Muddy Boots

The Producer responds: Sweetness of American food

I thought I'd share further eludication on the topic of the sweetness of American food from the lady who instigated the whole thread, Chiara Martinotti of Cascina Gilli. My few comments after her para.

...To be honest it took me a few days to realize how sweet the food was there in US. At the beginning I simply felt I was really enjoying eating out, then I realized that the big cheese plate was loaded with frosted peanuts, the apparently healthy salad had caramelised strawberries on top, while the steamed salmon was topped with cherries. No wonder eating was becoming such a fun experience (yeah...I have a sweet tooth). The point is: this kind of food is anesthetizing your palate, it makes you lose in complexity and shades. They are pushing you towards an immediate, short and childish taste. Adult tastes are savour, saltiness, acidity, adult tastes often require time as well. I think quite a few Italian wines also require an "adult palate" to be fully appreciated.

OK, first off, Chiara -- you ordered a salad with what on top? Salmon with what on top? No wonder you have this viewpoint!

Granted, too many salads and salad dressings here are loaded up with sugar in addition to gloppy with greasiness thanks to excessive amounts of what purports to be cheese. But you can always bypass (key word!) that my requesting oil and vinegar, or lemon.

As to the fish, what can I say? It sounds like the wrong thing to dump on salmon. I don't care if it was farm-raised. 

I'd have to say that the excessive sweetness in a lot of American food is, in part, a matter of habit as well as the desire of the restaurateurs and food-product manages to make the customer back for more. It's the path of least resistance for everyone.

Looking at this issue diachronically -- look it up! Google makes it easy to expand your vocabulary! -- I can remember back to about 60 years ago. As a little kid, I of course went crazy for anything sweet. We had things like "tonic" (soda in American) and ice cream as treats fairly seldom. Sure, we binged candy and Halloween and baked goods at Christmas. But holidays were a completely separate category regarding food, which was a major part of why we eagerly awaited them. Now that holiday/ordinary day dichotomy is blurred to the point of insignificance. We have the national obesity epidemic to prove it.

What has this to do with wine? Nothing and everything. Even among those who drink wine frequently, there is a common theme of "I don't like sweet wines." Yet ask them what they prefer, and it's something high in sugar and well as alcohol -- California Zinfandel or Cab, Amarone, some jammy monster from Australia. Chiara commented on this, and Jeff and I, observing this preference at tastings for civilians, laugh about it all the time. We laugh but we're crying on the inside.

Well, look, I have no intention of making a lot of profound observations on the topic, nor do I wish to devote my days to researching it. It's an interesting point, which I hadn't thought much about before Chiara brought it up. And it does shed some light, if obliquely, on the ingrained American preference for sweet drinks of all sorts, wine often included. That's all.

  

 

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? 

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....

 

 

  

 

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.

  

 

ABC Wine Co. this Friday -- tomorrow

Astonishingly enough, Strappo has been invited back to the Alphabet City Wine Co. on Avenue C.

He will be pouring tomorrow (that's Friday) from 6 to 9.

They must be hard up for entertainment.

100 Avenue C (betw 6th & 7th streets)
New York NY
212.505.WINE

 

Wine's Best Friend: New York Pizza (Thursday evening)

It’s the first of New York Wine Salon’s Spring 2011 events: a pizza bash in Greenwich Village.

New York Wine Salon founder, W. R. Tish (pictured), and his crew have set up this blind pizza tasting to discover what goes best with the city's best tomato pies. White or red?

For $45 you'll be able to try an array of fine pizzas and wines from many lands. Not only that, but you'll be able to put in your two cents' worth when a panel of moronic judges, Strappo included, make pronouncements and declare pairing faves.

Note that one of the wines on offer will be Domenico Selections' very own Fiano from Terra di Vento. The NY Salon folks picked it without our knowledge. Honest.

For more details about the event, looky here: Click!

See you there, right?

Location : Alger House, 45 Downing Street, NYC 10014 (Greenwich Village) Time : 7 pm, April 28 Contact : 914-837-4853; tish@nywinesalon

 

Vinitaly 2012: new format

Elisabetta Tosi mentioned several days ago that next year, for the first time ever, Vinitaly will run from Sunday to Wednesday (April 1-4, 2012).

This has caused considerable comment; on Franco Ziliani's blog there was a post about this momentous change today, in which Franco reported the laments of some exhibitors that Drunken Sunday would continue. (The public is admitted to the trade fair on the weekend.)

Still, this change does cut the number of days, to one, in which in the drinking public is invited to lay out a heap o' change (44 euros this year, no?) and surge from stand to stand demanding tasting samples and leftover bottles. 

The plus for the exhibitors is that they will be getting all that mess out of the way on the first day and can concentrate on the trade for the rest of the period.

The rationale of this time shift is to make it more convenient for bar and restaurant owners, somms and the like to get to the fair. Historically, Mondays have been a waste of time, since many exhibitors start packing up after noon, even though they are strictly enjoined not to. And this is the only day the restaurant trade can take the time to get to the fair.

I like it because you can fly to Italy on Saturday, rest Sunday and hit the fair the other three days. You can get home and be de-lagged and totally ready for battle the following Monday. In other words, the new format takes you out of the field for a week, not almost two weeks.

___________________

 

As to Vinitaly 2011, how was it for Domenico Selections? Fast-paced, hectic, exhausting and very successful. We wrapped up several deals at/near the fair, and we will be reporting these soon.

We also got the chance to taste the wines of some of our existing producers and were especially delighted at the excellent quality we are seeing in some of our lower-priced wines. There will be quite a bit more about these producers in the coming days and weeks.

The main thing we can all say about Vinitaly now: Thank God it's over. 

New appellation system about to hit Italy

Thanks to the serendipity of the social media -- meaning, of course, Facebook and Twitter -- I discovered only last night that Italy is about to dump the beloved DOC/DOCG system in favor of a DOP system. Effective from August 1, 2009, with full compliance by the end of 2012. 

My red-faced question: How did I not know this before? 

But I digress.

Instead of the often unholy trinity of IGT, DOC and DOCG, in future we will have the duo of IGP and DOP.

IGP = Indicazione Geografica Protetta -- which is a bit less wishy-washy than the old Tipica of IGT.

DOP = Denominazione di Origine Protetta, where the Protetta is effectively no stronger or             weaker than Controllata.

Dropping the G of Garantita, as in DOCG, would seem a blow to quality and confidence. But when you consider the recurring scandals in various exalted denominations of Italy (Brunellopoli being merely the most reported), there isn't much confidence to be had.

The key thing here is really: Will the disciplinari -- the rules governing each denomination -- be changed in any way as a result of this reclassification? Will it give an opening to local groups who want to loosen the requirements for short-term gain? 

Further, it remains to be seen how this new nomenclature will affect producers in Germany, France and other EU countries, for this is, after all, a directive coming from Brussels.

To get all the essentials on this development, see this article in Italian: "Il vino passa da DOC a DOP"

 

In the interest of social media comity the world over, I'd like to thank Elliot Essman (on FB) and the guy who responded instantaneously with info and links, @stralcidivite (Twitter name of Alessandro Marra of Milano).   

 

Pairing our wines

Just the other day I posted something about Thanksgiving dinner and a wonderful wine to pair with turkey and the traditional fixin's here in the USA. The wine in question is the luscious Vigna Segreta, a single-vineyard Falanghina made by Mustilli. (Yes, Falanghina is the grape. It comes from Campania. That's in the south. Naples is the capital of Campania. Yes, you see a fair amount of garbage in Naples. Yes, the mozzarella di bufala is wonderful. I'm sure you love Tuscany, but Campania is actually nicer in a lot of areas. Not to mention the food.)

Anyway, several Facebook and Twitter friends asked me for more information of this sort, covering all of our small but choice portfolio. (I'm looking at you, Jerry Rymont.)

The problem with a self-imposed assignment like this -- aside from my initial stupidity in assuming it -- is how to organize the subject matter. By wine? By color? By relative richness/lightness? By foods to be paired with?

Since I've had no brainstorms of any kind lately, I'm not about to push for one now. Let's plunge in and see how this exercise goes -- today with the reds only, whites to follow soon. (Yes, it is exciting. Molto! Watch Strappo make a completer ass of himself.)

Only the Reds for now...

 

Scenes from Eataly NY: Opening day

My good friend, Giovanni Lovato (@gianpadano) was at Eataly for hours yesterday. He took well over 100 terrific photos, a few of which I am reproducing here with his permission.

You can view the entire album at http://picasaweb.google.com/giannidimilano/EatalyRS# -- he gives you a good initial tour of the place.

Here are some pix -- no particular order.

 Some louche character approaches Eataly

 This lady has the most pleasant voice I've ever heard. She's a doll too. 

Lydia Bastianich

Mario spent the day posing. I think he was tired of it by this time.

 Oscar Farinetti walks among the people

 Not my favorite part of the store. But it's LOCAL

 The fish is mostly local. Freshness is all

 Gianni's haul, home at last

 There's Cascina Gilli cropping up again. Quanto mi piace!

Thanks for the great pix, Gianni.

 

Our, er, "natural" wines

I debated long and hard (30 seconds) on the title of this post. The question of what a "natural" wine is has become a vexed one. Molto vexed.

There are many degrees of wine naturalness, as there are of "industrial" manipulation. 

I haven't the stomach to wade into that pool of horseshit -- I mean, aren't we pretty sick of the polemics and "gospels" of vinous purity -- and let's not talk about the inane "sustainability" at all, OK?

Forgive the negative start to this post; it's much like a theological discussion of God that begins with all that God is not, or is not supposed to be. (Apophatic theology is the technical term. It's opposed to cataphatic theology, which is roughly akin to when wine critics compile a long list of fruits, flavors, aromas and associations to describe and rate a 1-ounce pour of wine.)

Which is really an appropriate way to launch into our Domenico Selections list of wines that are described as "organic" or biologico, and either biodynamic or "on the way to BD certification."

Wine & its travel stress

Years ago wine enthusiasts -- then called "snobs" because they knew some things no one else had considered -- used to talk about wines that "didn't travel well." This was in the era when it was fashionable to mock such folk by mock-declaring stuffily, "This is an amusing little wine with the pretensions of a grand cru."

Chuckles all around.

I always suspected that one great reasons why people lamented the poor showing of a wine on this side of the Atlantic has to do less with the wine than with the subjective experiences of the lamenter. Yes, that inexpensive little Bourgueil was so pleasant because you were eating a delicious meal on a gorgeous day by the Loire and you were on vacation. Everything is going to taste better (and be better) in such circumstances.

Yet when you deal with wine every day you know that, in fact, some wines don't travel well...if they're not properly shipped.

Like all responsible importers with a heavily "natural wine" list, at Domenico Selections we have the wine picked up at the cellar in a refrigerated truck. The wine is stored in a cooled warehouse in Livorno, or Leghorn*, by Gori, the best shipper of wine in Italy, until it is ready to load on the ship, at which point it goes into a refrigerated container for the ocean voyage.

So extremes of temperature, especially of high temperature, are avoided. Score a big one for the ultimate taste and satisfaction a wine can bring.

Even with the best traveling conditions though, wines can suffer horribly during the ocean passage. We typically don't taste anybody on a wine for a month or more after its arrival in the US. Red wines seem to require this extended waiting period more than whites. I'll add that the more natural/unmanipulated a wine is, the more it seems to benefit from a long "layover" before selling.

I've no idea what the chemistry of this might be, although I do know that, empirically, this is a much-attested-to experience.

 

* I've never had occasion to write Leghorn before.  

 

 

Finding our wines: Wine Library, of course

The ubiquitous Gary Vaynerchuk and his team have built a major name for themselves in online and social media, and e-commerce is a big part of their success. For online orders, click here.

Wine Library also carries a nice cross-section of Domenico Selections wines, which do not duplicate the selections at Gary's Wine & Marketplace. Wines are easily searchable by name, region, etc. Ground shipping is available to 33 states and DC, while air shipping is available to some additional states. Click here for shipping info at WL.

By the way -- "e-commerce"? What a quaint old word. Now, thanks to merchants like Gary Vee, now it's plain old "commerce." 

Finding our wines: Gary's Wine & Marketplace

We get lots of inquiries about where to find Domenico Selections wines, whether from the NY/NJ area or far-flung states like Wisconsin, Washington and Florida. As a new company we are working hard to extend our reach to give winelovers everywhere to drink our delectable vini.

Till then, it's good to know that some of our customers ship to other states -- most, if not all.

Gary's Wine & Marketplace, based in Madison, NJ, is one of these. They have a good cross-section of our wines, and they have a convenient ordering capability on their web site: click here. 

The question for most people is: Where can Gary's ship to? 

According to the store's own site, they can ship to addresses in 36 states and DC...click here for ship-to states.