Craig Camp

I thought this was made from "uve fragole" which are dessert grapes that (naturally) taste of strawberry. Fragolino is indeed a native American grape that was planted in Italy during the phylloxera period and stuck in a few places. In Italy it produces the same sickly, cloying sweet wine native grapes produce in the USA. It is illegal to export or re-plant in all, but a few narrowly defined areas. The high points of this variety in Italy is a nasty, and very cheap frizzante (sparkling) wine or a grappa which can be quite good, but potentially dangerous spirit very high in methanol in the hands of less careful distillers.

Drinkable now and traditional style are often a difficult combination as traditional wines take the longest to develop. I would look for some 95's that might remain unsold in stores. The 97's vintage is easy to find and more forward, but not ready to drink. If you try the 97's decant them at lunch to serve for dinner. 5 or 6 hours of decanter time will open them up quite a bit. I would look for: Marcarini, Cavallotto, Poderi Colla or Rinaldi. While it is popular to compare pinot noir and nebbiolo because of their complexity, low color and difficulty to grow and make - these two grapes have very different flavor profiles with nebbiolo being naturally high in tannin and pinot noir in glycerol. Nebbiolo has a much firmer "grip" then pinot noir and little of the natural fruit sweetness.

Does this mean that you are still keeping your ban on putting pinot grigio on your wine list? The demand should soar now!

From Genova it is an easy drive to Tuscany so I would suggest taking a look at Divina Cucina (of our own eGullet member divina) or if you are thinking of very wine oriented travel in Piemonte take a look at my site listed below. Just wondering why you are looking to spend extended time in Genova? It is a nice city, but much of it is very industrial.

The United States Supreme Court, in Washington, has been petitioned to hear two different cases involving interstate shipment of wine, which, if accepted and ruled upon, could dramatically change the way the wine industry does business.

Watch for the roll-out of this wine this summer. Gallo roll-outs are a thing of marketing beauty. One week the brand doesn't exist and the next week it is in every store in the country. That's real marketing muscle. I am afraid it doesn't take too much imagination to guess what the wine will taste like. California-based E&J Gallo is planning to launch a new French wine named Red Bicyclette, destined for the American market this summer.

Australian winemaker Brian Croser has been awarded ‘Man of the year’ by Decanter magazine, recognising his massive contribution to the wine world.

Welcome to eGullet Judy! Those that don't yet know Judy should take time to visit her wonderful website Divina Cucina which is loaded with useful information about Italian food and travel and about her wonderful cooking school in Tuscany. Thanks for joining us Judy we are flattered to have you here and look forward to your insights.

Eager to make world-class whites and reds in Sicily, Italian businessman and multimillionaire Paolo Marzotto has invested $12 million in a gravity-flow winery and cool-climate vineyards on the island, and hired well-known Veneto winemaker Fausto Maculan as his consulting enologist.

Wine Brats, a wine appreciation group that launched 10 years ago, revolutionized wine education by reaching out to the previously-ignored 20- something population -- a demographic that has become one of the most avid segments of wine drinkers in the country.

Helen Turley and her husband, John Wetlaufer, have been awarded $255,000 in back pay, after a jury decided today that the celebrated winemaking couple did have a legal contract for consulting work with their former employer, Don Bryant of Bryant Family Vineyard, and that he had breached that contract.

Damn, I wish I could see some of those "discounted" prices where I live. What I'm seeing is discounted 94s and 95s. I guess I should just be patient. Many 95's are very nice too!

You would be correct. Great stuff.

1. No 2. Why buy the 2000s at super high prices fueled by overdone press reports and bad exchange rates when you can buy wonderful 99s, 98's and 96's at discounted prices? 3. Read this

I am a big fan of the wines of Jerome Malet at Domaine Sarda-Malet. Click here for his website.

In response to my request Manuel Marchetti hs provided us with this extended explanation of clonal selection in La Morra and the entire Barolo region.

Click here for Wine Camp: Barolo Royalty - Marcarini Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

For me, a several day open bottle of wine is undrinkable. But... I agree that 5 minutes of cooking (reducing) has a very similar effect. Opening a bottle accelerates oxidation and cooking it accelerates that oxidation even further. As I taste through samples for reviewing in my newsletter and articles I usually taste them over a 3 to 4 day period to see how they develop and change. Most young whites last that long without a severe problem in the refrigerator and very good young reds are often better after 1 or 2 days open - they also last better in the refrigerator. However some wines oxidize overnight - don't re-buy wines that do this.

Why don't you just buy some 187 ML. bottles (airplane size) instead of going through all of this freezing stuff - that is if you're not intending to drink any of it.

Please take advantage of the eGullet search feature which will lead you to many comments on eating in and around Napoli.

Other than Boccondivino what kind of restaurant are you looking for in Milano and what are you planning to see?

It would be most interesting if you shared this information. Why don't you start a Sherry thread outlining your preferences?

I think Boris may be right on the target here. The stock market reference rings true. Is the Gambero Rosso trying to unload some stock before it drops in value?

Victor - your playing the game of a "mere amateur" is quaint, but hardly true. Your characterization of Europvin as a "devilishly effective US importer" is almost laughable and you clearly have little information about that company. Europvin has no organized PR strategy and no USA based sales staff - only Christopher Cannan and Paul Sharp (certainly excellent people) cover the entire USA and for that matter the whole world for Europvin - why you even need a password to visit their website. Their massive, phonebook size catalogue of French, Italian and Spanish wines is almost brand name free except for Lustau. Europvin has succeeded based on quality alone and is the antithesis of a "devilishly effective US importer". In fact it is my opinion that they would sell 10 times as much wine with a major importer. It would also seem that you are misinformed that a vineyard that provides particularly ripe fruit does not determine a house style. Vineyard owners in Brunate, Montrachet, Pomerol, Stag's Leap and every other important wine region in the world will be interested to learn this new fact. To define Graham's as only being higher in residual sugar is to oversimplify their style which is not only sweet, but rich - in other words high in extract. Of course Malvedos is not the exclusive vineyard used in their Ports, but it is the heart of their Vintage Port, which is not to be confused with their wood port blends. From this I take it we can assume you buy all your Italian wines based on the ratings of the Gambero Rosso. It is not always reasonable to assume that reviews based in the country of origin are more accurate than others.

How could anyone with a great wine knowledge be so wrong about Graham's? See, this ratifies the fact that I'm just a rank amateur. Lustau's range, of decent quality (except for its Almacenista wines, which are outstanding), is particularly advisable to American beginners since it's probably the only wide range of sherries now available on the US market. In Spain or other European countries I'd rather advise other wines, but it's a moot point because one must adapt oneself to market conditions. If Michael were in the UK, then he'd have a much wider choice. ...mmmm - you're a hard man to argue with. The Graham's "style" that you refer to is as much a characteristic of their vineyards as their winemaking. The Malvedos vineyard which is the heart of the estate produces grapes that are particularly sweet and powerfully flavored. Your point about Lustau being widely available is another very good reason to use Lustau as a base for learning about Sherry. While the Deluxe range of Lustau Sherry is indeed only of "decent quality" the Solera Riserva Range contains some of the finest Sherry wines produced (at very reasonable prices as Jason showed above) including great wines like their Puerto Fino, Rare Amontillado Escuadrilla, Dry Oloroso Don Nuño, Pedro Ximénez San Emilio and Old East India. Also you can't forget the extraordinary Gran Reservas like Emperatriz Eugenia Very Rare Oloroso Dry Amontillado San Bartolome. Then, of course, is the very special and unique Almacenista range as you mention.