One Manhattan evening, top New York sommelier (and I mean, king of the hill, top of the heap) Levi Dalton (center, standing, my personal Philip Marlowe of wine) did a true mitzvah: knowing what a wonderful thing it would be for McDuff (left), BrooklynGuy (seated, center), Lyle, and me to get together, he managed to finagle a seat for each of us at vertical tasting and dinner at swank Alto with Peter Weimer, German Swiss cult Barolo producer, owner of Cascina Ebreo (Jew Farm) in Novello (Barolo).
Peter’s importer was also there, Dino, a simpatico German-speaking Turk and New York wine scene character, who also brought of a bottle of Giacomo Conterno 2002 Monfortino (see Lyle’s notes on the Monfortino).
Peter’s Torbido! is an aggressively traditional wine, made with native yeasts and long maceration, unfiltered. I thought 1999 showed beautifully and the 2004, however youthful, promises to be a superb wine. The big hit of the evening was 1998, which I also loved.
It was thoroughly great to see the Jew crüe and speculation as to why the farm is called Cascina Ebreo led to colorful exegesis.
Peter and Dino took many smoke breaks during the event, prompting me to recall an old Italian joke: who smokes more than a Turk? Two Turks!
I was happy to see Dino (whom I’ve known for many years) and to get to chat and taste the wines with Peter.
And wow, whatta mensch, that Levi Dalton, for getting the gang all together…!!! It was, as Lyle put it, a “Mt. Rushmore of wine bloggers,” or, in the words of McDuff, a “meeting of the menches“…
Do Bianchi 
The fellow on the far left looks comically uncomfortable!
That’s the last time I let Strappo divert my private jet to Boston to eat Crab rolls and drink Ribolla..
good times:)
Thank you, Adrian! I think I must have been working on the punchline when Jeremy snapped the picture.
@David you don’t look uncomfortable to me! You look like you’re about to burst out laughing or do a spit take! Pretty much the whole night. Wanna see me be an a-hole now? ;-)
@Ace a word to the wise: don’t eat Strappo’s crab roll.
@Adrian whenever Strappo asks you if you’d like to divert your private jet, make sure you know what you’re getting into!
What song was I in the middle of singing, I wonder?
McDuff looks like he just drank Spinetta, and Levi looks like someone needs to force-feed him a sandwich. Meanwhile, Lyle’s the icon of jocularity. The world’s all turvy-topsy, I tell you.
That’s top-ten worthy, Thor.
Can someone please buy Brooklyn Guy a shirt?
we really need to organize a Jew and honorary Jew blogger summit in NYC. Maybe if Ace and I come in February?
@Thor IF ONLY you could have been there the moment that someone suggested the name of the farm came from the probably that a previous owner was known for his stinginess!!!
I’ll even forsake my beloved seersucker for a plush, vintage velour jumpsuit. Whadda ya say BG? Are ya with me dawg?
@brooklynguy: ‘It’s up to YOU/Noo/Yawk/Noo/Yawwww…’
L’chayyim, y’all! Seriously envious.
But seriously, how could you hold this event in absence of Signore Cevola??
Just got a message from Peter Weimer: “Sorry that i hadn’t be aware of the G-4 of wine blogs. Fortunately the meeting was kept secret so the Anti-Wine-League had no chance to organize a violent demo.”
I like his humor!
just another ordinary day
in the life of 2B ;)
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