Craig Camp
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Posts posted by Craig Camp
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Beaujolais Villages - slightly chilled. A fruity style of Cotes du Rhone would also work well.
No one ever seems to think of Beaujolais anymore these days.
For spicy or spiced foods wines that have fresh fruit sweetness and/or some residual sugar match best. You want to avoid high tannin or high alcohol as these aspects are accentuated by spicy foods.
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I am very pleased to announce that Brad Ballinger has joined the eGullet team as co-host of the Wine Forum. For the last several years I have read Brad's thoughtful posts about wine and believe that he brings a unique voice to the eGullet Wine Forum. His wine knowledge and passion for wine is clear in his writing and he well represents the consumers viewpoint in dealing with the wine industry and critics.
Brad was first bitten by the wine bug when he audited a class in graduate school titled “Geography of Wines.” A trip to France shortly thereafter, where he spent extended time in a one-Renault town in Champagne, infected him for life. “And I don’t want to be cured,” adds Brad. Although not employed in the wine industry, Brad has presided over wine tastings and wine dinners publicly and privately. He is a former leader of the Twin Cities (Minnesota) chapter of Wine Brats, where he was responsible for event planning and writing for the web site. In addition to his lust for things wine-related, Brad is similarly passionate about cooking and world travel. “Wine is best when shared,” Brad says, “and I’ve been fortunate to form many wonderful relationships from the simple act of pulling a cork.”
The addition of Brad as co-host of the eGullet Wine Forum is yet another step in our goal to create the most rounded and informative wine discussion forum on the Internet.
Please join me in welcoming Brad to the eGullet team.
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I don't think it is fair to characterize The Wine Spectator as being "born in California". I remember the magazine when it first came out as a flimsy newsletter instead of the glossy magazine that it is now and they have always heavily featured European wines.
One consideration may be the way wines are released with a large number of European wines being released in the Spring (Italians like to release new wines at Vinitaly which opens tomorrow).
Also, let's face it, there is a lot more wine produced in Europe than there is in the United States. If you looked at numbers alone, the wines of California receive far more coverage than their numbers alone would justify.
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In light of the Wine Geography thread link, this almost beomces a big "so what?"
Just like Trefethen.
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Absolutely. When I was in Italy, my friends had a proper slicer - and we'd eat paper thin pancetta, raw - which is no big deal, as all cured meats are essentially raw.
I mean - Salami - we're basicaly talking meat tartar in a tube, right?
The finest grades of pancetta are almost lardo and they are delicious to eat as affettati, but not very good for cooking as they basically melt away. The price is quite different also. For carbonara and amatriciana I usually buy the basic "blocks" of pancetta which are more meaty and decidedly cheaper.
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Please no cream in my Carbonara - there is a good thread on that HERE in the Italy Forum.
Pancetta is indeed more a category of product that just one thing. The small store in our little village offers 5 or 6 types - the major split being between smoked or un-smoked. Lardo is also part of the pancetta family.
The other major split is between the pancetta that you eat as is - thinly sliced like proscuitto - and that which you cook with.
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Decades ago I anxiously waited for the arrival of Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine and the Wine Advocate. I kept every issue for years in ring binders. When I moved to Italy I finally got rid of tons of them and I don't miss them a bit. The information is just not usable. There is just too much.
In fact now I get the new issue of the Wine Advocate and I look at the hundreds of wines reviewed and think what am I supposed to DO with this? I would much prefer to receive this information electronically in a form that I can use. The number of reviews and wines to be reviewed has increased dramatically over the years and it is just to big to work with without a searchable database.
I know that the the Wine Spectator and Advocate now have online databases you can use on a subscription basis, but why should I have to pay twice for the same information? Also what about when I am off-line?
When are these publications going to go electronic so that we can really use all this information?
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It is amazing to see how Italian kids eat compared to American kids. Our friend's 3 year old eats anchovies, snacks on Parmigiano like candy and prefers sparkling water to Coke. I have never seen her turn down a thing at the table yet.
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The title "sommelier" like the title of "chef" have become titles too easily used these days - often by people who have not invested the time and effort necessary to be worthy of those titles.
A short letter of complaint would be most appropriate.
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I would say taste and preferences always change with time and experience - the same with music, art, food and all things defined by ones own personal taste.
If anything has changed in my palate over the years it is now that I have little tolerance for over-extracted or heavily oaked wines.
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To tell you the truth if I was going to recommend great values in Tuscan sangiovese they would be coming from the Pisa area and other lesser known Tuscan regions - not Montalcino, Ch. Classico or even Vino Nobile.
Any views on Morellino de Scansano (sp?). About five years ago it was very cheap and being served in carafes, nice wild cherry flavors etc, last year I noticed that it is similar in price to the Chianti. Seems like very rapid development.
You can still find cheap Morellino in restaruants and bars in Italy. However, the wines that are exported tend to be from top producers and so are not cheap, but are still good values. Great examples come from Moris Farms and Le Pupille and they are well worth the prices asked.
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(from what I hear the '03 Aglianco wines from southern Italy are going to make people forget a lot of more expensive wines)
I hope you're right. Of course, Notaio will try to capitalize on the hype and price La Firma above $50 (perhaps quite a bit above). But there are plenty of other producers to choose from.
I think you will see a lot of labels in American market that are as yet unknown in the USA by the time '03 southern Italian reds are released. There is so much investment going on in the south. There will a lot of bargains to be had
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I certainly don't disagree that $40 plus is an expensive starting off spot for Brunello, but that is indeed the cost of the game. If you want to experience Brunello it is going to cost big money. The fame and demand is just too high. I also am a big fan of Rosso di Montalcino, but drinking RDM is not drinking Brunello any more than drinking the second label of a Bordeaux First Growth is the same as drinking the first wine.
To tell you the truth if I was going to recommend great values in Tuscan sangiovese they would be coming from the Pisa area and other lesser known Tuscan regions - not Montalcino, Ch. Classico or even Vino Nobile. Other outstanding sangiovese is now coming from Romagna (Zerbina) and Umbria. Also with so many excellent wines coming from other Italian varietals there is no shortage of great wines in the under $40 range. (from what I hear the '03 Aglianco wines from southern Italy are going to make people forget a lot of more expensive wines)
However the question here is about Brunello. Jim is right, in that I am fortunate as a writer that I can taste almost all of the releases in a vintage without dropping the money on the bottles myself. I do not argue the point that there is such a thing as a true bargain when it comes to Brunello. Nor do I urge anyone to spend the money. Yet if you really want to taste what Brunello is about that is your only choice.
I will echo Brad's comment on Lisini. These are exceptional wines. My other favorite year in and out is Costanti. Other favorites are Fuligni and Poggio Antico. As you can see I appreciate more than one style.
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Cava is the legal designation in Spain for sparking wines made only from the classic champagne method. They may not use the term on charmat/bulk fermented wines. The quality can range from barely drinkable to excellent.
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There are still deals on Brunello available - for instance at Sam's:
****1997 La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino 750ml $45.99
Also while 98 is no 97 or 99 - there are some very good wines at fair prices that have the added benifit of not requiring ten more years of aging before you can drink them. For instance the following sale at Vinsrare in CA. (the stars are mine):
****1998 Costanti Brunello di Montalcino $46.99 (this one always needs aging)
***1998 Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino $46.99
***1998 Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino $37.99
**1998 Suga di Val Brunello di Montalcino $28.99
***1998 Due Portine-Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino $37.99
***1998 Friggiali Brunello di Montalcino $40.99
****1998 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mura $52.99
****1998 Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino $59.99
***1998 Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino $37.99
****1998 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino $37.99 (my recommendation for the steal of the bunch)
For someone just starting out to learn Brunello or for those without proper storage conditions these 98s are very nice wines.
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Jim - I see you use the term "high toned" in your notes. It is a term I also use, but perhaps it is hard to define. I see it has a minty, herbal lively note - like in good cabernet franc. How do you use the term?
Very slightly volatile (lively?) but not in a bad way. I'm not sure I'd want to call it herbal, but when you say cab. franc, well, I'm on that page.
And of course, explaining it is hard - its a "know it when I smell it" thing.
Best, Jim
Yes, I think I would put a little VA into the "high tone" category.
However, Morgante is pretty squeaky clean winemaking. Riccardo Cotarella is not a VA type of guy. Nero d'avola can have a wild herb type of thing - mint, thyme and oregano so maybe that is the high tone here.
By the way see if you can find some of the Valle dell'Acate Nero d'Avola - I'd say it's more interesting and has that high tone laced over some great earthy/sweet dark fruit.
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1. The term super-Tuscan no longer means anything. It is an illusion that is used for marketing. Wines that are marketed as super-Tuscan are now fully eligible to be called Chianti Classico - like Tignanello for instance. You have two types of Tuscan red wines - those with a DOC or DOCG discipline they are supposed to follow and IGT which covers just about every other possible combination. The result is that just like everywhere else in the world - Napa, Pomerol, Cotes de Nuits etc. - it is the producer COMBINED with the terroir that decides what the wine will be. If you want to buy good wines you have to take time to learn the producers you like. It requires some work, but there are worse things to do.
It is also worth noting that producers in Chianti Classico make 100% sangiovese grosso wines and that Brunello estates produce super-Tuscans.
The term super-Tuscan was invented because of laws that don't exist anymore. The term should have died with the old laws because it is no longer relevant.
2. Clonal selection as described in the past - like in the Brunello story of sangiovese grosso - does not exist anymore. For instance in the quote below from Castello Banfi you will get an idea of what clone selection means today and that the concept of this or that sangiovese being used is no longer relevant:
Yet they found no scientific standards or documented results for the Sangiovese, despite a centuries-long history of that vine in the area. On their own, they identified over 100 distinct clones of Sangiovese Brunello. They first narrowed the selection down to 60, which they planted in experimental vineyards on the Castello Banfi estate. Through subsequent field study and microvinification, the selection was further narrowed to a final six clones, based on their individual contributions to the final blend, including color, structure, tannin, body, and bouquet.A similar process called Chianti Classico 2000 has also changed the way clones are selected and mixed in Chianti Classico vineyards. For instance in Barolo they always said there where 3 clones of nebbiolo - lampia, michet and rose' and that each did well in specific communes, but today growers pick from dozens of clones and mix them according to very specific vineyard conditions.
I would also suggest that you read:
and
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I still think it's odd that people, at least from my experience, are completely passive about the wine they drink, and way too reluctant to do anything to make a particular glass more pleasant . They'll either suffer through it or pour it out , but for some reason would never consider doing something even as simple as adding a tablespoon of water.
I think this is because wine is considered a completed "work" or opus of the winemaker, vineyard and vintage. This is something that is respected and has historic relevance.
Of course this matters not at all when in comes to common everyday table wine. In Europe they do all kinds of things to these simple wines and adding water is normal. At the bars here in our town in Lombardia they serve cheap, frizzante Prosecco on tap. It is normal to "improve" this wine with a little Aperol or Campari and frankly adding them changes a pretty bad wine into a very pleasant aperitivo.
Blending "2 Buck Chuck" is a harmless exercise in fun and changes the wine in no important way because there is no important difference in flavor between the named varietal on the label. At the end of a party I would not hesitate to blend all the open bottles into one - what's the difference?
At the very least this kind of play is a good education for the palate as you see how the wine changes as you add a bit of this or that.
However, is there a really a difference in Charles Shaw Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. I think not.
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Green Wine?
in Wine
Bottles with green glass are good enough for me.
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...actually this thread made me think of THIS
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Manuel Marchetti of Marcarini recently pointed out to me that the concept that "modern" style nebbiolo is more drinkable in its youth an illusion. His contention is that heavily oaked wines are actually more disjointed in their youth with erratic wood and alcohol flavors dominating the wines. In contrast he points out that traditional wines (Like his Baroli) may be very tannic in their youth, but as they are minimally processed the flavors and balance of the wine is never hidden and the taster actually gets a clearer picture of the wine itself and of the potential of the wine to age and develop in the future.
I find that I am in agreement with this hypothesis. Certainly ultra-modern styles stand out dramatically on the tired palate during long tastings, but to actually drink such wines is extremely tiring. However, young traditional Barolo with extended breathing can be very enjoyable with appropriate meals.
Is the concept of heavily oaked wines being more approachable in their youth an illusion? It is clear that the intensely oaked wines stand out in group tastings, but which is really better to put on the dinner table in their youth - modern or traditional?
'99 Ciacci "Ateo"
in Wine
Posted
Ready is a relative an personal term. Is this wine in the classic sense "mature" not it's not, but modern winemaking assures that wines will be always drinkable if not mature.
If you want to drink it now decant it for 4 or 5 hours before drinking. Otherwise I would wait 5 or 6 years - or more.