Craig Camp

Spatburgunder is just another German name for pinot noir. What is up with this column? Last he was spreading misinformaton about pinot grigio and now this about Burgundy: ...oveproduced, hot-climate pinot noir - yummy.

It can be a broad range. As it was reasonably priced we will assume it is not Condrieu - the undisputed champ of viognier. Your wine is probably broad and soft with a good dose of tropical fruit. Besides seafood - chicken and oriental food (not too spicy) should be lovely.

Sounds like you understand perfecty to me.

I feel sorry for the importers that keep trying to sell fantastic wines like Savennieres because they know they are great, but then end up closing them out because it seems impossible to wean consumers from industrial chardonnay.

I saw the Pope beatify Mario along with Mother Theresa on Italian TV this week - a very special moment. 1. Pasta-Anti: A salad of orzo incorporating bocconcini, grilled eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives. Dressed with EVOO and just a bit of vinegar. Col Vetoraz Prosecco Valdobbiadene Prosecco Brut 2. Porcini Ravioli: Homemade pasta stuffed with porcini, shallots, thyme, and garlic bound with a bit of cream and a few drops of truffle oil. Sauced with a light parmesan cream. 3. Pastaella: Homemade safron linguini in triple-reduced stock topped with shellfish and chorizo. (with 2 and 3) 2001 Anselmi San Vincenzo (from Soave) 4. Pulled duck lasagnini: Red wine-braised duck with rosemary, carrots, onion and pancetta layered in homemade pasta rounds with bernaise and asiago. Baked and served in individual eathenware dishes. 2000 Pira Dolcetto di Dogliani, Bricco dei Botti Vengroff these suggestions are perfect. No others will do. Be sure to spend hours pounding the streets going from store to store to find just these bottles.

Always glad to trot out a tried and true topic. I'll do it again next year. It can be an annual event. That is until Americans really become relaxed about wine.

Looks like they are going to have to add wine from Sardegna to lower the alcohol levels in Piemonte in 2003. Bill even with this limited sample I think you have hit it on the head. I think it will take until April to really get an idea of where these wines will go. I am working on assembling a comprehensive vintage assessment from the producers as we speak.

Raccolta: a weekly Italian wine harvested by Craig Camp 2000 Pira, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Bricco dell'Asino

By that definition, as I said before, that sounds like brandy to me, not grappa. Mr. Messner's Blauburgunder is amazingly delicate and perfumy, considering there are no such additions. I wonder, are these fancy grappas made with normal pomace left over from winemaking, or do the press it a lot more gently? The French marcs I've had have a sugar-added caramalized taste to it. I mean, it's brown. Are they all like this? What they do in Italy and California have little to do with each other. It is unbelievably controlled in Italy. Brandy is made from wine. So yes, acquavite d'Uva is in fact a brandy. In Italy the term brandy is reserved for aged products. If it is made from whole grapes it is not grappa. Adding water to the skins to make grappa is illegal in Italy. Marc is brown because it is aged in barrels - like Cognac and Armagnac. Mr. Messner's grappa is delicate because he did things the right way. Not an easy choice to make as it is very expensive and time consuming. When you see the skins ready to be distilled you see very little juice.

I'll second that. Very nice wine. I love the earthy character and the zesty acid underlying all that fruit.

The more you complain the more they like it.

Ohio is among the 17 states that still impose mandatory markups on the sale of alcohol, but according to a 2002 study by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, its retail markup is 135 percent, making it the highest in the nation, with consumers paying 25 percent to 50 percent more per bottle than in other states. (The Ohio Liquor Commission's rules list the minimum markup at about 100 percent more than the wholesale invoice cost.) This markup is drastically higher than those imposed on beer (25 percent more than wholesale) and hard alcohol, which has its price fixed by the state government.

Grappa is not made from the whole grapes, but from the pomace (skins, seeds and whatever residual juice there is after pressing the grapes for wine). No water is allowed to be added so this is a very difficult process. In France they call it marc. There are many grape distillates in Italy that many think are grappa because the look and taste so similar, but they are not grappa. Leading examples of these would be Nonino's Ue' and Maschio's Prima Uve. These are in fact acquavite d'uva (grapes). It general they have a more delicate and fruity taste than grappa. The best grappas are very complex and layered. The difficult process of distilling solids can create an ultra-concentration of flavors that acquavite d'uva does not reach. To me the most complex grappa comes from red varieties as the time the skins ferment with the juice add additional complex flavors.

I can think of no better source for German wines produced by passionate producers than the portfolio of the dedicated Rudi Wiest (click here). I have had the fortune to taste many of his selections and visit some of his producers. Every wine he selects is of the highest quality. I would place Rudi among the elite of importers bringing in wines from anywhere for his commitment to working with authentic wines of character and by insisting on the finest wines available at every price range.

The discussion concerning journalistic ethics and so forth may now be found here. The wine forum is not the appropriate forum for that discussion.

Is Riedel doing the bottles?

The ultimate wine gift : The elegance of French wine flavours In the refinement of three French perfumes !

Charles Shaw hasn't been a wine man for more than a dozen years. Yet, his name thrives on the business acumen of others, who have turned a forgotten brand into a quirky name that has gone on to become just about the most astonishing phenomenon in American wine history.

Branded wines are in danger of becoming like soft drinks – oversimplistic...

Gee... that other stuff was real interesting - honest. But now this, this line really got my interest. Well, how does it taste? We're waiting. At last - something really interesting! Wine.

Can we clip this in the bud and talk just about the clip, getting clipped and testing the clip and not about Mr. Clip or potential clipees.

In Alto Adige the primary language is German. Hence your blauburgunder grappa, which is indeed pinot nero. Because there are so many German speaking tourists who visit this beautiful place (and because the locals speak German as their everyday language) it is not unusual to see wine labels, grappa labels and menus only in German. As popular as grappa from white varietals has become - grappa from red varietals for me has more complexity. Grapes from these cool regions make the best grappa. The people of Alto Adige are Italian only because of war and politics. Their heart and souls are Austrian.

In the past several decades, however, a wave of innovation and improvement has swept the Italian wine world, and the United States now imports more wine from Italy than from any other country.

TUSCAN WINE MAKERS PRAISE 2003 HARVEST (AGI) - Siena, Italy, Oct. 15 - This year's grape harvest received five stars for Tuscan red wines destined to be aged. A.Pro.Vi.To., the Association of Tuscan Winemakers said that the year "will be celebrated in 25 or 30 years." It was a year characterised by an average decrease in production in the region of two million hectolitres (decreases of 10-15 pct, and even 20-25 pct), but the 2003 harvest, said the association's director Roberto Bruchi, "will give aged red wines that will last in time. The performance of white grapes was somewhat less brilliant." (AGI) 151648 OTT 03 COPYRIGHTS 2002-2003 AGI S.p.A. Invia questo articolo

"This is it, this is the drain," says Jean Arnold, chief executive officer of Hanzell Vineyards, heaving aside a thick iron floor grate in the fermentation room of the historical Sonoma winery.