Barbera d'Asti -- fuggeddabbadit. This is delicious, well-priced vino.  

I have to cut this short. Must run to a Cascina Gilli tasting at Eataly. There will be photos of the Anfora tasting soon.

 

In the Decanter tome

Some days ago I received the October issue of Decanter. Due to busyness and the intimidating bulk of the issues 376 pages, I didn't open it till today.

Among any of the Domenico Selections producers who may have submitted tasting samples to Decanter, Cascina Gilli came up smelling like a rose. Or, rather, a "ripe grapey nose with floral notes," as was used to describe their Silver-winning Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco 2010 (page 182).

Cascina Gilli also fared well with the first wine of theirs that we championed, the Freisa "Vigna del Forno" 2008 (page 183). The description: "Inky, rosy, with herbal notes. Raspberries with freesia [!] and liquorice palate. Satin texture with coffee finish."

Let's hope some discerning folk in Our Leading Restaurants and Wine Stores read Decanter deeply enough to open their minds to this very charming grape, and the winning way Gilli has with it. It's a shame that Freisa is so little known or understood. On the bright side, Decanter's Ian D'Agata notes that 40% of the Piedmont winners of awards and recognition this year are not Barolos and Barbarescos. In truth, Piedmont is about lots more than all-singing, all-dancing Nebbiolo, or Barbera, a grape more sinned against than sinning.

To conclude with comments from Ian D'Agata's lead-in, under the subhead "What should we buy from here?" he singles out the Malvasia with this comment:

Even better, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, made with the Malvasia di Schierano grape, is a lightly alcoholic (5.5%!) sparkling, sweet red that's hard not to fall in love with.

And under "What should we keep an eye on?" he again mentions both Freisa and specifically the Malvasia from Cascina Gilli. About Freisa in general:

Freisa has a lot to offer, with both a light sparkling version [which we don't bring in -- yet] and a more important oaked one [ditto]... 

Well, we are abashed in that we currently offer neither the vivace nor the oaky versions at this time. The Freisa Vigna del Forno is unoaked and, as Ian writes, has a "satin texture with coffee finish." 

This Freisa really is Nebbiolo in a bustier.

 

  

 

Why is it called "Vero" Pinot Grigio?

We sought high and low for a well-priced Pinot Grigio with a few things that other PGs tend to lack. Things like body, acidity, flavor.

That's why we selected the Pinot Grigio from La Prebenda. It's got all those things, and it's delicious. How many times have we heard, "I don't normally care for Pinot Grigio, but this..."

One thing that makes our Vero ("real") PG so unusual is that it's made 100% from Pinot Grigio grapes. One reason serious wine-drinkers avoid PGs is that most of the wines are "kitchen-sink" blends: lots of Trebbiano, some Malvasia, maybe a squirt of Chardonnay to give it a minor kick of refreshing acidity. Basically, the producers throw in any old white grape they might have in excess.

A 60% percentage of Pinot Grigio is not unusual, and in fact may be the norm. Not many are made 100% of the grape in question, and very few of those made in purezza are in Vero's price range (mostly under $15).

Another factor in making Vero so good is that it isn't grown in the flatlands of Veneto, hard by the autostrada as so many are, but way up the Adige valley at the border with Trentino-Alto Adige. Warm sunny days and brisk nights make for a more aromatic and nuanced wine.

The Zanoni family have been making wine here for just shy of 200 years, so their depth of understanding of the microclimate, soil and native grape varieties is second to none.

 

That's why we called it "Vero" Pinot Grigio. In a world of fakery, it's the real deal.

  

 

A view of the vineyards, winery and home of the Zanoni family. The "prebenda" is the church in the background. The word prebenda, or prebend in English, signifies a stipend or a living furnished to a canon (clergyman).  

How to say "Anfora"

How do you say Anfora (the ubertrendy wine bar where Domenico Selections holds its portfolio tasting on Septmber 26) -- or as in small-A anfora, the wine crockery that Gravner buries in his garden to age as was done by Georgians of yore?

AHN-for-a, kids. For you Midewesterners, "ONfora". Accent on syllable #1. Not #2. Never #2.

Repeat this pleasant-sounding, Greek-derived word 100 times and you'll get a hypnotic high.

AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora 

AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora AAAAAN-fora....

 

 

  

 

Young & innocent days: Blogs' End

Back in Aught Five, when I was still young* and filled with enthusiasm about new world-opening possibilities of blogging, I started Mondosapore, one of the handful of blogs then devoted to Italian wine in America. It had a good run and a lovely readership. But a few things happened along the way.

We started Domenico Selections. I could no longer devote the time I had been pouring into Mondosapore. Anyone who's a serious blogger quickly realizes that, as a publisher, the beast's maw is always open for new posts, even inconsequential ones. (Sadly, those were the most popular.) And as someone newly thrust into the wine business, I could no longer be as free-ranging and frank as I had been. Mondosap became peripheral.

And Twitter and Facebook came along. As a relatively early adopter of those social media, I saw that they were bound to eclipse "traditional" blogging, if a three-year-old trend can so be called, due to their simplicity and, in the case of Facebook, their ability to aggregate various source materials. First indication of change: Comments on the blog plummeted, except for our friends the international brotherhood of sleazy spammers. At the same time, comments and Likes on FB took off. Mondosap became irrelevant.

So when I recently received an email from pairNIC portentously warning me that the Mondosapore domain would expire in 90 days if I didn't pony up the money to keep it alive, I decided to let the tired old beast be put down. It still gets a decent amount of traffic for some posts that actually were informative and useful, but though I hate to lose some of that information for my own sake, enough already. Anway, the information there -- up to six years old -- has become too old to be very useful.

Addio, Mondosapore. We'll remember you fondly but not very often.

 

 

*Not yet sixty.

  

3 Bicchieri gives the nod to Serra del Prete

Serra del Prete by Musto Carmelitano is a forceful, magnificent Aglianico del Vulture from the beautifully desolate region of Basilicata. Rich with brambly fruit and loaded with true Aglianico tannins, it's hardcore Southern goodness. Added points: it's aged in cement, the vines tend to be quite old (many 40-50 years) and it's totally organic. 

So you can imagine our delight when Elisabetta Musto Carmelitano emailed us today with news that Gambero Rosso has given the 2009 Serra del Prete the nod. The premiazione ceremony will take place on October 22 in Rome. We guess Betty will be going to Rome pretty soon. And the trip and the prize will be richly deserved. Her wines are a brilliant expression of Aglianico and of the best traditions of the Mezzogiorno.

Good news week: our producers go from strength to strength

Imagine our joy when, as we stumbled from the land of Nod this AM, we saw this missive from the Queen of Freisa & Malvasia Schierano, Chiara Martinotti of Cascina Gilli. Actually, it is a rave review -- 92 points -- by Ian D'Agatha of the International Wine Acadamy in Rome and reviewer for Steven Tanzer:

There you have it, folks, in two languages. Because accolades in one language fail to convince.

Commercial interruption:

Have a party in your mouth, if you dare. Cascina Gilli Malvasia. Sparkling fruit & sweetness balanced with refreshing acidity! 

 

 

The word is out

Here it is September. We know that because the sun is setting earlier and earlier in a dismaying race to stygian darkness. [For the record, we hate stygian darkness.]

And we know it because wine customers have begun ordering again, with a merry vengeance. Not a moment too soon, and bless 'em all.

Finally, we know it's September because Domenico Selections is holding its trade tasting in two and a half weeks. It will happen at one of the hippest and happenin'est places in town, Anfora wine bar. This is exciting for us not only because it's a great venue, it's a sign that Domenico Selections has reached a certain stage of development that we can harness the resources and market interest to do this. We applaud ourselves.

Three of our producers will be on hand to add some badly needed Italian charm and deep wine knowledge to the event. We've mentioned these people a number of times, with pride and joy: Chiara Martinotti of Cascina Gilli (Piemonte), Francesca Ciani of Aquila del Torre (Friuli) and Luca Fedrigo of L'Arco (Veneto). Northern pride.

But look here -- here's the 411 on the degustazione, if people still say "the 411":

Ladies and gents, you will notice that our name is Domenico Selections, not some bootleg near miss that happens to have "DS" in the name and one or more elements of our name.

And, yes, there's more:

It's time for a plug. Our PR counsel, First Press Public Relations, of faraway romantic East 46th Street, have been champs and pros. We cherish them. 

Till the next invoice comes.

  

 

New wines, new thrills & the triumph of Hope

Recently I wrote about the new wines that had finally - finally! - arrived on these shores. I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. I still am.

I was invited to a friend's for dinner last night and decided to take along a bottle of white and a bottle of red from the new shipment. It was a risk. The red, in particular, would be still showing some "damage" from the ocean voyage; the producer counseled us to let his wines rest two months (!) before taking them out.

But, as a risk-taker or a bloody idiot, I had a motivation to take the wine to dinner: one of the guests is a wine writer for a major wire news service. I figured if anyone could get past the temporary trauma of traveled-troubled wine, this person could.

And she did. 

The white wine was one of the new entries from Aquila del Torre, the organic producer from Friuli who has been featured on MB before. The bottle is question was the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. There wasn't a huge amount of discussion about this one. I did notice that the host kept sipping and making yummy sounds. Two ladies fought over the last glass. The wine seemed to be ready for prime time.

This Sauv Blanc exhibits a little of the characteristic cat's-pee smell but on the palate last evening it was fresh, balanced, with a non-aggressive tropicality, mostly reminiscent of pineapple (naturally). There were no bell pepper notes. Acidity was under control. I imagine that it will retail for $20 -23 or so. That's a few more dollars than a NZ SB would set you back, but unlike those the Aquila del Torre edition is elegant and easy to drink - a lot of.

As I said, the red was riskier. The bottle in question was the Rùbeo blend from Luca Fedrigo at L'Arco, he of the 11-year Quintarelli apprenticeship. The Rùbeo 2005, made half of the Valpolicella blend and half of the Cabernet cousins, Franc and Sauv, and all passito, was pretty tight when we opened it. It didn't give away much on the nose, and the flavors were enticing but one-dimensional. The main impression was of the lush mouthfeel.

But, within half an hour, the wine had opened up considerably, especially on the palate. Layers of complex fruit began to reveal themselves, and you could begin to get a sense of grape varieties that had been cleverly blended to create this thrilling wine. ("Thrilling" was the first adjective that came to mind after I'd tasted it last spring.)

What had we eaten with these wines? 

Crab cakes enhanced with CSA-sourced vegetables - the Aquila del Torre Sauvignon Blanc was an accidental but inspired accompaniment.

With the hanger steak, the Rùbeo, which I confess rather overwhelmed the meat. A big roast or - that wine-writer's stand-by - game would have been a better match. 

Still, people were asking me where they could get the wine. And the wire-service lady concluded, "Let this sit for two more weeks. Then - pow! - it'll knock everybody's socks off."

**************

Those in the business (wine retail, restaurants) will get to meet Francesca Ciani (Aquila del Torre) and Luca Fedrigo (L'Arco) at our trade tasting on Monday, September 26.

 

 

 

Pecorino: Get out your spicy tuna rolls!

I first drank Pecorino a number of years ago at Lupa in New York, which was and is one of the most popular of the Bastianich-Batali eateries in town. I liked it very much. It was new (to me) and had a zesty, rather spicy, quality that made it go down real easy. I had it with cacio e pepe. Simple and utterly satisfying. Just like the wine.

A couple of years later, in the torrid summer of 2006, we visited Camillo Montori and tasted his Pecorino. Given the abysmal quality of the white wines we were encountering in the supermercati of Abruzzo, this wine was like a gift from the gods. It was a clean, zesty, oak-free charmer that helped compensate for the lack of air conditioning when temperatures were well over 100F.

Neddless to say, when we started working with the Costantini family, we were interested in the reds first -- we needed a well-priced Montepulciano d'Abruzzo with structure and excellent fruit, and we got it. We got their barriqued riserva (Tornese), which has turned into a steakhouse staple. But we had a lot of whites on the list back then, and we held off on the Pecorino.

In a way, we're glad we did. The wine has only gotten better, with more refreshing acidity and more of that slightly spicy fruit that makes me salivate just to think of.

The Costantini Pecorino 2010 came in only about two weeks ago, so the day I tasted a couple of customers on it, it was still a little dinged up from the trip. Not at its best, and I knew it wouldn't be -- I had been just eager as hell to start trotting it around.

But I have to say that the wine showed pretty well after its recent crossing. At dinner that night we drank the rest of the sample bottle. It was hot, we had no desire to heat up the kitchen, and so we ordered sushi from our favorite sushi place, Umi Sushi on East 56th.

Hello, spicy tuna roll, meet your Italian soulmate, Pecorino.

This is a white wine you'll love in summer and need, every so often, in the cooler months as well. Somehow I can't see spicy tuna roll pairing too well with Aglianico or, indeed, a California Pinot Noir. Pecorino fills the bill. And, hai, it even stands up to ginger and wasabi mustard.

****

Once not long after I first tasted Pecorino, il vino, I went to a well-self-regarded New York wine shop. I asked if they had any Pecorino. Confusion. "We don't sell any cheese here." 

That, as they say, was then. This, happily, is here and now.

 

 

 

The most distinctive Italian wine regions?

I'm going to say something that will immediately have some people writing me in outrage and feeling justified in doing so because I haven't got the inclination to provide a detailed rationale for my assertions. My assertions. My opinions. Not, you will note,"my facts."

What I provide is a list, you see. A list of the Least Distinctive Regions for Wine in Italy. (Remember: my opinions.)

Lombardia 

Emilia-Romagna

Lazio

Molise

Umbria

Calabria

By the way, "distinctiveness" does not equal "quality." So shut up about Umbria.

 

One more list is of the Most Consistently Disregarded Regions:

Campania

Basilicata

Liguria

Marche

Let the huffing and puffing begin.

 

 

Wines just in: New ones and old friends

At long last a passel of new wines have arrived and are now in our warehouse in New Jersey. Waiting for an order to get here is very much like being a little kid and waiting YEARS for December to pass and for Santa to squeeze down the chimney. Red-nosed as his reindeer, the cheerful old elf has finally landed and left us some fine new (and old) wines that we'd love to tear into and guzzle down immediately. 

Here’s what’s new in the warehouse:

• Wines from Aquila del Torre – a wonderful organic producer in the heart of the eastern Collio district of Friuli. We have their Friulano 2010, Sauvignon Blanc 2010 and their Riesling 2009. No oak, plenty of lively acidity and delicious fruit. By the way, Francesca Ciani of the family that owns AT will be pouring at our tasting on September 26. 

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• The zippy and easy to drink Pecorino 2010 from Costantini is finally — yes, in mid-August — finally here. To coin a phrase, “Try it, you’ll like it!” 

• And of course we’re thrilled to have the wines of Luca Fedrigo, L’Arco winery, finally here too. As you may recall, Luca is the young guy who worked for Quintarelli for 11 years and still collaborates with Giuseppe and the younger family members in myriad ways. The wines are gorgeous and, while not cheap, they are less costly than the famed master’s. At present we have Luca’s Rosso veronese, Ripasso, two extraordinary blends (Pario and Rubeo), and of course his Amarone. Quantities are small but our motto is: First come, first served. By the way, these are all from the 2005 vintage except for the Pario 2004.
  

        We're hoping that Luca will be able to make it to our         September 26 tasting. Fingers crossed.

By the way, in other news...

• Newly restocked & in the warehouse are some favorites -- the Boccella Taurasi 2005, Cascina Roccalini Barbaresco 2007 and the Pinot Grigio 2010 from La Prebenda.
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon!

• At the end of August we’ll be receiving the super value line (2010) from Costantini. It’s called Febe (Phoebe), and we’re getting the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and the Bianco d’Abruzzo. Meant to be floor-stacked and served by the glass. Impressive fruit and acidity.  And in spring we’re bringing in the Febe Cerasuolo 2011, the rosé made of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. If that doesn’t sound like a summer party wine, I don’t know what does. (Come to think of it, the Febe red sounds like it, too. And the Bianco. You get my drift...)

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• Lest we forget...we’re trying out the Cascina Gilli Barbera d’Asti 2009, also coming in at the end of this month. It’s unoaked, clean, straightforward — a tasty everyday wine with great fruit and balance. Sorry to say, this is the only wine that hasn’t been added to our website. Someone better remedy that real soon. By the way, the charming and very smart Chiara Martinotti of Gilli will be at the trade tasting on September 26. 

Gee, thanks, Santy Claus.