mondosapore

Reflections on the EU

It's fashionable in America and in free-trade circles, like The Economist, to belittle the EU. The old story is that the EU nanny state is an undemocratic bureaucracy that not only meddles in the lives of its citizens but is an inefficient, bloated mess that kills economic growth and stifles innovation. Such arguments are bread and butter for the acolytes of Milton Friedman and the supply side zealots of various US administrations, like the crowd who have given us the wonderful economy we have today.

As I was driving to Friuli today I couldn't help but see another, very tangible reality in today's Europe. The well-maintained highways are crowded with big rigs from every part of the Old World, including countries that aren't even in the EU, such as Serbia, Croatia. Russia and Turkey. Lots of beautiful new cars from a few dozen countries zip along at 120 or more miles per hour, stopping for gas and food at clean, efficient rest stops. They all use the euro no matter where they come from and they painlessly use credit cards and gas up with fuel made according to common specifications. Border controls, where they exist, are perfunctory.

And consider: these modern citizens of Europe speak their own languages and maintain their national identities even as they share a European space, a European purpose, where within living memory they were slaughtering one another by the millions. If this isn't an impressive achievement, I don't know what is.

And consider this: while statistics show most Europeans living longer and healthier lives than ever--yes, despite the alleged horrors of socialized medicine -- an article in today's NY Times cited recent research findings that large swaths of America are living shorter and less healthy lives...for the first time ever. While lack of health insurance seems not to be a key factor in this ominous trend, who is to say really? Less access to health care promotes different, less healthy practices in daily life. Sometimes our people give up. Hopeless people and slaves do that.

This, with Tom Friedman's condemnation of our dumb-and-dumber energy policies, indicates a massive failure to come to terms with ANY of the big problems facing us. We Americans like to make jokes about Europeans' long vacations and the corruption of places like Italy. But let me tell you from this town (Udine) near the old East/West border: Europe works quite well, and in much of the Old World the average Giuseppe or Jose' lives a longer, healthier and maybe less emarginated life than in our country. And if I were poor and/or seriously ill, I'd stand a far better chance of living longer here and not bankrupting my children to do it.

We once had these ideals of helping one another and realizing our responsibilities to the common good. We are no longer that country. We lose.

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Short + sweet

A bit overcast with brief periods of rain in Valpolicellaland today. Yet despite the outer gloom there is sunlight in my vile old heart. I spent a merry few hours tasting wine and chatting with old friends Egle and Albino Armani, whose clean monovarietal wines are well priced and eminently drinkable. Their Pinot Grigio is actually good - it has a clear, snappy flavor and a distinctive almost aromatic nose.

Such are the often pleasant revelations of the wine life.

Plus I of course have a crush (cotta) on Egle, lovely lady.

Well, enough of my late-night, clumsy-fingered ramblings on the Blackberry. As Alfonso Cevola would say, "Tired but happy, it was a dark and stormy night..."

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Danger in Valpolicella

The wonderful thing about visiting Valpolicella is that it's so scenic, so full of history, so prosperous and comfortable. That's also the most "dangerous" thing about the area. Valpolicella is the place to be in suburban Verona, and it suffers from its own version of suburban sprawl.

Compared to most American (or Italian) versions of the phenomenon, it seems relatively benign here. The scale of construction hasn't reached obnoxious levels. Yet the sheer number and density of construction cranes gives you pause. Farmland, whether of orchards or vineyards, is under strong pressures of development. Many major local routes, like SP4 near the Villa Monteleone and Masi properties, are seeing more apartments, villas and small-scale commercial buildings going up.

I've talked with some long-term residents of the area and they of course deplore all the new development. The old georgic life is falling under the weight of new money, and some of the old peace and remoteness has been lost, apparently for ever. Even an outsider like me can see it.

Still, Valpolicella remains one of those classically beautiful landscapes, one that reflects centuries of human attention and patrimonial wealth. Under pressure? But you have to hope that its wealth will somehow protect and prevent Valpolicella from succumbing to the more wretched aspects of modern overdevelopment.

We've had some lovely wines and encounters. I'll report after I get home and can liven up the posts with pictures.

A presto!

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If this is Tuesday it must be Friuli

I'm leaving today for Veneto, Friuli and Campania.  To see the landscape in an advanced state of spring and to see how the vines are budding.  To taste and re-taste the wines at Aquila del Torre, I Clivi and Dall'Abaco Fedrigoni in the North and various of Fortunato Sebastiano's clients from the South.

I won't have my laptop with me because Internet access is so spotty, and Wi-Fi is all but impossible to find outside of major towns.  But I will post on my trusty BlackBerry, with pictures to be added after my return. 

A presto!

Hello in there

When I said it was blog fatigue, I wasn't lying. 

Too busy with other stuff to think about blogging.  The "press of business" or something like that.  Catching up on my blog reading.  Still trying to decipher Cevola's allusions and elisions. 

There's more to it than that, of course.  I've been talking with some close associates.  I've been having a dialogue between my own Self and my Soul.  At least one of them is deeply dissatisfied with my work.

I think it's time

Pure as the driven soot

No, ladies and gents, the Brunello scandal isn't going away, no matter how much some people wish they could "disappear it" and the people who won't let the thing go. 

Yesterday I asked Andrea Gori what was going on over there.  I mentioned that we were still getting aftershocks but the Big One seemed to have ended.  I wondered if a kind of Tuscan omertà was stalling the necessary cleaning of Montalcino's Augean stables.

That's a big 10-4, good buddy.

Andrea wrote:

"People there are saying things were a lot better before the scandal broke.  They're just trying to forget it.  So while the bottles of Frescobaldi, Antinori and Banfi have been impounded (and the magistrates oppose this impoundment), the other producers are moving ahead.  They've got this idea in their heads, that if everybody in Italy did like them, 99% of DOC wines would be disqualified.  [So...what? me worry?]

"So it suits everyone to say that 'nothing' happened at Montalcino.  Mamma mia...

"I don't know what else to tell you except that for now there's a general sense of condoning it."

No one wants to rock the money boat, of course.  It doesn't matter that one of the proudest appellations in Italy has been besmirched.  There's a widespread feeling of So?  Everybody does it.

Which sticks in my craw because of the money the big guys make from Brunello.  Money schmucks like us fork over for a highly rated bottle. (NB: Who reviews this stuff??)  And because I know some small producers whose wines are honestly, beautifully made.  They'll suffer, too, till the stables are shoveled, swept and scrubbed clean.

Andrea also sent me yesterday morning's post from Franco Ziliani.  Franco, as some of you may know, is a fine writer and a sometimes too zealous prosecutor for the truth.  (He can be rather

New wine blogs

Remember when I asked about blog fatigue -- blog-writing fatigue -- several weeks ago?  Well, boy, have I got it now.  It's been quite some time since it hit me, but it's here, really here. 

Ken's been saying all day, "You haven't posted.  You haven't posted.  You still haven't posted."  He was subtly reminding me, "Your multitude of fans are craving their daily mondosapore fix."  I bow to Duty; at heart I am a Victorian.  (A dirty one but still a Victorian.)

...............................................................

One way to combat said fatigue and stay involved in the wine memesphere [a neologism!] is to delve into fresh new blogs and related websites.  Just the thing when you're too busy or tired to actually get up and go somewhere and do something.

First let me mention a brand-new blog that talks about the wine biz in terms of research numbers, trends, and so forth.  Italian Wine News is the brainchild of "gattorosso" (red cat, not to be confused with Ken's "Gattonero"), a journalist based in Milan.  Gattorosso does us English-speaking lovers of Italian wine the great service of translating from Italian significant pieces of research that point to trends in wine consumption and production.  He also provides links to English-language sites that themselves present news in the language of Shakespeare and Tracy Morgan. Vinowire is one such.

Less new but interesting and knowledgeable -- and very plugged in to the Tuscan wine scene "on the ground" -- is the young sommelier Andrea Gori, whose Vino da Burde deals with wine encounters in many parts of Italy and in Germany (his wife's homeland).  Several of his posts are available in English.  I'll be printing some interesting things from him quite soon.

Finally, I have "met" at last the ubiquitous Neville Blech, a frequent commenter on Jancis Robinson's site.  Neville and his wife Sonia, who is French and Italian, have been immersed in the wine and food scene in Britain for many years. And not just in Britain. 

Neville and Sonia were just in Ronda, Spain for the Wine Creator meeting, where Carlo Ferrini was given an award and had some interesting things to say about the Brunello scandal.  I expect to be meeting Neville at Filippo Ronco's Terroir Vino wine exposition in Genoa on June 16.  And here is his web site, which he shares with Sonia.  Great perspectives on wine, restaurants and lodgings in some of the best, most interesting places.

Buona Pasqua Ebrea (Happy Passover)

May you drink good wine and not have to read the whole Haggadah!

Card from http://sharonsharon.wordpress.com/category/passover/

I am found wrong

Hard to believe, no?

Eric Asimov just pointed out that vin jaune is not sweet, just more intense than the plain Savagnin.  Color me pomodoro red, friends. Maybe I was more hungover than I thought.

One more observation about this papal thing.  The hispanization of the RC in America is dramatically on display here.  As is the youth of the Hispanic faithful, in marked contrast to the older-skewing "white ethnics" in the crowd.

Some protestant evangelist is getting shouted down by the crowd. In Spanish and in song, good-naturedly. 

Maybe I can defuse the situation by expressing my views about it all...

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Big cheers and Vatican flags

HF has emerged.  I guess.  People are starting to leave, the barriers are being removed.  The popemobile must have taken off.  HF has a synagogue to attend tonight. 

I wonder how the groups from places like Riverside, CA feel now.  Anticlimax City? 

Barack ought to get his elitist ass over here and connect with this crowd.  His weakest psychographic.

Peace out. As they say.

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Waiting 4 da Pope

Very exciting. First avenue shut down masses of cops and firemen standing around, staring at the UN. What happens if someone really needs help?

Sidewalks barricaded, people standing patiently for, I guess, a glimpse of the popemobile.  Can't get closer than 49th street. 

They seemed pepped and prepped to see the HF.  In the distance they're singing hymns, or maybe soccer chants. 

Its a gorgeous day out, so what.  The helicopters add an oddly festive element.  Watching the people watching. Let's move on, shall we?  Anyway, Gabrio keeps calling and I've been rudely dumping his calls. Probably excited by Benny's visit too.

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Wines with Julie

I have long thought that our friend Julie should have a salon in the 18th Century style. She has a wide range of friends in various professions.  She reads everything.   She's interesting and articulate with strong views on politics, the economy (she spent her career as a researcher in finance and her take on America's short- and long-term prospects is sobering), the arts and virtually everything else.  You may disagree with her, but you learn something too.

One of the few things that I know more about than she is wine. (And, as it turned out, Indo-European lingustics.)

I served her three wines last night.  For aperitif, Jacques Puffeney's Savagnin 2004...

Pink season

The afternoon sun is streaming in even though the shades are drawn.  It's brutal in this apartment from April till Septmber.  The ordinary sounds of the city -- especially the crazed pack of dogs escorted by one especially crazed dog walker, the bald nut who lives on 53rd Street -- have a new hum today, the humming of a hundred helicopters (not that many but I liked the alliteration) that fly in place, guarding the Pope.  Yes, Benedict is in New York.  Traffic will be an utter mess tomorrow, God bless him.

I sit in this warm light and wonder what wine will His Holiness drink tonight?  A luscious Riesling from his homeland?  A heart-healthy red from Madiran?  A dry, mineraly rosato from Tuscany? 

Ah, rosé.  The problem of rosé perplexes me.  So many Italian producers make one.  I tell them, "Well...I'm not so sure.  It's too seasonal.  It sits on the shelves.  I know it's getting bigger here but in America..."  Shrug.

I've sort of believed that.  Mostly, it's just that I can't work up a lot of enthusiasm for the pink stuff. 

My partner in wine misadventures, Jeff, told me today that a retailer friend in New Jersey has quite another take on rosé.  It's finally catching on.  The dry kind, not the sort of icky sticky stuff that used to prevail.  "People want something that goes with a lot of different kinds of food.  Something clean that doesn't interfere with what they're eating.  And it's a year-round thing." 

I'm happy to be proven wrong.  If the long-promoted pink-wine trend has finally begun to gain traction, fine.  I might buy more than a bottle of it a year.  Maybe I'll go wild and buy half-a-case for summertime meals.  But something about rosé makes me feel dissatisfied with myself. 

It's like when you're breaking up with someone.  "It isn't you.  It's me.  You deserve someone better than me."
Translation: "I am sooooo out of your league."

Know what I mean?

Does anyone else have a policy statement on rosé?  Or is it really me??

And, to arc cleverly back to the beginning, what would the Pope drink if they didn't make him drink Zinfandel or something?

 

Bush greets Pope

He actually said, "Pox takem"!

Can't help myself. It really brightened my day.

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Conca d'Oro, friendly B&B in Valpolicella

If you're staying in the Verona area, you'll quickly realize the hotels are a bit dismal.  Very expensive and fusty.  The B&Bs and agriturismi are much more pleasant and cost far less, too.

For this year's Vinitaly we stayed at a friendly B&B on the outskirts of a tiny, charming village called San Giorgio di Valpolicella.  It is obscure, but you know it is a frazione of Sant'Ambrogio in Valpolicella.  Of course I'm kidding around -- these semi-rural places are to the northwest of Verona and are effectively removed from the congestion and hassle of the big town.  Lots of excellent wineries are in and around S. Giorgio and the township of S. Ambrogio, so it's a good base to explore the Valpolicella zone.

Above: Room with a view

Owned by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Zorzi, and his wife, Conca d'Oro is in a location with great views of the valley and, especially from the breakfast/dining room, of Lake Garda.  They give you a nice breakfast and will make your coffee any way you want...and as many pots as you want.  Essential when you've been at Vinitaly all day and then at a bibulous dinner till very very late. 

The prices are reasonable.  We paid 70 euros a night at a time when Best Westerns right by the autostrada were going for hundreds.  Believe me, it was far nicer waking up to birdsong and the smell of blossoms than the roar of trucks and the smell of diesel. 

Best of all, we were in walking distance (all vertical) of a stunning Dark Ages church in S. Giorgio itself.  It's a beautiful, untouristed little town with a grand view of Lake Garda far far below.  We spent a fews hours relaxing at a little cafe in the piazza, where we had cheap but good wine and delicious snacks.  The tables catch all the sun in the world, and it feels like a spot to stay in forever.

If you think you might stay at Conca d'Oro, click here. 

Two things, though.  Better have a navigational system.  Better be prepared to speak Italian or French.  Or Latin, since the signora is a retired Classics teacher.

Picture makes the church look big.  It is not.  Dates from Eighth Century. Odd bit of info: Couples come from all over Italy to be married there.  Maybe it has something to do with the altar which was repurposed from pagan animal-sacrifice altar/carving board?

NB:  We have already reserved our rooms for next Vinitaly.

Another part of the view

Appointment in Genoa, June 16

Filippo Ronco, the young wine-web entrepreneur, has organized the fourth Terroir Vino show, which will be held this year on June 16 in the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa.  The one-day event is highly regarded for the quality of the wineries selected -- which are often small aziende that have no other important forum to introduce themselves to the trade, the press or the public.  The wineries are selected by a tasting panel and, as noted on the TigullioVino web site, this selection rewards winemakers and wines that, beyond their high quality level and excellent quality-price ratio, have also managed to impart a strong emotion, and the respect of their grape varieties or their terroir. In other words not necessarily or not only "trendy wines"  or "top flight wines", but rather wines that deserve attention for their quality, originality and ease of drinking.

A good philosophy for the winelover who is at once adventurous and practical. 

At last year's event in Rapallo there were about 90 wineries on hand (a number from southern France), plus some producers of excellent olive oils and various foods.  It was a wonderful place to meet "new" winemakers and people in the business, not to mention passionate amateurs of wine. 

Check out the TigullioVino site for information about Terroir Vino in English:  click here.

Bad media, bad bad media

One thing I love about Italy is that its politicians are even more mendacious and idiotic than our own.  That's why I'm lovin' it -- the agricultural minister's vow to investigate and punish the media, ergo the politically out L'Espresso, for their (I suppose) hate crimes against Italy itself.  I.E., pooping on Italy's exports in the all-important wine and food sectors.  You know, the notorious Velenitaly cover.  Quel horreur, quel scandale, etc.  No doubt Garibaldi weeps in heaven.  All this false outrage, all these toothless declarations to root out and punish malefactors, etc. Brunellopoli is Tangentopoli with slightly different players.  As is the wine-adulteration scandal in Veneto.  Same old...

Read the mercifully brief report on Vinowire.

The anguish of Paolo De Castro, agricultural minister

Walking through Union Square

I feel stoned as I saunter along. I'm not, unfortunately, but it's that kind of April afternoon. Maybe because I was just listening to Eight Miles High, not the Bryan Ferry cover.

Some guy in a hybrid macomble' mardi gras getup is ranting at the slackers sitting on the steps facing 14th Street. The sun just came out, the NYU kids are laughing at him. He's taking his raggedy few belongings and exits shrieking.

Feels like the mid 60s but without fervor. I realize there is something wrong with the description but, as mentioned, I feel stoned.

My real problem is what wine to get for this evening. Red, I think. Light and clean and not over 20 bucks. Any suggestions, O my People?

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Worst wine retailer?

What makes a wine retailer a bad one?  Which one or ones do you specifically find "bad," however you may define that term here?

I would like to know.  And maybe you would like to vent.

I'll give you an example based on my experiences with a fairly well-known wine store on the Upper East Side.  The sales people are rude, condescending, aggressively push whatever junk they've overbought and handle delivery and billing problems with all the grace of Talibanis at a bar mitzvah. 

What's your choice for worst or, to put a positive spin on it, least favorite wine store?  What do they do that gripes you?  What word of advice would you give them?

The definitive word on "Velenitaly"?

Fellow blogger and wine journalist, Elisabetta Tosi, sent me an urgent email over night, asking if I would publish the following article in English.  She has already published it in Italian (click here) on VinoPigro.  In it she lays out exactly what the adulteration was of the wines that I wrote about, in a rather jocular and perhaps exaggerated way, in Cagopoli last week.  What I heard "on the ground" in Verona was a lot more revolting than what is being spoken of officially.

As you may know, this story, broken in a sensationalistic way by L'Espresso as Velenitaly, smack in the middle of the country's wine showcase to the world, created a furore.  Not for its substance but for the bad image it created of Italy and its food and wine -- along with the Brunellopoli scandal, of which a small portion of the wrong-doing has been exposed or is likely to be. 

In any case, I think the outcry has been excessive and disingenuous.  Not to mention a little hysterical.  But a potent combination of national pride and wounded bank accounts has made everyone terribly sensitive.

Truth hurts.  Will also set free.




Anyway, read on for Lizzy's clarification...

Birthday surprise at Can Can Brasserie, Richmond

I just got back from a lovely dinner at Can Can Brasserie, which is a hoppin' spot with good food and wine in the only alive part of Richmond, Carytown.  I've written about it before (click here).  My daughter and I went there this evening to celebrate my birthday.  We had ordered our plates and first drinks (I had a pleasant, off-dry Vouvray to start, then ordered a half-carafe of very passable Corbieres, which I thought would be a nice complement to my breast of duck.)

Much to our amusement, the man I thought was the owner showed up at the next table with 2 Champagne flutes and a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier.  Oops, not them.  I heard something about a birthday and said, "That's funny, it's my birthday too."  A few seconds later, the distinguished gentleman with the glasses appears at our table and explains that someone named Ken ordered this.  Ken!  What a thoughtful thing to do!  As he was wending his way across the Atlantic, back to Italy already.  My daughter was impressed.

As it turns out, the distinguished gentleman who seems always to be on duty at Can Can is named Bob Talcott.  He does the wine thang there, and given the brasserie theme, he creates good lists of drinkable and affordable French wines by the glass.  The by-the-bottle list is elsewhere, I assume; I've never seen it, but I'm sure it's interesting.

But here's the beauty part.  His real love is Italian wine.  He mourns not having the time to attend Vinitaly this year or for several years, after having been there a number of times before.  We could have spent hours gabbing about Italian wine but, alas, he had his Duty to attend to. 

I have the leftover Champagne here in my room.  It's very dry as Ken knows I detest high dosage, not horribly complex, but laser-sharp in its acidity and clean fruit.  Delish.  Grazie, Ken...

In Total Wine, W. Broad St., Richmond

Italian section is comical. OK selection of Piemontese and Venetan wines. Three -- count 'em -- three sections of Pinot Grigio ("wine for people who don't really like wine"?). A zillion Chiantis, most from obscure houses...and flasks in basket!

The Southern Italian section is truly dismal. Wine stains on some bottles, no doubt due to "heat treatment." And these are supposed to be discount prices? Hah!

Italian wine evangelists needed here!

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An accidental tasting

I'm sitting at JFK awaiting my flight to Richmond, where I'll spend the weekend with my daughter. So as I kill time softly with biscuits and Champagne, I reflect on last night's accidental tasting discovery.

I was drinking the remains of a recently bottled Brunello that has won some praise from wine reviewers in Italy. It was round, smooth, a little sweet on the finish. Fruit was muted.

I wanted something a little more refreshing with dinner, so I opened a bottle of the base Valpolicella of Villa Monteleone, which is located precisely across the lane from the Masi manse.

As you might expect, the acidity and fruit of the Valpolicella was vibrant and appealing. Despite its being the azienda's lowest cost wine, it still exhibited an earthy complexity.

But here's the kicker. When I retasted the Brunello its wood and clunky "bigness" were unbearable. I could taste the spoofilation in it. And, believe me, this Brunello was far from being Sangiovese in purezza. Furthermore, if the producer swore up and down that the wine was all SG, as it is supposed to be, I'd be forced to accuse him of doing grievous harm to that variety.

I dumped the rest of the Brunello and saved the Valpolicella. Always save the well-made wine, even if you won't be around to drink it up for a couple of days.

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We visit the reptile house

Eeewww!  I'm touching a snake

"A Day at the Zoo," created by wineindulgence

My plans for Mark Penn

Yes, Mr. Penn called me as I was flying from Venice to New York.  As I mentioned in a previous postlet, he left an overly cheery voice message.  I called him the next day -- that would be Wednesday, April 9 -- and told him to come to my place on Thursday late in the day. 

He arrived at 5PM on the button.  He entered laughing, full of bonhomie and nonchalance and as Gallically debonair as on overweight, unemployed man d'un certain age with a comb-over can be.

"Here I am, Thomas, back a lot sooner than I thought I might be!"  He guffawed in a Falstaffian way.  I bade him site in exactly the same spot as before.  The cleaning lady had just plumped up all the pillows, so his hemorrhoids were lucky. 

I was cool.  Very different from last time.  I think I was overeager then.  Unlike politicians and Britney Spears, I learn from my mistakes. "Thanks for coming over, Mark -- you don't mind if I call you Mark, do you? I feel like we know each other so well."

"Indeed!  Please call me Mark!  All my friends do.  And my wife!"  A beat.  "And Hillary!" 

No laugh from me.  Let his flop sweat begin.  We were here to talk strategy, tactics. And a low low price.

Alla Centrale, steak heaven near Venice

We met Paolo and Dana a few months ago in Venice, by way of Giampiero Nadali.  We hadn't much time to talk that time but we vowed to meet for dinner at a good place, not in Venice proper, where real, local people actually go.  I figured such places must exist but had no idea where.

As it turned out, our hotel near Venice airport was a few minutes' walk from Paolo and Dana's place.  They picked us up and we drove for about 40 minutes into the countryside to Alla Centrale, which they told us was a really good steak restaurant.  It was fantastic, and the portions were enormous.  It was like eating in America but, of course, the stuff tasted better.  The kids (they're kids to me) have written about this rollicking, wine-lubricated evening on their blog, wine indulgence (click here for the account of our night Alla Centrale).  It has the advantage of being written in English (by Dana, who is from Long Island) and in Italian by Paolo, a native Venetian who gets the sconto veneziano when he's in the city itself.  This sconto benefited us last time, on the order of 50%.  Yes, in Venice a visitor pays double for everything.  What you suspected is true; it gripes non-Venetian Italians too.

Both Dana and Paolo are studying to be sommeliers.  They hope to come and work in New York. 

By the way, the tab at Alla Centrale for massive amounts of excellent beef of two kinds and two bottles of wine, plus aperitifs and sides, was something a little over 200 euros.  For four people.  That same feast would have cost about 200 a person in Venice. And it wouldn't have been anywhere near as good.

Alla Centrale

via Cornarotta 61

Robegano, Veneto

Tel. +39 041.574.00.22

Another reason to despise Elton John

First Diana, now Hillary.  Where will it end?  I feel a certain nauseous pressure building.  The man clearly -- clearly -- has negative zero taste.

Photo by a strong-stomached Mike Segar of Reuters

Visions of Vinitaly 2009: Io, pezzo grosso

Pezzo grosso means "big shot" -- literally "big piece" but let's not overinterpret -- and not for the first time I've thought about the absence of pezzi grossi from the endless pavilions of Vinitaly.  I mean, what's Vinitaly like for Jancis Robinson and her husband, food critic Nick Lander?  For Robert Parker or, more likely, one of his minions?  For James Suckling, who probably has to show up with a half-dozen huge, hairy and strikingly handsome bodyguards?   And what if you're one of the politically connected Italian journalists who never has to stand in line for press passes or a chance to speak with and write puff pieces on  winemakers/merchants who are themselves pezzi grossi, even international wine-media stars?

"Imaging" or directed daydreaming or whatever it was called in those management books of the 80s emphasized the importance of creating scenarios in your mind, partly to rehearse desired outcomes of a meeting, negotiation or guerrilla attack.  And partly to consider alternatives, to open your stale corporate mind to new possibilities for success, riches and assorted triumphs of the will.  So here, boys and girls, is my self-fulfilling proleptic vision of ultimate Vinitaly privilege...

<---- Typical pezzo grosso

Twittering. Will I regret it?

mondosapore

My twitter handle.  You can send your most fleeting and moronic thoughts to me, and I will reciprocate!  I feel even sillier than when I did the facebook thing.  Like FB, I'm betting the twitter phenomenon will blow over.  Do you?

Now that I think of it, just send me emails.  I get them everywhere on my blessed Blackberry and I tend to check them and reply obsessively.  And it doesn't cost me any extra!  It's part of my measly little $300 a month Verizon package! 

Delicious on focaccia

Search terms that just led someone to this site:

is rogaine kosher for passover

Spring has not sprung

In cab from JFK to Manhattan. Everything still looks bleak and wintry. The sky is clear at least.

Got through passport and customs controls fairly quickly despite the hordes of people who landed at the same time. Most were non-US citizens. Most were jammed up awaiting connecting flights.

One piece of very interesting news: mark Penn had left me a rather overly cheery message while I was in flight.

More later!

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At the gate in Venice

A light rain. Smell of salt marsh. A quiet morning near Venice.

We've boarded, are sitting in roomy exit row seats, right by the WCs. It's something of a shock to hear so many Americans speaking un-Italianized English.
We bought good salami and bread near where we spent the night. The iPods are in reach, the dopey paperbacks, all we need now is a glass of wine. I think I can sleep all the way.

Ken will and will allow himself to conk out early when we get home. He's got to return in four days and is going to stay on a European schedule. Makes sense. The jet lag is far worse going east than it is returning to the US.

Vinitaly is of course exhausting. It's immense and there's far too much to do, taste and say to the hundreds of people you meet. It's also exhilarating, it peps you up and deepens your appreciation of the wines and the folks who devote their lives to them. It is definitely a pilgrimage worth making if you can.

I've said this many times, but I feel I must say it again. I'm glad to get back to my own bed and my computer. But I already miss Italy.

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Almost over: Vinitaly 2008

Back to the madness in the morning for a short meeting. Then to an airport hotel at Venice to sack out before the flight to New York.

So tired tonight we can't leave the B and B to go get dinner.

Tonight's menu:

Airline cookies and a clean, delicious Puglian Malvasia. Oh and a banana left over from breakfast and a sleeping pill. Isn't that how Marilyn died?

I'll take my chances.

Damn, I had a couple of things I really wanted to tell you. What were they?

Oh! Right! Jeff and I went to the Albino Armani dinner at the main cantina and tasting hall in Dolce', right by the border with Trentino. Jeff met Egle and was, of course, knocked out by her beauty and utterly charming personality. How could you not be?

This was also his introduction to Armani wines, which bowled him over with theit verve and typicity...at very honest prices, as they say here.

Jeff later took the tour of the cantina, led by the Armani marketing director Giampiero Sappa. Jeff was impressed by Giampiero's knowledge and by the superclean, advanced technology providing excellent quality control. Armani makes over 400,000 bottles of wine yearly but has not succumbed to an industrial approach.

At dinner we met two guys with interesting perspectives on the German and Eastern European wine markets. One, Raffaele Giordano, worked for Cavit for many years. He works for Armani in Germany and also has all of "Iron Curtain" Europe as his territory. He told us that Armani's Foja Tonda is doing very well: it was the first Armani wine he really pushed because it is an unusual red from an almost lost grape. Albino "rescued" and developed it. Foja Tonda is their most distinctive product and a perfect lead-in to other Armani offerings. As I've written before, they are all charactised by a clean, well-balanced attack on the palate, full of typical fruit, for the most part enhanced by the absence -- or light touch -- of oak. And all are fairly priced, very many in the $15 range retail.

Another dinner companion, a wine importer from Munich named Milanko, pointed out just how important Germany is to Italian producers. Currently, 70% of all wine consumed in Germany is from Italy. Domestic production isn't big enough to meet demand. Nor is the predominantly white wine produced there right to satisfy the German desire for red wines.

Nob surprisingly, this huge success on the vino front has paralleled a similar triumph of Italain food throughout Germany. I'll bet the trend operates in Poland, which smitten with all things Italian. You know, they're Catholics who know how to enjoy life down there in the olive groves.

Don't we all love Italy for those anachronistic arcadian visions?

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Mondosapore meets a fan

...A big fan, around 6-5.

While I was talking with the fine young winemaker from Friuli, Michele Ciani, I saw a tall and very Irish-looking guy giving me a strange stare. He came up and said, "Aren't you Terry Hughes of mondosapore?"

"I am."

He bowed in obeisance, which is something even my favorite beagle could never bring herself to do. "I read mondosapore all the time. I love your perspective on Italian wine. You tell it like it is. The regular wine press is just..." An Italianate shrug.

This big fan is Daniel O'Byrne, a Californian who lives in Greve, Chianti, with his wife Jacqueline Bolli. She herself is Italian and Irish. Nice to see such a Hibernian presence in Tuscany.

Jacqueline's father started their Montecalvi winery 20 years ago, and the first commercial release was in 1995. The couple has followed the no-spoofilation path by, for example, using no purchased yeasts and minimal sulfur. They tend to leave the wine alone..

I tasted their three wines today. They are highly tannic, have great structure and still are looking for the right balance. The fruit is sound, the use of wood is restrained, but for the American market at least the prominent tannins represent a bit of a problem. As usual, I liked the wines more than Ken. Assertive tannins aren't his thing. I think these wines have the stuff to age well, which may be the issue: few Americans have the space or inclination to lay down such uncompromising wines.

Montecalvi's production is quite small anyway, and Daniel acknowledges that these are niche wines. The wines are now available in the States.

It will be interesting to follow their development over the next few years.

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Cagopoli

I was told about this in confidence but it seems to be open knowledge now.

Some producers of ultra-cheap bulk wines, which show up on cut-rate supermarket shelves and are bought by the poorest citizens of Italy, are adulterated with dirt/mud and shit shipped in large bags all the way from China. Which means human shit.

I do hope you aren't reading this at breakfast.

What's more, the proximate origin of these treats is Puglia and the destination is Veneto. It is nice to see the North and the Mezzogiorno working in perfect harmony.

Why, you might well ask, would anyone do this? Greed, of course. Foul matter is added to the must of the offending producers' to bulk it up and add, um, substance to some very thin wine. I shall assume it is not white wine.

Italian fraud authorities are said to be coming down hard on this nth case of recent wine fraud/adulteration. Clearly, this is as much of a crisis period as the methanol scandal of the 1980s. The country's wine image is sullied (probably more at home than abroad in this case) and a cloud hangs over some of Italy's biggest if not truly best houses.

Like many others, this particularly disgusting scandal, which entails the rich possibility of harm to the most vulnerable segment of society, stinks of an inhuman disregard for the people's well-being. The cynicism of the web of deals that led to the current situation is beyond the comprehension of anyone who is not, shall we say, a sociopath.

And of course it's a slap in the face to the thousands of honest, hard-working men and women who pour their souls into their vines and the delicious, pure wines they make. Italy has, thank God, many more of these lovely people than it has the greedy bastards who have created Shit City - Cagopoli.

All power to the salt of the earth, winemaking contingent.

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Vinitaly: My 15 seconds of fame!

My 15 seconds of fame in fact.  Luciano Pignataro of Il Mattino contacted me before I left New York, asking if I would like to be interviewed in his paper, the major daily of the southern mainland (in Naples).  I said yes, and the exciting results and my authoritative comments on vino italiano are at this location. 

I value Luciano'a attention because he really is the most knowledgeable and probably the most discerning writer on southern Italian wine and food today.  His web site is an awesome resource, some of it in English.

Thanks to a very heavy schedule introducing Jeff to a number of small but excellent producers (those unknown gems I'm so fond of), I haven't had any time to hang with a large number of both American and Italian friends.  How much "hanging" there might be is debatable anyway, since everyone is wildly busy.

Last night we had dinner with a young (very young) producer of Valpolicella named Tommaso Bianchi, and his entire family and that essential person, his enologo.  These young guys are doing some fantastic things, and their base Val is to me a perfect expression of that wine: loaded with cherries, light, well-balanced and clean clean clean.  The name of the winery is Dall'Abaco Federgoni, which has a long and interesting history as an estate if not a winery, which in its current incarnation is not very old.  However, most of the vines producing today are at least 20 years old.  I'll save the full story till much later. 

I must add, however, that Tommaso's parents and brother are charming, smart and warmly welcoming.  Ken signaled to me that it was getting late (after an early and tiring day).  "No it's not," I said.  "Yes it is," he said.  "It's one o'clock."  We got back to the B&B near two and asleep around three.  And up at seven. 

The cliche time flies when you're having fun was never more appropriate.  By the way, Tommaso's lovely mother, Silvia, is a "solar" personality as they say here, chic and lovely, not to mention a great cook.  I was fascinated to learn more about the history of the estate, back to Roman times at least, and to hear some of the homey details of Silvia's family, as if the mid 19th century were a couple of years ago.  (OK, I was smitten.)

I must also add that Massimo, the enologo, is a young man who favors a fairly restrained style of Amarone  and has a wonderful touch with the basic Valpolicella.  He's really at the start of his career, and I fervently hope that he and Tommaso maintain a long partnership.

I got to the fair today very late -- at 2:30 -- because we spent a wonderful morning with Lucia Raimondi of Villa Monteleone, whose Valpolicellas are of a more traditional, austere style than Tommaso Bianchi's.  Her ripasso, named San Vito, is her best wine according to three visiting Americans.  It's also her personal favorite.  I've written about it before.  I should say more about Villa Monteleone and its storia sentimentale, which is quite moving and romantic.  The story illustrates the importance the wine holds for Lucia and her family, and explains her commitment to holding high standards.   

Tomorrow will be our last day here in Verona.  We want to explore the wines of Sardinia and then head for Villa Favorita and VinNatur in the afternoon. 

We head for the Venice airport hotel (what a glamorous destination!) on Monday and to New York on Tuesday morning.  Oh grand!  More jetlag!

BTW, sorry for no pix.  I can't download  them on the VI computers.  Plus, you know, I've been schlepping the camera around but have yet to take one picture.  Jeff's been a far far better Vinitaly citizen than I.

Vinitaly bulletins

1. Seems as big and foot-punishing as before but the American presence seems reduced. SEEMS being the operative word here.

2. It also seems to be a good place to meet people who otherwise haunt the blogosphere. Wolfgang Weber, Ronald who lives at Padova, Giampiero of Aristide, Lizzy of vinopigro and more.

3. The food inside the walls of the fair still sucks. The wine sold in the caffs is low-grade Bolla. Inspired choice.

4. Golly, another big wine scandal is brewing! It has to do with -- I can't say yet. I can tell you it isn't about Brunello.

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At night in San Giorgio di Valpolicella

We are jetlagged but well fed. Went to a local hangout that was highly recommended by a local, a pleasant young woman in SG who runs a cafe with a spectacular view of southern Lake Garda. The village has a church dating to the Dark Ages, 8th century, into which was incorporated a pagan sacrifice altar in use as such until then. Wasn't Christianity supposed to have triumphed centuries before? Ah the simplifications of Official Stories.

The church is striking in its Dark Ages poverty and severity. Inspiring in its harsh expression of the survival principle.

Back to the important thing, dinner. We ate in Monte at a place named Cadelapela. Well and most amply for under 50 euros. For three. With a bottle of wine. A good find.

Back at the B n B for an early night. Then tomorrow the Big Show. I can't wait!

Ciao, ragazzi.

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So off topic

I've been good about staying on topic -- wine stuff and so forth.  But tonight I've drunk a lot of wine and had a nice time with friends, and I feel like being an off-topic fool.  For I am what I am, etc.

So here are a few Andy Rooneyish non sequiturs...