The Tre Bicchieri wine tasting event in NYC

The NYC Gambero Rosso event was a true wine lover orgy: over 200 producers, barolos, amarones and brunellos poured generously, tables full of quality cheeses and fruit... A formidable vino extravaganza! Without a doubt a great strategy to educate New Yorkers about Italian wines... I tasted probably around 50 wines, mostly reds, obviously after first 10 my judging ability was seriously compromised:)

If I was to complain about anything, it would be the general, systemic overoaking of Italian reds... I guess this is the taste of the ruling class (chuckles), but i don't give a crap: if I wanna smell a wooden floor I stay home. And so I would like to mention a few memorable selections from ambitious, small and not so big producers that allow grapes be grapes.

My favorite red was a Sagrantino di Montefalco from an Umbrian micro producer Villa Mongalli: the 2006 and 2007 vintages, offered to distributors at $28, were the first (and last, to make sure it was really that good) wines I tasted... The real, deep dark chocolate and giant, gripping but fully under control tannis, along with cherry liquor, dark fruit, coffee, molasses and so much more, this traditionally produced wine is a gentle powerhouse. Ironically although aged in oak for 8 months, oakiness is just a minor background note in the palette... Equally interesting was Vigneto Fracia Valtellina Superiore red from Lombardian staple winemaker Nino Negri. Floral smelling, savoury tasting high-altitude nebiollo with fantastic, engaging dry fruit in the finish. So well done.

Amongst white selections I was totally seduced by this modest yet incredibly sophisticated/ complex Soave Il Casale 09' from Agostino Vicentini (Veneto). Mineral, vibrant with pear, apple and tropical fruit notes, drinking this wine is like watching a good movie... Finally the Colli de Luni Vermentino by Ligurian winemaker Lunae... a wonderful, energetic white with a floral nose and acacia honey, peach and almond mouth. Also delicious and full of rustic personality was their red blend Niccolo V.

I'd like to also mention two wines that perhaps I wouldn't drink daily but were great and stuck with me: a classic, austere and no nonsense Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 2006, and cheesy/meaty/funky on the nose Codronchio Albana di Romagna 2008 by Fattoria Monticino Rosso, which was truly refreshing and striking in its balanced tartness.

It is also important to mention that the whole event was free after registration: right on!

Wine & Food, Bologna 2010

Divinis is definitely my favorite enoteca style establishment in Bologna. Right in the historic center of the city, this gourmet restaurant offers the real experience of northern Italian and French wines, matched with amazing food prepared by Maurizio Landi. This is NOT a tourist trap, unlike some places I visited in Florence and Milan...

I started my lunch with a glass of white, sparkling pinot nero from Piemonte produced by Bruno Giacosa. This blanc des noirs is quite big, mineral, aromatic, with persistent flavors of molasses, almond and herbs. (89 points) I also had home made strigoli pasta with stinging nettle, frog fish and lime peel: simply great.

To finish off the meal I asked for an interesting red with a cheese pairing. The red was truly exceptional: 2009 Verduno Pelaverga by Burlotto (one of the big Barolo producers from Piemonte). (90 points) Verduno is an endemic, pretty rare grape from Piemonte: spicy, dry and drinks young. My bottle had a very unique over all presence of black pepper, it dominated both nose and mouth. The fruit was minimal but very satisfying, dark berry and apple, beautiful garnet red, light body with nice viscosity. The cheese pairing was fresh Chabot, which was creamy, tart and fizzy inside...

Tasting menu at La Bourgogne, Buenos Aires

I usually don't hang out in super fancy restaurants, but it was my birthday and I'm in Buenos Aires! So my girlfriend and I treated ourselves to a full tasting menu at chef Jean-Paul Bondoux'
"La Bourgogne", which is supposed to be one of the best gourmet joints in Latin America.
I took some pictures and added images of wine pairings... my failed efforts to neatly pack lots of information into a small space led to this post looking like a cheap Chinese take out menu... oh well:) To see more detail click on the images.


The theme of the dinner was French food cooked with fresh Argentine ingredients and paired with local wines. We started out with a crab appetizer prepared with chamomile and violets (didn't know you could eat those). It came with Torrontes Finca Domingo 2008, which for me was one of the more interesting wine discoveries here. Torrontes is a white grape variety exclusive to Argentina. Young, sharp, unique; think Australian Savignion Blanc, but shorter and more explosive... lots of flowers, tangerine and mango.

Then we had frog legs with garlic and parsley, paired with Mendoza Chardonney. The frog legs were delicious and gianormous... Chardonney didn't do much for me... buttery oak, new world average. The third course was a vapor cooked Patagonian sea bass paired with Luigi Bosco Gala 3 Viogner 2006. Both were splendid; the wine is actually a mix of Viognier 50%, Chardonnay 40% and Riesling 10%... very complex and satisfying: lime, wood, vanilla.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: cranberry sauce venison served with Alta Vista Malbec Grande Reserva 2004. I thought the malbec was good, but needed to breathe... it kept opening in the glass, mostly blueberries, oak and plum. I prefer more structure, but I think this goes for malbec in general. This was a very polished, well crafted, Bordeaux style wine, perhaps a bit too polite for the venison steak...
The tasting ended with an Argentine cheese plate, raspberry tart and a glass of dessert wine from Luigi Bosco (which I can't say much about because I was pretty drunk already:)
Over all this was an amazing experience, which would cost 4 times the price in NYC. Definitely recommended. And Mr. Bondoux is quite a character!

Week in Burgundy, July 2007

In July 2007 a group of four entry-level wine enthusiasts (including my girlfriend Sakurako, Gosia, Sam and myself) undertook a little trip to Burgundy, France. We assembled in Zurich, where I happened to be for a conference, and drove a rental car all the way to Cote d'Or.

I just recently stumbled upon some photos from that trip and decided that it would be nice to post some on Dailyglass. After all this was the trip which turned me into a somewhat serious wine drinker, and made pinot noir my favorite grape variety. So in a way this blog wouldn't have happen without our week in Burgundy...


At the time spending more than $30 on a bottle of wine seemed outrageous, so this prevented us from drinking grand crus and older vintages... Nevertheless, we managed to hunt down several exceptional bottles and participate in 3-4 tastings every day.


To save money we camped out most nights, which made the whole thing affordable.The bulk of our limited resources went toward various culinary indulgences, which mostly consisted of beef, snails, roosters and foie gras. And cheese, of course ... including the local, super-smelly, half-liquid Époisses. Vegetal matter is not much appreciated in Burgundy region:)




One of the highlights was a half-day tasting class at Sensation Vin in Beaune. We decided to go with reds only, and tasted 10 wines which were samples of various local terroirs. That was a pretty well organized Burgundy crash course, including slides and handy vintage charts.


If I was to mention one bottle that particularly stuck in my memory, it would be the modest, 7 Euro Bourgogne Passetoutgrains 2004 from organic producers Pierre d'Heilly et Martine Huberdeau (picture below on the right). Passetoutgrains is a regional appellation, basically a cuvée of Gamay and Pinot Noir, where Pinot has to be at least 33%. We got the bottle at a remote abbey Pierre Qui Vire, along with some locally produced moldy goat cheeses. I still remember the deeply satisfying peppery black currant taste with grapefruit finish... this wine was so full of energy and life!

For anyone who is into wine: this doesn't have to be an expensive adventure! We loved it and , no doubt, will be back.

Map of the Côte de Nuits

Check out this pretty detailed map of village appellations in Burgundy/ Côte de Nuit. Red areas represent red Grand Crus, purple 1-er Crus. Probably the best place on earth to drink pinot noirs. Click on the image to enlarge.

Player 1!

My friend Paul found this... God knows where:)
How cool is this, I can't wait to order a bottle and check it out. I'll keep you posted!



"8-Bit Vintners is the creative love child of Mike James. His passion for wine and love of gaming has come together to create the coolest mash-up since The Flintstones met The Jetsons. All fruit comes from high-end vineyards within Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley AVA's. It is produced with the highest winemaking standards in Walla Walla, WA and aged in a selection of fine cooperage.

My wine is for anyone who spent time trying to save a princess or fit odd shaped blocks together. We may have never met, but we have more in common than we ever knew. So blow out that old Contra cartridge, give the NES a good dust off, and pour yourself a glass"

Player 1, $18

The inaugural vintage of Player 1 displays the quality and diversity of fruit that is being produced in Eastern Washington. Player 1 is blended from various vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope, and Walla Walla Valley. 2007 was a moderately warm growing season with long, dry, sunny days that allowed for extended hang time during harvest. This wine shows an accessible and approachable style that is both fun to drink now and has the acidity and tannins to hold up for 5 years plus.

Appellation: Walla Walla Valley, Wahluke Slope, and Columbia Valley
Blend: 50% Syrah, 30% Tempranillo, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Carmenere, 5% Malbec
Harvest Date: August and September 2007
Bottling Date: July 2009
Cooperage: French, American, and Hungarian for 18 to 22 months
Alcohol: 14.1%
pH: 3.74

The Umbrian Experience

So, about my Umbrian experience…

We were staying amongst the rather wild and empty hills of Umbria. The closest town was Spoletto, but to go to Montefalco wouldn’t take us longer then 1 hour. Because of the isolation of our house (nearest trattoria was about 7 km away of twisting, hilly road) we had to organize our meals at home, along with some more serious wine tasting sessions. Eventually it turned out to be the best solution: the restaurants in the area had a tendency to serve kind of “touristy” food, while the products of the region were awesome. Also our landlord was supplying us with fresh veggies and fruits from their garden, as well as homemade cakes…

http://www.agriturismovalnerina.it/home.htm

Both of us are devoted white wines drinkers, and, of course, we went through several lovely grechettos and trebbianos spolettino from Antonelli (nice choice – flowery, slightly spicy nose, for me best with simple food – prosciutto or seafood).
The interesting thing was that in Umbria, with it’s dry air, climate, and constantly present aromas of rosemary, truffles and venison, I suddenly started to feel a vampiric need for heavy, dry and even tannic wines. And that was exactly what the area had to offer.



Sololoro (Fontecolle, Montefalco 2005) – I really enjoyed this wine. It’s cuvee of sangiovese (about 70%), sagrantino, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Nice structure, fresh and fruity. Tender but expressive. We had it with pasta with dried ricotta and truffles, wild boar sausage and local olive oil. (I would rate it 82/100)


Rubesco Lungarotti (Rosso di Torgiano, 2005) – forest fruits, some spices, it was a little bit too concentrated for me, but drank with serious steak (look at the grill) worked pretty nice (73/100).

Wines of the Venezia Giulia - Friuli

Next stop on our wine trip was a small town nearby Alps called Tarcento. Because of the location this region offers quite an interesting wine selection. It’s not just a close distance to the Alps and the sea, but also an area of winemaking influences of the surrounding countries – Slovenia, Austria and Hungary (by the way, the region was actually a part of the Austro–Hungarian empire before the World War I). So the wines here are not quite as specific as, for example, in Umbria. The whites have a tendency to be quite fruity, sometimes mineral, but not as deep as, for example, chablisienne. They are refreshing, pure, not very dominating (well, at least what I’ve tried…) and usually don’t need too many years of aging. For white wines they use here all sorts of grapes: sauvignon, chardonnay and pinots (blanc and gris), less popular malvasia or picolit (for desert wines) and finally local Tocai Friulana, which has not much in common with Hungarian Tokaj... so to avoid confusion since 2007 it’s officially called Friulano Bianco.

After a few acceptable quaffers "by the glass" in a bar we took a bottle of Arbis Blanc 2004 from Borgo San Daniele. Cuveé of Tocai Friulana, chardonnay, sauvignon and pinot bianco. Elegant and structured, everything in the right place. Quoting Sam’s cellartracker opinion: "The wine has quite a scented, open, floral nose with some melony notes. Rich and pure on the palate. It has very good depth and loads of character. Very Good Indeed"

Indeed very good. We paid for it 30 euro, having it in enoteca with some prosciutto, local cheeses and honey. To take away it was 22 euro.

About the red wines from region: lots of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, plus local specialties, for example pignolo, refosco, schioppetino. Because it was really hot our red wine tasting was rather limited. We took our time with a bottle of refosco 2006 from Ronchi di Manzano. Quite heavy, rich structure with barney and animal bits (in direction of animals rather then barney, as Sam said: "almost meaty animalistic fauviness") and in the beginning unfortunately some sulphur, probably caused by the hot temperature. Then it showed more of dark fruits marmalade. Rather spicy wine, but worked well with your standard enoteca food set : ham, cheese and honey. Especially well with parmesan style spicy, hard cheeses. A bottle to take away was 16 euro.

We tried one more bottle from Friuli already at home – Vigne della Rocca 2006 made of Cabernet Franc. It really was a good wine. Amazing mineral, earthy bouquet, with notes of horseradish and green leafs. Tanic but balanced, nutty in finish. Strong but not aggressive taste. Very vivid. 12 euro a bottle. Worth a try. We had it with some mascarpone and truffle pasta.

Wine trip 2009 - Rust

Our first stop was planned in Rust in Austria in our favorite place by the Neusiedlersee. The terroir here is very specific with its mild climate, surrounded by hills, its low rainfall but those special mists floating in from over the lake. It’s a paradise for any sweet wine lover with the local speciality Ruster Ausbruch, Eiswein and a whole range of other goodies made from hand-picked fruits usually collected in late autumn. This time my number one Ruster Ausbruch was the Landauer 1998 (18,50 euro in a producers’ shop). Tasting this wine may just take you to a stage close to Satori. Shiny, deep color of old gold. The nose is full of honey and lime tree blossom. In the mouth, no worries of this wine being vapid or flat. The sweetness is very well balanced by a good acidity followed by a long, smooth and mellow finish. Not quite a wine for daily consumption and I wouldn’t recommend it with just any food. Despite the label as a dessert wine, if you're going to go for anything, then go for cheese rather than cake, with blue cheese usually being a good option.

As for red wines – this time we enjoyed Wenzel. This smallish family producer is better known for his white and sweet wines (his family has been producing wines in Rust since the C17th - now he produces ca. 36,000 bottles per year, some of which makes its way to the US), but the Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir that we tried were absolutely decent, given that what we were looking for was simply a good quaffer that we could take home for every day consumption.

We drank a bottle of his Blaufränkisch 2006 with our meal at the Rusterhof (21 euro in restaurant, 6 euro in producers’ shop). This had quite fruity bouquet of black currants, lively and distinct, but not aggressive. Low in tannins, quite typical for Rust wines. A good daily wine and a perfect match for the food of the region – a wiener schnitzel or not too spicy goulash.

Pinot Noir in Poland

Call it "global warming"... or maybe simply nobody ever attempted this; but Pinot Noir grapes seem to grow really well in my sister's micro-vineyard in southern Poland. The soil is pretty much identical as Burgundy: clays and limestone... Apparently it takes only 92 days of sun to mature Pinot grapes. I am curious to see the first crop next year:)

Some useful aroma/taste wheels

Taste/aroma and mouth-feel wheels: click to enlarge.