Comments on: The Spinetta Affair (and the Virtuous Burglar)

By: Angelo Gaja, please call me! « Do Bianchi

Angelo Gaja, please call me! « Do Bianchi — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:40:37 +0000

[...] Franco recently posted the above photo after he participated in a Decanter magazine tasting of 202 bottlings of 2004 Barolo. In the post, he lampoons a Nebbiolo producer (well, should we call him that? his wines don’t really taste like Nebbiolo at all) who — for Franco and for me — represents everything that is wrong with the world of Italian wine today: Giorgio Rivetti is a “wine wizard” and master of marketing who created wines expressly for the American market with little consideration for the great tradition and great people of the place where he makes wine. (You may remember my post on the Spinetta Affair.) [...]

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:22:38 +0000

Wayne and Ed, the one time I got to see Dario Fo with Franca Rame on stage in Rome (when I was student in Italy, so many years ago), it was one of the most hilarious and thrilling evenings at the theater I have ever experienced (and I am, after all, a song and dance man). His name came up recently in the discourse about Euro-centrism in the history of the Nobel: because of his thorny relationship with the U.S. government, his award has been viewed as polemical in some circles (on this side of the Atlantic). Having said that, I love his plays also because they are accessible and fun. If you can find it, be sure to check out “La marijuana della mamma è sempre la più bella.” It’s hilarious. Thanks for checking out my Spinetta affair post. I’ll never forget meeting Giorgio Rivetti at a party last year and texting Franco for advice on what to tell him: I can’t reprint Franco’s repsonse! ;-)

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:56:55 +0000

I must admit (ashamedly) that I never read in italian, apart from emails, requests for samples and visists and samples, and occasionally the local newspaper…

I have heard of and seen Fo on Italian TV, and knew he was a Nobel Laureate, but wasn’t familiar with his work. NOW I have a real desire to check it out, and maybe even give it a shot in Italian.

Thanks J!

By: EDF

EDF — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:58:06 +0000

Am reading “Non tutti i ladri vengono per nuocere” for my Italian class. It’s a real ‘page-turner’ and funny. Highly recommended.

By: Franco Ziliani

Franco Ziliani — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 06:43:19 +0000

bravo Terry, excellent job! I think that the “mandatory” can be mr. Giacomino Suckling, who love so much Rivetti’s wines…

By: Terry Hughes

Terry Hughes — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:39:18 +0000

Actually, it was me. I was there then, acting under the orders of Franco Ziliani. Vero, Franco?

By: Scott Luetgenau

Scott Luetgenau — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:20:27 +0000

They must have had extremely sophisticated palates. Any run-of-the-mill thief would have opened the bottles and declared them Californian-crap masquerading as Italian wines and then moved on after evaluating the sweet, oaky red juice as something not fit for sale. Unmarketable… But the thieves knew just how marketable this precious juice was.

My guess is James Suckling. He must be having a hard time financing those cashmere turtlenecks and leather driving shoes…

The Committee for the Liberation of Barolo and Barbaresco from Modernist Hegemony photo is now my new desktop background.

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:36:58 +0000

Dave, thanks for the comment (I think you’re getting the joke!). It’s unbelievable that the thieves took the time to taste the wine in the first place. Makes you wonder what was really going on there… as they say in Italian, ma!

By: dave

dave — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:32:56 +0000

Jeremy:
I really enjoy your site but I struggle with my Italian. thanks for the occasional translation. What a curious robbery. Perhaps if the first bottles had been corked the theft would have been much less.