Monthly Archives: November 2010

New York Stories 5: 3 Jews, a Scot, a Piedmontese, a Turk, and 2 Swiss walk into a vertical of cult Barolo

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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“…

New York Stories 4: amazing seafood lunch with BrooklynGuy

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I had the extremely good fortune to be invited to Saturday lunch in the home of BrooklynFamily, where lucky guests are greeted with a glass of sherry.

Black Tuscan kale and watermelon radish salad.

Seafood for their home is sourced at the Grand Army Plaza weekly farmers market.

BrooklynGuy delivered his noodles al dente with the deft hand of a seasoned pro.

We joked about how when wine bloggers like us get together, it’s like when we were teenagers and went over to our friend’s house so said friend “could play his records” for us. An apt analogy!

Same-day catch flounder dredged lightly in fine cornmeal and flour and sautéed gently in extra-virgin olive oil, Savoy cabbage and celery root slaw on the side.

Dessert was utterly earthy and delicious.

BrooklynGuy’s blog is my number-one resource for finding great value in Burgundy and Champagne. If you’re not following, you don’t know what you’re missing!

New York Stories 3: Eataly with Michele Scicolone

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Still not quite sure what to make of Eataly. But was thrilled to check it out with one of my favorite Italian food writers and authorities, our good friend Michele Scicolone, who took time out from her writing to stroll through the different pavilions with me.

The “Piazza.” I’m not the first or only one to note that it’s a “Disneyland of Italian gastronomy.”

I was really impressed by the salumeria slicing and packaging.

The trouble with truffles… They’re EXPENSIVE no matter where or how you slice ’em…

The “vegetable butcher” will trim your veggies for you.

Michele is so awesome. I can’t recommend her books highly enough.

More New York Stories to come…

New York Stories 2: Vivian, newest member of the NN+ family

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Vivian is the newest member of the NN+ family. Finally, someone who calls me “uncle Jar”!

Couldn’t not have Barney Greengrass while in NYC.

More New York stories to come…

New York Stories 1: Biggie Smalls

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Long Island City, Queens, New York, as seen from the 7 train.

Dell’Anima: a new favorite wine list and a lucky son

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Posting in a hurry this morning as I head out to a busy day of meetings and working meals and tastings in NYC but just had to share the FANTASTIC wines I tasted last night at Dell’Anima. That’s owner Joe Campanale and his mom, DellAnimom, who does all of Joe’s social media. Joe, a friend, is such a sweet and talented dude and I simply adore his mom. They work together closely and she is a delight.

The place was packed with downtown glitterati, raw scallops, and black truffles.

1999 Vermentino BY THE GLASS! I was blown away by how much life this wine had in it. Joe’s got a fantastic BTG program, with a lot of stuff from the 90s…

So geeked to see this wine by Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema in the market. Perfect with my risotto alla pilota.

If only more people knew Gianni Brunelli’s wines, we might achieve peace in the Middle East.

La Stoppa’s Ageno is one of my favorite wines of all time. Drank it with dessert.

A new Prosecco category emerges: colfòndo

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Above: Costadilà is a member of new group of winemakers who make “Prosecco colfòndo.” Note the sediment at the bottom of the bottle (photo taken on our dining room table).

Thrilling news of a new group of Prosecco producers who make their wines colfòndo (con il fondo, i.e., aged on their lees and thus with sediment) came to my attention via Mr. Franco Ziliani’s brand spanking new blog devoted to the world of Italian sparkling wines, Le Mille Bolle (A Thousand Bubbles).

In many ways, Prosecco is the wine that started it all for me so many years ago when I started writing about wine. Back in 1998 when I got my first gig as an enojournalist, it was with a feature story on Prosecco. I know the appellation well because I spent three summers touring the provinces of Treviso and Belluno with a cover band.

To my palate, lees-aged Prosecco is the real Prosecco (not the yeasted banana candy crap that we see too often in this country). Lees-aging gives the wine the saltiness that makes Prosecco raised in Valdobbiadene stand apart from the crowd. I love it and am dying to taste more.

Above: That’s me in the middle rehearsing in the famous Birreria at Pedavena where we played 4 sets a night, 3 nights a week (no kidding). I was in my 20s and the music and beer (often unpasteurized, btw) flowed all night long. How do you like the hair?

Dulcis in fundo (pun intended): one of the producers, Riccardo Zanotto, used to come hear us play back in the day and we shared more than one beer together…

Che bei ricordi! What great memories of rock ‘n’ roll with the Dolomites as our stage and salty, gritty, utterly delicious Prosecco!

Burgundy and (homemade) pizza and NYC’s most famous bathtub

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Arrived La Guardia last night and after leaving my blackberry in the cab (something I never did in over 10 years living here!) and then recovering it (!) thanks to the next fare (a super nice guy on the Upper East Side who wouldn’t take reward money, a true New Yorker Samaritan), I made my way over to Alice’s place for some old-school kibitzing, excellent 06 Burgundy (above) and delicious homemade pizza.

One topic of conversation was Alice’s famous kitchen bathtub, immortalized in the local paper first in 2004 and more recently in the society pages, where she discusses the myth of quotidian bathing in the Big City (scroll down to the bottom of the article for her quote and note the sliced bread on the side of the tub above).

Of course, there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to use what many consider the most famous WC in Manhattan (if not the entire U.S.).

Hey, is that Anthony’s guitar pick on the floor?

The Best Little Sake House this side of Osaka

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Posting in a hurry this morning (hopping on a super early flight from SD to LGA) but had to share scenes from Yuka Nakai’s Yu Me Ya sake house in Encinitas, California with the Rikkers and Yele last night. When I asked Yuka (above) why she and her family moved to Encinitas, she answered without missing a beat, “well, I surf.” Her spiel on sake and Japanese cuisine is worth double the price of admission at this gem on Pacific Coast Highway 101 (think Cannery Row).

Hanging with the Rikkers always a blast.

Yu Me Ya
1246 N Coast Highway 101
Encinitas, CA 92024-1441
(760) 633-4288

Rating: RUN DON’T WALK