Natural wine matters

June 15, 2010

Above: The wines produced in the Sierra Foothills of California by Hank Beckmeyer and his wife Caroline are among those recommended by Eric in his blog post yesterday on Natural Wine. (I’m offering two bottlings by Hank in my wine club six-pack this month.)

With all the trimmings of a lustful post-modernist dialectic on the semiotic implications of “the other” intrinsically expressed through the exile of “self” in the production of wine, the debate over what is and what is not Natural Wine (with a capital N word) is gearing up like a Hollywood summer box office block buster.

Joking aside, the Solomon of wine blogging, Eric, has opened the flood gates with a torrent of strength equal to a Texas summer flash flood.

We’re all gearing up for Cory’s 32 Days of Natural wines, which begins in a few days (I’ll be posting, as will Jaynes Gastropub, as will Hank above, and a lot of other friends of mine).

In the meantime, I can’t recommend Lou’s posts strongly enough: while Eric is our Solomon, Lou is our Rebi Akiva.

4 Comments | de vino | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

2003 Oddero Barolo in magnum: that’s what friends are for

May 10, 2010

Above: Giacomo Oddero 2003 Barolo in magnum was fantastic last night.

What can I say? Being a wine blogger has its perks. My buddy John Rikkers (whom I met through wine blogging) brought in a bottle of 2003 Barolo by Giacomo Oddero (one of my favorite traditionalist producers) to drink last night at Jaynes Gastropub following the Mamma Mia! tasting at the restaurant.

NOTA BENE: Jaynes does allow corkage. For a great guide on corkage, check out Lettie Teague’s article from a few years back, “Corkage for Dummies.” It’s a great set of rules-of-thumb for bringing your own bottle.

Above: John (right) and I met online through wine blogging and we always have a blast tasting together.

The 03 Oddero was simply singing last night: tar, goudron nose… earthy manure on the palate… mushroomy and elegantly tannic… Let me just go ahead and say it: cow shit in a glass and I loved it…

It’s a great example of how a lot of great wine was made in 2003, despite the challenging vintage, especially by those who take a traditional approach to Nebbiolo. It’s also a great example of how 2003 — an aggressively warm vintage — is drinking wonderfully right now. (I recently tasted 2003 Barbaresco by Produttori del Barbaresco and again, showing great right now.)

A propos wine blogging and folks I’ve met through the wine blogger community, check out this superb post by Gary Chevsky on his dinner with Mariacristina Oddero of Giacomo Oddero the other night at Donato Enoteca in Redwood, CA (a restaurant, I’m DYING to check out btw). Gary gives a great profile of the producer and the wines, definitely working checking out…

Thanks again, John. The 03 Oddero blew me away last night and was an awesome pairing for my Bangers and Mash. You R O C K!

12 Comments | de vino, de vinographia | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

Remembering our wedding day at Jaynes

May 9, 2010

After picking up Tracie P at the airport (on what was a no less than “Top Gun” gorgeous San Diego day), we headed to Jaynes for dinner: we hadn’t been at Jaynes together since our wedding day in January and so it was so fun to remember all the great moments! Tracie P had a Campari and soda to start (possibly her fav cocktail).

We opened some great bottles last night but one of the most fun was this bottle of 2006 Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Blanc, drinking so beautifully right now, a guilty-pleasure wine that Jayne and Jon carry on their menu and that we served, among others, at our wedding reception there. It’s one of those wines that prompts the question: why does new oak seem to work so perfectly in Burgundy when it fails so miserably in other wine-making regions we love? (With its wax seal, deep punt, and heavy glass, this wine has a very “naughty bottle” as Jancis Robinson might say.)

Thanks again, Jayne and Jon: you couldn’t have created a more perfect wedding reception for Tracie P and me.

And thank you Tracie P, for being such a beautiful bride, such a loving wife, and such a gorgeous and generous soul. What a wonderful memory and what an amazing day that was. You couldn’t make this adoptive Texas boy more happy. I love you…

Happy mother’s day, ya’ll!

2 Comments | de arte miscendi spiritus destillatos, de photographia, de vino | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

The San Diego Kid rides home, great posts from Saignée on Nebbiolo, and Alfonso’s back on the wine trail in Italy

May 8, 2010

melvin croaker

The San Diego Kid rode back into to his hometown last night and cozied up to the bar at Jaynes Gastropub for a Jaynes burger and a SMOKING glass of Valpane 2003 Barbera del Monferrato Perlydia (the winery’s current “reserve” release, a FANTASTIC example of Barbera’s ageability and a wonderful expression of an notoriously tough vintage). I REALLY dug that wine — earthy, muddy, grapey, lip-smacking berry fruit, and brilliant acidity, so friggin’ good — and Jaynes is doing it b[y] t[he] g[lass]. Run don’t walk…

I was proud to be wearing the hat given to me by my good friend Melvin Croaker from Orange, Texas (where Tracie P grew up). As much as the loves coming home (that’s Megan and John Yelenosky in the pic with me), my heart’s in Texas now. Thanks again, Melvin, for one of my truly prized possessions. I’m looking forward to seeing you next weekend in Orange (maybe you’ll hook me up with that “low and slow” lesson?).

In other news…

One of my favorite wine bloggers, Saignée (that’s him, left, with legendary winemaker Giacinto Brovia and me, photo by BrunellosHaveMoreFun), has been posting about our trip to Piedmont together in March. Check out his post on Brovia here and Produttori del Barbaresco here. I dig Saignée’s palate, I dig his style, and he totally nails the ethos of these benchmark wineries in these posts. Chapeau bas, bro.

And this just in…

Alfonso’s back on the Wine Trail in Italy again. I think he does some of his most inspired writing when he’s on the road and I love following his adventures. That’s what our community’s about, ain’t it? Check it out…

And the best news I’ve heard all day…

The love of my life is joining me in San Diego tonight… :-)

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Posted by Do Bianchi

Taste Piedmont rocks with me on Sunday at Jaynes in San Diego

March 25, 2010

The first winery distinguished Italian wine writer Franco Ziliani took me and Tracie P to visit on our February trip to Piedmont was GD Vajra in Barolo. Winemaker Aldo Vajra (below) keeps these rocks (calcareous marl, above) on the windowsill of his tasting room to illustrate what gives great Barolo its structure and minerality.

On Sunday, I’ll be speaking about the wines of Piedmont at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego, where we’ll be tasting Aldo’s excellent 2005 Barolo Albe.

Jaynes Gastropub
4677 30th Street
San Diego, CA
Sunday March 28
5-7pm
$25/person
Call 619-563-1011 or Email Jaynes for reservations
Tickets will also be available at the door.

Piazza Colbert is the largest square in the tiny town of Barolo. “It’s kinda like the Oscars,” said Tracie P, as we waited there for the illustrious Mr. Ziliani to arrive in the piazza, scanning the names of the winemakers plastered to the homes and cellars around the square. “All the stars are here…” I’ll be giving my “Colbert report” on Sunday…

In the meantime, for a great profile of Vajra, check out McDuff’s posts (Vajra is to McDuff what Produttori del Barbaresco is to me). McDuff is a true friend…

7 Comments | de vino | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

Si parla l’italiano a San Diego

January 28, 2010

This morning, Tracie B and I arrived early for our appointment to get our marriage license in downtown San Diego and so we popped over to the newly revitalized Little Italy neighborhood of America’s Finest City for some breakfast. There was a group of men sitting — kibbitzing, you would say in Yiddish — outside Pete’s Quality Meats (above) and so we stopped and chatted with them in Italian. Their Sicilian faces were tan and furrowed from their years working on the San Diego tuna boats.

“Auguroni! figli maschi!” they called out as we said goodbye (“Best of wishes! May you have many male children!”).

It was wonderful to hear the sun-baked rhythms of their Sicilian cadence, a relic and a trace of the era in which they immigrated to the U.S. bringing theirs skills in tuna fishery (probably in the 1960s, gauging from their language).

Si parla l’italiano a San Diego…

In other news…

I think the Rueben has officially usurped the special place in my heart once reserved solely for the Jaynes Burger at Jaynes Gastropub, where a bunch of folks gathered last night to celebrate our upcoming wedding. It paired exceedingly well with the 2007 Dolcetto d’Alba by Cavallotto by the glass (one of me and Tracie B’s favorites).

My high-school friend and bff John Yelenosky and his wife Megan (both wine professionals) treated us to a bottle of 2000 Gaston Chiquet Champagne. Wow, I love that wine.

“I know how much you like Gaston Chiquet,” Megan teased me. “‘Cause I read your blog!” ;-) Sooooo gooood… and so sweet to drink in celebration! Thanks, Megan and John!

John is going to “stand up with me” at the wedding this weekend.

O, and, btw, the marriage license? CHECK! :-)

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Posted by Do Bianchi

Mad World 2000 Brunello

December 9, 2009

il poggione

Above: The 2000 Brunello di Montalcino by Il Poggione rocked my world last night at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego.

It’s been a mad, mad week already, between travel, wedding planning, business meetings with a California client, and catching up with old friends.

Last night, to celebrate Jaynes Gastropub family-member Nicholas George’s successful level 2 sommelier certification exam, Jayne and Jon treated the extended-family crew assembled at the bar to a bottle of 2000 Brunello di Montalcino by one of my favorite (and one of Tom Hyland’s favorite) producers, Il Poggione. 2000 was such a warm vintage in Tuscany (and throughout Italy) and many of the wines have that stewed tomato thing going on. But not this bottling: it was powerfully tannic and it rocked with bright acidity and plum and cherry fruit. I’m sure that winemakers Fabrizio and his son Alessandro Bindocci would tell me that their higher elevation in Sant’Angelo in Colle and their 40-plus-year-old vines allowed them to make great wine in a not-so classic vintage.

Congratulations, Nicholas! Chapeau bas!

mad world

Above: The famous upright piano featured in my buddy Mike’s version of “Mad World.”

Earlier in the day, I took time out to catch up with my good friend Mike Andrews and to visit his studio in Glendale. He loves to tease me that I was voted “most likely to have a successful career in music” by our high school graduating class: since launching his career as a film composer in 1999, Mike has scored countless hit movies. Mike let me take the above photo of the piano he used on his 2003 British number-one-Christmas-hit single version of Tears for Fears’s “Mad World.” He swore me to secrecy: I cannot reveal the technique he used to achieve the instrument’s unique sound on the recording (and had to photograph it obliquely). But it was a thrill to feel its aura, as Walter Benjamin might have said.

Check it out… The opening lines still give me goosebumps!

Today is another mad schedule of work and travel… More later on the California adventures of Tracie B and Jeremy P. Stay tuned…

4 Comments | de musica, de vino | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

K-tel presents “The Jar Sings Love Songs”

October 23, 2009

ktelRemember the K-tel records from when we were kids? My close friends Jayne and Jon from Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego just sent me this K-tel album cover (a lot of you probably don’t know that all my friends back home and everyone who knows me in the music business call me “Jar” or “the Jar,” a nickname given to me by high school friend Mike Andrews, one of the most talented and accomplished musicians I know).

I wanted to thank everyone for all the well wishes after yesterday’s post (on Facebook, too). It was such a good feeling to get back to Austin last night and get to hold Tracie B in my arms again. When the accident happened, I didn’t see my past life pass before me: I saw all the things I would miss if I were to leave this earth too soon.

So many folks have told me how much they liked the Tracie B song. So I’ve posted an MP3 here, in case you haven’t heard it yet or, for those of you who have, so you can have a “clean,” higher audio quality version (depending on your browser, you should be able to grab the file and import to your ITunes).

Thanks again for reading, listening, and all the thoughtful comments and well wishes.

Tracie B and I are headed out tonight to Virginia for a family wedding and so I’ll see one of my brothers, his family, and mama Judy together with the whole Judy side of the family. Man o man, do I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of good things to live for.

Happy weekend ya’ll!

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Posted by Do Bianchi

One crazy ass psychedelic wine shirt

September 30, 2009

Casual was the call for attire at the wine dinner I hosted on Saturday night at Jaynes Gastropub and so I decided to don the above psychedelic vintage 70s disco shirt (recently unearthed in a box that arrived with my library from my Manhattan storage). I’ve never really been able to figure out what it means. On the back, a bunch of grapes transforms into silver balls. On the front, silver balls reveal a convex image of a wine bottle and one of the balls falls to the ground and bursts. There is an upside down dessert sunset that lines the bottom of the shirt (from the wearer’s POV, it looks like a sunset).

I’ll post more on the dinner tomorrow so stay tuned: Australian wines I like! Yes, I actually found some!

In other news…

Tom, I thought you’d never ask! Tom over at Fermentation posted my BloggerView interview yesterday. Tom’s blog is currently the number 1 most-visited wine blog in the world and I was thrilled that he asked me to do an interview. I had a lot of fun with it and was flattered by Tom’s generous words. Click here to read.

Even more thrilling was the revelation of what will become my new tag line: “Guitar slingin’ somm and scholarly scribe of vinous humanism Jeremy Parzen.” Thanks, McDuff, for the new epigram and thanks for the generous shout out.

Lastly, due to an editing error on my part, one of my favorite wine blogs ended up on the cutting room floor of Tom’s interview: Wayne Young’s blog The Buzz is most definitely one of my daily reads. Sorry about that, Wayne!

In other other news…

Check out this way cool Austin slide show and profile in The New York Times Travel mag. It features the Broken Spoke where I’ve been playing some gigs lately.

Who knew that Austin was such a great place to live? ;-)

I moved here for LOVE. :-)

3 Comments | de austinopoli, de pictura, de vino, de vinographia, nugellae | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

Thou shall not take thy white fish for granted

September 26, 2009

Above: My great aunt Lillian lives in Houston. We had a chance to visit the other day when I was there for work. She’s 94 and looks great. She attributes her good health and mental acuity to playing bridge.

Saturday morning finds me in San Diego, where I’ll be speaking and pouring at a wine dinner at Jaynes tonight. And as much fun as it is to see my friends when I’m in town and as happy as I am to get to connect with mama Judy, my brothers, and their families, it’s still never easy to say good-bye to my lovely Tracie B — even if for just a few nights.

Above: The white fish salad at Kenny and Ziggy’s deli in Houston was as good as it gets. Man, I hadn’t had good smoked fish in so long! And I’ve learned my lesson: thou shall not take thy white fish for granted.

But besides my Tracie B, I’m also missing something else from back home — my new home — in Texas: the excellent white fish salad and smoked salmon that I ate the other day in Houston. Who knew there was such good smoked fish outside of New York? I didn’t believe it but it’s true.

If Marshall McLuhan ever wrote about smoked fish, he would surely agree that his now aphoristic motto applies here: the medium is the message. It’s easy to find good quality smoked fish but it’s all about how its sliced, prepared, and dressed.

Above: Has the mimetic desire kicked in yet? If you’re salivating, then the answer is yes!

The folks at Kenny and Ziggy’s sure know how to do it right. I highly recommend it. (And I know good white fish, believe me.)

Above: My cousin (second cousin?) Marty, Lillian’s son, is a professor of law at Thurgood Marshall in Houston, an expert in civil liberties and minority rights… and man, let me tell you, does this guy know his smoked fish!

Thou shall not take thy white fish for granted! Thanks again, Marty, for turning me on to such great stuff!

And thanks for reading…

2 Comments | de vino | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi

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