Monthly Archives: March 2013

Read the Wine Spectator on Giacosa and Foradori

Posted on by

wine spectator

Over the weekend, friend Mitch Frank, associate editor at Wine Spectator, generously sent me a preview of the April issue of the magazine and his superb profiles of Elisabetta Foradori (above) and Bruno Giacosa.

So much has been written about the wines of Bruno Giacosa but little ink has been devoted to his life, his family, and his legacy as a winemaker whose career has spanned the worst and best of times in Langa. In his article, Mitch elegantly weaves cultural context and perspective in a biography that stands apart as much for its insights as for its nitty-gritty account of the family’s recent vicissitudes.

On Foradori and her wines, Mitch travels a path seldom taken by Spectator editors, who tend to favor the wine world’s greatest hits over its in fieri evolution and revolution. I loved the way he coaxed her into speaking of the personal challenges and professional setbacks she’s faced. Where many writers have relished a glamorization of Elisabetta, he portrays her as human, all too human. His narrative invests the wines — which I love and have followed for many years now — with an intimacy that you rarely see in the boastful oenography so popular today.

As I read the stories over my early morning tea, I couldn’t help but think that both stories were about fathers and daughters. In Elisabetta’s case, a father who expired when she was still a child. In Bruna Giacosa’s case, a father whose legend still casts a long shadow across the Langa hills.

Then I set about thinking of the Italian daughters who have inherited or will inherit the vinous legacy of their fathers: Maria Teresa Mascarello, Marta Rinaldi, Gaia Gaja, the Pepe sisters, Elena Pantaleoni… They are the Atalantas of Italian wine, princesses who bear a heavy load as they tread the footsteps of kings.

Chapeau bas, Mitch! Great work…

Tasting Mourvèdre with Michael Christian of Los Pilares, San Diego

Posted on by

michael christian pilares

As fate would have it, San Diego winemaker Michael Chirstian (above) and I met for the first time in February 2012, just a week or so after Alice wrote up his wine on her blog.

A few short weeks later, his Los Pilares label went from relative obscurity to the commercial limelight when Jon Rimmerman of the Garagiste asked very loudly: “Is this the future of California wine? … This is the most exciting wine I’ve tasted from the Golden State in many years. It is actually alive… with a fire that I simply cannot (and have not) found in anything from California in so long.”

By the end of the year, Jon Bonné included Los Pilares in The San Francisco Chronicle “top 100 wines in the west” list.

Michael and I have stayed in touch over the last year as his star has risen to heights that I don’t think he imagined when he first sent a sample of his wine to Alice.

On Friday evening last week, he stopped by Jaynes Gastropub where I was pouring wine and playing music. Conversation ranged from Montaigne to Pasolini to the immense success of his wines and the way that they have resonated among California wine enthusiasts.

The celebrity and attention certainly haven’t gone to his head as he’s continued on his quest to make food-friendly, wholesome, and delicious wine in San Diego (the most unlikely of appellations). The problem is that, these days, you can’t find his wine because it’s all snatched up on release.

He tasted us on his “personal-consumption” Mourvèdre (bright and fresh, meaty but not too heavy in the mouth) and told us about a new project for a carbonic-macerated Syrah.

Check out this interview that he did with Alice about a year ago. His attitudes and approach to winemaking haven’t changed a bit. And the wines have only gotten better and better.

I’m very excited to see (and taste) what he’ll do next. And you should be, too…

Best Falanghina I’ve ever tasted in the U.S.

Posted on by

I’ll be at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego tonight, pouring wine from 5:30 p.m. and playing a telecaster from 10 p.m. If you happen to be in America’s Finest City, please come on down and we’ll taste together.

best falanghina los angeles

@CaptainWine and I debuted our new spring wine list at Sotto in Los Angeles last night, including roughly 20 new labels.

As I tasted with friends, wine pros, and media last night (thanks, everyone for coming out!), I couldn’t help but reflect and remark on how blessed are the wine lovers of California: thanks to the Golden State’s liberal distribution and importing regulations, wine directors have such a wide range of labels available to them (unlike my adoptive state of Texas where so many wonderful Italian wines, present in the California and New York markets, are off limits to buyers).

From the Cenatiempo Ischia Bianco to the Sibilla Piedirosso (Oliver McCrum, CA) to the Monte di Grazia Tintone (an extremely rare grape variety from Campania; Wine Emporium, NY), to an awesome Salvatore Tintilia del Molise (Giammario Villa, CA), there are so many fantastic wines flowing in the California market these days (all new labels on our list).

But the wine that I kept thinking about all night (and the wine that I called in the morning) was the Capolino Perlingieri Falanghina Preta (above, Terravino, CA).

There’s a lot of great Falanghina in the U.S. but this one just has that marcia in più, that extra something special. Its acidity and citrus flavors were zinging last night (paired with burrata). But it was its intense minerality that really made it stand apart in my mind. I LOVE this wine.

By far, the best Falanghina that I’ve ever tasted in this country (and I’ve tasted a lot) and a wine that I just can’t stop thinking about.

best pizza california

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to taste with me (especially Tricerapops)! That was a blast.

I’ll be taking a break from my California trips as the countdown to Parzen family expansion revs up (coming to theaters this July!). But I’ll see you again in September when we visit my home state again.

Buon weekend, yall!

Italy concert update, tomorrow @SottoLA, Friday @JaynesGastroPub in SD

Posted on by

From the department of “it was twenty years ago today”…

shawn amos

My old friend and bandmate Shawn Amos (left) and I will be fronting our band “the Americani” Friday and Saturday April 5 and 6 at the Villa Marcello Marinelli in the heart of Proseccoland.

Both shows will take place at the Villa and showtime is 10 p.m. both nights.

We’ve got a wonderful set of americana lined up (think Howlin’ Wolf and Neil Young).

If you’re attending Vinitaly this year, come up and rock out with us before the fair (a ton of my winemaker friends are planning to come as are wine folks from the U.S.).

Tomorrow night (March 14) I’ll be working the floor at Sotto in Los Angeles, where we’re launching our new spring wine list (Tintilia del Molise, anyone?).

And Friday night (March 15), I’ll be pouring wine all evening and then, on the later side, appearing with my San Diego-based band, the Grapes (think Doug Sahm and Gram Parsons), at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego.

Caveman wine & wild vines in Italy & Eric the Red’s excellent article on Valle d’Aosta

Posted on by

valle d'aosta wines eric asimov

Above: That’s the village of Donnas, Valle d’Aosta, in the distance (photo taken from the village of Carema). Click the image for a high-res version.

Eric the Red’s excellent article and tasting notes on the Valle d’Aosta last week reminded me that I have neglected to repost the video below by my friend, wine writer, publisher, and winery consultant Maurizio Gily.

In it, Maurizio visits Mt. Fenera Park (not far from Donnas in the Valle d’Aosta) where he and his colleagues inspect wild pre-phylloxera vines and ancient cave dwellings where they believe pre-historic viticulture may have emerged.

The discoveries are significant, in part because they offer evidence that the Etruscans and early Greek settlers may have not been the first to make wine on the Italic peninsula. And ampelographically speaking, the plants may offer clues as to the truly indigenous (and genetically pure) origins of Italian grape varieties.

The video is in Italian but it’s easy to follow (and the images are what is most important).

“Asolo is fully entitled to be part of the DOCG” says Prosecco Cons. Prez

Posted on by

giancarlo vettorello

When Prosecco DOCG Consortium director Giancarlo Vettorello’s February visit to Texas came to my attention, I immediately wrote to the consortium’s publicist to request an audience.

He and I had spoken before via telephone, in the wake of a post I wrote about the Prosecco DOCG. And I was eager to sit down and share do bianchi with him.

Giancarlo (above), his assistant (make that tre bianchi), and I ended up meeting at Tony’s in Houston last month when they were in town for the Gambero Rosso road show tasting of Prosecco and Vino Nobile producers (see image below).

Our meeting was friendly and fun, of course, but we did cover some thorny subjects like the creation of the Prosecco DOCG in 2010.

Many have contended — myself included — that the creation of the Prosecco DOCG was an unwarranted and politically motivated move by Italy’s then agriculture minister Luca Zaia, who later went on to become president (governor) of the Veneto (where Prosecco is most famously produced, although not exclusively).

After all, as many observers of the Italian wine industry noted at the time, it seemed a stretch to elevate the stature of Prosecco to that of Barolo, Taurasi, or Brunello — historic fine wines with immense aging potential.

The newly created DOCG also seemed to be tainted by the flood of new and politically charged DOCG applications that came in the final days of Rome’s sovereignty in granting rubber-stamping them (in 2009, EU reforms shifted that power to Brussels).

gambero rosso tasting houston

When I asked Giancarlo to elaborate on what he already told me via phone (that in his view and the view of his associates, the seemingly boundless commercial success of Prosecco warranted this elevated status), he said something so brilliant that it thrilled me just as much as it convinced me that he was in the right.

“Consider the Venetian playwright Goldoni,” he commanded gently, unaware that I was an avid reader and translator of the eighteenth-century Italian writer. “Some would say that he’s a mere comediographer, a writer of [trivial] comedies. Yet he is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers in Italian [literary] history.”

“Prosecco is like Goldoni. Even though his subject matter may have been light in nature, his legacy cannot be overestimated.”

The analogy is just so spot on. And, of course, given Prosecco’s sine qua non relationship with Venice and its conviviality (a favorite subject of Goldoni, who loved to parody the emerging bourgeois culture of his era), I couldn’t help but admire Giancarlo’s masterful oratory.

The other subject I wanted to cover with him was the inclusion of Asolo in the 2010 Prosecco DOCG.

“Asolo is fully entitled to be part of the DOCG,” he told me with utmost authority in his voice. “It is a legitimate member of our consortium because of the high quality of the wines produced there and its affinity in terms of the production zone and terroir.”

I’ve written about that today for the Bele Casel blog.

Tracie P and I plan to meet and taste with Giancarlo when we visit Proseccoland early next month.

Stay tuned!

Celebrity sightings at Forbes 30 Under 30 DeJoria estate #SXSW

Posted on by

From the department of “and they called me Zelig”…

john paul dejoria

Last night found me at the super swank Forbes magazine SXSW 30 Under 30 party on the scenic Lake Austin estate of billionaire John Paul DeJoria.

That’s John Paul (center) with Freya Estreller (left) and Natasha Case (right, a 30 Under 30), partners in life and partners in CoolHaus ice cream. John Paul and his wife Eloise are super nice, down-to-earth folks.

governor rick perry

Check out Governor Rick Perry laying low and getting his Patrón on (John Paul owns both the Paul Mitchell hair products and Patrón brands).

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O’Neal stands out in any crowd.

Continue reading →

This woman made me drink California Chardonnay @LisaMattsonWine

Posted on by

best california chardonnay

We have a saying at our house, sometimes in life, you have to drink the Chardonnay.

When I sat down the other evening with my blogging colleague Lisa Mattson here in Austin, we couldn’t help but share a laugh about my (perhaps overly) rigid attitudes about “California Chardonnay.”

I was geeked to talk to her about the excellent social media program she’s developed for the Jordan winery.

I blogged about our chat and “California Chard” culture today over at the Houston Press.

There’s Chardonnay in dem dare hills! :)

Arlington Club steakhouse with a fabu friend #NewYorkStories

Posted on by

best new york steakhouse

Above: Dinner at Arlington Club opened with spare rib bánh mì and sashimi.

There’s been so much going on that I still haven’t had a chance to post about all the places I visited on my February visit to NYC.

Another one of the highlights of my trip was dinner at the city’s newest entry in the dick-wagging steakhouse category, Arlington Club on the Upper East Side, Laurent Tourondel’s most recent oeuvre.

best vouvray

Above: The still young 2011 Clos du Bourg by Huet showed nicely, although a little tight.

I could never have dreamed of getting a reservation at this immensely popular restaurant (when I arrived at 8 p.m. there was a three-person-deep wait at the bar). But I had the good fortune of being the guest of one of the top wine writers in the world, who has a little more pull than most. Let’s just say that his reservation streamlined our experience on an otherwise impossibly packed night.

steakhouse new york

Above: I love the New York steakhouse paradigm and just had to have the Caesar salad. It was solid but not exceptional. But that’s what a Caesar salad should be, n’est-ce pas?

The wine list was predictably Bordeaux- and Northern California-heavy. But there were also some interesting Italian entries beyond the healthy however youngish selection of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese lots. We went for an older Bordeaux but the 2006 Refosco by Ronchi di Cialla for $85 was inviting (I imagine its juiciness would have worked well with the steak).

arlington club new york

Above: The porterhouse for two, the ultimate expression — in my view — of the NYC steakhouse paradigm. I liked the panache of the mise en place.

My generous host was intent on drinking something with some age on it (and I wasn’t complaining).

He chose the Château Langoa-Barton 1998, which showed beautifully, especially as it opened up. I love drinking traditional-style Bordeaux when it’s in its prime like this (at more than fourteen years out), its acidity singing and its fruit vibrantly muscular. I know that some would prefer it with even more age (and I imagine that this bottling has many rewarding years ahead of it). But these wines, when vinified in the traditional style, pair so well with charred beef when adolescent.

best bordeaux steak

Above: If I remember correctly, the alcohol on this wine was reported as 12.5%. Now THAT’s my kind of Bordeaux! Gorgeous wine and a real treat for me to get to taste.

Laurent was at the restaurant that night and it was great to receive the royal treatment as the guest of such an illustrious dinner companion.

In my experience, New York is the only U.S. city that rivals London and Paris in the field of competitive, see-and-be-seen dining. And that cold, misty night on the East Side was one for the books. I’ll never forget tumbling back into anonymity as I hailed a cab on Lexington, my belly full and my spirit fortified.

Thanks again, fabu friend, for such a superb evening!