Craig Camp
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Posts posted by Craig Camp
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Nice wines.
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These are some of the best wines that you have never tasted
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Though in peril of slow death from your withering condescension, I must know who or what Slow Food means. thankyew.
Slow Food is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting fine food production and eating. The name is a meant to be the opposite of "fast food"
Here is their website:
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Do you think the difference between the two bottles of Chablis was storage? The second bottle sounds fresher while your mention of butterscotch and nutty flavors in the first bottle could hint at a bit of oxidation.
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I am a big fan of the wines of this estate. L'abandon is a muscat and I would drink it while younger rather than older because of the wonderful fruit. The wine should be quite lovely now.
Here is the estate's website:
...also if you write to the importer they can probably send you a fact sheet on the wine - write to: europvin@europvin.com
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As you say, what you have is blueberry liqueur blended with some grappa. Though it is not a grappa in the true sense - just as Grand Manier is not a Cognac - and would have a very different and much sweeter flavor.
I'm sure the trip back to Padova seemed very fast!
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Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it.
Some things are just not for everyone. My wife (Italian) enjoys grappa, but cannot take a sip of even an extraordinary old Cognac. One wiff of a Cognac or Armagnac and she twists up her nose and says it is too strong, while grappa does not bother her a bit.
What can you say?
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For those who know Italian cuisine, no meal is complete without a gorgeous grappa to chase down a fortifying espresso.
Clearly you are a real man.... I bow before you. Anyone who can regularly consume grappa can withstand all tests of manhood.
A neighbor has offered to teach me to make Vin Santo in the fall, hopefully it won't be as dangerous as grappa making.....
You really must try a fine grappa. Like all spirits there are bad and good ones and the bad ones far outnumber the good ones.
Rotgut is everywhere - Scotch, Cognac, vodka and every other spirit you can think of is predominately gut-busting fireballs - including grappa. Like all spirits (and wine and beer for that matter) the consumer must put in some effort and often spend a few extra bucks to find a top quality product.
Start here: Nonino Ue' and go from there...someday you'll be ready to understand fine grappa.
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Until an Italian friend came to visit, I didn't know about flavored grappa.
In particular, he brought a Roner Myrtillo grappa (blueberry). I confess,
it was smooth and easy to drink. And, it was only 30%, which made it even
easier.
In my opinion, grappa is a truly wicked concoction, not even on the same level
as Armagnac or Cognac, but completely wild and unless corralled, leads to the
worst hangovers...
Well, first of all Myrtillo is not a grappa. Grappa must come from the pomace of grapes. Myrtillo is a berry distillate that is a specialty of Sardegna.
...also I assure you you can get a nasty hangover from the finest Scotch, Cognac or any other spirit you think of no matter how much it costs or how old it is - when it comes to fine spirits the hangover is the fault of the consumer not the consumed.
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It's a shame that governments prevent you taking home unfinished wine. Certainly if they are worried about driving under the influence it makes absolute sense to send the customer home with the wine in a bag instead of in their bloodstream. Let's face it - at restaurant mark-ups who wants to leave the wine behind.
Let them take it home and drink it later. A much safer idea.
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Yikes - some low scores here for some good names. Are you down on Australians these days?
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Well nothing pushed your button here. That d'Albola is pretty weak stuff. I have to admit I think the the Produttori di Barbaresco regular wine is a pretty nice wine for the money - and true to both nebbiolo and the Barbaresco commune to boot - of course it sells for Euro 12 here, which helps appreciation quite a bit. I see the SuperTuscans did not fare well and at those prices a mid-80 score is a let down.
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Price information isn't always readily available, especially on older wines that have been stored awhile, and then it isn't necessarily pertinent anymore anyway.
I don't know - I always like mentioning that the 78 Gaja we just tasted cost me $12 a bottle - in 1981. It may not be pertinent, but it's fun.
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I would have to severely disagree with your opinion of the tasting notes you see here. To me they are clearly thoughtful attempts on the part of these tasters to communicate their impressions of these wines. I find them helpful and interesting and not at all like the stiff blurbs that marketing companies slap on their back labels and promo materials.
I not only welcome, but encourage our members to post their wine tasting notes as they enrich the environment of the Wine Forum and are a great assistance to others thinking of purchasing these wines.
Listing pricing is always a good idea and a helpful guide.
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At the risk of completely embarassing myself, I will admit that sometimes I just open the bottle for a little whiff. It's that good.
I think this best describes the key element of fine grappa - the pure and elegant rendition of the aromas and flavors of the fruit. I too often open a bottle just to take a wiff - my current favorite "smelling bottle" is Pilzer Moscato Rosa Grappa.
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I have written a few wine lists in Atlanta and I've found that generally everyone thinks that half-bottles of wine will sell well better than they really do.
I would have preferred, instead, to have more options by the glass as I had ordered the tasting menu and was interested in having wine accompany each course. The last wine list I wrote was in a restaurant that specialized in tasting menus and I offered some 45-50 wines by the glass, and HALF-glass, feeling that having more options to go with smaller courses would be a lot of fun, and I hope it was.
Welcome to eGullet ChampagneRiddler.
I think these are two key points. Everyone always asks about half-bottles, but then they just don't sell very well. Distributors are always faced with inventories of half-bottles that are a vintage behind the 750 ml. bottles because they don't turn over very well.
In restaurants today cuisine is so diverse it is much more interesting to select from a varied selection of wines-by-the-glass as compared to limiting yourself to one wine for the whole meal.
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Welcome to eGullet pdub!
You are indeed correct about R.H. Phillips and their 500 ml. disaster. I was involved in that roll-out effort and Phillips invested a huge amount of cash and effort in that project. The bottles looked great and the wine itself was more than adequate, but the 500 ml. format flopped big time and probably for the same reasons that half bottles (375 ml.) are not a bigger section of the market.
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Sounds worth a try.
Nonino Ue' should be widly available in NYC. That is a great place to start.
...you may want to try a shot at a restaurant before popping for a whole bottle.
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At this point I pretty aggressively try to turn over my entire half bottle inventory every year.
I would say that is a very sound strategy.
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I open 30 to 50 bottles a week (much to the pleasure of my father-in-law) and I usually try to taste bottles over at least a 3 day period. The way wines are made today very young wines are quite stable over at least a 2 day period - especially if refrigerated. Young whites last well over a 3 or 4 day period in the refrigerator with no problem.
Considering that the vast majority of wines are made to be consumed young I don't see the problem of finishing a bottle over a 2 day period.
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...Champagne in half-bottles. What's that for?
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That's a really well-written piece. I think this is my favorite sentence:At this point it is almost pure alcohol and considering its potency it is round and flavorful -- at least until it knocks out all the nerve endings in your mouth for five minutes.
Also, your discourse on acquavite d'uva was really interesting. I've never heard of that. I guess it's best categorized as a grape liqueur. Is there anything else I might have already tried that might be somewhat similar to acquavite d'uva in flavor?
Thank you Michael,
No acquavite d'uva is not at all liqueur like as no sugar is added and they are decidedly not sweet. These are delicate, refined spirits that uniquely capture the aromatics of the grapes they were made from.
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So another question: In places where you can get wine by the carafe, is that usually poured from full bottles? I figure so, but considering how little I know about this stuff...
Well in most places in Italy it probably comes out of a tap - connected to a beer keg type of thing. In the USA it probably comes out of a large bottle or a box, although there are tap wines there also. Some places serve a half or quarter bottle portions out of a regular 750 ml. size bottle in small carafes - like the Batali restaurants.
...Pan you just are not drinking enough wine.
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if they have more available, especially if they bring in high quality stuff that may be too pricey in 750ml, but more affordable in a split.
The better the wine is the less likely a producer is to put it in half-bottles. It is well known wines mature better in larger bottles. Some obsessed producers will bottle some small productions from great vintages only in magnums (1.5L) bottles. So considering the best wines are not (and should not) be put in half-bottles the offering better wine argument is out the window.
WTN: Recent German Riesling
in Wine
Posted
Actually it is something I have run into frequently over the years. More in the past than now admittedly.