Italy Pics, Part 1

Coming in two parts, sorry people…

Pics from a recent trip to Milan in northern Italy (also Genoa, coming in the next post). Like many Americans visiting Italy, I’ve often simply passed through Milan — oftentimes missing the city entirely. And I’ll admit that most of the time I didn’t care, what with destinations like Piedmont, Tuscany, Alto Adige or Friuli on the horizon. This time, however, thanks to a long working assignment for a friend, I decided to pay the city a proper visit.

Good times!

Milano has a citywide bicycle rental program where members pick up and park bikes at stations like the one pictured above. And they’re not shy to set up the stations near main points of public interest, in this case, Piazza Duomo.

Two Sides to Every Tasting: Nebbiolo Prima 2010

Nebbiolo Prima, the reconstituted annual anteprima event formerly known as the Alba Wines Exhibition, is easily one of the most engaging Italian wine tastings that I’ve attended. It’s also certainly the most gruesome: four days, 75-85 new nebbiolo wines each day, and only three or so hours in a single sitting to taste them all. Still, it’s a fantastic opportunity to taste most of the new releases from the following appellations: Roero, Barbaresco and Barolo. And as an invited (and hosted*) journalist, I got to taste everything blind, broken out by vintage and commune.

I’m still typing up my notes, so it’s a little premature to comment on individual wines. Actually, typed notes or no, I think it’s impossible to offer accurate impressions of the 330 or so wines tasted at Nebbiolo Prima. To be sure, I had some favorites — wines that, to me at least, gave a balanced impression of how nebbiolo performs in a particular zone, whether the Roero, Nieve, or Castiglione Falletto.

Large, comprehensive tastings like Nebbiolo Prima, however, do have their advantages, namely providing an opportunity to play generalist and look for underlying trends or profiles within communes and, most importantly, within the vintage.

So speaking generally, I came away from this tasting uninspired by many of the ’07s from the Roero (a region that I tend to like under normal circumstances) and frustrated by the bulk (literally and figuratively, but not all) of ’07 Barbarescos, especially those from Treiso which, marked as they were by jammy tannins and high alcohols, didn’t seem to handle the warm, dry conditions of 2007.

(Above: Two sides to every tasting, and every rental car. I had rented a new – and adorable – Fiat 500 to make getting around much easier. Unfortunately a tight alleyway and an obscured bench in the medieval town of Serralunga decided to make things a little more difficult. Thankfully, a quick thinking winemaker reattached the bumper with tape.)

Barolo 2006 was a different matter. And at least to judge from my experiences during both Nebbiolo Prima and during visits with several producers both before, during and after the event, 2006 is looking like it will be a very good, possibly classic, vintage for Barolo, especially among producers in Castiglione Falletto, Barolo/Novello, Monforte, Serralunga and Verduno. La Morra was the odd man out here, with too many wines that felt pushed in the cellar, whether through overworked tannins or excessive oak flavors.

Which brings up another point about 2006, and perhaps why I think this vintage shows real promise for Barolo: it’s a tough year to hide behind. In other words, it’s not a year in which warm, ideal ripening conditions can hide bad winemaking, nor is it a year in which the more obviously modern and international styles tended to show their best. If you dig brighter acidity, earthy, firm tannins and purity of expression over technique, then 2006 Barolo is your thing.

A few more posts, including some producer visits in Liguria and Valtellina in addition to Piedmont, to follow…

NB: I had the great pleasure of spending a good amount of time tasting (and eating) with David McDuff, who has also posted informed observations about Nebbiolo Prima. Definitely worth a visit.

*As noted before, but worth pointing out again, I was an invited journalist at Nebbiolo Prima, and have the organizers to thank for logistical support, airfare, some meals, etc. The rental car, in all its taped, bashed-up glory, was my own responsibility.

LOLCats Invade Barbaresco

Tunnel Vision

Greetings from Piemonte! I’m here as a guest for Nebbiolo Prima, a tasting of new releases from Barolo, Barbaresco and the Roero, happening next week. I’ve wanted to attend this tasting for the last several years but because of publishing schedules I couldn’t get away. Now that I’m more of a free agent, well, I just had to make this one a priority.

For these few days before the tasting, however, I’ll be visiting producers and generally getting into trouble. Stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, some crappy iphone photos from yesterday’s jet-lagged haze. I forgot the cable for my digital camera, so you’ll have to content yourself with the phone pics… sorry!

To transfer to the short-jump European flights at the Frankfurt airport, you need to pass through this underground tunnel. Early in the morning after a transatlantic flight.

La Morra overlook. It’s a little rainy here these days.

Castello di Verduno’s delightful 2008 Pelaverga with carne cruda.

Giuseppe Rinaldi’s awesome 2008 Barbera d’Alba and a couple plates of tajarin to take the edge off after a long flight.

Of Course They Grow Caberuct in Italy!

Engaged in research to prepare for a panel that I’m moderating this coming Tuesday in San Francisco on Alto Adige. Naturally this is the perfect opportunity to peruse my collection of 1950s/60s-era tourist guides to Italy.

Edition # 4 Italy: Veneto Trentino Alto Adige

The entire series is quite charming, filled with illustrations and old pictures (with hardly any scooters or cars; try finding that today!), but of course the information is dated (book #4 for instance carries no mention of Friuli in its title yet there are chapters on Gorizia and Udine, although the “Free Territory of Trieste” is omitted).

One of my favorite parts of these books is the section on regional eating and drinking, filled as you might expect with interesting historical tidbits about popular foods, wines and grapes. To whit:

And finally, all the way from the mountains to the sea there is a tasty and varied cuisine which varies according to the climate and the place.

The wine section for northeastern Italy:

Excellent wines are also produced, the red wines from the Garda district, the Lugana, Veronese wines, Bardolino, Valpolicella, wine from Val Pantena, Merlot and Caberuct,* both fine table wines. There are many brands of white wines: Gambellara frm Vicenza, Soave from Verona, Prosecco from the Conegliano hills, Cartizze from Valdobbiadene, the white wine from the Euganean Hills and from Collio, of which the best are the white <Sauvignon>, <Rhenish Riesling>, and <Tokay>, small vines which, transplanted in the first years of the 16th century, gave birth to the famous Hungarian <Tokay>. There are also first class wines from Friuli: the white and grey Pinot, Ramàndolo, Verduzzo and the Terrano from Carso; wines from Trent and Alto Adige, from Val d’Isarco; Téroldego from Mezzolombardo, Riesling, Terlano, Missiano, Traminer, and Kretzer. Then there are the sweet wines such as Piccolit from Friuli, Muscat from the Euganean Hills, Torcolato from Breganze; Vin Santo from Fregona and Casteltoblino, sparkling wines from Farra d’Isonzo, Conegliano, Valdobbiadene. In all they are a series of wines not as well known as they deserve to be.

A few things that caught my eye:

Kretzer is a term for a rosé of Lagrein, although it’s unclear from the context here if that’s what’s meant. It could just be Lagrein.

You don’t hear much about Torcolato these days (but in 1993 it was newsy).

*Huh? Caberuct?!?

Meet me at the El Tovar (Just don’t even think of bringing your own wine)

Greetings from the Vortex! I’m currently posting from Sedona, Arizona, home to stunning rock formations, a spiritual/energy vortex or two, and a big rock formation called the Bell, which some people believe houses a fleet of alien spaceships that will one day take over the Earth. Hizzah!

You’d think that a state that’s home to a world-famous resort town like Sedona (to say nothing of the Grand Canyon) might be rather progressive when it comes to bringing in your own juice to dinner, but alas, that’s not the case. A call to El Tovar, the Grand Canyon’s ‘fine dining’ restaurant (tip: skip it), revealed that BYOB is against the law. All bottles served require a sticker that proves the bottle was purchased by the license holder. Interesting.

Now this may just apply to operators in national parks, but it still struck me as strange, especially the sticker part. How easy it is to forget that California is a bubble when it comes to this sort of thing. (My Pennsylvania friends can now chime in.)

And yes, I did bring along a case of tasty wine on our southwest roadtrip. But we’ll be drinking it all in hotel rooms.

(Below: Hofstatter’s elegantly spicy 2005 Kolbenhof Gewurztraminer with a the fake fireplace raging in the background)

Of course, the real reason to be here is the Grand Canyon:

Holy Hummus, or, I *Heart* Jerusalem

A quick update and some pics.

Greetings from the Holy Land! Spent the last few days wandering all over the old city section of Jerusalem. Stunning place, really, although so very puzzling. The religious energy is intense, and culturally it’s at once open and guarded. But it’s a thrilling place. We’ve also managed to balance out the trip a little and head over into the occupied territories, specifically Ramallah and Bethlehem, where tourist dollars are much needed. Both fascinating places. Again, though, another layer to complicated land with its contradictions and challenges.

Some highlights:

Walking near the Western Wall, with the Dome of the Rock in the background.

Hummus and Ful (fava beans slow-cooked in a copper pot) at Lina’s in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. The hummus, easily some of the best I’ve eaten, had a silky texture texture and rich, deep flavors while the ful was invigorating and bright.

Required summer reading, if you like both Jane Austen *and* zombies…

VinItaly 2009: Some Impressions

There’s a new post up at Wine & Spirits with some of my impressions from the recent wine fairs in Verona, including VinItaly and Vini Veri. It’s a q&a format although how I managed to squeeze in time to answer everything during a recent marathon tasting of Italian wine in New York is beyond me. Anyway, one of the things that struck me most during this past trip to Verona is that the region in early April is a lot like the Edinburgh during the Festival and Fringe, which I had a chance to experience during my university days at St. Andrews (just up the coast from Edinburgh).

The Festival was once a singular theater/opera event happening every year in August; over time a festival Fringe developed that has since become larger than the original Festival. The net result is a massive cultural happening — mostly theater but really every kind of performance, including music, film and even bagpipes — that takes over the entire city for two weeks at the end of summer.

Verona is now sort of a vinous equivalent, with the natural wine fairs Vini Veri (which was greatly expanded this year) and Vin Natur, as well as Summa, which happens about 90 minutes outside of town in Alto Adige. A busy time to be sure, but also an amazing opportunity to taste some incredible wine and talk directly with producers, making it well worth the effort to get there.

(Click here to read the post at Wine & Spirits.)

Pic Post: VinItaly, ViniVeri & Verona

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or at least a glass or two of wine…

Above: An aerial shot of the Tuscan pavilion, always one of the most busy — and ostentatious — at VinItaly.

Above: Brunello producer Le Presi makes a new t-shirt each year for the fair. This year, the theme capitalized on Obama’s campaign slogan “Yes, we can!”, modified to reflect the traditionalist approach in Montalcino. Note the card referencing, well, female admirers. It’s common at winery stands during VinItaly to employ models in swimsuits to promote wine; I chose to think of this note as a comment on that behavior at the fair, though for all I knew, these guys were serious.

(Check out last year’s t-shirt here.)

A much needed refreshment following the Vini Veri tasting. Glassware by this point was difficult to come by, but the pinot gris was tasty all the same!

Natural wines: A blurry photo, but two delicious Italian wines not so widely available in the US.

Somehow I got my hands on a magnum of the excellent 2006 Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Cos, which we drank at dinner after a long afternoon at Vini Veri. Delicious!

Waiting for our round of Campari spritz the morning after several days at VinItaly and Vini Veri. The spritz — usually with Campari or Aperol mixed with soda — was everywhere in Verona this year, and it proved to be a reliable pick-me-up when fatigue set in.

From the banks of the Adige in Verona: “Irene ti amo”

Whoever she is…

Too Many Vs

VinItaly+ViniVeri+VinNatur = VVV, wasn’t that a Vin Diesel movie?

Take this as an out of office message of sorts because I leave tomorrow for Verona (another V), and the chaos that awaits me there. If you’re a wino and looking for ways to kill time online, the I suggest spending a while checking out Peter Liem’s new Champagne MegaSite. It rules!

Oh, I’m also in the Twitterverse and so if you *really* have nothing else to do and want to kill some time, I’m more likely to post there than here for the next several days. 140 characters has its advantages after all. Follow me here (I’m @spume).

A presto!