Houston wine trade and media folks, I need you to join me on Monday, June 26 for a classic Abruzzo menu paired with Abruzzo wines at Davanti, Chef Roberto Crescini’s casual Italian on Wesleyan.

It’s my first event for the consortium of Abruzzo wines and we’ve just got a couple of spots to fill to knock this one out of the park.

Chef Roberto is closing the restaurant just for our party that night. It’s going to be a great one! And I PROMISE: no boring speeches to sit through or videos to watch. Just great food and wines.

The flight of wine is forthcoming. But in the meantime, here’s the menu that Chef Roberto has created especially for our group.

antipasto
pizza rustica abruzzese

primo piatto
ravioli alla teramana

secondo piatto
agnello alla neretese

dolce
parrozzo abruzzese

The dish agnello alla neretese is lamb braised with tomato, sweet and hot peppers. Sound good?

This event is open only to trade and media and again, we just have a few spots to fill at this point.

Please DM me via jparzen [at] gmail.com to RSVP. There is no cost to guests and only a business card is required to attend.

Please feel free to share with any members of trade or food and wine-focused media.

Thank you for the support and solidarity and hope to see you on Monday, June 26! Buon weekend a tutti!

For many years now, I’ve pondered the notion of “wine writing” as a self-referential exercise.

Whenever you describe a wine, you’re not actually describing the wine but rather your experience tasting the wine (or experiencing the wine). Even when you tell the “story” of a wine, you are ultimately describing your own story.

Students of 20th-century critical theory will remember Gertrude Stein’s 1933 book The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. It is an “autobiography” not written by the subject but rather by her partner.

Many before me have called the work a “new paradigm” in Western narrative where the author (in this case, Stein) explores her own perceptions and experiences by purporting to be the subject and author. In doing so, she presaged one of the great conundra of the post-war Deconstruction movement where critical theorists like Barthes and Derrida declared that the “author was dead” (until Eco decided the author was actually still alive).

Stein’s book is one that comes up in my seminars on wine communications in the grad program at the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont.

Reading through the examples of the “tyranny of the tasting note” in Eric Asimov’s “memoir and manifesto” How to Love Wine (2012), it’s abundantly clear that the writers in question are not describing wine but rather their experience tasting the wine in a given sitting. And my analogy here is that Stein is not describing the life of Alice B. Toklas but rather her perception of that life.

In writing a tasting note for a given wine, instead of saying “this is what the wine tastes like,” it would be more precise to say “this is what the wine tasted like to me when I tasted it that day.” The infamous case of Matt Kramer a wine writer from the 2000s saying [updated March 4, 2024] that Bartolo Mascarello tasted like “wet dog” “a warm room with two dogs in it” comes to mind in this context [updated March 4, 2024]. Instead of saying “this is what the wine tastes like,” he should have said, “this is what the wine tasted like to me on the day that I tasted it.”

[As Mr. Kramer recently pointed out to me, it was not him but rather a colleague of his at the time that wrote the note. For more on the episode of the wine that tasted like “a warm room with two dogs in it,” see this post by Craig Camp.]

But it wasn’t until recently that I realized that wine writing isn’t just an exercise in Deconstruction. It finally occurred to me that wine writing is actually ekphrastic in nature. The Greek term ekphrasis denotes the art of describing a work of art. And that is exactly what happens when we describe a wine.

Not only do we not tell our own story — our own experience as opposed to an empirical evaluation of the wine — but we perform that story. Along the way, we can’t help but compete against our peers and even ourselves as we try to excel as wine communicators.

Or do we?

I’m still working it out. Thanks for following along as I do…

Above: some of my students in the graduate program at the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, a hamlet of Bra commune in the Roero subregion of Piedmont.

During their seminars on digital wine communications, the wine and spirits grad students and their instructor decided to take artificial intelligence “out for a drive,” so to speak. Their goal was to determine whether or not Bard, Google’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot, could create humanlike content about wine and viticulture.

The group started by lobbing Bard a soft ball.

“Please write a blog post, with title, about the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences.” This was to be the “control” entry, a relatively easy pitch that the students could swiftly verify (given that they are students at the university).

As expected, Bard regurgitated and even quoted passages from the densely populated UniSG website:

The Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) is a unique institution that offers a multidisciplinary approach to food studies. Founded in 2004 by Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food, UNISG is located in Pollenzo, Italy, a small town in the Piedmont region.

UNISG’s mission is to “educate gastronomes, people equipped with knowledge and skills in the agricultural and food sector, capable of driving food production, distribution and consumption towards proper, viable choices and helping to create a sustainable future for the planet.”

But students and instructor alike were surprised that there was absolutely no mention of wine, viticulture, and spirits studies — all core subjects.

But even more startling was that toward the end of the post, Bard shifted from a descriptive tone to an optative mode.

“If you are looking for a challenging and rewarding educational experience,” wrote Bard using language seemingly lifted from a 1970s ad campaign, “UNISG is the perfect place for you.”

All the more unexpected since the group had not asked it to recruit new students. But the content was solid.

Then, they asked Bard to write a post about a winery with attenuated but lyrical web presence. Beyond fact sheets about the wine, the estate’s website’s primary content is a poetical discourse on the winemaker’s philosophy.

And here things started to get strange.

“The winery is certified organic and biodynamic.” Not true.

It’s “a popular destination for wine lovers, and the winery offers a variety of wine tastings and tours. The winery also has a restaurant, which serves traditional Piedmontese cuisine.” Not true, not true. In fact, entirely made up!

Then came the tasting notes.

“The wine is full-bodied and flavorful, with notes of red fruit, spice, and tobacco.”

One member of the group had recently tasted at said winery. They found it unusual that “tobacco” was used as a tasting descriptor for wine in question. The tasting notes, in general, seemed odd. The winery’s fact sheets don’t include any mention of tobacco.

In conclusion, wrote Bard, “I hope this blog post has inspired you to visit [the] winery in Roero. The winery is a great place to learn about sustainable winemaking practices, taste award-winning wines, and enjoy a traditional Piedmontese meal.”

As my daughters, ages 10 and 11 would say, “CRINGE!”

Two things became clear with subsequent queries:

1) when Bard was tasked with creating content about subjects where ample information was available on the internet, it produced a generic but honest blog post;
2) when tasked with create content where scant info is available, it created misinformation.

The group’s conclusions were that:

1) AI still cannot be relied on for useful, factual information when it comes to wine and viticulture;
2) AI’s wine-focused copy still comes across as wooden and overly generalized; it lacks the verve and originality of human-generated content.

My personal thought is that wine writing remains an entirely idiosyncratic enterprise and lacks the kind of overarching standards and conventions that would facilitate the creation of AI-generated content.

When we asked Bard to write about Google authority, a subject we discussed at length, it did a great job. When asked to describe a groovy winery in Roero, it came across as a phony and fake.

But how long is that going to last?

The mantra that I share with my students at the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont where I’m teaching this week:

taste, taste, taste
read, read, read
write, write, write

Whenever I’m in Italy, I try to taste as much as possible. After yesterday’s afternoon seminar on digital wine communications with the students in the wine-focused grad program, it took me about 25 minutes to get the Hilberg Pasquero winery in Priocca village on the edge of the Roero DOCG. Man, it’s been literally 20 years since I first visited this lovely family! Now their son Nicola has returned from a successful career in corporate marketing to take over the family farm.

That’s their still blend of Brachetto and Barbera, above. The fruit in this wine is so vibrant, but delicate and nuanced at the same time. When’s the last time you tasted a Brachetto that wasn’t sparkling? I have always loved this wine and was so happy to revisit it with them in situ.

Whenever we talk about Roero in generalities, we tend to emphasize that Roero’s subsoils are mostly sandy. That’s why, the conventional wisdom goes, Roero’s Nebbiolo doesn’t have the depth of its neighbor in Barolo with its mix of limestone, clay, and marl soils.

But what many don’t realize is that Roero is actually just a stone’s throw from Barbaresco to the east. They are divided by the Tanaro river. Villages in the eastern part of the Roero DOCG share soil types with their neighbors.

Nicola was keen to show me a vineyard they had recently re-planted (below). Do you notice the color and texture of the soil? That’s the classic limestone terreno bianco (the “white soil”) that you also find in Barbaresco and Barolo!

It was fantastic to stand atop that hill and have Nicola point out some of his neighbors who also farm on the same white soils.

And man, let me tell you, those two expressions of Nebbiolo d’Alba (above) that we tasted are no Nebbiolo by a lesser god!

Hilberg Pasquero is currently imported in the U.S. by wonderful friend Dino Tantawi in New York. But they are looking for representation in other states now, too. If I were an importer, I’d jump on it.

Thank you again Annette, Michele, and Nicola for an awesome tasting! Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon so we can break out those guitars!

Italy’s seemingly unending chamber of wonders never ceases to amaze me.

From running along the farmland banks of the Tiber river outside Rome to devouring castraure artichokes of Venice paired with some natty macerated white wine… Italy always gives of herself effortlessly and tirelessly.

It’s no wonder that there are so many tourists here this summer — from all over. In Rome they were saying that they are expecting three times the number of people who actually live there. Out of the way hotels have been key to keeping cost down. But man, don’t ask about the rental car!

That’s a chunk of quartz, above, that I found in a vineyard high atop the Valpolicella valley. The soil types in Valpolicella are so variegated and distinctive. I had the most amazing day there yesterday.

Today is Festa della Repubblica, a national holiday that celebrates the founding of the Republic of Italy in 1946. But I still managed to get a winery visit in. Tasted some amazing Cabernet Franc in Piave this morning.

After I finish my week of teaching at Slow Food U next week, I’ll be sharing tales of my trips to Italian wine country at three events in the U.S. later this month.

Long Beach
Friday, June 16
register

On Friday, June 16, I’ll be in Long Beach, California with the Dugans, America’s grooviest wine family (I’m so not exaggerating about that either!). Jeremy and I will be pouring some favorite Italian naturals as we try not to one up each other with Mel Brooks quotes. Seriously, we’ll be pouring some super compelling wines and the crowd and community at their shop is super lovely.

Miami
Wedsnesday, June 21
register

On Wednesday, June 21, in Miami I’ll be pouring and speaking about Barbera and Nizza, including two wines by my client and friends at Amistà. I’ll be hosted by the amazing and inimitable Allegra Angelo at her super fun store Vinya in Key Biscayne. The vibe of her store is so cool and we’re going to be opening some truly benchmark wines that night.

Houston
Monday, June 26
DM me

I’m super psyched about a dinner I’m hosting at Davanti in Houston where chef Roberto Crescini is creating an Abruzzo menu especially for us. It’s part of a new gig I’m doing with super sweet folks at the Abruzzo consortium. It’s only open to trade and media. But I might be able to snag a spot or two for you if we have space. Please email me if you’d like to attend.

Thank you for the support and solidarity! Hope to see you later this month!

Vanity Fair Italia, Corriere della Sera (one of the country’s leading national dailies), and some of Italy’s highest-profile food and wine blogs like Dissapore are all talking about it: the first issue of the Gambero Rosso magazine under its new leadership and the masthead’s June 2023 cover story on natural wine.

Natural wine in the Gambero Rosso, you ask?

Longtime reporter for La Repubblica (another one of Italy’s leading dailies), Marco Mensurati, shocked the media community earlier this year when he left his new position as the editor of the paper’s Rome desk and became the editor-in-chief of the Gambero Rosso monthly magazine, now in its 32nd year.

For its first issue with Mensurati at the helm, he asked editor and writer Lorenzo Ruggeri, who’s been with the outfit for more than a decade, to write a cover story (June 2023) on natural wine and to interview the popular singer-songwriter Vincio Caposella about his new album where he makes some highly controversial declarations on the world of natural wine in Italy today.

“I have seen the best minds of my generation,” says Caposella (quoting the American Beat poet), “lose themselves in natural wine while the extreme right has taken over the electorate and [our] country.”

On his new album, “Il Bene Rifugio” (“Safe Haven”; the title is a riff on the finance term “safe haven investment”), Caposella sings, you natural wines… are on the wrong side…” (from the track, “Il Lato del torto,” “The Wrong Side”).

In his long interview with Ruggeri, the artist makes his case that natural wine is a “cliché” of the “radical chic.” It’s the same hypocrisy, he says, as that embraced by the “populist right.”

Wow.

Caposella, whose style is heavily influenced by Tom Waits, is a well known lover of natural wine. He cites Gravner as one of his favorite producers, to give you an idea.

“Vinicio Capossela exploits the pretext of natural wine in an effort to criticize a Left that has lost touch with the people — just like him,” wrote one commentator.

The interview is accompanied by a truly fantastic piece by Ruggeri (a good friend, for the record) where he writes about “The Lesson of Natural Wine” (not yet available online for non-subscribers). Not only does he profile some of the leading producers in the natural wine movement. But he also speaks to top Italian enologists like Luca D’Attoma, who talks about the highly positive influence the radical natural wine movement has had on conventional winemaking.

Historically, the Gambero Rosso has been known for its generalized disdain for the natural wine scene. Ruggeri even quotes a scathing editorial on the expression “natural wine” written for the masthead in 2013 (“If there’s anything that’s really natural,” wrote the editor, “it can’t be wine.”)

If this month’s issue is a taste of what’s to come under Mensurati’s leadership, then I’ll take a double please!

Super congrats to my friend Lorenzo on his wonderful cover story.