Montalcino... Yet Again

In the film-noirish espionage that has plagued Montalcino over the past few months, the script is getting better by the minute. The latest development is that the Italian government took over the supervision the DOCG Montalcino, removing it from the Consorzio's hands. As reaction the President of the Consorzio di Montalcino, Francesco Marone Cinzano resigned from position.
He explained to Decanter Magazine that he left 2 years early because he had two goals; to keep the Montalcino producers united, and start an era of transparency, and according to his statements, those missions are now accomplished. That idea of justification doesn't really make sense to me, because if he thinks that the growers of Montalcino are united or operating under principles of transparency, he must had too much of his own Brunello. As long as we're talking about transparency, it's interesting to note that Count Cinzano is also the owner of Argiano, which is one the 100 wineries under investigation by the Italian authorities.
Some people can be so shameless!!!
I was talking with my friend Marco, who has been working with an Italian importer for many years, about the whole thing and he told me that as far as he knew, Gianfranco Soldera was the one who reported the "sophistication" of certain Brunello to the authorities, and started the investigations.
This leads me to wonder why Soldera would want to do such a thing, why he would want to destroy Montalcino's reputation, risking his own sterling reputation in the process. I guess he got tired, maybe tired of seeing celebrated critics praising Brunellos with high scores, Brunellos that by law should not be called Brunello. Or maybe, just maybe, he got tired of living in a town where 250 producers carry the DOCG band, and just few actually are worth that honor.
I don't really know what the reasoning was behind his opening that can of worms, or if it was really him who did it. But one thing I do know is that every time I go to Montalcino I'm surprised by how much the local businesses support the big wineries. I often have an argument with my friend Marina, whose family owns a great restaurant in Montalcino named Boccon Divino, about Banfi and why she has their wines on her list. The answer is always the same: "because Banfi did a lot for Montalcino." I always answer her: "yes, like trying to convince everybody to plant Moscadello instead of Sangiovese," then the argument keeps on going back and forth until somebody stops us. It seems that the Montalcino Enoteche take more pride in showing mainstream products than smaller producers that most of the time guarantee a better quality for more or less the same price. Now that most of the "well known" wineries are all but caught red-handed with tainted wines, I'll be curious to see a change in the way Brunello is praised. I remember not long ago, The Wine Spectator released an issue on Montalcino where the front page displayed a big picture of the Frescobaldi estate, and the highest scores were reserved for the very same wineries that today are under investigation. I hope all of this scandal will help the honest growers... but I have a feeling that in the end they will be the ones paying direly for somebody else's mistakes.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

Travelers With Roots.

My friend Gigi says that in Italian, "Viaggiatori con radici," or "travelers with roots" is romantic yet illogical way to describe people involved in the world of wine. At his description, I had this vision of several little people going around a small globe, attached to their vineyards with a sort of elastic rope that the pulled them back to their original place after a set time.
The way I see it, the wine world is more complex than a complicated woman. It feeds on opposites; it's slow and static and yet dynamic and modern, it's based on uncontrollable variables like the weather, yet it is detailed-oriented, and requires substantial skill and knowledge. It is a world that grows and develops unbelievably slowly, yet the Vignerols never have enough time. And ultimately, it is a world with strong, solid roots, but the wine itself and the wine people have always traveled, since the time when humans started a symbiotic relation with the vines. Behind a bottle of wine, there is often a human figure that follows it; Gigi and his family are the owners of a fairly new winery called Tenuta Vitalonga, in Umbria. I've talked about him in the past, and he is a perfect example of one of these viticultural "viaggiatori;" he travels for a good part of the year, as most of the "wine people" stay home during the harvest and travel during the rest of the year to sell and promote their products. At this point, the romantic vision of the old man working from dusk to dawn in the vineyard is almost certainly long-gone, although a few wineries still exist where the owner is also everything else for the estate. Vittorio Graziano in Emilia Romagna and a few others like him around the globe are the sole proprietors of their estates, doing the harvest, vinification and bottling almost entirely alone. But for the most part, now a winery is a piece of an industry that has to be efficient, with costs that need to be covered and bottles that need to be sold. So I can imagine all these people scrambling around the globe, representing their lands and products often several thousand miles away may sometimes feel as if they never see home anymore... but they are still strongly connected to the land that shelters their lives and inevitably pulls them back to their roots.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

What's Up Clinton Street

Today was kind of a sad day; Punch and Judy's plug has been pulled, squelching the few desperate hopes to see it resuscitated after a prolonged attachment to small-business life support.
Here's a little more detail on the saga that became Punch and Judy's unfortunate legacy. Almost 2 years ago, or maybe a little less than that, Punch and Judy was closed by the police for missing documentation. The ownership changed, and when they applied to transfer the previous owners' liquor license, they were denied. Since then, the spot has been on the market to be sold, without much success I might add. The gate was almost always down, but occasionally the broker would open it up to show it to potential buyers. The inside was exactly the same as it ever was; the bar, the chairs, the kitchen, the plates, the glasses the silverware and the bottles were exactly in the same spots. Imagine my surprise when today, they emptied out the entire place! Now, you might be wondering why I care so much about a place that has been closed for a good few months now, and there are several reasons. But the most important of them is simple: I really thought that something would happen to bring it back to life! Punch and Judy was opened originally by two good friends of mine, Constantine and Giacomo, and during De Vino's early stages, I spend a lot of time in there talking with my friends and savoring some great food. Dominique Giuliano was the first chef to set up the kitchen. He used convection burners and ovens, so no gas was needed, and he set up a simple but well thought-out menu, while Giacomo and Constantine chose the wines. After Dominique Jason took the chef position (right around the time I signed the lease for De Vino), I ate there almost 3 times a week. Jason, now owner of a few restaurants in California, is a very talented chef - his sweetbread plate was to die for, not to mention several bottles of excellent wine shared with them, including old vintages of Lopez de Heredia white and red Rioja and 10-plus year old J.J. Prum Rieslings. Good times... that now, unfortunately, are permanently confined to the form of memories. This morning, I came to open the store and I saw Dominique, who is now is the head chef for the new ownership, which is a corporation that owns a number of restaurants and bars around the city. They were moving everything that wasn't nailed down out of the building. That day had finally come, and they gave up on the lease and sold everything that could have been sold, included the chairs and the bar.
So, after 71 Clinton and Lotus, yet another Clinton street icon has closed its doors. Hopefully they will be replaced by somebody that will keep the high level of quality and professionalism that this street has had for many years now, and maintain the integrity that we hold ourselves to.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

Business As Usual

After yet another fiasco in Italy,
the resolution led to its usual result - nothing.
It's business as usual, with the scandals leaving only a smattering of irony behind.
Let's start with the bad news. The winemaking scandal involving addition of acids and other harmful fermentation agents that SHOULD have absorbed the majority of concerns, at least in quantity, slid silently in to the Land of the Conveniently Forgotten... with the government's help, it has disappeared from the front pages of newspapers (although there is an investigation still going on). And at the center of attention is the Brunellopoli, the ongoing yet ultimately arbitrary argument over the integrity of the wines being labeled "Brunello di Montalcino." I must say that for once I was proud of my fellow countrymen: they did such a good job keeping attention focused on the Sangiovese's purity that the news got to the ear of the American government who, because of concerns for the American consumers, decided to look into the mess as well.
The American Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has asked their Italian counterpart to provide information about the wineries involved. But, since the "Magistratura" in Italy is still investigating the case, little or no information was sent by the Italian authorities, upsetting the Americans, who are now threatening to block all the Brunello imports by June 9th unless the shipment is furnished with laboratory test documentation that attests to the wine's purity. Meanwhile, back at the ranch... some of the wineries involved, namely Antinori, Frescobaldi, Banfi and Argiano decided, rather than waiting for a court date, they would declassify their Brunello to an IGT wine, and sell it at roughly the same price. A few houses have even decided to give the wines alternative names (I think Argiano is going to call it Duemilatre).
You might be wondering where the irony might be in all of this, and I will tell you that to defend themselves, the wineries involved stated that they added small amount of international grapes to please the American palate and most important the critics, to make it more approachable and easier to drink, enhancing the fruit bouquet. That being said, because some wineries in order to please the American palate, sophisticated the Brunello, the American authorities are going to stop the imports of it, depriving the same palate that those practices was supposed to pleased, of their precious nectar. Now, because the wineries involved decided to downgrade the label, the American market will get the declassified label of the blended wine for about the same price while the "clean" producer will be stuck with expensive laboratory tests and drawn-out bureaucracies at customs. Meanwhile, back at the Fattoria the long arm of the Italian law still wasn't able to recall all the wines cut with dangerous acids that are still for sale in the major supermarket around the "Bel Paese."
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

Pictured: the former Agricultural Minister.

Conditions

Last night I had Piers over for dinner and we rehashed our Cru experience from the previous week . One of the more prevalent subjects of conversation was the Champy 1961, because of the spectacular condition the bottle was in. It was because the wine was released by the winery long after it had been bottled, after the Maison had been bought by Jadot, so the bottles sat peacefully for 30 years before being sold. Piers and I had a similar experience with an Austrian Pinot Blanc from 1989 that was bought from the winery last year. The bottles were covered with mildew and dust, and the labels were almost nonexistent, but of the 6 bottles I drank, none had perceivable problems or flaws; they were all in perfect condition. Traveling can be destructive to a wine's condition. I remember an incident that happened back in the 70's when, because of a strike in the San Francisco docks, an entire consignment of French wine sat at port for over a week and cooked in the 100-plus degree heat. Today the containers are, for the most part, refrigerated but still mechanical malfunctions can happen and the results can be disastrous (this can also be a problem because those wines will be released to the market, being that the importer might not be aware of any mistakes that were made along the way).
I wrote a while ago that wine is alive (at least what I consider to be wine) and that, like a human being, it can get injured and heal, leaving a scar. An overseas trip could be stressful for human being as well as a case of wine - just thinking of what I have to go through in order to get on plane I get stressed, and like a human being, a bottle of wine will also need some time to settle down after a trip. The difference in taste can be dramatic especially when the wine is old (once again like the humans a young body is more resistant to injuries and can repair much faster than an older one) and the proof is the way the 1989 Pinot Blanc and the 1961 Burgundy tasted; aging signs were nonexistent, and the wines were still vibrant and focused. And the bottle conditions were surprising perfect. That being said, the provenance of a wine is one of the many key factors for a wise acquisition. Sometimes if you see a bottle sold for a lot less than its normal value, you'd be wise and prudent to check were it came from. Here is another step on the road to the essence of the nectar of the gods which is as complex and intersected as a 1961 Beaune 1er Cru.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

Finally Some Real Service

This week has been an uncommonly busy week! I've gone out almost every night, and had some great wines. I already relayed the pleasures of Monday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto... and now I would like to share with you my experience at Cru on 5th Avenue and 9th Street.
On Thursday evening I met up with Mike, Piers, and two new friends, Pierre and Nick. Piers, an art auctioneer at Christie's and a French wine specialist by passion, went in during the afternoon and had opened a few bottles that were previously chosen with Mike, an old vinyl and hi-fidelity equipment specialist with an impressive cellar, mostly composed of old vintages from Italy and France. They opened the wines during the afternoon so that they would have the time to open up and be ready by 8 o'clock.

The evening's theme was Burgundy. Piers loves wines that are produced from a single varietal,sp to start, we indulged in a Puligny Montrachet Premiere Cru Folatieres 1992 from Etienne Sauzet. It had a pale yellow color, strong minerality and high complexity. We finish that bottle with the "amuse bouche" - between the five of us, there was just enough for a glass each in the bottle. The service at CRU is impeccable, the knowledgeable Maitre'd described our options regarding the food, and we decided to have the chef tailor the menu with the wines we where about to drink. The attention of the staff was incredible; it was one of the first times I actually saw wine poured in a proper way at a proper temperature in the right amounts, which is to say the capable staff managed to keep a constant flow in the glasses refilling small amounts frequently. Personally, I hate when full glasses are poured... there is no need, and is usually indicative of the staff trying to sell you more wine. I realized how much I'd forgotten about what good service was - the ability to anticipate your needs, the above-mentioned wine etiquette and the perfect pace of the whole experience. It is refreshing to see that it's still possible to get a ratio between staff and guest at one to one.
While we were waiting for the appetizers to show up we had a bottle Mersault Charmes 1990 from Francois Jobard, a totally different style - golden color with fuller fruit bouquet compared to the Puligny Montrachet. The minerality of the Montrachet was replaced by tropical fruit and fresh apricots. It was paired magnificently with few different appetizers based in fish. Most of the dishes we had were prepared specifically and they are not present on the menu (actually, when you decide to have the chef choose your dishes, not even the floor staff know the line-up, which I think is great). I love when a professional surprises me. Then we moved on the "rouge," into the wine that gave me the best emotions of the night; Maison Champy Beaune 1er Cru Les Greves 1961. The Cotes de Beaune sits on a limestone ridge that gives way to paler, lighter and more perfumed wines. This bottle was opened half an hour before being served and not decanted. We let it breath in the glass and the bottle, because that kind of wine with that much age will have a very small window of peaked flavors and textures, and if opened too early or decanted, it could die in the glass. It was indeed a very good call - the Burgogne was elegant, thin and vibrant, still with acidity and life. The red juice was changing at every sip, trading a floral note with an herbal shade... the aromas were literally dancing on the palate. Silky and focused at the same time, the Beaume was so engaging that I almost forgot about the food. After a series of appetizers the first course appeared and I kept on going with fish, in this case a calamari julienne and crab meat duo that melted with the wine, while the others, who are not following a no-carb regime, got their pastas dishes; an enticing homemade gnocchi with an incredible rabbit ragu and some great oxtail ravioli ( I did had a taste of both just for chronicle duty). Meanwhile a bottle of Pommard Clos Des Epeneaux 1993 made its appearance on the table along with a new set of Burgundy crystal ware that sat next to the ones still holding the Beaune. Piers had the Pommard opened in the afternoon, because unlike the Les Greves, it needed a lot of time. Next to each other you could definitely notice the difference in color - the Pommard is a big, muscular Pinot Noir with the nose showing horse saddle scents. It almost resembled a Pomerol or a Cabernet-based Bordeaux. As was predicted, the Beaune had very short window of life, I would say 30 minutes time frame, so the last sip of it was showing signs of tiredness. So we had space for another great Pinot Noir from another great Premiere Cru - more specifically, Vosne Romanee Le Malconsorte 1995 of Sylvain Cathiard. The Cote de Nuits is the home of the world's most famous and probably most expensive winery, Romanee Conti. Despite the monopoly control of four of the six Grand Crus, the village has at least forty growers sharing its vineyards; Romanee Conti, La Romanee and La Tache are exclusively owned by Domaine de la Romanee Conti, La Grande Rue is a monopoly of Domaine Francois Lamarche, the Richebourg and the Romanee Saint Vivant are the only crus that are not in a monopoly regime. The Vosne Romanee 1er cru is right next to La Tache - the two crus are divided by a ditch, and they also share similar characteristics and soil. The wine itself has strong and firm violet and mineral aromas, focused and clean the wine was well open and showing a wide range of herbal and spice flavors. Although still young (at 18 years old), compared to the previous wines, the Vosne Romanee Cru produces wine that are more approachable at early ages. "Dulcis in Fundo," as the Latins us to say, we got to the desserts; selections of Vahlrona chocolate under different shapes and forms along with mousses and other delicious sweet treats made their way to the table along with a bottle of Mabilliere Vouvrey Moelleaux 1989 from the Loire that was served at a perfect temperature. Bortytis dessert wine, the noble rot that add life to the grape, showed nice an light flavors of apricot and honey, still high acidity that made the sugar residues almost unnoticeable.
The whole experience was remarkable and I'd like to underline again the excellent service. The wine was always served at the right temperature, the staff frequently poured small amounts in the glasses that needed to be refilled and never overfilled them. They managed to keep a constant flow without ever being pushy, most of the time the staff movement was so natural, it was unnoticeable.That night, I remembered that etiquette exists for good reasons and far too often, it is forgotten in a lot of higher-end New York restaurants. The city used to be different 10 or 12 years ago, and I'm sure that any of you that have live here longer can tell me how different service was even earlier than that. The reality is that the customer services levels, of which the USA used to be a model of, has sadly fallen dramatically in every aspect of the service industry. So complimenti allo chef and the rest of the staff for such professionalism... it was time for the check and to call it a night...are you curious about the tab? One thing I can tell you is, it was the most expensive meal I've ever had and paid for... but worth more than the total.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti

Basta Parliamo di Vino Ora

With all of the politics and red tape surrounding wine these days, it's easy to lose track of a pure love for the juice itself. It has been a while since the last time I actually wrote something about WINE - real wine, not just the idea of it. So, I guess it's time to do so again.
I'd like to start by touching a few sensitive subjects; first, that winemaking is not an exact science; there are a lot of options in the wine world and most of the time one option does not exclude the other. Exemplary of this is the concept of style: specifically, modern style or traditional style. You can favor one over the other or like both for different reasons, but there are certainly great wines in both categories.
I experienced this conundrum on Monday when I met up with some friends at Il Posto Accanto and opened up a bottle of La Fiorita Brunello Riserva 2001, Domaine Dujac Vosne Romanee Les Beaumont 1997 and Diesel Farm Nero di Rosso 2003.
The Burgundy was traditional, while the Pinot Noir from Diesel Farm was more modern and the La Fiorita, somewhere in the middle. So we started decanting the Brunello, uncork the other two bottles and sipped some Cascina Morassino Barbaresco 1996 to begin.
The Barbaresco was also in a somewhat more modern style, displaying a darker color although there were no flavors of wood. It was still vibrant and powerful, the acidity was markedly high, giving the the sign of a still-long aging potential; once again, a great example of why the 1996 vintage for Nebbiolo from Piedmont was one of the greatest ever experienced. Next it was La Fiorita's turn. 2001 was an exceptional year for the Brunello, so much so for La Fiorita, in fact, that they only bottled the Brunello Riserva, which implies one additional year of maturation before being released to the market. Sangiovese, like Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo is a thin-skinned grape that is highly subject to weather and diseases, and thereby grows well only in specific conditions and altitudes. In Montalcino, those conditions are met and Sangiovese from there can reach incomparable complexity an length. La Fiorita showed us exactly how; elegant on the nose and in the palate, fresh violet and cherry scents were bursting out of our goblets; very drinkable and perfumed with just enough minerality to make us think it akin to an elegant women with little to no makeup. This was a treat - I associate most Brunello to an old grumpy farmer with coarse hands and very little will to talk, translating to wines that have big shoulders (tannins structure) where layers of flavors sit and rest, releasing their perfumes a little bit at a time. Our lady instead was polite enough to answer our questions but still maintaining a secret and mysterious aura, and the nectar was sort of a Mata Hari. From one feminine beauty to another, the third bottle we poured was the Domaine Dujac, a fabulous example of Burgundian style. Light red color with purple reflections, and a nose with firm violet and minerals, full in the palate again with violet, wild strawberries with the addition of a herbal note of thyme and green pepper, again very perfumed, elegant and feminine. The last bottle of the night was the Nero di Rosso 2003, Pinot Noir from Marostica in Veneto, bottled by Diesel Farm, owned by Renzo Rosso (also the founder of Diesel Apparel). With an intense nose (2003 was a very hot year) and dark shades of purple, it seemed to be a monster wine at first glance. Incredibly, on the palate the wine was very well-structured and maintained elegance and drinkability, thanks to the acidity the wine retained despite the hot weather. Little flavors of wood at the beginning were detectable over a strong bed of herbal spices scents; the wine changed a lot in the glass, the vanilla flavors left giving space to long violet aromas.
Another fun night was about to end, with an orgy of flavors still in my mouth - it was, as often happens with good company, wines and food, a great experience because in the end, we remember that the wine world is not based in exact science. It needs the atmosphere to be complete, creating different experiences in different contexts.
Buona Bevuta a Tutti