You head outta town for a few weeks and all KINDS of stuff is bound to happen while you’re gone!
Congrats are due to our friend Mark Sayre (above), sommelier at one of Austin’s top dining desintations, Trio. He was recently named one of the top 7 sommeliers in the country by Wine & Spirits magazine. Nice going, bro!
And a heartfelt mazel tov to beloved Austin wine professionals Erin McReynolds and Nat Davis who were married yesterday. Tracie P and I wish you a lifetime of bliss and happiness!
Above: A wasp feasts on newly picked Ribolla at Venica & Venica.
A quick post today, on this autumnal Monday back at my desk in Austin, comprised of photos from my trip, some of the most beautiful things I saw through my lens while in Italy. It was an incredible journey, replete with felicitous confluences, some serendipitous and delightfully unexpected, others grounded in epistemlogic contemplation and convex self-reflection.
Above: Pancetta offered to weary travelers, also at Venica.
In the days that follow, I’ll begin posting in-depth accounts of my conversations and tastings with winemakers and restaurateurs in Tuscany, the Veneto, and Friuli. I am so grateful for all the comments, emails, Twitter mentions, and Facebook notes encouraging me and sharing insights into what I photographed, smelled, tasted, drank, and masticated over the course of the nearly three-week trip. And I am especially thankful for the incredible hospitality and generosity of spirit of my (literally) myriad hosts and guides.
Above: A view from one of the dining rooms at Trattoria al Parco in Buttrio (Udine).
Immense and extreme beauty is offered to the willful traveler of the Italic peninsula: from her generous landscape to her innate and intrinsic humanity (both historical and topical), Italy continues to inspire me (and hopefully you) by revealing some of the mystery and joy of life through her topographic, aesthetic, and sensual pleasures.
Above: A view from the Abbazia di Rosazzo in the Colli Orientali del Fiuli.
While I thoroughly enjoyed her bountiful intellectual and sensorial gifts, I was however acutely aware of the seemingly insurmountable societal and cultural issues and turmoil faced by the inhabitants (Italian and otherwise) of this profoundly gorgeous land.
Above: Hay for Chianina cows near Pienza, Tuscany.
Whether it’s Berlusconi patently using one of his media outlets (in this case, Il Giornale, a top national daily) to sling mud at his rival Fini (now embroiled in a sticky familiar real-estate scandal) or the impending expulsion of Roma (following the highly controversial and contested model employed by Sarkozy), Italy and her peoples find themselves in circumstances eerily however distantly reminiscent of the “era between the two wars.” When I commented on the recent changing of the guard in the political regime of the region where she and her family make wine, one winemaker observed wryly but not inronically, “we were better off with the fascists in power than the [newly instated] separatists.”
Above: Sunset in Montalcino (Tuscany), viewed from the estate of Il Palazzone.
Perhaps it’s this precarious balance of salt and sweet that makes Italy always taste so great and greatly on our tongues. Thanks for reading…
The Ponca 10* visited cult prosciuttificio D’Osvaldo yesterday in Cormòns: Matthew Turner (head sommlier, Michael Mina, San Francisco), Brent Karlicek (wine merchant, Postino, Phoenix), Jamie Garrett (sommelier, Sonnenalp, Vail), Bobby Stuckey (wine director, Frasca, Boulder), Steve Wildy (beverage director, Vetri, Philadelphia), Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson (chef, Frasca, Boulder), Lara Persello (our handler, Turismo FVG), Shelley Lindgren (wine director, A16, San Francisco), Mario Nocifera (director of operations, Frasca, Boulder), Joe Campanale (beverage director, Dell’Anima, New York).
The group gave handler Lara a Hermès bracelet to thank her for her superb job herding cats.
The crudo at the Regione Friuli good-bye discothèque party was extreme.
Bobby (left) and Lachlan (right) posed on the red carpet with Colli Orientali del Friuli consortium president Pierluigi Comelli and his lovely wife.
Do Bianchi dug the musetto.
Kristian Keber’s Edi Keber Collio ROCKED!
A stroll through Trieste on a Saturday night was magical, electric.
THANK YOU FRIULI FOR YOUR WONDERFUL HOSPITALITY AND THE GOOD VIBRATIONS!
*ponca, Friulian dialect, the unique sandy marl (flysch), Eocene seabed, typical of the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli appellations.
Dinner last night at one of Italy’s greatest culinary destinations, La Subida in Cormons (Gorizia), included this old-school frico. That’s owner Joško Sirk.
Today’s my last here in Friuli. It’s been an amazing trip and I have many tales to tell of my adventures culinary and otherwise in Tuscany, the Veneto, and Friuli. But now it’s time to head back to my wife, my life, and my love, Tracie P…
Thanks so much to everyone for keeping up with the blog and following along. The comments and emails mean a lot to me and I’m so glad that folks are enjoying my posts. There will be more to come next week once I catch my breath…
Serendipity delivered me yesterday to the doorstep of Joško Gravner. The above photo was taken in his cellar: those are his famous amphorae.
I think a lot of you are going to be surprised about what he had to say about anarchism, natural wine, and sulfur. A fascinating personage and a remarkable visit…
Posting quickly from a bar in Udine. So much to show, to tell, to share… In the meantime, a few images from lunch today at Zidarich. My goodness, probably the most interesting facilities I’ve ever visited…
Porcini frittata.
Pumpkin soup.
“Dream Team Friuli 2010” with Elda Felluga (Livio Felluga, to Bobby’s right in the center of the photo) at the Abbazia di Rosazzo in the Colli Orientali del Friuli.
Elda is an amazing, dynamic personality and I can’t wait to tell the truly epic story of her family and how they put the Colli Orientali del Friuli “on the map,” quite literally (and about the extremely special gift that Elda gave me).
What do you think about “Dream Team Friuli 2010” as the name of our group? Strappo, McDuff, Alfonso, suggestions please!
@ Terra e vini, livio felluga’s osteria. I was completely enchanted by this place and will share the reasons why when i can get online again (posting from my phone). I found my pasolini here too. In the meantime…
Simpatico Chef Andrea Gabin (left) of the famous Ristorante La Taverna posed for my camera with Chef Lachlan at last night’s obligatory dignatory dinner, regrettably a sine qua non of these government-sponsored trips, held at the picturesque Castello di Susans in Maiano (Udine).
The food was surprisingly good for a dinner where more than 200 guests were seated, including all the fat cat pols who revel in their their Rolex and 12-ply cashmere habits at such functions. That’s Chef Gabin’s EXCELLENT “white chocolate sphere and white grape sorbet” paired with Bianco Tal Luc 2007 Friuli Isonzo by Lis Neris, one of my favorite wineries here.
That’s Andrea Di Giovanni (left), director of the Friuli department for development and Francesca Ghersinich, program director for the MIB school of management, who was asked to address the large group of foreigners gathered for the event because of her command of the English language. They were very nice although completely disinterested in our group of top-flight American restaurant professionals (enogastronomic tourism does not seem to be a priority in this duly industrious region).
The one pleasant surprise of this otherwise entirely ennui-driven event was my discovery that young Friulians are wonderfully proud of the great 20th-century poet, cineaste, novelist, and essayist Pier Paolo Pasolini’s association with his native Friuli.
The cast of last night’s event certainly could have made a cameo in one of his films… I’ll let you ponder which one…
Damiano Meroi took me up into the aging attic for Picolit at his family’s winery in Buttrio (Udine). Slammed for time right now, but, man, I can’t WAIT to post about my chat with him…
Fried frico, made with aged montasio cheese fried into the form of a “nest” and filled with light, creamy yellow polenta and montasio fondue and then sprinkled with freshly grated smoked ricotta.
FRICKIN’ AMAZING!
Sweet gnocco (served during the savory menu) stuffed with plums and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
The whole crew agreed that this was the best lunch so far… truly unforgettable people, truly unforgettable food and ambience… and the wines… the Picolit is incredible!
Running on to the next two winery visits (including Radikon!) and then the gala dinner tonight… STAY TUNED!
Do Bianchi 