MONDOSAPORE

New URL for Mondosapore

2005-12-10T16:47:00.000-05:00

Please go to the new address for mondosapore: http://www.mondosapore.com

SEX AND BOOZE AND JOHNNY CASH

2005-12-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

Shameless Self-Promotion For the past few years I have been working on a novel entitled Catch of the Day. I have posted about one quarter of it on another blog site, Writer at Work. If you like stories about 40-year olds coming of age, then this is one for you. Thanks. Blurb: He Walked the Line In 1957 Bill Blake, a 40-year-old rockabilly-loving drunk and novelist, runs away from

Those Crafty Buggers in Albany

2005-12-09T17:52:00.000-05:00

The New York Times reported today that, despite the passage of a New York State bill allowing consumers to order wine from out-of-state wineries, the bill has not yet been activated. The old three-tier system of distribution is safe for at least this Christmas, and the status quo can sleep easily, dreaming of eternal control of all wine sales. Yet why was I able to order fantastic

Wine Diary #1 /// Diario del Vino No. 1

2005-12-06T17:31:00.000-05:00

I, we, drink a lot of wine every week. Most of it at home, where we eat most of our dinners. Most of it pretty unpretentious stuff--usually $15 a bottle and LESS. And all bought with our own hard-earned samoleans. (Except when it's a gift, which isn't often enough.) So anyway, I decided to post a wine diary every once in a while, to chronicle our descent into Noetic unintelligibility. I would

Classic Barolo: Cavallotto on the Record

2005-12-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

A month ago I wrote an enthusiastic article about Cavallotto, the old, traditional-style winemaker of Piedmont. I have drunk their wines at various times and am quite taken with their elegance and restraint. There's absolutely nothing of the fruit bomb about them, and they complement food perfectly. I was curious to know more about the Cavallottos and their point of view on both winemaking and

Due parole con Alfio Cavallotto

2005-12-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

Un mese fa ho scritto un articolo entusiasta dopo una degustazione di alcuni vini Cavallotto. (Ne ho bevuto un po', e lo stile equilibrato mi piace moltissimo, niente di bomba frutto, ecc.) Poi ho avuto l'idea di comunicare con la famiglia Cavallotto, che io sappia qualcosa del suo punto di vista e magari un po' della "filosofia" che anima l'azienda. Qui a sinistra: Laura, Giuseppe ed Alfio

The Straightshooter Takes on Michel Bettane

2005-11-30T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am reprinting the English translation of a strongly worded article which appeared last July originally on the web site LaVinium. It was written by Franco Ziliani, the Straightshooter ("franco tiratore"), whose wonderfully evocative article on Barolo country I translated here last week. Franco has generously granted me permission to bring his point of view to the American wine-drinking public.

Keeping the Faith: Tales of a Wine Importer: Su Aristide la versione italiana

2005-11-28T06:26:00.000-05:00

Cari lettori italiani, cliccate il titolo per vedere su Aristide l'articolo su Greg Smolik, importatore USA di vini autentici italiani. Greg e' davvero un credente del mondo di sapori, di bellezze del vino italiano. Grazie. E grazie ad Aristide, chi desidera allargare il cerchio di godimento del vino "nostrano".

Sogni d'Alanno /// Dreaming Alanno

2005-11-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

English version below. In un post precedente ho gia' scritto che sono andato in Virginia per la festa Thanksgiving. Oltre alle solite e belle visite famigliari, ho incontrato una coppia, cari amici di mia cognata, che hanno comprato una casa nel bel paese abruzzese di Alanno. Tom ed Anne si traslocheranno ad Alanno entro dieci giorni, per sistemare la casa. Ecco la bella: avranno bisogno di

Keeping the Faith: Tales of a Wine Importer

2005-11-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

Since last summer Dr. Vino has been running a feature called the Real Wine World, which periodically tells the stories of several people involved in various parts of the wine business. One of the people Dr. Vino has featured is a young importer from Chicago, Greg Smolik. The chronicle of Greg's ups and downs is sobering. Inspiring too, because the guy loves Italian wine and the enormous potential

Novita' virginiane: Italia nelle montagne Blue Ridge

2005-11-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

Sono appena ritornato da un corto viaggio sentimentale in Virginia--due giorni per la festa di Thanksgiving--e ho "esportato" una bottiglia di un "Toscanello" virginiano, composto di Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese e Primitivo. (Uvaggio fuor dell'ordinario, no?) La cantina, di nome Villa Appalaccia, produce solo 3000 casse all'anno, e i vitigni sono Aglianico, Primitivo, Corvina, Sangiovese, Malvasia,

Four Days in Barolo Country: Italy's Wine Crisis Up Close by Franco Ziliani

2005-11-23T20:11:00.000-05:00

Franco Ziliani is one of Italy's most respected and widely read wine writers. Known as "il franco tiratore" (the Straightshooter), he combines encyclopedic knowledge with trenchant commentary. With his permission I have translated this article from his recent blog entry on Virgilio. If you feel moved to make your own comment, send it to him at this site. His English is excellent. I have just

Confessione

2005-11-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

Lo ammetto: mi piace bere non de-gu-sta-re. Si beve per bere. Per essere ubriachi qualchevolta, o almeno un po' e dolcemente forsennati. No? Sei troppo raffinato, troppo elegante, perfino possiedi una superiore moralita'? Beato te. Ecco, e' colpa di Bacco. 'Sto dio m'ha fatto fare. ("The devil made me do it!") Stasera ho bevuto, si', ma non tanto. (Vermentino sardo e poi Pinot Noir della North

Zaca Mesa Syrah 2001: Tell Me What It Cost

2005-11-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law gave me a bottle of Zaca Mesa's 2001 Syrah, a souvenir of his recent trip to the Santa Inez Valley of California. He asked me to taste the wine and guess at its cost, without researching it on the Internet. Well, OK. We had it tonight with meatloaf, baked potato and squash. An American comfort meal, if I ever ate one. The wine went perfectly with it--full-bodied and fruity,

Too Much Tongue

2005-11-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

This is a very loose translation of a post--really a riff-- that I published in Italian a few days ago. I'd love to hear comments from you, pro or con. This is a subject that's been bugging me for a while. The other day, when I was writing down my impressions of the Cavallotto Dolcetto d'Alba, it occurred to me, and not for the first time, that the tongue is too central to our language of

Dolcetto d'Alba with Roast Pork

2005-11-18T17:45:00.000-05:00

The other day I wrote a fairly tipsy little rhapsody to the Cavallotto Dolcetto d'Alba, which we had just drunk at home with a roast loin of pork. That post was in Italian, but I think it's important to translate the mini-review into English. (Without the drunken rhapsodic references to autumn hedgerows and the great Piedmontese writer and suicide, Cesare Pavese.) I will simply repeat that

La Questione della Lingua

2005-11-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ieri, scrivendo delle impressioni che mi davano quel bel Dolcetto d'Alba Cavallotto, mi e' venuto in mente, e non per la prima volta, che la lingua e' troppo "centrata" quanto si degusta, quando si beve. "Impressioni," esatto. A stroll down Memory Lane Mi ricordo dei commenti scritti, O decenni fa!, sulle pagine di una mia tesi su Whitman (credo--o di Mark Twain o di Emily Dickenson, la

Dolcetto d'Alba con Maiale Arrostito

2005-11-15T20:18:00.000-05:00

Ho gia' scritto sull'azienda Cavallotto, conosciuta da tutti in Italia come ottimo produttore di baroli e di altri vini di vitigni stimati piemontesi. E stasera abbiamo appena concluso un pasto bello di maiale arrostito al rosmarino con patate, abbinato al Dolcetto d'Alba di Cavallotto. Che posso dire? Un po' ubriaco si', sto benissimo e c'e' nella bocca la memoria della liquirizia e di una

Supertuscan Lovers, A Must-Read

2005-11-13T10:55:00.000-05:00

If you're fascinated with Supertuscans and other Italian wines that lean heavily on Bordeaux grapes and styles of winemaking, check out the first of the two reports originally written, in Italian, by our friend Giampiero Nadali (alias Aristide) of Verona. I translated it and again want to point it out to you, just in case you missed it the first time. (By the way, the man in this photo is the

Vini bordolesi italiani, addio ai SuperTuscans

2005-11-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

La Crisi del Vino ha un cuore francese? Segnalo a tutti i lettori italiani questo bravissimo articolo appena pubblicato su Teatro Naturale. L'autore e' l'ineguagliato Franco Zilani. Leggete. E ringraziate Dio che ci siano i vini autoctoni onesti italici.

An Authoritative Voice Weighs in on Wine Prices

2005-11-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

This man likes cheap wine, too As we all know, the prices of some Italian wines are inflated almost beyond belief. They're good, very very good, but who among us can justify a $200 bottle that isn't from a grand cru estate? I mean, a real grand cru from the real Bordeaux, not the faux-Bordeaux of Tuscany... A fervent believer in "the market" (a Platonic abstraction: time to pull out the

Bordeaux-Style Wines in Italy: the Tasting

2005-11-11T09:25:00.000-05:00

If you love--or hate--Italy's Bordeaux-style wines, especially the SuperTuscans, read this interesting article from "Aristide," our Veronese friend Giampiero Nadali. Giampiero recently filed the report on an important event in his hometown of Verona. The focus of the meeting: the state of Bordeaux-style wines in Italy, many of which are among the most lauded and, high-priced, of all Italian

2005-11-05T19:16:00.000-05:00

Piedmont Traditionalist: The Tongue Sings This is very unlike me. I have just this minute returned from a tasting of Cavallotto downtown at Chambers Street Wines. And here I am sharing with you, somewhat out of breath (if not exactly "breathlessly"), my impressions of the wines poured by Alfio Cavallotto, scion of the old Piedmontese wine-making family. (For the record, the affable young

GREAT IDEA FROM ITALY: WINE EXPO FOR CLASSY WINES UNDER 10 EUROS

2005-11-05T07:23:00.000-05:00

Here's a refreshing idea. A big-time wine expo featuring producers with excellent wines for 10 euros or less--WineLove. "Dedicated exclusively to the discovery of wines with an excellent price/quality ratio," this event will be held in Milan on November 19-20. WineLove's focus will be the always interesting--and sometimes sensational--wines made from local varieties, including frappato, nero

Conflitto nascosto del dibattito vitigni internazionali vs. autoctoni

2005-11-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

Tante polemiche, tante fandonie sono scritte sui vitigni importati e quelli autoctoni. O su metodi di vinificazione bordolesi vs. le tradizioni immemori dell' Oenotria, ecc. Sono io il solo a pensare che il dibattito sia piuttosto disonesto, evasivo? Al mio parere--qui, al di la' dell'Atlantico, oppure al di qua (dipende, come sempre, dal punto di vista)--che c'e' un conflitto nascosto fra

Traitor? My New House Wine Speaks French /// Traditore? Il mio nuovo vino di casa parla francese

2005-10-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

I feel like quite the traitor. Here I am, always extolling the virtues of Italian wines--and drinking quite a few of them in the course of the average week. And here's me now, with a new case of this wonderful, gusty red (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre) from the Costieres de Nimes. What was it about this wine that caused me to abandon, if only sometimes and to a degree, my beloved

Bordeaux-Style Wines in Italy: Times are Changing

2005-10-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

International vs. Indigenous Varieties: What the Future Holds Recently, in Verona, a conference billed “A Hundred Italian ‘Bordeaux’: Style, Elegance, Terroir” took place in the posh surroundings of the Villa Gritti. Among those attending were some of the superstars of Italian wine, including Prof. Attilio Scienza of the University of Milan; Giacomo Tachis, technical director of Antinoir

NUOVA ZELANDA PROFONDA: NOTIZIE DA CENTRAL OTAGO

2005-10-28T06:50:00.000-04:00

Central Otago e' la regione piu' nuova e notevole della Nuova Zelanda, poco conosciuta in Italia, ma fonte di ottimi pinot noir e altri vini di vitigni "cold climate". Vi segnalo questo informativo link al newsletter dell'enoteca Central Otago Wine Cellar. Peccato che, negli Stati Uniti, non possiamo far spedirci direttamente questi vini interessantissimi e di buon prezzo. Central Otago, la

Feudi di San Gregorio

2005-10-21T17:16:00.000-04:00

Since I named Feudi di San Gregorio the Prima Strada Producer of the Year, I thought I had better add a link to their informative site and show at least one picture of the property. At dinner last night, their Falanghina won new fans. Something of a small triumph, since we were having moules frites from a little Belgian place and my friends are francophiles in the wine department. So now...

Beau of Basic Juice Wants to Know: What $10 Wine Would Mondosapore Recommend Highly?

2005-10-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

Beau, thanks for the invite. And for the nice words. OK, I could offer a bunch of great suggestions for $10 Italian wines. I was going to put down a lovely, honeyed Grillo from Fondo Antico, but you covered a similar Grillo a few months ago. So what to pick, what to pick? I have to return to one of my current favorites, a terrific Falanghina by Feudi di San Gregorio, which I recently

Producer of the Year /// Produttore dell'Anno

2005-10-15T16:08:00.000-04:00

My nominations for Prima Strada Producer of the Year /// Le nomination per Produttore dell'Anno dei Premi Prima Strada: Argiolas, Sardinia /// Sardegna Feudi di San Gregorio, Campania Foradori, Trentino Alto Adige Petilia, Campania I really had to ponder this choice. Each of the four producers I listed last week offer a wide range of excellent wines, at all price points, and provide the wine

Good news for wine drinkers /// Buone notizie per chi ama bere vino

2005-10-15T15:41:00.000-04:00

In an exchange with the one and only Jancis Robinson today, the great English wine writer revealed that at a recent dinner a famous liver specialist said that the UK government's guidelines on the amount of drinks one could safely have were ridiculous. Those numbers are 14 drinks per week for women, 21 for men. Jancis wrote that the doctor "ventured the (medical) opinion that he and his

2005-10-15T10:15:00.000-04:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Tua Rita Perlato del Bosco 2002: Nice, but Is It Worth $74?

2005-10-15T09:06:00.000-04:00

We went to a lovely Tuscan restaurant just off Park Avenue South the other night, Beppe, where the food was quite good. The wine list was interesting as well, since it is composed entirely of Tuscan wines. (Ergo few whites, and the wine steward discouraged anyone from ordering them.) I wanted a wine made from "indigenous" varieties, not predominantly Merlot or Cabernet. I ordered a Tua Rita

SEE PRIMA STRADA AWARDS NOW!

2005-10-13T15:02:00.000-04:00

Awards are listed below, first in Italian, then in English. Be sure to let me know who you think my Producer of the Year will be. Premi sono presentati prima in italiano, poi in inglese. Fatemi sapere quale, al vostro parere, sara' Produttore dell'Anno. Grazie, everybody.

PREMI "PRIMA STRADA" SERIE 1

2005-10-13T09:44:00.000-04:00

Avete aspettato a mozzafiato. L'attesa e' finita. Ecco i premi piu' antecipati del mondo enoappassionato! NB: Tutti i vini premiati sono di vitigno autoctono. Niente Chardonnay, Cabernet, ecc. Categoria 1: Vini Eccezionali Comprati con i Miei Propri Soldi (< $20) Bianco Tutti questi vini sono deliziosi e molto bevibili, alcuni esibiscono una raffinatezza straordinaria per il prezzo. Li

FIRST ANNUAL PRIMA STRADA AWARDS!

2005-10-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

THE 1st ANNUAL PRIMA STRADA AWARDS I know you've been waiting a long time for this. So I'll get to it without delay. Note that ALL the Italian wines given awards are made from indigenous grapes, with nary a Chardonnay or a Cabernet among them. Category 1: Exceptional Wines Bought with My Own Money (Usually $20 or Less) Bianco All if these wines are delicious and highly drinkable, some with

2005-10-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

COMING VERY, VERY SOON The Prima Strada Awards? The wine industry in Italy seems to be as addicted to awards and Top 10 (or 100 or 200) Lists as Hollywood and its complaisant cadre of whores, the "critics." It's ridiculous. When you compare the big-time Italian lists, whether they award three cups or five clusters or whatever, all of them contain pretty much the same wines, producers, regions.

COMING SOON

2005-10-11T06:56:00.000-04:00

COMING SOON: THE FIRST AVENUE AWARDS A PRESTO SU MONDOSAPORE: I PREMI "PRIMA STRADA" * The first annual Mondosapore Italian wine awards. (‘Tis the season…) The major innovation: Awarding wines that I have actually paid for out of my own pocket! * I premi del vino italiano. (Come no? Così fan tutti.) La mia innovazione speciale: Premiati i vini che ho

What's Mondosapore about?

2005-10-09T18:58:00.000-04:00

Mondosapore. Catchy name, no? In part it is an ironic nod to Jonathan Nossiter's controversial film (most of the violent polemics over this quirky documentary seem to have emanated from the United States; I think we protest too much). Mostly it's a sign of my love for Italian wine, not to mention so many aspects of Italian culture, culinary and otherwise. This blog is dedicated to wine,

Nel mare scuro come il vino

2005-10-09T18:50:00.000-04:00

Adapted from the Italian wine blog www.aristide.biz, on which I am an occasional and proud contributor. (See links on the right side of this page.) Some day I'll get around to putting this into English. Actually, a loose approximation of it appeared on Jancis Robinson's site about a month ago. And in English, too. Watch out for my edit of this entry. Attenzione: Metafora malandata! Ogni tanto

To taste or to drink, that is the question

2005-10-09T18:47:00.000-04:00

Call me a heretic, but something has always struck me wrong-headed about blind tastings. In theory, of course, they bring a measure of objectivity to a notoriously subjective experience. They enable the taster to compare and contrast wines of a similar style or variety, to catch and savor the nuances of the wines sampled. Schadenfreude being what it is, we do like to see pompous “experts”