It seems like a lifetime ago that Tracie P and I met Alice on our first trip to Europe together. Tracie P and I were in Paris to play with Nous Non Plus and Alice was there to write a piece on Natural wine and our paths happily crossed.
I’ve known Alice for more than 10 years and she’s one of our dearest, dearest friends. A big sister, a mentor, and one of the most fun people to be around on this planet, no matter what mischief we’re up to.
Tracie P and I will be at both events, of course, and I hope you can join us to hear Alice read from her new book and taste some Natural wines with us.
Beyond our deep friendship, I support Alice in her cause to spread the word about Natural wine not just because I enjoy Natural wines but because I believe that Natural wines and the people who make them (and drink them) can save the world from the ills of our increasingly industrialized food chain.
In other news…
I’m making one last trip before Baby P arrives: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings of next week, I’ll be pouring wine on the floor at Sotto in Los Angeles where I’ve curated the wine list this year.
We’ll be debuting one last flight of wines for the fall before I take a break for daddy duty, including one of the best wines I’ve tasted this year… More on that later…
I’ve been having a blast this year curating the wine list at Sotto, which has just been named “one of the best new restaurants of 2011″ by Esquire.
Chef Steve Samson (above) and I became close friends nearly a quarter of a century ago when we were on our junior year abroad in Italy. He and Chef Zach Pollack have been doing great things in the kitchen and the Neapolitan pizza is imho one of the best if not the best in the country.
From the department of “somehow, someway, I get to taste funky ass wines like every single day”…
Comrades Howard and Mary Beth came to visit me on Saturday night at Sotto in Los Angeles, where I was “pouring wine on the floor,” as we say in the wine trade.
Comrade Howard graciously and generously shared the above bottle of 1999 (classic) Barbaresco by Bruno Giacosa. (Howard was elected vice president of the Writers Guild of America last week, btw. Mazel tov, comrade!)
Great Barbaresco always inspires equine metaphors in me and this wine, powerful and muscular, asserted a masculine beauty tempered by feminine grace, a young mare whose strength was still countered by its youth.
Earth and stone dominated the fruit as the wine began to reveal its nature but dark and red fruit emerged as the wine spent some time in the glass.
Barbaresco by the hand of Giacosa never fails to invoke equine wonder in those of us lucky to experience the wines and his 1999 vintage continues to thrill me, often rivaling the perhaps more graceful 2001 with a combination of power and to kalon.
Thank you again, comrades! Avanti popolo!
In other news… All work and no play would make me an otherwise dull boy…
My friends at Jaynes Gastropub have asked me to sit in with them at tonight’s battle of the Chef Bands 2011 in San Diego. The charity event supports domestic violence awareness and takes place tonight. The Grapes (our band) go on around 9 p.m. Last night’s rehearsal featured some excellent 2007 Lafarge Bourgogne Passetoutgrain.
From the department of “so many great wines and so many great people and so little time”…
One of the best things about what I do for a living is the great wines I get to taste and the fascinating people I get to meet. And one of the most rewarding things about my career is getting to share those wines and those experiences with people I care about.
All of these elements came together week before last when the inimitable Randall Grahm — the Willy Wonka of wine in my view — graciously agreed to do a staff training with the servers at Sotto in Los Angeles where I curate the wine list.
When you work so closely with people as you do on the floor of a restaurant (often in extremely stressful situations), you develop a unique bond with them. And I was thrilled that Randall agreed to come talk to us and sprinkle some of his magic dust on us.
Of all the winemakers I’ve ever met, Randall — a polite and warm man — is perhaps the most erudite. I love the fact that he shares my love of words (philology!) and describes wines in terms of antipodian and podian (his neologism?). I love that he doesn’t mince words (I cannot repeat what he had to say about one antipodian wine). And I love his lyrical approach to describing winemaking and wine. At one point, when I asked him to address reduction in wine and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing. He replied using the follow simile: “Reduction is kind of like the male sex drive,” he said. “It can be ugly but it lets us know that everything’s working correctly and that the wine is alive.” (Reduction can be caused by wine being stored without any contact with oxygen, often the case with screw-cap wines. As a result, the wine may stink briefly when first opened. For the best definition of reduction in wine, see the entry on Jancis’s site — well worth the subscription fee, btw — or see her Oxford Companion to Wine.)
On the edges of our seats, the staff and I were entirely captivated by Randall’s spiel on the spectrum of organic, biodynamic, and Natural winemaking. And we tasted his Syrah Le Posseur together (by the glass at Sotto these days). Le posseur, the pusher in French, was inspired by the way great Syrah is like drug dealer who tempts you with his assortment of aromas and flavors. I love the analogy and I love the affordable and delicious wine (it only gets better with a day’s aeration, btw).
But dulcis in fundo, Randall also shared with us his new hope and faith in biochar — a newly developed form of charcoal that is used to restore balance to the soil. We live in such precarious times, these days (o tempora o mores!). “It is the future,” he said, referring not only to winemaking but also the survival of humankind.
Looking back on our encounter with the ineffably charming Randall, I cannot help but be reminded of the lyrics of one of favorite songs — from childhood to the present day.
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanta change the world?
There’s nothing
To it…
Historically and with seemingly quotidian recurrence, Randall seems to seek and find beauty in the world around and in us, too.
This is one of my all-time favorite songs and cinematic moments. I’ll never forget seeing it for the first time and the emotion that filled my chest. It happens, to this very day, every single time…
People, I’m here to tell you that this wine is fanfreakin’ delicious, with crazy white and citrus fruit notes, sexy acidity, and a delightfully crunchy mouthfeel. And the best part? Drink this indisputably Natural wine and you will poop well the next day (I am living proof).
In other news…
It’s not on my list at the restaurant but I was blown away by this classic white blend from Amalfi — Falanghina, Biancolella, and Pepella — poured for me by importer Caroline Debbane: Costa d’Amalfi Tramonti 2009 by Tenuta San Francesco. Great freshness, nervy acidity, and gorgeous fruit. Loved this wine…
That’s all I have time to recount today… running out the door to make a staff training with the inimitable Randall Grahm who’s visiting with the waitstaff this afternoon. He is such an unbelievably cool dude and I’m utterly psyched and honored to get to hang with him! (We’re featuring his Syrah by the glass, starting tonight at Sotto.)
It’s been more than a month since I returned from Apulia where I sat as a judge in the Radici Wines festival, celebrating the indigenous grapes of Southern Italy and I still haven’t caught up on all the great wines I tasted during the event. Here’s another one…
The wines of Paola Mustilli first came to my attention back in 1998 when I was writing about wine for La Cucina Italian in New York. I cannot conceal that I’ve been a devoted fan ever since and I was thrilled that I finally got to meet her in early June at the festival, where the first two days included “speed-dating” with producers (although some of those têtes-à-têtes proved to be a little awkward when the wines were less than satisfying or the enologist decided to lecture on “how wine is made”).
I guess I’m thinking about her Piedirosso because when I landed in sunny San Diego this morning and saw the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, I got a craving for this wonderful wine — grapey and slightly chewy, with clean berry and red fruit flavors, sturdy acidity and judicious alcohol. The day I tasted with her she served it slightly chilled and it was perfect. And when I wrote home about it, Tracie P responded with a note of enviable nostalgia, reminded of how she used to enjoy this relatively inexpensive wine during her years on the Amalfi coast. Piedirosso is such a fantastic, user-friendly grape, so versatile and flexible, and when it’s done right, its downright delicious.
The wine was definitely a highlight of the festival for me, as was Paola’s Falaghina, which really stood out for its faithfulness to the variety. Overall, the flights of Falanghina were disappointing (and I got into some hot water after Jancis suggested that I mention my impression in my address to the conference). There were a few solid entries for Falaghina but even those tasted yeasted and spoofed to me. Paola’s really stood apart and I cannot recommend it highly enough to you: it was bright and clean with the white fruit aromas and flavors that I look for in real Falaghina (not honeydew and bubblegum that you find in the tricked out bottlings).
One of the other highlights that day was what I have dubbed the world’s craziest sandwich.
The food at Alessia Perucci’s Masseria Le Fabriche was exceptional and the meals rigorously traditional yet equally and wonderfully creative. But, standing nearly 2 feet in height, no one could quite figure out how to consume this brioche stuffed with prosciutto and cheese. It was a sight, nonetheless, to behold!
In other news…
Vai Sotto! Taste with me “down under” tomorrow and Thursday nights at Sotto in Los Angeles where I’ll be pouring wine on the floor and chatting with guests both nights.
Chefs Steve and Zach literally combed the Malibu foothills foraging for wild fennel flowers — finocchietto — to complete their pasta con le sarde, traditional Sicilian noodles with sardines, pine nuts, raisins, and — de rigeuer — finocchietto.
The occasion was a wine dinner at Sotto in Los Angeles in honor of my good friend Giampaolo Venica who wrote on the Twitter today What a great pasta with sarde last night @sottoLA, probably best ever had.”
Tracie P and I simply adore Giampaolo and Chiara, who are celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Sunday! Mazel tov! :) Photo by Alfonso, who also joined us.
Things behind the bar were getting steamy last night. Amazing cocktails…
I just had to ask the parents of these happy children for permission to snap their photo. Pizza is a wonderfully universal dish, isn’t it? Who doesn’t like pizza?
Now that Tracie P and I are expecting, I find myself thinking all the time about nutrition and Baby P. It was great to see these super polite kids enjoying the wholesome Neapolitan stuff!
The Neapolitan pizza at Sotto is imho one of the best in the U.S. today. Just had to share this photo of chef and pizzaiolo Zach Pollack and his bubby.
Grilled mackerel in scapece with cauliflower, cured lemons, pesto pantesco (Pantelleria’s tomato and basil relish for fish).
Grilled pork meatballs. I believe that chef Steve Samson’s extraordinary talent in all things pork-related is owed to his Bolognese origins (he and I have been friends for more than 20 years, stretching back to our college days in Italy).
This was one Tracie P’s favorites and mine, too. Ciceri e Tria, chick peas and long noodles, a classic dish of Apulia. Chef Zach strays from tradition here by deliciously folding in baccalà, adding another layer of flavor and texture.
Squid ink (long-noodle) fusilli with pistachios, bottarga, and mint. This dish is a true show stopper. Extremely difficult to photograph well and utterly delectable.
One of my privileges as wine director is that I get to put some of my favorite wines on the list! The 2006 skin-contact, wild fermented, unfiltered, and impeccably Natural 100% Vermentino by Dettori continues to “astound” me (to borrow Saignée’s tasting note). Alessandro Dettori wrote me earlier this year explaining that one of the things that makes this vintage stand out is the fact that he chose not to destem and he macerated for two days with the stems as well as the skins. The wine is gorgeously fresh and bright and its balance of fruit and minerality is stunning. And… It makes you poop good the next day… No joke… I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wine.
Devil’s Gulch fennel-crusted pork porterhouse with green tomato mostarda.
Are those some good-looking cannoli or what???!!!
In case you haven’t heard, I curate the list at Sotto and work the floor there a few nights each month. The list is devoted exclusively to southern Italian wine, with a short appendix of rigorously Natural California producers (chemical-free farming, wild fermentation). My next visit is scheduled for June 21 and 22. Hope to see you there!
I’m sorry but the sushi in California (and the west coast in general) is just better than everywhere else in the U.S.
New York has its Masa (ho hum) and Austin has its Uchi (yes, sushi in Texas), but there’s just nothing and nowhere that comes close to the wide range of styles and price points and ubiquity of Southern California sushi and Japanese cuisine.
Popped into K-ZO Japanese and French restaurant in Culver City for quick working lunch with a friend and colleague today and man, that shit rocks… The live sweet shrimp — tails served raw and heads dredged in flour and deep-fried (lower left hand corner) — were friggin’ amazing…
Click here to add a comment or query to my Italian Wine Terms Project.
The series of posts began with a post devoted to Italian winery designations. With your help, I hope to create a series of posts that will become a stand-alone glossary.
Posted by Do Bianchi 
