Before my gig on Saturday night in Alphabet City, I stopped by Terroir on East 12th St. to connect with friend and polemical wine blogger Lyle Fass, author of Rockss and Fruit, for a glass of — yes, you guessed it — Riesling (Eugen Müller Rheinhessen 2005).
The post the other day on Mascarello the new Che generated a lot of feedback and so I snapped the above and below pics of the Terroir Mascarello T.
Terroir’s website is now online. I applaud the owners’ militant spirit but I feel that their “No barrique, no Berlusconi” motto/mantra is misguided. Mascarello’s famous Berlusconi label was released in a particular moment in Italian history and had a historical meaning within the context of contemporary Italian politics (remember: when the wine was released, Berlusconi was prime minister and Italian troops had been deployed in the Bush-legacy war). There’s a lot more to Mascarello’s wines and to the concept of terroir than just “no barrique.” I hope to see Maria Teresa Mascarello when I taste at Vini Veri next week and get her take on it.
Check out these images of the labels on collector Ken Vastola’s site.
Terroir sells the shirts for $25.
That’s Lyle and me in the above pic. Lyle’s one of many friends I’ve made through the blogosphere.
Terry Hughes, author of the controversial blog Mondosapore, is another friend I’ve made through the blogosphere. He and I grabbed a glass of 1989 Clos Baudin Vouvray yesterday evening at the bar at Gramercy Tavern.
One of the most rewarding things about my experience blogging is the interesting and caring people I’ve met along the way (look for more in upcoming posts about blogger/friends). If Snoop Dog had a blog, he would say that it’s a bloggy blog world.
That’s me and Céline Dijon at our show on Saturday night. We debuted our new song “Catastrophe,” about a relationship gone bad but a chance to start anew and make a better life — a reversal of a reversal, to put it in the context of peripeteia.
Our April 10 date in Ljubljana has been confirmed: I can’t reveal the name of the private club where we’ll be playing but if you’d like to attend, email me (jparzen at gmail) with the word “fidelio” in the subject line and I’ll send you the secret password together with the name of the club a few days before the show. As soon as our April 9 date in Gorizia is confirmed, I’ll post the info.
Do Bianchi 
Thanks for all the photoshopping, JP. You’re a pal.
Great pic! A pleasure meeting you!
Hey J—When Berlusconi ran for election (2001) Bartolo started his No Barrique No Berlusconi, (we were not at war at that time) but he was making his No Barrique labels for years before then.
In 2000 he gave me a label (now smudged) “Je ne peu faire de barriques mais des barricades.”
The Berlusconi was second generation barrique.
While the no barrique thing was definitely his motto, more to the point, and even more ironic is that it could be said he was an Terroir poster-child. Bartolo’s ANTI-terroir approach? He did not believe in single vineyard but in great plots (lucky he had some) blended, that showed the soul of Barolo as a whole.