Not that there haven’t been the occasional introspective moments. We happen to live in a wealthy part of the world, so the aftershocks of the economic quake that hit months ago aren’t felt as intensely. But one of my Italian friends admonished, “stay attentive” – we are not finished in this cycle quite yet. Folks in Abruzzo understand such things, having been rippled by the earth below their feet countless times, the last time almost a year ago when Aquila was almost leveled.

Surprise of the trip? An experimental wine from Illuminati, the Nico. I first had this wine in the 1980’s when Illuminati was making their charge up the hill to be seen as one of the leaders for quality wine from Abruzzo. Made from passito Montepulciano, this wine has been a laboratory for ideas from the Illuminati winery. It has also been the wine that the older winemaker Spinelli symbolically passed the baton to the younger winemaker, Capellacci. Now the wine, for me, has taken on a life of its own, the conversation is now between me and Nico, no longer between the generations of winemakers that are part of the history of illuminati.

Old friend and colleague Guy Stout was in the room this week when we tasted the 2003 Nico. At the first whiff of the wine, prickly and a bit wild, I walked over to Guy. “You detect a little volatile acidity?” I asked him. “ I do – a lot.” He said and smiled. The lack of “polish” made us both happy. Here was a wine with a life life that someone hadn’t styled into a pretty little high-test velvet bomb. Note to Barbera producers- take a walk on the wild side, free the Barbera- it’s working for some of the upcoming producers in Abruzzo. And we like the results here in Texas and America.

Stefano said it well, and this isn’t the first time I have heard it. He said, “Our grandfathers used to sell their grapes to Tuscany, to Veneto, to France. We don’t have time for that now. We need our grapes.”

We need our grapes. And while not every grape from Abruzzo is destined to be put in a bottle that says “Made in Abruzzo,” the young generation has a reason to be fiercely proud of their progress.

Yesterday as the minivan was carrying us from hotel to meeting, Stefano made a call to his friend and colleague Leonardo Pizzolo, who is also barnstorming Texas towns with his Montepulciano from Valle Reale. The two talked, will miss each other in Texas, one in Austin while the other is in Houston, I overheard the conversation they were having in Italian. Leonardo was seeing the wine lists with scores of Chianti wines on them, but maybe only one wine from Abruzzo. “How is it they can put so many Chianti’s on their lists and half of them are so awful. They don’t speak of where they come from.” Maybe Leonardo, because the wine in the bottle doesn’t come from Tuscany? Or maybe because too many people in Tuscany have lost their way?

Two days ago, sitting around a table in Houston with a group of young sommeliers we had that same discussion. “I just don’t think of Chianti as an interesting wine anymore,” one of them remarked. After a heated discussion that got into the styles and the areas, I think they are more confused about the style of Chianti because there are so many expressions of what Chianti is. And while we won’t solve the problems for Tuscany or Piedmont at a table in Houston (we’ll save that honor for the halls of Vinitaly in a few weeks) the discussion rages on.

The young sommeliers want to know more about the Italian wines, especially being exposed to young producers who are their peers, who have come up in similar times. And honestly, the experience of growing up in the last 20 years, where communications have flattened the world, where we get around more, have allowed for a closer sharing of the life experience, more so than ever before. Just look around you, people are plugged into their electronic tribes like never before.

And that, dear readers - especially anyone looking out, looking in on the ground at one the battlefields to save Italian wine from becoming “international” - that is what we have been meeting about here on the wine trail.

The bus leaves out of here in 45 minutes and I have to get packed and ready - we have a gig in Dallas @ 10:30 AM!

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Congratulations on your purchase of Empire Distributing, and roughly 25% of the wine and spirits distribution business in Georgia and North Carolina that came with it. And welcome to the wine and spirits world — we need more enlightened business people in this industry.

I can’t say that I’ve followed your career with precision, but I’ve read a decent amount about you, and try to read the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report every year. After all, I’m one of your shareholders, and I learn a lot from you and Charlie Munger.

In everything I’ve read, you strike me as someone who appreciates fairness, competition, and above all, the power of the marketplace to improve everyone’s situation if it is left alone to work well. Given the choice between heavy handed regulation and deregulation, you strike me as a deregulation kind of guy, especially when it frees consumers to vote with their dollars.

I’m sure it hasn’t escaped you that the wine and spirits distribution marketplace that you just bought into is seriously screwed up. For instance, we can start with the fact that you can’t get any more than 25% of the market share in Georgia because of their particular state liquor franchise laws — regardless of whether you offer better products, better service, and better prices to your customers.

Likewise you’ll find yourself hobbled as you move into other states, and completely prevented from moving into others, thanks to state-run monopolies on liquor distribution, sweetheart deals that are designed to keep out competition, and all manner of regulations that will keep you from being able to serve wine and spirits drinkers that would certainly like to broaden their horizons and have access to different kinds of products that you might offer.

Of course, those facts can′t have escaped you any more than the fact that in the past 20 years we′ve gone from roughly 7000 different wine and spirits distributors in this country to only 700. I’m not sure whether that was part of the growth potential you saw in Empire when you picked it up this week, but I imagine it factors in somewhere.

So let me get to the point. I think you now have the opportunity, and the obligation, to get on board with those of us who think the time has come to throw out the prohibition-era, antiquated laws we’ve got on the books and put something rational in place that benefits both consumers and business owners like yourself.

In short, I urge you to renounce membership to the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, and instead support the efforts of those like Free the Grapes and the SWRA who are trying to turn this country into a real wine and spirits marketplace. We need a marketplace where companies can compete to meet consumer demands without meddling by state bureaucracies and cronyism. We need businesses more interested in growing the overall market, than using scare tactics and BS to protect their little slices of it.

All the analysts say that with this purchase you′re betting on the Millennials as the largest wine drinking generation in decades. That seems like a pretty good bet to me. And since these young wine drinkers are more interested in a diverse, wide range of products and services, I hope you′ll join those of us who want to expand choice and buying opportunities in the market.

Raising my glass to you,

Alder Yarrow

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Recently I′ve been watching with fascination as the mainstream press does its usual unraveling of some recently released research results focused on wine drinking in women and weight gain. Specifically, I′ve been giggling at the complete lack of understanding we seem to have of the difference between correlation and causation, combined with the creative liberties of headline writing:

Moderate Drinking 'Can Keep Women Slim': The Chosun Ilbo

Glass of wine may keep women from gaining weight: New York Daily News

Bottoms up for skinnier bottoms: Independent

Women Who Consume Alcohol Gain Less Weight: Study: Huffington Post (blog)

A drink a day could help keep the pounds away: Globe and Mail

Cheers, Ladies! A Drink A Day May Keep the Pounds Away: ABC News

Moderate Drinking Linked to Weight Control: WebMD

Red Wine Lessens Obesity Risks In Females: Oneindia

Moderate drinking may curb pounds on women: Boston Herald

Women who drink moderately less likely to gain weight: USA Today

Glass Of Red Wine A Day May Keep Pounds At Bay: NPR (blog)

Study: Women who drink are less likely to gain weight: CNN

Study: Women who drink moderately tend to gain less weight in midlife: Los Angeles Times

Study: Women Who Drink Tend to Be Thinner: TIME

Why a glass a day WILL keep the doctor away…: Daily Mail

Women who drink more gain less weight: Washington Post (blog)

Alcohol 'can help women stay slim': The Press Association

Women who drink wine gain less weight?: Toronto Sun

Light Drinking Might Help Keep Women Slim: BusinessWeek

Wine may help women keep weight in check: Reuters

Moderate drinkers gained less weight than abstainers: Boston Globe (blog)

A tipple a day keeps obesity at bay: study: AFP

Women who drink wine 'less likely to gain weight': BBC News

Women who drink gain less weight than teetotallers: CTV.ca

Cheers! Wine refines the waist: Herald Sun

Wine isn't fattening, ladies!: Hindustan Times

Red wine drinkers 'gain less weight': Ireland Online

Wine doesn't make women fat, report claims: Telegraph.co.uk

Female wine drinkers at lower obesity risk: Times of India

Drink up girls: wine isn't fattening: Times Online

Wine: The new weight-loss miracle?: The Week Magazine

Wine Doesn't Make You Fat: That's Fit

Cocktails ward off the bulge: Science News

Light-to-Moderate Drinking Keeps Women Slim?: ShortNews.com

Alcohol & Weight Gain In Women: NewsChannel 9 WSYR

Regular and Sensible Alcohol Intake can Curb Obesity: Recent Study: eYugoslavia.com

Red alert: A few glasses of wine are good for your hips: CultureMap

Study shows women can control weight with alcohol: Examiner.com

Drink wine for slim waistline: ABH News

Women Drinkers Less Likely To Gain Weight: Visit Bulgaria

Another addition to Moderate Drinking Benefits: Weight Control: NY Breaking News.com

Moderate Drinking Could Control Weight: Tech Jackal

Daily Buzz: Want to Stay Thin? Have a Drink.: Woman's Day (blog)

Occasional drinking may help women keep weight down: 6abc.com

Study: Some Drinking Women Less Likely To Gain Weight: Ozarks First

How could boozing help you lose weight?: New Scientist (blog)

Female Drinkers Less Likely To Gain Weight: WBAL Baltimore

Females Who Drink Moderately, Gain Less Weight: Study: TopNews United States

Study: Women who drink some may weigh less: WHDH-TV

Study Shows Women Who Drink Wine Lose Weight: Portfolio.com (blog)

Drinking alcohol prevents overweight/obesity?: Food Consumer

Moderate drinking keeps women slim–study: The Money Times

Wine isn't fattening for women, study finds: decanter.com

Female Moderate Drinkers Gain Less Weight Over the Years: TestCountry.com (blog)

Drinking Alcohol May Keep You Slim: dBTechno

Alcohol Keeps the Weight Away: ToTheCenter.com (blog)

Light To Moderate Drinking Linked To Less Weight Gain In Middle Aged Women: Medical News Today

Womens' obesity risks lowered with daily drinks, study finds: McClatchy Washington Bureau

Alcohol May Help With Weight Control: FitSugar.com (blog)

Women Who Drink Moderately Gain Less Weight Than Abstainers, Study Shows: AHN | All Headline News

Wine Does Not Lead To Obesity, Research Reported: TopNews United States

Lose Weight…By Drinking Wine?: CNM News Network

Moderate alcohol link to less weight gain: Irish Health

Wine consumption reduces fat accumulation in females: TopNews

Female wine drinkers have lower obesity risk: Celebrities With Diseases

Drinking Alcohol Can Slow Weight Gain In Women: Best Syndication

Wine Keeps Women Slim, Study - Red or White Diet?: National Ledger

Moderate Drinkers Gain Less Weight, but Not Advised for Diet Plan: eMaxHealth

To your health! Women who drink red wine less likely to get fat: Examiner.com

Women who drink: Investor's Business Daily

Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight: Bru Direct

Drinking Alcohol May Help Women Stay Thin: AOL News

Women Who Are Moderate Drinkers May Gain Less Weight Than Those That Are Sober: BETTER Health Research

Study Finds Women Who Drink Wine Gain Less Weight: WDIV Detroit

Red wine may help women shed pounds: 14WFIE.com

Drinking Wine May Help Women Keep Their Figure: eFitnessNow

Alcohol can affect woman's ability to lose weight: ABC7Chicago.com

Alcohol May Help Fight Weight Gain In Women: Wine Spectator

Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight: PsychCentral.com

How to Lose Weight While Drinking: Tonic

Wine and women's weight: NHS Choices

Study Finds Wine Won't Make Women Fat: RedOrbit

Women Who Drink Moderately Seem to Gain Less Weight: CalorieLab Calorie Counter News

Women Who Drink Moderately May Gain Less Weight than Non-Drinkers: The Ledger (blog)

Moderate Drinking in Women Linked to Less Weight Gain: Medscape

Study: Red Wine Keeps Pounds Off: myGLOSS

Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight: New York Times (blog)

Wine 'unlikely to make women gain weight': Netdoctor

More good news for wine drinkers: The Economic Voice

Less weight gain by moderate-drinking women: CBC.ca

Laughable. Strange. Scary. I don’t know who said it, but it’s true that a little bit of information can be dangerous.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Professor Magali Delmas and PhD candidate Laura E. Grant conducted an analysis of 13,426 wines from 1,495 California wineries for eight consecutive vintages from 1998 to 2005. The two tracked correlations between the scores of the wines, their prices, whether they were made from certified organically grown grapes, and whether the wineries broadcast their organic certification on the label.

An overview of the study published last week in Science Daily suggests they found some very interesting results. Wines made with organic grapes during the time period they studied scored higher in the Wine Spectator by a point, on average, than wines made with conventional grapes. Whether this means, in fact, that organic wines taste better is open to some debate, but the statistics seem quite clear.

Perhaps the more interesting finding, however arose when the researchers looked at the price of those wines that were “eco labeled″ and those that were not. The wines that chose to prominently display their certified organic status sold for 7% less than those that didn’t. The prices used to define this gap were the suggested retail prices published alongside the scores in Wine Spectator magazine.

Assuming you believe in the economic principle that prices are set in the marketplace and reflect supply and demand, the conclusion you might draw here is that there is a significant negative value to labeling your wines as organic. Meaning, in short, that consumers don’t want to pay as much for wines labeled as such.

Economists are often let of the hook, understandably, for explaining exactly why things are the way they are. Exactly why an eco-label is a penalty rather than a plus hasn’t been determined, but I think some of it may have to do with the residual damage that early organic wines did to consumer perceptions when they hit the market in the 1980s. Many of these wines were very poorly made, and then their quality was further compromised by the lack of added sulfur dioxide, which meant that many consumers opened their bottles to find the wine fermenting for a third time. A rash of lousy wines prominently labeled as organic created a sweeping set of negative connotations that apparently the wine industry nor the American consumer has yet to leave behind.

For now, the right approach as an organic winemaker seems clear. Farm your grapes organically to make better wines, but for heaven’s sake, don’t tell your customers.

The study summarized in Science Daily was originally published about two years ago as a working paper by the American Association of Wine Economists.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Have Italian wines become like cinema? Has oak become what full frontal nudity was in the 1970’s, now hackneyed and dull? Do we look for nuance in wine and film and walk away from a dark room or a disappointed table with similar letdowns?

Last night I went to visit my friend Jay the pizzaiolo, who was halting his guerilla restaurant for a few weeks of renovation. Inside the dining room, people had brought their own wines. I surveyed the tableau – Silver Oak, Kosta Browne, Caymus. I had brought a little Piedirosso, and it felt like I had just landed in America with my little satchel of handmade (and outmoded) clothes, walking onto the stage of my new life. And that is what the original wines from Italy must endure when they, too, come to America, walking the red carpet, without the sponsorship of Muccia or Donatella. Perhaps that is why some of the new, young energy of Italy, those affluent enough to send their children over to visit or to work in Napa or to take classes at Davis, have sussed out the future of the business. And it isn’t La Terra Trema time anymore. No, Italian wines have morphed into some Avatar of expectation, at least in many minds who reside in the heads of those who sit at the tables across America. And apparently in Italy, too?

I’m not going to go all sans soufre on y’all, but once again I stand on the corner of Any Given Sunday and Bloody Monday, that glorious time between reflection and heading back to the streets, and wonder if I am ever going to get back to the future?

Which begs the question, “OK, Alfonso, what do you think they want?” To which I begin by answering, “It’s not what they think they need, but it is what we need to bring back – and those are the real expressions of Italian wine, that even when winemaking was less sophisticated, those old guys ( and gals) were able to coax into the bottle.

My feeling is that it has more to do with the character of the person than the vineyard or the barrel room. The terroir of the human soul. I keep thinking of those people who still have the connection, who aren’t acting, who are living out the drama of their lives but with a realism that has been lost, in the bottle and on film, these last 20 or so years. And that is the crossroads that Italian wine teeters on, seemingly often.

Enough of the Blazing Saddles romp we have been getting, this is a High Noon moment.

How do you know you have lost something precious if you have nothing to compare that loss to? It is that way with so many things in youth. We cannot fathom the loss of a soul mate or a parent, because it hasn’t happened to us. Sure, one can read Lampedusa or Emily Dickinson or Paul Auster, but until the pin pricks your finger and you bleed, you will not know it as intimately. Viscerally.

And again, the director taps me on the shoulder and asks me to pull focus, bring it in for a close up, get to the point.

I do see light in the tunnel. The Piedirosso I brought to the pizzaiolo had been sanded with a rough grade of paper, but it had True Grit. The Primitivo we served in Marfa last week had the rough-and-tumble character of Accattone. You could almost feel the glass shards piecing your poor bare feet as you let a wine slip from the stained cup into your unbrushed teeth. Was it pleasant? It wasn’t pretty from all the make-up. It was a Giant, but it was frank. It was truthful. And that made it a beautiful thing.

What was once the key to the kingdom, getting a great revue and 90+ points or the three glasses from Gambero Rosso, all that has been rendered useless in this Mad Max world, where the rules of economics have been disco-oxygenated so trophy hunters can fill their silos. They can still have their 100 point Walk in the Clouds and drink their $300 cult wines too. When The Eclipse comes (isn’t it already here?), those with mega Euros will have plenty of oaked wines to drink with their canned foie gras in their tax deductible offshore underground shelters cellars. “I’m gonna live forever, baby remember my name.” Oh yeah.

But the cycle, when it returns, as it does, to a time when more can take pleasure in the joys of wine and in the simple satisfaction of unadulterated, accessible, drinkable wines. wines that we can really, really love. Wines that go with real food. Then maybe it will be time again for a Capra-esque return to that Wonderful Life.

And the winner is….

Photos from Oscar nights of past

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

None of us makes a living tapping away in our respective little corners of the internet, so, apart from the enthusiasm of our individual readers, such awards are among the few bits of official validation we receive for our efforts.

If you enjoy Vinography, I′d be pleased to receive your vote — as would any of the other nominees you feel inclined to support. Unfortunately in order to vote you need to register with your e-mail address, but thankfully I believe the registration includes the option to opt out of further e-mails from Saveur.

The voting is open until April 2nd and the winners will be announced on April 5th. Please be sure to check out the food blogs that are also up for awards, as the list contains some of the best out there.

Thanks for your support.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

For those unfamiliar with the Gambero Rosso, it is essentially an organization focused on the promotion and evaluation of Italian food and wine. Each year the organization publishes a guide by the same name. The Gambero Rosso is the Italian Wine bible, and in my experience, it is the most thorough and high-quality guide to any wine region that exists in the world. The guide covers a dizzying 14,000+ wines each year from the incredibly diverse regions of Italy.

Each year the Gambero Rosso guide awards one, two, or three “Bicchieri” (or “glasses”) to wines of exceptional character and quality. From tens of thousands, there are usually a couple of hundred Tre Bicchieri wines, and every Spring Gambero Rosso brings many of them to San Francisco for the media and the trade to taste.

While I don′t love all the wines at this tasting, I am constantly amazed by the quality and individuality of these wines. I leave the tasting every year pining for many of these wines, and wishing I had the means to add them to my collection, though invariably, there are always some fantastic $15 wines that are easy to seek out and find. It’s quite a contrast to attend this tasting merely a week or two after tasting 200 barrel samples of Napa Cabernet. Comparing Napa Valley to the whole of Italy is quite unfair, of course, but the adjacency of the two tastings definitely provides the opportunity to reflect on how narrow an experience one would have if they only drank wines from Napa.

This year I was particularly taken by a number of 2005 Barolos which are hitting the market after the much vaunted 2004 vintage and not getting the attention they deserve, in my opinion. I also fell head over heels in love with yet another wine from the flanks of the volcano — my next trip to Italy absolutely must include a pilgrimage to Etna.

Without further ado, here’s what I thought of these wines.

Whites

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5

2008 Cantina Termeno A. A. Gewürztraminer Nussbaumer, Alto Adige. $45
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a beautifully fragrant nose of classic rose petal aromas. In the mouth it is rich and silky in texture with flavors of rose petals, orange blossom water, and a mixed bouquet of flowers that rise through an incredible finish. Click to buy.

2008 Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Rye, Sicilia. $25
Medium gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of freshly cut cedar and orange blossoms. In the mouth it is thick and sweet but with bright acidity that buoys flavors of candied orange peel, honey, and white flowers through a beautiful finish. Wow.

2007 Livon Braide Alte, Friuli Venezia Giulia. $45
Pale blonde in color, this wine has a wonderful nose of green melon and floral aromas. In the mouth it offers rich silky textured flavors of star fruit, cucumber, and delicate white flowers that linger in a very long finish. The foundation of the wine is a deep rainwater minerality that is faint but persistent. Excellent.

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5

2008 Marisa Cuomo Costa d’Amalfi Fiorduva, Campania. $42
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of peachy and vanilla aromas. In the mouth it is zingy and floral with orange zest and rose petal flavors, which morph to more citrus notes in the very long, clean finish. Delectable.

2008 Venica & Venica Collio Sauvignon Ronco delle Mele, Friuli Venezia Giulia. $40
Palest gold in color, this wine practically explodes out of the glass with what may be the most incredibly floral set of aromas I’ve ever smelled on a wine. In the mouth it offers an incredibly delicate bouquet of mixed white flowers, from Lilly of the Valley to jasmine, all doused with rainwater and fresh green apple juice. An altogether disarming and beautiful wine. Click to buy.

NV Nino Franco Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut Rustico, Veneto. $18. Click to buy.
2000 Ferrari Trento Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore Brut, Trentino. $70.

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2007 La Vis/Valle di Cembra  Ritratto Bianco, Trentino. $16
2008 Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano A. A. Sauvignon St.Valentin, Alto Adige. $45
2006 Cantina Terlano A. A.Terlano Pinot Bianco Vorberg is., Alto Adige. $30
2008 Cantine Lunae Bosoni     Colli di Luni Vermentino Cavagino, Liguria. $??
2008 I Campi Soave Cl. Campo Vulcano, Veneto. $25
2005 Il Mosnel Franciacorta Satèn, Lombardia. $??
2007 Jermann Vintage Tunina, Friuli Venezia Giulia. $50
2008 Nino Franco Valdobbiadene Grave di Stecca Brut, Veneto. $28
2008 Planeta  Cometa, Sicilia. $??
2006 Terre Cortesi Conero Vign. Del Parco Riserva, Marche. $??
2007 Villa Sparina Gavi del Comune di Gavi Monterotondo, Piemonte. $50
2008 Volpe Pasini COF Pinot Bianco Zuc di Volpe, Friuli Venezia Giulia. $32

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2007 Ca’ Rugate Recioto di Soave La Perlara, Veneto. $??
2008 Cantine Lunae Bosoni Colli di Luni Vermentino Etichetta Lunae Nera, Liguria. $??
2007 Cusumano  Sàgana, Sicilia. $20
2007 Gioacchino Garofoli  Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Cl. Sup. Podium, Marche. $20
2008 Ottella Lugana Sup. Molceo, Veneto. $16
2008 Pietracupa  Greco di Tufo, Campania. $25
2008 Prà Soave Cl. Monte Grande, Veneto. $30
2006 Terre Cortesi Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Cl. V. Novali Ris., Marche. $??

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2008 Ca’ Rugate Soave Cl. Monte Fiorentine, Veneto. $23
2002 Cesarini Sforza Trento Aquila Reale Brut Ris., Trentino. $90
2004 Guido Berlucchi & C. Franciacorta Brut Extrême Palazzo Lana, Lombardia. ?
2007 Ottella Lugana Sup. Molceo, Veneto. $25
2006 Perticaia Montefalco Sagrantino, Umbria. $50
2007 Sergio Mottura Latour a Civitella, Lazio. $18
2008 Sergio Mottura Grechetto Poggio della Costa, Lazio. $18
2008 Tenute Sella & Mosca  Vermentino di Gallura Monteoro, Sardegna. $??
2008 Vitivinicola Broglia Gavi del Comune di Gavi Bruno Broglia, Piemonte. $36

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8 AND 8.5
2005 F.lli Giorgi OP Pinot Nero Brut Cl. 1870, Lombardia. $??
2002 Cavit Trento Altemasi Graal Brut Ris., Trentino. $49

Reds

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5

2005 Batasiolo Barolo Boscareto, Piemonte. $75
Light ruby in the glass this wine has a wonderfully floral nose of dried flowers, herbs, and redcurrants. In the mouth it offers redcurrant and raspberry flavors that mix with dried flowers. You could call the wine delicate but for the muscular tannins that underlie the gorgeous fruit and floral qualities that linger with excellent balance in the finish.

2004 Elvio Cogno Barolo V. Elena, Piemonte. $110
Light ruby in color, this wine has an incredibly aromatic nose of cherry and cedar aromas with hints of the floral. In the mouth it is beautifully juicy with cherry, leather, cedar and redcurrant fruit supported by firm, leathery tannins and enlivened with great acidity. The wine finishes long and airy. Outstanding.

2007 Palari Faro Palari, Sicilia. $65
Light ruby in color, this wine has a nearly otherworldly nose of dried flowers and a perfect summer’s day, with an underlying brightness of fruit. In the mouth it is nothing short of stunning, with near perfect balance and acidity cradling delicate flavors of redcurrant, cherry, and again that heavenly floral quality. The faintest of tannins give some grip and body to the wine, and they have an incredible sweet aroma to them that is quite unlike any other wine I’ve had. Remarkable and compelling.

2005 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Cl., Veneto. $60
Dark garnet in color, this wine has a rich beautiful nose of violets and cassis fruit. In the mouth the wine offers the light sweetness of dried cherry fruit with rich chocolate covered cherry cordials and violets. The wine has an incredibly long finish that incorporates hints of spices. Stunning.

2004 Palari Faro Palaro, Sicilia. /a.

RED WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2005 Castellare di Castellina I Sodi di San Niccolò, Toscana. $70
2005 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo Sarmassa, Piemonte.
2006 Allegrini Dedicato a Walter, Veneto. $120
2006 Barone Ricasoli Chianti Cl. Castello di Brolio, Toscana. $58
2005 Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio, Piemonte. $75
2005 Ettore Germano Barolo Cerretta, Piemonte. $80
2007 Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino Do Ut Des, Toscana. $35
2006 Fattoria di  Felsina Fontalloro, Toscana. $??
2007 Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona, Toscana. $120
2001 Fontanafredda Barolo Lazzarito V. La Delizia, Piemonte. $110
2004 Giancarlo Travaglini Gattinara Ris., Piemonte. $??
2006 Isole e Olena Cepparello, Toscana. $70
2005 Malvirà Roero Renesio Ris., Piemonte. $60
2004 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Campolongo di Torbe, Veneto. $120
2006 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti Sup. La Nizza Court, Piemonte. $55
2004 Oddero Barolo Mondoca di Bussia Soprana, Piemonte. $60
2007 Palari  Rosso del Soprano, Sicilia. $35
2005 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato, Piemonte. $109
2006 Podere Le Berne Nobile di Montepulciano, Toscana. $33
2006 Podere Sapaio Bolgheri Sapaio Sup., Toscana. $45
2005 Prunotto Barolo Bussia, Piemonte. $90
2004 San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino Ugolforte, Toscana. $65
2006 Velenosi  Rosso Piceno Sup. Roggio del Filare, Marche. $54
2005 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito, Piemonte. $150

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2005 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Cl., Veneto. $90
2006 Benanti Etna Rosso Serra della Contessa , Sicilia. $??
2005 Brezza & Figli Giacomo Barolo Sarmassa, Piemonte. $75
2006 Ca′ del Baio Barbaresco Asili, Piemonte. $??
2007 Cantele    Amativo, Puglia. $??
2007 Castello Monaci   Artas, Puglia. $35
2006 Donnafugata Contessa Entellina Milleunanotte, Sicilia. $90
2006 Fattoria Colle Allodole Montefalco Sagrantino Colleallodole, Umbria. $90
2006 Feudi della Medusa  Gerione , Sardegna. $80
2007 Feudo Maccari  Saia, Sicilia. $??
2004 Fontanafredda Barolo Lazzarito V. La Delizia, Piemonte. $110
2005 G. D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole, Piemonte. $??
2007 Giovanni Almondo Roero Bric Valdiana, Piemonte. $55
2007 Guerrieri Rizzardi Valpolicella Cl. Sup. Ripasso Poiega, Veneto. $??
2006 Melini Chianti Cl. La Selvanella Ris., Toscana. $25
2005 Michele Chiarlo Barolo Cerequio, Piemonte. $99
2006 Nino Negri Valtellina Sfursat, Lombardia. $45
2006 Nino Negri Valtellina Sfursat 5 Stelle, Lombardia. $70
2006 Pelissero Barbaresco Vanotu, Piemonte. $65
2007 Pietradolce  Etna Rosso Archineri, Sicilia. $35
2007 Rocca di Frassinello Baffo Nero, Toscana. n/a
2006 Serafini &amp Vidotto Montello e Colli Asolani Il Rosso dell′Abazia, Veneto. $60
2006 Tenuta Mazzolino  OP Pinot Nero Noir, Lombardia. $??
2006 Tenuta Olim Bauda Barbera d’Asti Sup. Nizza, Piemonte. $40
2006 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia, Toscana. $150
2007 Tormaresca  Masseria Maime, Puglia. $40
2006 Valle Reale  Montepulciano d’Abruzzo San Calisto, Abruzzo. $38

RED WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2006 Antinori Tignanello, Toscana. $95
2004 Antonelli - San Marco Montefalco Sagrantino Chiusa di Pannone, Umbria. $??
2006 Argentiera Bolgheri Sup. Argentiera, Toscana. $??
2007 Barone Ricasoli Chianti Cl. Brolio, Toscana. $22
2006 Barone Ricasoli Casalferro, Toscana. $51
2005 Benanti Il Drappo, Sicilia. $??
2004 Canalicchio - Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana. $??
2006 Cantine Lunae Bosoni     Colli di Luni Rosso Niccolo V, Liguria. $??
2006 Castello di Cigognola  OP Barbera Castello di Cigognola, Lombardia. $??
2006 Cesarini Sforza Chianti Cl. Villa Cafaggio Ris., Toscana. $28
2005 Còlpetrone Montefalco Sagrantino Gold, Umbria. $85
2006 Conti Zecca   Nero, Puglia. $??
2007 Di Majo Norante Molise Aglianico Contado Ris., Molise. $18
2006 Famiglia Cecchi Coevo, Toscana. $60
2007 Feudi del Pisciotto  Nero d’Avola Versace, Sicilia. $33
2004 Greppone Mazzi - Tenimenti Ruffino Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana. $75
2007 Librandi Cirò Rosso Duca Sanfelice Ris., Calabria. $23
2004 MezzaCorona  Teroldego Rotaliano Nos Ris., Trentino. $39
2006 Nino Negri Valtellina Superiore Mazer, Lombardia. $35
2004 Podere La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana. $??
2006 Poliziano Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone, Toscana. $??
2006 San Patrignano  Colli di Rimini Cabernet Montepirolo, Emila Romagna. $??
2006 Tenuta La Fuga Nozzole, Toscana. $??
2007 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto, Toscana. $40
2005 Tenuta Sant’Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella Campo dei Gigli, Veneto. $125
2007 Terre del Principe Centomoggia, Campania. $??
2006 Umani Ronchi  Pelago, Marche. $99
2006 Umani Ronchi  Conero Cumaro Riserva, Marche. $52
2006 Villa Medoro  Montepulciano d′Abruzzo Colline Teramane Adrano, Abruzzo. $??

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2006 Cantina Convento Muri-Gries A. A. Lagrein Abtei Ris., Alto Adige. $??
2007 Castello di Cigognola  Barbera Dodicidodici, Lombardia. $??
2008 Ermete Medici &amp Figli Reggiano Lambrusco Concerto, Emila Romagna. $21
2005 Guerrieri Rizzardi Amarone della Valpolicella Cl. Villa Rizzardi, Veneto. $??
2007 Tasca d’Almerita  Cabernet Sauvignon, Sicilia. $70
2004 Tenuta La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana. $65
2006 Tenuta La Fuga Cabreo il Borgo, Toscana. $50
2004 Tenute Sella & Mosca Alghero Marchese di Villamarina, Sardegna. $??
2006 Villa Vignamaggio Vignamaggio, Toscana. $97

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8
2007 Bricco Maiolica Diano d’Alba Sup. Sörì Bricco Maiolica, Piemonte. $??

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

The next day I got on a plane and headed to far West Texas. An hour flight and a three hour drive led me back to Marfa for a wine dinner. The journey in is always a mind cleanse for me. From home base, the hard core urban setting, to the airport, where all of our fears are laid bare as we walk shoeless though filters poised to reveal anomalies in hope of finding evil, so that it might be rooted out. Then to a dusty, rural airport, Midland, home to my dear Uncle Lou and his family, amidst oil wells and childhood homes of world deciders. But the real purge comes in the drive from Midland to Marfa, when the landscape that is revealed sews itself in ones pocket so deeply so as not to ever be lost. There are many people at my final destination that night who are longing- longing for art, longing for love, longing for simple. One night under a universe of lights wont abate that longing, more to serve as a reminder to the city dweller that a larger universe of ideas, of Everything, is still there in spite of our tendency to narrow it down to an explanation that puts each and everyone of us in the middle of a micro-oxygenated universe of our own making.

Nothing you can know that isn’t known.
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.
It’s easy.

I have done my 200th wine dinner, again. They are like kites- trying to keep them in the air, making sure the tail doesn’t tangle, hoping the kite doesn’t tear away, and when the kite finally flies and one runs out of string and the kite sails for 30 minutes or so, to reel it in? Or let it go? This night I got the kite up in the air pretty quick, got the room where I thought I wanted to go, like some West Texas preacher testifying about the Revelations of Gaglioppo and Inzolia. The dining room, high ceilinged, like a cathedral, held the dry air. I didn’t need to shout. I started channeling the poets, Lennon, Neruda, Whitman. I had them, the tail was untangled, the wind was blowing steady, calm. And then, just like that, I let all the string out and freed the kite. To the West Texas heavens under a full moon, the last vestiges of winter under those sent whirling back to their private universes.

So we sailed up to the sun
Till we found the sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine

Afterwards, some of the group wanted to pilgrimage out to see the Marfa lights. Having been indoctrinated in those mysteries long ago, but only recently having become a Believer, I was up for it. I have a fantasy of someone putting a bar out there, like those blue bars we used to go to in Italy in the 1990’s. A piano, dark blue lighting, a great selection of single malts and grappas. Then a window to the vast unknown in search of those famous lights. But we stood out there in the high desert, shivering, our lone companion a traffic cone that had been placed over the telescope that is used in warmer nights to seek out the origin of those mysterious lights.

Would you believe in a love at first sight
Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time
What do you see when you turn out the light
I can’t tell you but I know it’s mine,

When I was putting the wines together on a sheet for the dinner I was searching for a way to start a conversation with the people coming to it. One of my dinner companions remarked that he recently had a dinner for 12 people and they discussed the food and the wines. A salon. Yes, of course, I would love to come back and do something like that. But this night I was imagining these five wines as lines from a Beatles Album, the Yellow Submarine, in an effort to strike a match against the imagination and start a little fire of non linear conversation. Alas, it was probably something that was meant for My Universe, perhaps too much of a stretch. Too non linear. How did one of my teachers tell me, “Al, save the imagination for the drawing tablets.”

Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high

My experiment with wine and song having wilted, I consoled myself under that cold and deep desert night with the happiness that other teachers had cultivated a biodynamic rebellion against those who would have me be a square peg in a square hole in a cubicle somewhere in a square building. Of course, we must report back, head up the elevator and slip into the meeting, hoping that someone in that meeting will be receptive to the accounts from the front lines. As long as I don’t make them too poetic. Or out there.

Out there. Out there. As I was driving back the next day to get back to the city and a tasting of Super Tuscans and Brunello (acclimate, acclimate) I found myself wasting time, putting it off. And as I drove, the radio playing Horst’s “The Planets” made it even more difficult to leave, to return. I stopped one more time at the base, this time the traffic cone had a retiree in a Winnebago for company.

Pulling away from the highway out of Alpine, the junction, one to the Big Bend and the other back to the Big City, I had a visceral reaction. I felt sick to my stomach, maybe it was the huevos rancheros?

As I left the wilderness, returning to the power line that I always came back to, I promised myself to come back here again, for a week or more, to camp, to hike to clear out the Big City. I really, really love the desert, it is my Tuscany.

One, two, three, four
Can I have a little more?
five, six, seven eight nine ten I love you.

Lyrics by The Beatles

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Wine writers love Jake Lorenzo’s stuff; many wish they could write like him, or more precisely, get away with writing like he does. It’s not so much the sheer literary quality of Jake’s “mostly true stories of the wine business,” the book’s subtitle; it’s the vantage point and the audacity.

Jake Lorenzo is the rare wine writer who views the wine world from inside the industry, not as an outside observer dispensing judgments and scores. Better yet, he freely admits that he and his friends love to get hammered–common enough among wine writers, but rarely the subject of one essay after another. This book will not tell you which vintages of what Barolos to invest in, but it may well make you want to get ripped.

Compounding the fun, Jake is a man of mystery on two levels. He’s a “wine detective,” looking into what’s really going on under the surface and why things work the way they do. But he’s also a fiction, a nom de vin for Lance Cutler, a veteran Sonoma winemaker (including a long stretch at Gundlach-Bundschu) and wine writer (often for technical- trade magazines). Jake’s “mostly true tales″ involve not only his family and various true-life wine industry folks but his imaginary eating-and-drinking buddy Chuy Palacios, chef/owner of the Burrito Palace, and Dr. Iggy Calamari, a certifiably mad scientist and inventor of the wine-powered heart pacemaker.

See why the rest of us wish we had Jake’s/Lance’s gig?

The 60 or so short pieces that make up this collection, Jake’s third, originally appeared in Wine Business Monthly, for which Lance also writes techie winemaking articles. The book is dedicated to “cellar rats and wine salesmen,” without whom “there is no wine business.” Several pieces celebrate the endless hard work that goes into harvesting, crushing, fermenting, pressing, barreling and bottling hundreds of thousands of tons of grapes every year; the sheer manual labor of winemaking often escapes the folks whose hardest job is handling obdurate corks. Several pieces revolve around rants against high wine prices and extravagant restaurant markups.

Jake really gets going when he’s popping corks and sitting down to eat. Several gargantuan eating and drinking marathons are recounted in loving detail. One piece is a kind of ode to the three-hour lunch; another furnishes the Burrito Palace Emergency Preparedness Basic Provisions Kit, which includes, among many other things, masa flour, pinto beans, Bombay Sapphire gin, Centinela Reposado tequila, rendered duck fat, canned escargot, and two changes of underwear.

After all the bouts of wretched excess, Jake ends up with more hangovers than a Philip Marlowe detective. Jake’s wine consumption may help explain why one particular essay about the exploits of a transcontinental society of hedonists shows up twice, in two different sections of the book, under two titles. It’s a good enough read, and certainly creative editing.

Few topics fit the conventional wine writing mold. Several are set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans; Oscar Peterson’s piano wizardry gets mentioned more than once. Unexpected or far-fetched analogies drive many of the pieces; my favorite was the association between ballplayers pumped up on BALCO steroids and the claims of biodynamic farming.

Continued Surveillance won′t help with your studies for that Master of Wine exam. But it could convince you to adopt the motto that appears on the home page of the Wine Patrol Press website: “Two bottles a day, that’s all I ask.”

Continued Surveillance: Mostly True Stories of the Wine Business is available exclusively through Wine Patrol Press; email jake@winepatrol.com or call Wine Patrol Press directly at (707) 996-5730.

Tim Patterson writes for several wine magazines, blogs at Blind Muscat’s Cellarbook, and co-edits the Vinography book review section.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries about an hour into the session (it ran about 15 minutes longer) so apologies for the abrupt ending.

TIPS FOR VIEWING:

When you click the frame below you’ll be taken to a streaming media site that hosts the video (sorry, no embedding capabilities ).

The site gives you the option to watch in HD or SD (standard definition). If you have a DSL or slower connection, I recommend switching to SD to watch.

Feel free to add your comments or questions below !

Original post by Alfonso Cevola