Category Archives: de musica

Champers: best Champagne bets for New Year’s and other sparklers

Posted on by

Above: Jean-Luc Retard (aka Dan Crane) and I cracked a bottle of Bollinger in Bryan Cook’s studio earlier this year. Bollinger is the “official” Champagne of our band Nous Non Plus. We love it so much that we wrote a song about it on our new CD “Ménagerie” (in stores Feb. 3, Aeronaut Records). Bollinger Special Cuvée (the house’s entry level wine) is relatively easy to find and should cost about $55, although it can fetch up to $75 depending on the market).

When it comes to sparkling wine, there’s no better resource in the blogosphere than Brooklynguy’s Friday Night Bubbles. (And for Champagne freaks, Peter Liem’s excellent blog is a must read.) Brooklynguy is a lover of natural wine, Loire Valley (the epicenter of the natural wine movement today), and “grower” Champagne (i.e., Champagne producers that grow their own grapes instead of buying it from other estates). He has an uncanny ability to find great values for great sparkling wine. (Like this 96 Fleury he turned me, Jayne, and Jon on to when we hung this year at Bahia.)

Above: Tracie B and I disgorged a bottle of one of our favorite sparkling wines, Puro Rosé by Movia (Slovenia), the other night at our friend’s place in Austin. Anyone who follows Do Bianchi knows that this is one of my I-would-drink-it-everyday-if-I-could-afford-to wines. It’s pretty hard to find (outside of major markets) but should cost about $50.

The only problem is that, because he lives in NYC, Brooklynguy has access to wine sellers that many of us do not. That doesn’t mean that we can’t drink great bubbles at a reasonable price for New Year’s Eve. The price point for good (and not-too-hard-to-find) Champagne is between $50-80 — that’s steep for me but when it comes to Champagne, you’ve got to pay to play…

Above: Selosse is way too expensive for my pocketbook and next-to-impossible to find. But as they say in French, “impossible n’est pas français”: Alfonso treated me, Tracie, and Kim to a bottle of the high coveted wine a few weekends ago in Dallas. (He found it at Austin Wine Merchant. It’s easier to find in smaller markets.)

When it’s bad, Champagne sucks: please DO NOT ever drink Veuve Clicquot — one of the worst marketing scams in the history of wine (sawwy, but it needs to be said).

When it’s good, reasonably priced Champagne (in Do Bianchi’s world, think Bollinger, Billecart-Salmon, Taittinger) can be delicious, nuanced, and sexy.

Above: Tracie B and I love Billecart-Salmon. It’s not too hard to find non-vintage entry-level at around $55. The non-vintage rosé (soooooo good) costs around $90.

Partly because of the way it has been marketed (brilliantly) and partly because of the ineffable complexity it attains when made well, Champagne is indelibly etched in our psyche as the apotheosis of decadence and celebration. It is perhaps the only wine that transcends place and nationality — everyone loves Champagne and employs it in celebration. So powerful is the image evoked by Champagne that even the word itself thrives outside the world of wine: it just wouldn’t make sense to call someone a “Brunello socialist,” would it?

Above: My good friend and VinoWire collaborator Franco and I tasted in the cellars of Ca’ del Bosco in Franciacorta in September. Franciacorta produces superb terroir-driven sparkling wines.

Beyond the world of Champagne, I’ve been drinking a lot of sparkling wine from the Loire Valley (think Saumur and Vouvray) and Franciacorta (Lombardy, Italy) this year. These wines are not alternatives to Champagne: when they’re well made, they are terroir-driven wines that express the places where they are produced in their aromas and flavors. Because they don’t evoke the prestige of Champagne, they often represent excellent value and in many cases, I find them to be more food-friendly than Champagne (because of its complexity, good Champagne often requires very pure flavors in the foods with which it is served).

What will Tracie B and I be drinking on New Year’s Eve? Stick around and you just might find out!

Word is out: Nous Non Plus in NYC Feb. 9

Posted on by

Above: Nous Non Plus in June 2008. There’s no excuse for shameless self-promotion, is there? After all, it’s shameless! That’s me, far left.

New Yorkers and américains, mark you’re calendars: Nous Non Plus will be headlining at the Mercury Lounge on the Lower East Side, Monday, February 9, 10 p.m.

We’ll be hot on the heels of our France 09 Tour, including our Paris appearance at Point Ephémère, Wednesday, February 4. (Believe it or not, our tour is also taking us to do a date in Bordeaux! What in the world is Do Bianchi gonna drink there? Bored-oh?)

Click here for tickets for the Feb. 9 show.

Our new album, Ménagerie (Aeronaut Records), will be on shelves (virtual and real) on Feb. 3.

You can download an mp3 of our cover of The Unicorns’ Tuff Ghost here.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Jaynes bids Jar adieu

Posted on by

Above: Erik (Benoit), Nicholas, and Jon Erickson (co-owner with his lovely wife Jayne), at the bar at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego — my “habitat” for the last 12 months. Benoit wrote me this beautiful “farewell” post at his excellent blog, AntiYelp.

Following my 3-day Dantean solo drive halfway across the country (think Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, George Jones, a little Paul Simon, a lot of Willie, and the obligatory Gram — all set to a desert landscape), I am posting today from Austin, Texas, my new home.

On Friday night, I completed my last shift at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego (although I’ll surely make a cameo appearance or two in 2009).

When I clocked out, a few friends joined and they threw me a lil’ going away party (fyi, all of my friends in music and in San Diego call me “Jar” or “the Jar,” my nickname since junior high days)…

In her quest to get me to love Bordeaux, Robin Stark brought this excellent 95 Angelus. We decanted and tasted about an hour later. I was impressed by the wine’s bright acidity (not what you see in modern-style bored-oh). Thanks, Robin!

My high school friend John Yelenosky brought this 99 Poggio Salvi Brunello di Montalcino, which showed beautifully. (Click here and scroll down to see our high school senior pics.) John and I had a great 2008 playing music, drinking Produttori del Barbaresco, and just hanging out — like in the old days… Gonna miss you, bro!

That’s me with Jayne’s dad, the inimitable Frank Battle. In September, I officiated at his daughter’s wedding to my good friend Jon Erickson. Mr. Battle, you’ve got a lovely daughter.

Jayne and Jon and everyone at Jaynes Gastropub: I’m gonna miss you! Thanks for helping me get my pour and my groove back on in 2008!

Yesterday’s wine: Willie Nelson at the Backyard

Posted on by

Miracles appear in the strangest of places…

Above: no synthesizers allowed… Willie played with a piano player, bass, drums, percussion, and harmonica. He played all the guitar himself on that same old acoustic guitar he’s used on all his albums. Man, that dude can play the guitar. I love his signature chromatic scales in his solos.

A week ago yesterday, Tracie B and I went to see Willie Nelson on the closing night of Austin’s storied concert venue, the Backyard. (Click here for a story about the closing of this legendary concert “shed.” I love what the reporter wrote: “Most folks say if the backyard does re-open elsewhere they’ll likely go, but it won’t be the same.”)

He played nearly all my favorites, including Yesterday’s Wine, one of his many greats, which was also recorded as a duet by George Jones and Merle Haggard (a great version):

    Yesterday’s wine, I’m yesterday’s wine
    Aging with time, like yesterday’s wine

I don’t know much about Willie’s palate (although I do know that he and I share a predilection for another indulgence). But, like analog wine in a digital age, his songbook has evolved gracefully over the years, with the nuanced notes of a classic American composer — just like yesterday’s wine… One of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life.

Above: “Ain’t you glad we ain’t all California girls/Ain’t you glad there’s still a few of us left/That know how to rock your world” (Gretchen Wilson). Tracie B and Jeremy P at Willie last Sunday.

*****

In other news…

Do Bianchi is rarely a forum for political views but something I witnessed Friday compels me to ask my Californian sisters and brothers to please vote NO on Proposition 8. Drivers-by hurled insults at the woman in the photo (left) and the other protesters who lined Adams St. around the corner from Jaynes Gastropub.

Proposition 8, which would outlaw gay marriage in California, “is discrimination,” it’s un-American, and it’s just plain wrong. At the restaurant on Saturday, I waited on a super nice couple who recently got married (they drank Il Poggione 2006 Rosso di Montalcino): the vote will be close, they told me, and every vote will count.

*****

Miracles appear in the strangest of places
Fancy meeting you here
The last time I saw you was just out of Houston
Sit down, let me buy you a beer

Your presence is welcome with me and my friend here
This is a hangout of mine
We come here quite often and listen to music
Partaking of yesterday’s wine

Yesterday’s wine, I’m yesterday’s wine
Aging with time, like yesterday’s wine
Yesterday’s wine, we’re yesterday’s wine
Aging with time, like yesterday’s wine

You give the appearence of one widely travelled
I’ll bet you’ve seen things in your time
So sit down beside me and tell me your story
If you think you’ll like yesterday’s wine

di mamma ce n’è una sola…

Posted on by

Judy’s grandchildren Abner (Micah and Marguerite’s older boy) and Amalia (Tad and Diane’s youngest) took a break from Judy’s birthday celebration for very important discussions.

There’s a saying in Italian, di mamma ce n’è una sola…, there’s only one mother, in other words, you only have one mother… A few weeks ago, the Parzen family celebrated a special birthday for Judy, “our bridge over troubled water…”

Of course, I did a little wine tasting for the party, which was held in the park across from my mom’s building at the La Jolla Cove. This Saumur Rosé Corail, a sparkler made from Cabernet Franc, was the winner in my notes.

Brother Micah with long-time family friend Mr. Regan.

Long-time family friend Dr. Ugoretz and my mom’s colleague from her UCSD days, Mary. Dr. U’s really into wine and he seemed to dig the Truchard Cabernet Sauvignon that I poured him the other night at Jaynes.

Brother Tad, his father-in-law Saul, and the Golds, who live in my mom’s building. Mrs. Gold is my mom’s swimming partner.

Sister-in-law Diane and long-time family friend Theresa, one of my mom’s best friends.

Megan and I grew up together in our old neighborhood. Our families have been friends since we were children.

The weather was fantastic that day and everyone had a great time at the party. La Jolla never seemed more beautiful.

If you ever wonder where I learned how to do “jazz hands”… That’s me and Judy at Jaynes earlier this year celebrating my birthday.

Happy birthday, mom! Here’s a lil’ YouTubication for you…

The great Brunello debate and please keep Austin weird

Posted on by

Above: sopecitos at Fonda San Miguel, one of the many excellent Mexican restaurants in Austin, Texas.

Just a quick reminder: Franco and Ezio Rivella will face off tomorrow in the great Brunello debate in Siena, 3 p.m. local time. You can watch the debate live at http://www.vinarius.it/. I’ll be watching, of course, and will most certainly post about it here and at VinoWire. Franco will be presenting the case for Brunello di Montalcino to remain 100% Sangiovese while Rivella will argue that appellation regulations should be changed, allowing for other grapes to be used as well.

Above: Dale Watson did an awesome show at the Broken Spoke the other night in Austin.

In other news…

Tracie B. and me did us some more honky-tonkin in Austin this week. I’ve really been impressed by how Austin still has many family-owned and run music venues and restaurants. Especially coming from Southern California, where the landscape is dominated by fast food chains and strip malls, I’m happy to know that there is an America where folks are still keeping it real. Keep Austin Weird is a grass-roots movement that promotes general “weirdness,” as they put it.

I’ve been enjoying some of that weirdness and I really dug Dale Watson’s version of Pop a Top the other night at the Broken Spoke (my second-favorite honky tonk after Ginny’s Little Longhorn).

Pop a top again
I just got time for one more round
Sit em up my friends
Then I’ll be gone
Then you can let some other fool sit down

I’d like for you’d to listen to a joke I heard today
From a woman who said she was through and calmly walked away
I’d tried to smile and did a while it felt so outta place
Did you ever hear of a clown with tears drops streamming down his face.

Pop a top again
I think I’ll have another round
Sit em up my friend
Then I’ll be gone and you can let some other fool sit down.

Home for me is misery and here I am wasting time
Cause a row of fools on a row of stools is not what’s on my mind
But then you see her leaving me it’s not what I perfer
So it’s either here just drinking beer or at home remembering her.

Pop a top again
I think I’ll have another round
Sit em up my friend
Then I’ll be gone and you can let some other fool sit down
Pop a top again.

What to serve with home-smoked ribs in Austin TX? Produttori del Barbaresco, what else?

Posted on by

Above: what else would I pair with home-smoked ribs? 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco (classico), of course. I’ve tasted this wine a number of times since I first tasted it in NYC at a Vias portfolio tasting with Alfonso, Alice, and winemaker Aldo Vacca early last year. Over the last few months, it’s been in what I call a “state of grace”: a period of sensational drinkability before it shuts down again for the long-term. The bottle we opened on Sunday night in Austin showed signs of tightening up again but was delicious nonetheless.

Italian wine bloggers — me, Tracie B., Alfonso, and Wolfgang — converged on Austin last weekend for the Austin City Limits music festival and some general honky-tonking.

My festival highlight was Erykah Badu: man, that lady is one bad-assed mother… (and I mean that on multiple levels: played an amazing show, rocked a great percussion solo on with her digi trigger, and how many months pregnant is she?). We watched her set with my friend, roomate, and licensing agent Michael Nieves. He and I raised a beer to toast the phat placement he did for our song Fille Atomique on Gossip Girl on Monday.

Alfonso, Tracie B., and I were the guests at the home of Misti and Nathan, Tracie B.’s good friends. Nathan smoked pork ribs — one rack with a spicy rub, one with a bbq sauce finish, and one plain. He began smoking them in the morning, keeping them at about 200° F. all day long, using chips from old whiskey barrels (Franco would agree with me that this would be an excellent use for barriques! Nathan said, however, he prefers pecan). Misti made steamed corn with jalapeño rounds and a great potato salad (with olive oil instead of mayonnaise). Lena and Dean were there, too. Nathan’s a pretty mean guitar player and so we traded some riffs and played Beatles and Bruce Springsteen into the night (on the ladies’ request).

Above: what do Italian wine bloggers drink when they get together? Mexican beer, of course! Wolfgang and Alfonso at Güero’s Taco Bar in Austin. I wasn’t sure about getting fish tacos in a land-locked taco joint so I went with the roast pork, which was very good, but the sides were just so-so. The salsa bar was excellent if meager and I love the way they serve the beer with small, old-school glasses, like the ones you find in Mexico.

Above: Tracie B. at Ginny’s Little Longhorn, my new all-time favorite honky tonk. The night we were there, the caliber of the playing just made me want to go sell my geetar at a pawn shop. Tracie B. moved back to Austin earlier this year from Ischia where she wrote her fantastic blog, My Life Italian, about Italian food and wine and the life of a Texana in Campania, Italy. She’s a little shy on camera but, man, that girl’s got the prettiest eyes this Italian wine blogger’s ever seen!

*****

Post scriptum

Strappo and Marco: we missed you at the Italian wine blogger summit, Austin, 2008 edition.

Feeling fat and stinky (and that’s a good thing)

Posted on by

Above: fat and stinky. I can’t say where it came from or who shared it with me (since it’s illegal in this country), but this Ami du Chambertin was fantastic yesterday evening at my buddy’s place. This week I’m feeling just like that cheese.

When I first moved to NYC and got a job as a magazine editor, one of the graphics guys was a Russian. Slava was his name, very talented dude and a good friend. Every time he’d see me laugh or smile, he’d say, “Jeremy, suck a lime.” In other words, stop smiling because unless you don’t something bad will surely happen.

Well, I’m throwing caution to the wind because it’s been a good week and I’m feeling fat and stinky like that cheese.

Found out yesterday that Nous Non Plus’ Fille Atomique (from …Nous Non Plus self-titled) will be featured on the show Gossip Girl on Monday (8 p.m. Pacific, check your local listings).

Our new album, Ménagerie, is being printed as I write this and will be out in January.

This week I’m finishing the final edits on my behemoth translation of a Guide to Italian Cinema for Princeton U. Press. I’ve been working on this book for a few years now and it’s great to see it come to fruition.

And this weekend I’m headed to Austin, Texas to hang out, relax, and listen to some good music during Austin City Limits. Maybe I’ll even get to dance with a pretty girl… I can just hear Slava saying it, suck a lime…

In other news…

I really like this post today by McDuff: one of the things I like about his blog is the way he balances the human aspect of our business with great tasting notes and informed background. I was just talking to some colleagues about Vajra last night and lo and behold, David posted on the winery today.

Italian Wine Guy is back from Italy and shared with me this updated list of the now 41 Italian DOCGs (a few new ones were added this summer). Alfonso, looking forward to seeing you this weekend in Austin, man!

Obladi Oblada: Jayne and Jon got married

Posted on by

Above: on Saturday, I officiated at Jayne and Jon’s wedding in Presidio Park overlooking San Diego.

The task was daunting: as I sat down and finally put pen to paper after months of procrastinating, the thought of writing a wedding ceremony and wedding vows seemed insurmountable.

As a musician, I’ve played more weddings that I care to remember and I’m glad not to be in that business anymore. But playing someone’s first dance or getting a crowd to rock out on the dance floor — that’s easy. Writing a ceremony and vows for two of my best friends in the world, whom I care about deeply — that’s a tall order. But once I finally started writing, it all came together. Jayne’s family is from Liverpool and they’re all huge Beatles fans. So the only request was that somehow a Beatles’ lyric be incorporated. If you care to read my talk and the vows, click here.

The ceremony was lovely, if I do say so myself: just enough tears and not too much laughter. I was very flattered that Jayne and Jon had asked me to officiate and how could one say no to such a request from such dear friends. But what do I know about what makes a great marriage? I’m certainly no shining example of a lifetime of bliss.

When my old friend Mike Andrews and I spoke at the party, I shared my doubts with him. “Jeremy, you were the perfect person to do this,” he said. “Because you’ve never stopped believing in love.”

Above: the happy couple. That’s Bart Davenport in the corner playing guitar. Man, that dude can sing…

I believe in love, Alfie.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JAYNE AND JON!!!

Epilogue

The reception was held at the restaurant where among other great bottles, we opened:

1999 Produttori del Barbaresco Rabajà in magnum
2000 Château Certan in magnum
1976 Lòpez de Heredia Viña Bosconia

And, of course, the Bollinger Special Cuvée and the 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco (classico) flowed into the night and flowed over to the after party at Tio Leos. Music industry veteran Jon had put together what was the most smoking wedding band (short of Stevie Wonder playing your wedding), led by the inimitable Bart Davenport. Jon sat in on Gill Scott Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane” among other numbers and I backed Jayne’s dad, Frank Battle, on “Ring of Fire.”