Category Archives: de oenographia

1967 Barolo and an important book

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The night of my bon voyage party at Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego last month, Jayne and Jon gave me a bottle of birth-year Barolo to send me off in style: a 1967 Barolo by Borgogno. After driving my 1989 Volvo across country to Austin in mid-December, I let the bottle rest until the other night when Tracie B and I opened it for dinner. After we tasted and thoroughly enjoyed the wine and the experience, I turned to a tome that some (myself included) consider to be one of the most important works on Barolo and its history: Il Barolo come lo sento io, by Massimo Martinelli (Asti: Sagittario. 1993). The book was recommended to me many years ago by a restaurateur in Alba and it took me a long time to track it down. I simply can’t express its value in terms of understanding Barolo and its evolution: the vintage notes and analyses (stretching back to 1868!), the colorful anecdotes and vignettes of Barolo’s great personages, and Martinelli’s often poetic accounts of Barolo and its vicissitudes make it an indispensable tool in understanding the greatness of this wine. The title alone reveals the breadth (and passion) of Martinelli’s writing: Barolo, as I know (feel and taste it).* (I wish I had the time and resources to translate the whole book but, alas, with the state of publishing as it is and the narrow field of interest, this labor amoris will have to wait.)

Above: Please try this at home! Drink old wine with food! Don’t fetishize it. Respect it but don’t be intimidated by it. The people who made it intended it to be served with food. We served the 1967 Borgogno with pork loin chops, seasoned and dredged in flour, seared and deglazed with white wine. You don’t have to drink old Barolo with a fondue of Fontina and poached eggs topped with shaved white truffles (although that’s not a bad pairing either).

Martinelli ranks vintages as follows (for sake of clarity, my translation is slavish): exceptional, great, optimal, good, normal, mediocre, bad. His top vintages are 1947, 1971, and 1985 (some might be surprised by his assessment of certain vintages). Here’s what he has to say about 1967: “Majestic. Optimal vintage. Full, robust wine, with intense aromas” (again, a slavish translation). His drinkability prediction: “Wine with its full character: more than twenty years (1987…). Wine with its character still evident: more than ten years (1997…).”

Above: According to the newly revamped Borgogno website, the winery was founded in 1761. But 1848 is the date that accompanies the inscription on the label, “labore cum honore pro patria” or “made with honor for the nation.” I imagine the date refers to the year of the first war of Italian independence and is an indicator of Barolo’s historic significance in the birth of an “Italian wine nation,” as I have called it.

When I lived and worked in New York, I had the opportunity to taste a number of Borgogno “library” releases. According the label of this bottling, it was tasted, decanted, and rebottled in 2007, and had been topped off with wine from the same vintage. I’m not certain but my impression is that other library releases by Borgogno were topped off with young wine (a common practice for library releases, and not something that I oppose). The 1967 did not seem to have been topped off with young wine and despite its age, it was alive with perceptible acidity and eucalyptus and tarry notes, typical of old Nebbiolo.

Thanks Jayne and Jon! We thoroughly enjoyed this wine — nearly as old as me (since I was born during the Summer of Love while this wine was still in the vineyard)!

Post scriptum: In 2008, Borgogno was purchased by Italian food magnate Oscar Farinetti, who vowed to maintain the winery’s traditional style and not make it modern, even though he hired the duke of modernity, Giorgio Rivetti (the winemaker behind the rhinoceros), as a marketing consultant. In a recent post, Franco noted, however, that not much has changed at Borgogno, except for a “dusted off” website.

* In Italian, the verb sentire, from the Latin sentio sentire (to discern by sense, feel, hear, see, perceive, be sensible of) means to feel, to hear, to taste, to sense, to perceive (depending on the context). It’s akin to the English sentient.

Angelo Gaja and the “age of responsibility”

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The bishop of Barbaresco, Angelo Gaja (left), certainly wasn’t looking at the world through rose-colored glasses when he sat down with Jedi blogger Antonio Tombolini and 19 other food and wine bloggers in a conference room at the Gaja estate last Sunday (photomontage by Alfonso Cevola). Gaja had agreed to let the bloggers ask him anything they wanted regarding the caso Brunello or Brunello affair, as it has come to be known, and Antonio blogged live from their session — even taking questions from the virtual crowd. Franco and I have translated and posted some highlights at VinoWire. If you have been following the Brunello controversy, you might be surprised by what Gaja had to say and his candor.

Throughout the Brunello controversy, bloggers, journalists, and wine pundits have lamented the lack of transparency — on behalf of the Brunello Consortium, the winemakers themselves, and the Siena prosecutor’s office.

When young winemaker Alessandro Bindocci began posting at Montalcino Report, it was a breath of fresh air from Sant’Angelo in Colle at 400 meters a.s.l.: finally… finally, the world had an honest, reliable, just-the-facts source for information about what was happening “on the ground,” as we used to say during my U.N. interpreting days. Alessandro is a twenty-something and technically hip winemaker (check out his FB and if you don’t know what that means, then don’t bother). Gaja — a relative newcomer to Montalcino but an old dog when it comes to new tricks — doesn’t have a blog and so he had the bloggers come to him.

Whether or not I like Gaja’s style of Brunello (I don’t), whether or not I agree with his push to change Brunello appellation regulations and allow for blending of international grapes (I don’t), I have great admiration for him and what he did on Sunday. And I believe that — like Alessandro — he has done a great service for Montalcino and the people who live and work there by having the courage to bring some transparency to his otherwise murky situation.

Has the “age of responsibility” arrived in Montalcino? Not yet. But the “Gaja vs. Bloggers” summit, as it was dubbed in Italian, was a step in the right direction, no doubt.

I wish I had time to translate the entire thread, but I’m besieged by work these days.

In other news…

I’m not the only to make an analogy between the new political era and the world of wine writing and blogging. In fact (and I give credit where credit is due), I am taking my cue from Eric’s recent post, “Can we all get along” (I was in LA, btw, when Rodney King and the riots went down. “God damn ya, who’s got the camera?” Does anyone remember the Ice Cube song?). I was really impressed by the post and the thread of impassioned comments it inspired.

“Let the arguments rage on!” I’ll drink to that… Long live the counterculture! Et vive la différance!*

* After no one commented on my “Brunello socialist” joke, I don’t have high hopes for this this pun. Does anyone get it? Hint: note the unusual spelling.

Emozionante! Produttori del Barbaresco Pora 2004

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Above: No mixed emotions for me when it comes to 2004 Produttori del Barbresco. This is the stuff dreams are made of…

Last week took me to Dallas where I attended the Vias Imports tasting at the Italian Club of Dallas. It was an emotional occasion for me: I still hadn’t tasted any of the 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco crus and I was entirely geeked to taste the Pora (the only cru presented). I’ve been drinking 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco classic Barbaresco (i.e., blended from different vineyards) and the wine — from a cool and climatically balanced vintage — is showing gorgeously now. It’s going through a beautiful, open period in its youth. (Tracie B and I opened a bottle the other evening for dinner but finished it the next night with her killer nachos as we watched the Golden Globes: the wine actually became more tannic the next night!)

In my experience, Pora is among the softer Produttori crus and can be more approachable in its youth. No mixed emotion for me about this wine: I was thrilled to taste it and it’s sure to be one of the greatest expressions of this wine in my wine-drinking life.

Above: Always the gentleman, Alfonso Cevola jumped behind the tasting table to pour for food and wine writer Renie Steves.

I was also excited for my first taste of the 2005 Produttori del Barbaresco classic Barbaresco. The wine from this warmer vintage is more concentrated and not quite as elegant as the 2004. It is already very approachable and leans toward fruit flavor more than its older sibling.

Above: Salvioni’s 2003 Brunello di Montalcino is probably the best 2003 Brunello I’ve tasted.

Other highlights for me were the 2002 Gravners (Breg and Ribolla, less extreme than in previous vintages I’ve tasted — thank goodness!), Damijan 2004 (always), Dettori 2004 (probably my favorite wine from Sardinia, totally natural in style), Salvioni 2003 Brunello (incredibly balanced alcohol for this super hot vintage, so elegant and terroir-driven), and the 2006 bottlings of Dolcetto by Pecchinino (classic vintage for this wine, I really dug them).

Above: The Italian Club of Dallas has a busy social and cultural calendar.

One surprise was a wine that Robin really likes, Tenuta San Leonardo (Gonzaga) 2004 San Leonardo. I’m never such a fan of Bordeaux-style wines from Italy but this was showing nicely. It was interesting to taste it side-by-side with the 2003: I think that the cool summer of 2004 made for some great wines in Italy.

In other news…

Don’t forget to come see me, Tracie B, and NNP at the Mercury Lounge in NYC on Monday February 9. I’ll be posting updated info for our France 2009 mini-tour next week: we got bumped up to a better show than we thought in Paris… details to follow…

Above: Pickled jalapeños at a wine tasting? Only in Texas!

*****

The 1980s Richard Simmons look didn’t really work so well for Mick, did it?

Synæsthesia and wine writing (and Valentini 2004 Trebbiano)

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Synæsthesia is “the use of metaphors in which terms relating to one kind of sense-impression are used to describe sense-impressions of other kinds; the production of synæsthetic effect in writing or an instance of this” (Oxford English Dictionary, online edition).

A famous example of synæsthesia is found in Dante, Inferno 33.9, where Count Ugolino says to Dante and Virgil:

parlare e lagrimar vedrai insieme (you will see me speak and weep together).

(This is also an example of zeugma, one of my favorite figures of rhetoric, if only for the term’s etymology.)

Synæsthesia is inherent to wine writing: when we describe wine, we use “one kind of sense-impression… to describe sense-impressions of other kinds.”

The wine descriptor velvety is a great example of this (Italian Wine Guy published this excellent post, The Allure of Velour, on its usage yesterday).

In our confabulationes, my comrade Howard and I often discuss synæsthesia in wine writing.

The other night he and I (he in the Hollywood Hills, I in Austin) exchanged messages on whether or not to decant a 2004 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. The next day, he sent me the following tasting notes, which he graciously has allowed me to share with you.

    We started with a Lambrusco rosé from Lini, which was subtler and more satisfying that I had expected. What I’d wanted was “amiable,” and it was that, to be sure, but there was also something come-hitherish which made all of us want to refill our glasses until it was gone.

    The Valentini was another story — one with a narrative arc. It was dull, cloudy in the glass, and at first seemed like a seaside breeze, seashells in the sun, but old, distant, as if we were trying to hear a conversation at the other end of a transAtlantic cable. Then it thickened, notes becoming chords, with sweet second-order harmonics, lush feedback. It could have stayed there and we would have been happy. But then, about an hour in, it went all psychedelic on us. Weird aromas, flavor notes, speaking to each of us in individual tongues. For me, it was witch hazel and Pinaud Lilac Vegetal, taking me all the way back to the Brooklyn days when my uncle would walk me to the barbershop — I’d get a haircut, he’d get a shave, as the Men Born Elsewhere chattered in their native languages. The memories came flooding back. Then the Valentini got even stranger, more ethereal — and was gone.

    To go with the cheese (a Manchego with membrillo, and a truly memorable Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery, a washed-rind triple cream, perfectly ripe, perhaps the best domestic cheese I’ve ever had) we opened another of the 1998 G. Conterno Barolos. The bottle we shared at Lou told a story (or many stories). This one never really lost its martial beat. It was stern, perhaps a bit disapproving. The cheese evolved before our eyes, but the wine simply looked on, aristocratic and unengaged. I look forward to seeing what it’s like this evening. It may not have been ready to yield up its pleasures, but time is on my side.

From this moment on, I hereby declare feedback to be a canonical wine descriptor!

Thanks for the tasting notes and photos, Howard.

Addendum:

The 2004 harvest was the penultimate vinified by Edoardo Valentini before his passing in April 2006.

Angelo Gaja’s rosy glasses and apocalyptic vision and blogs I (can’t) read

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Neither Franco nor I can decipher the cryptic post published by the bishop of Barbaresco, Angelo Gaja (photo by Alfonso Cevola), at I numeri del vino (one of the most important resources in the enoblogosphere for hard data on Italian wine). Gaja seems to want his cake and eat it too, riding both sides of the fence in the Brunello controversy, warning producers that “nothing can be the same” while painting a rosy picture of a world of Italian wine free of commercial fraud. Read our faithful translation at VinoWire and let me know what you think.

Blogs I (can’t) read…

I haven’t been doing much blog-surfing lately because I am slammed with work right now and just finished my move to my new apartment in Austin. But there are some new feeds in my Google reader.

In the world of corporate blogging (clogging), I’ve really been enjoying Italian Wine Guy’s newest creation, The Blend. His insights into the current state of our industry should be required reading for any and all wine professionals (old and young).

An old comrade from the early days of the Italian wine and food revolution (think 1998-1999) in New York, Wayne Young, has taken up blogging from the far eastern front of the now Napoleonic empire (it’s funny how the revolution always becomes an empire, isn’t it?). Wayne’s winemaking knowledge is impressive and his “tell it like it is” anecdotes from the world of wine and wine writing are always thought-provoking.

When in the mood for some Lacanian musings (contemplating the signifier over the signified), I often find myself gazing mindlessly at two blogs I can’t read.

FinareVinare in Sweden often links to me and to Eric le Rouge. I have no idea what FinareVinare is saying but I know its author likes some of the same wines I do.

Billigt Vin, also in Sweden, is another one. When I “read” it, I’m like a young Petrarch with his cherished manuscript of Cicero: I can’t understand what the words mean but I know they mean something important (well, I don’t mean to compare myself to Petrarch — he was kind of a big deal, after all).

Lastly, I cannot omit a blog that I can read, Armadillo Bar by Alessandro, a long lost brother in wine and roots music and the greatest Austinophile on the planet. Sometimes, instead of checking the Austin Chronicle for what show Tracie B and I should go to, I just email Alessandro, who always responds with incredible celerity and pinpoint precision. Every time I see an armadillo on the road, I think of Alessandro and his blog.

Even if you can’t read it, Armadillo Bar is always worth the visit for the tracks Alessandro spins.

What they drank for Christmas, the mini-series

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Do Bianchi has received so many “what they drank for Christmas” entries. Thank you so much to everyone who sent them in! Here are a few that didn’t make the cut-off before we “went to press.”

For Tom in Chicago, “the real wine treat came two nights after Christmas when I opted for a relaxing night at home with a humble meal and a truly special wine: 2000 Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca.” (Read Tom’s complete tasting notes at VinoWire.)

In San Diego, Robin and her date (I wonder who it could be?) poured some Gaja on New Year’s eve: “A 1988 Sperss which I bought off a client with a pristine cellar. Popped and poured. Fabulous nose from minute-one, not shut down at all. Dusty plum, juniper, wet earth. A little horsesweat in the mid-palate, but it integrated perfectly within 15 minutes. I checked it out this morning and James ‘Always Wrong’ Suckling gave it a 92. At least the guy’s consistent!”

Back in the Tri-State area, Tyler (aka Dr. Vino) pulled the cork on “1992 Montelena mmm, delicious!!”

Barbara and Luigi in Modena nonchalantly drank one of those life-changing wines: “And what about a Brunello di Montalcino Case Basse Soldera Riserva ’99 in the last day of the year? :)” (Luigi and I share a keen interest in Antonioni and Veneto poet Andrea Zanzotto.) That’s me with Gianfranco Soldera on his estate in September 2008 (before I lost the ‘stache!).

But it’s not all good. Just to keep a little yin in our yang, D wrote in from Florida where she and her husband spend the holidays every year with her in-laws: “For Christmas we drank some horrible California merlot and, like, Barefoot chardonnay. Not by choice. It’s FL, there are no good wines and these were selected by our Republican relatives. Oh, and a few days later, my inlaws served Boone’s Farm sangria flavor with dinner. No joke.” That’s D’s DIY cork-screw doormat above.

At Jaynes Gastropub in San Diego, the bubbles flowed freely on New Year’s Eve. That’s Erik (aka Benoit), showing off his sure and steady pour, magnum in hand.

And me and Tracie B back here in Austin? We opened a magnum Gaston Chiquet with friends to ring in the New Year.

Happy new year, everyone, everywhere! Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.

What they drank for Christmas

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In keeping with a Do Bianchi tradition born last year, here are notes and images from friends from both sides of the Atlantic on what they ate and drank over the holiday season. Thanks to everyone for reading and clicking Do Bianchi this year! I’m looking forward to 2009 and grabbing life by the “longhorns.” Happy new year!

Dan (aka Jean-Luc Retard) writes that “Puro was a big hit in Scotland,” where he spent the holiday with Kate’s family. “I think I’m the only Jew who received a kilt for Xmas.” See y’all in Paris, man!

In Erbusco (Franciacorta), Giovanni drank my new favorite Franciacorta, Camossi rosé disgorged in October 2007. Giovanni is ALL ABOUT disgorgement.

Writing from Bergamo, Franco gave me a case of Nebbiolo envy. What would Freud say? Note: those are both magnums. Franco, we sure had an interesting 2008, didn’t we? What a ride! Long live Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, my friend! Un abbraccio…

“If I still have that mag of 61 Latour or 66 Lynch Bages,” chimes in David from Los Angeles. “I will photo and poo poo as I still don’t get it. I try, but I don’t get it.” David, I know, I still don’t get it either! I miss you, dude…

“My 83 year old mother faded fast post Prosecco,” wrote Ron from San Diego. “We went on to a Biondi Santi we had been holding since 98. Merry Happy.”

In Philadelphia, McDuff and family enjoyed some Champagne by Bereche, “a roaring fire, a couple of fun movies, take-out from one of my favorite spots and a single bottle to enjoy with it all.”

Biondivino in San Francisco uncorked some obligatory Paolo Bea.

“Two bottles of cheery Chidaine rosé bubbly” paired well with Howard’s menorah in the Hollywood Hills.

In Milan, Alessandro drank a wine that I love, 2001 Brunello di Montalcino by Il Paradiso di Manfredi, a wine that my friends the Marcucci brothers turned me on to.

In the borough of Brooklyn, 1999 Billiot was the wine BrooklynGuy and BrooklynLady “opened as an aperitif with friends before Christmas dinner, the night before our daughter [BrooklynBabyGirl2] was born.” Congratulations BrooklynPeople! And, Neil, thanks for all the support and the friendship this year. It meant a lot.

Jayne and Jon had a Christmas feast of “Carnitas and tomatillo à la Jayne” at their San Diego restaurant. Guys, what can I say? Thanks for helping the Jar get his groove back on in 2008. I’ll never forget this amazing year we spent together. You are the best…

Alfonso weighed in from Dallas, with something special from our home state: “We had our last bottle of 1986 Hanzell Pinot Noir… the color and the aromas and the flavors were a marriage of all the best things one would look for in a classic California red wine.”

Alfonso, what can I say? I simply cannot thank you enough for everything you did for me in 2008. You were our Galeotto and “he that wrote it” too… I love ya, man…

Among other good stuff we opened this holiday season in Austin, Tracie B and I paired a Donnafugata 2006 Ben Ryé with Mrs. B’s excellent homemade Chex mix… soooooo yummmy…

My dearest beautiful Tracie B, love of my life, what a wondrous year 2008 was. I guess that everything does happen for a reason…

Stop the presses: one more sparkling recommendation from David McDuff

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David McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail is a daily read over here at Do Bianchi: I’ve always admired David’s writing on Italian wine and I really love how he brings Italian wine into context, like this great post, “Eating Israeli, drinking Italian.”

I know he must have heard it a thousand times but indulge me: “Lay on, Macduff!”

A Do Bianchi Xmas

When Jeremy invited me to send along a note or two from the Xmas holiday season, I figured, “Sure thing!” I could just write up the Extra Brut Réserve Champagne from Bérèche et Fils, the one and only wine I savored with Christmas dinner. But nah, it’s the holidays and everyone else will write up Champagne. So how about some Italian sparklers? I could regale his readers with stories of how good the Prosecco Montello e Colli Asolani Extra Dry from Bele Casel was with my wife’s frittata (mushroom, sausage and sage) and homemade scones we served at our post-holiday brunch. Or of how well G.D. Vajra’s 2007 Moscato d’Asti worked with the cherry pie our friend baked and brought along. But nah, those are too obvious as well, too much in keeping with the Italianate leanings here at Do Bianchi.

Finally, I decided on bubbles of another kind entirely: beer. I picked up a case of Jolly Pumpkin’s “La Roja” around holiday time last year and it’s been a real pleasure to check in with a bottle periodically, to experience its evolution from sour, bright and funky early in the year to its current state—mellower, slightly less tangy and altogether refreshing. Perfect with a simple dinner of shrimp and chips after all the Christmas season feasting. Now if only I knew what I’ll be doing for New Year’s…

— David McDuff

One last “best” Champagne recommendation by BrooklynGuy

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With the arrival of BrooklynBabyGirl2, BrooklynGuy has a lot to celebrate this New Year’s. He took time out to share this last-minute Champagne recommendation for your 2009 celebration. When it comes to value and quality in Champagne, no one beats BrooklynGuy.

1999 Henri Billiot Brut, $56, Terry Theise Selections / Michael Skurnik Imports.

Billiot’s wines are really a treat. Laetitia Billiot (Henri’s granddaughter, I believe) is in charge now, and there are still fewer than 4,000 cases per year of the 5 wines Billiot makes. Located in the Grand Cru village of Ambonnay in the Montagne de Reims, Billiot’s wines are comprised mostly of Pinot Noir, and the fruit is rich and joyous. The basic non-vintage Brut is typically excellent, although not cheap at almost $50. The rosé is one of the better ones I know of that is not made in the saignée method. Billiot adds still Pinot Noir from a 15 + year old solera to the blend to create the rosé, and it’s deeply complex and absolutely delicious. Cuvée Laetitia is the house’s top wine, along with the newer and in my opinion, less successful Cuvée Julie. Laetitia is also a solera wine and is, interestingly, mostly Chardonnay.

I think that when buying Billiot’s wines, it’s worth it to spend a couple more bucks to buy the vintage wines as opposed to the basic NV Brut. This one, the 1999, is the wine we opened as an aperitif with friends before Christmas dinner, the night before our daughter was born. It exceeded expectations—so graceful and controlled, such exuberant fruit, so rich and broad, yet with refined elegance. The texture is lush and fine, there is good acidity, and the finish really lingers with chalk-infused fruit fragrance. This wine has a great inner core of energetic fruit, and it’s just delicious. It will probably continue to improve with a few more years in a cold cellar. You might not be able to find the 99 on shelves now, but the 2002 is the new release and it may well surpass the 99 once it is ready to drink, in about 5-8 years.

— BrooklynGuy

Congratulations, BrooklynGuy, and thanks for sharing!

Ex libris: books that have come across my desk

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Truth be told, I don’t really have a desk (although, happily, that will be changing soon!). For the last year and a half, my office has been the Butler (Columbia U) and New York Public Libraries, the La Jolla and Marina del Rey Libraries, and a mixed bag of airport lounges and Starbucks. Here are some books that have come across my virtual desk this holiday season. (Click on the images for Amazon links.)

Puglia: a Culinary Memoir is the most recent entry in a wonderful series of regional Italian cookbooks published by my friend Polly Franchini in New York (I’m currently translating Venice). I really liked the narrative feel of this cookery book and the excellent translation by Natalie Danford is fluid and natural. The regional Italian cookery fad has been around for some time now (since the late 1990s) and while so many celebrity chefs have tried to hang their hat on the Italian regional mantle, few can deliver the way that Italian authors can: look to Maria Pignatelli’s recipes for truly authentic Apulian fare.

It’s never too late to save the world from Parkerization: my close friend Alice Feiring’s book, The Battle for Love and Wine or How I Saved the World from Parkerization, has appeared at Do Bianchi a number of times since it was released earlier this year. I can’t recommend this polemical book highly enough: this is required reading for anyone and everyone ready to cast off the yoke of Parkerized and reified consumerist hegemony (the rhetoric is Gramscian here).

Check out this post on Alice and her book by Craig Camp at Wine Camp: a Points-Free Zone.

You wouldn’t think there would be anything polemical about the industrious Tyler Colman aka Dr. Vino’s most recent book, A Year of Wine, but there is: Tyler has anointed himself as the caped crusader devoted to exposing the often obscene carbon footprint of marketing-driven wines. Even in this primer for the neophyte wine enthusiast, he devotes ample space to the environmental impact of wine and wine consumption. I really liked the innovative format of this book: Tyler leads the reader through the year’s seasons of wine, with useful tips for how to decipher the choreography of wine service and how to pair and drink in an informed and intelligent manner.

I must confess that I am a little conflicted about including this last book, A16 Food + Wine, in my round-up. A16 is a great San Francisco restaurant and Jayne and Jon and I had a wonderful time when we ate there in October. It’s really two books: the first part is an excellent introduction to the wines, grapes, and winemaking traditions of southern Italy, by SF sommelier Shelley Lindgren, who blew the minds of the wine world when she launched an all-southern-Italian list in 2004 (the two exceptions are two of my favorite sparklers, Puro by Movia and Lambrusco by Lini). Her contribution to Italocentric vinography is perhaps the first comprehensive English-language survey of southern and insular Italy. It will reside proudly in the reference section of my new desk.

The second part of the book is Nate Appleman’s make-it-up-as-you-go-along, I-hung-out-in-Italy-for-a-while guide to air-quoted regional Italian cookery. He lost me at “chicken meatballs” (Italians make meatballs with veal, pork, and beef, and chicken is never ground in Italian cookery). I like Nate’s cooking and immensely enjoyed the restaurant (including his superb Monday-night meatballs) but there’s nothing genuine in his claims of authenticity.

I wish this book were just “A16: Wine” but I do recommend it as great guide to the wonderful wines of southern Italy, which represent some of the greatest values for the quality in the market today.

One thing I’ve learned over this last year and a half: it’s not easy to put your feet up on a virtual desk. But as I wait for my real desk to arrive (in Jan. 09), I’m looking forward to catching up on my own reading over the holiday break.

Buona lettura!

Next week: Do Bianchi’s top NYE champers pics!