Wine and Social Media

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 16:14:12 -0500

A question for you to think about: If you receive a message or a tweet that says “This bottle of wine is good value for money,” do you believe it? Can you trust the sender? Do you automatically believe every message and communication that comes electronically? How can you vet for the truth? Isn’t this all a matter of knowledge and taste?

A Brief Toot of My Own Horn

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 23:12:13 -0500

I was flattered today to be the recipient of the 2010 Luca Maroni/Sense of Wine award for excellence in wine journalism, especially that which regards Italy. This came as part of a three-day conference in New York called Vino 2010, the largest Italian wine event ever held outside of Italy. I will be posting observations about this conference in the days to come.

A Thought for the New Year

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:06:08 -0500

“In wine there is Wisdom,
In beer there is Freedom,
In water there is Bacteria.”
---Benjamin Franklin

Wine Dark Seas

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:07:29 -0400

Busy days, sleepless nights on a boat rocking in turbulent waves and lack of good computer access at sea prevented me from making an earlier posting. I am just back from a trip whose focus was the Marilyn Horne Foundation, created by the peerless singer and teacher to advance the art of the song. Excellent young singers and pianists performed on the ship, in theaters, palaces and temples, and appreciative audiences saw that there is a future for classical music and singing. I commend you to the foundation’s Web site, http://marilynhornefdn.org/, and encourage you to support its activities.

The trip included stops in Italy (Venice; Ancona/Macerata), Croatia (Split; Dubrovnik), Greece (Santorini; Rhodes) and Turkey (Kusadasi). Before boarding the ship I had three excellent meals. In Mestre (the mainland city that does all the heavy lifting so that Venice can somehow continue to work its fading charms), there is Osteria La Pergola (Via Fiume 42, tel +39-041/974932) in a residential neighborhood and with not a tourist in sight. Service is good, food is tasty and the outdoor tables are pleasant to linger at. I had tagliatelle with fresh tomatoes, followed by a good salad. I had two glasses of sauvignon blanc, both produced by my friend Alvaro Pecorari of Lis Neris in Friuli. The first, simply named for the grape, was fresh and bracing. The second, called Picol and gently aged in oak, was more complex but not obsessive. The winemaker worked in service of the grapes, and not the other way around. This is an important distinction and it requires knowledge, taste and humility to bring it about. The owner of La Pergola admired my selections and said to me that the first wine “should be consumed with your friends” while the second one “should be consumed with your woman.” I like how Italians do wine pairings.

An excellent meal was had with friends at Ristorante Moro, a short walk from the Mestre train station (Via Piave 192; tel +39-041/926456). Among the top dishes were a frothy baccala mantecato (whipped codfish) served with polenta; gallina padovana in saor (a rare breed of hen from Padua whose rich flavor provided ballast for the sauce of vinegar, pine nuts and raisins) and selections from one of the best cheese carts I have found in Italy, with each cheese accompanied by a suitable jam or preserve. A bottle of 2005 Teroldego Rotoliano by Elisabetta Foradori, one of Trentino’s top winemakers, was a steal at 20 euros. Teroldego is one of the most undervalued grapes in Italy and unknown abroad. I believe this is due, in part, to the fact that people cannot pronounce it (teh-ROLL-de-go) and because people in northeastern Italy jealously keep most of it for themselves.

In Venice’s historic center I had my second fine meal this year at Anice Stellato (Fondamenta della Sensa 3272 in Cannaregio; tel +39-041/720744). Seafood is the specialty here and I can recommend everything. The seafood risotto is superb, as are every fish “in saor,” especially the gamberi. I enjoyed pansoti (pot-bellied ravioli) filled with scallops and shrimp. Two excellent desserts are the frozen zabaglione and the grapes preserved in grappa. While the notion of “house wine” served in a carafe is no longer the assured proposition in Italy it once was, the house white here was a delicious pinot bianco, one of my favorite grapes.

Wines in the other countries were more hit-and-miss. A wonderful brodetto (seafood stew) at Sperun restaurant in Split had a white wine that was just OK and one could do a lot worse. On Santorini, I had a delicious glass of local red wine at Skala restaurant in the pretty town of Oia that was ideal for my gorgeous plate of stuffed pepper, stuffed tomato, baked potato finished in olive oil, and a slab of pungent fresh feta cheese. I will not soon forget my dessert of ice cream made with pistachio, dried fig and rosewater. Santorini is trying to promote itself as a producer of a sweet dessert wine they call Vin Santo. Nobody got my pun of calling it Vin Santorini. The ones I tasted are OK, but nothing more. Santorini, with its lava-rich volcanic soil, grows its grapes in a way I have never seen elsewhere: the vines are shaped into bird’s nest circles and placed low to the ground to get more heat from the soil. In Rhodes, the wines I encountered were too studied and international in style and taste. They were proposed by restaurateurs who thought the people in my party would not cotton to local taste. I will reserve judgment about the wines of Rhodes for a future visit. In Turkey, I had tasty lamb and vegetables, but no wine was available. Local Efe beer had to do.

Venezia

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:37:16 -0400

Off to Venice to travel with the great Marilyn Horne, speak at La Fenice and teach about the origins of opera in Venice. One must drink too, so I will be scouting Prosecco and other wines that are found in the Veneto. In Venice one drinks un’ombra, which means a shadow but actually implies a pleasant wine taken with friends in an osteria. And that is where I will be!

First Sip

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:18:56 -0400

This is the first entry to my new wine blog. It will be brief and to the point. Wine is not about being competitive or about numbers. It is about experience, pleasure, and friendship. I have just returned from a fascinating trip to Austria, which offers experience, pleasure and friendship in generous abundance.

Eno Logic: A Wise Approach to Wine

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:59:01 -0400

Once this blog is up and running, wine lovers and those who want to deepen their knowledge are invited to visit Eno Logic: A Wise Approach to Wine for informed commentary, tasting notes and interesting tales from the world of wine.