Craig Camp

Take a look here for quite a complete thread on the topic of salt and pasta.

What do you mean the pasta was just carbonara? Which kind of cured pork did they use. If you use this as an insult it can only be because you have not had the dish prepared properly. You should visit the thread on Guanciale and Carbonara so that you might understand a simple dish that can be sublime if properly prepared. Perhaps you can explain how something can be too Mediterranean. Last I heard the Mediterranean was home to some of the finest foodstuffs and cooking on the planet, but perhaps you have never been there. Their bell peppers are wonderful by the way.

This is a rating of Italian restaurants, made by Italians and used by Italians. While I would agree the best of Italian eating is missed by only eating in such places they cannot be ignored. They are certainly not ingored by the Italian press. Da Guido was always a wonderful Italian restaurant as La Tenda Rossa is still a wonderful Italian restaurant.

Once again government trashes the consumer in the guise of consumer protector. So much for an independent that might want to open a restaurant and give the consumer better product than the assembly line chain food at Ruby Tuesday's. It also shows you how much profit there is in selling Absolute and Budweiser.

I assume he means retail. However as far as I can see only the rarest micro-estates like Gravner and Miani go over the $70 mark with most of the other top wines going for $50 and less. Even Vintage Tunina is under $60.

Very true! However, the issue is why is there no Bordeaux "Yellow Tail"?

Radikon Ribolla should sell for around $35 -$40. It is about half the price of Gravner.

No the store will have all kinds of regulations to meet - bathrooms, handicap access, fire exits and on and on... I am no expert on NY state license regulations so I hope someone can fill us in on the details.

It is my understanding that in most states you cannot get a liquor license until your place of business passes local building and safety code inspections. For instance in Illinois a restaurant cannot get it liquor license processed until it is essentially ready to open for business. This is why many restaurants do not have liquor licenses until several weeks after they open. This even happens to big corporate restaurants and hotels.

Armin Diel, owner of Schlossgut Diel in Germany's Nahe region, will be making a Riesling in Washington this year. He has joined the new Long Shadows project headed by former Stimson Lane CEO Allen Shoup, it was announced this week.

John Osborne is sitting in an empty shop. It's his wine shop, but you wouldn't know it. There's no sign out front. There isn't even any wine in the store. Wine racks lie in boxes in the back of the store. Osborne would like to line the walls with the racks, but he can't. Osborne doesn't have a liquor license.

Bordeaux has arrived in the world of brands kicking and screaming. With a greater volume output than Chile, the region certainly has the resources to unleash some major labels, but does it have the infrastructure and the unity of purpose? Bordeaux’s key figures talk to Roger Voss about the unique hurdles to be overcome

One of the wonderful things about the wines of Friuli is that they DON'T taste like those other wines. They have their own flavors, balance and complexity. Thank God. Zind Humbrecht is about power not finesse. Try it with some delicate seafood which makes it taste like pure alcohol balanced with some sugar. Zind Humbrecht is classic Parker style rocket fuel. Great for tastings but not great for food. The Turley of white wine. Louis Latour makes boring wine. Le Due Terre Sacrisassi Bianco will embarrass their Corton any day. Why do you think they are selling that Corton Charlemagne for only $69.95 anyway? Top Corton Charlemagne sells for much more. There are many Italian whites I would choose dollar for dollar before choosing a wine from Latour. What does Rose Champagne have to do with this? Now that is not to say that I do not like and respect the wines of Zind Humbrecht. My point is there are great wines made in Alsace and Friuli and they are different. They are supposed to be different. Those differences make each shine their brightest at different times with different foods. There are producers in both regions making delicate and powerful styles. Perhaps the best comparison for Zind Humbrecht would be the power whites of Miani. FG you need to drink more wine. Do your homework tonight! We give tough assignments around here.

I going to Orbitz to get my airline tickets now. A salad like that is more like an antipasto so I think you have it in the right spot.

The low prices for Toro wines will slowly disappear. All the big names are investing. Vega Sicilia has a Toro coming out soon. For my palate I usually find the wines of Toro a bit course. It is a HOT and dry region and it shows in the wines.

I agree this is why these restaurants top this kind of rating. Enoteca Pinchiorri has always left me cold - from the first time I ate there in 1984 I have never understood its appeal. The wine list is, of course, a living legend. Il Desco is another one that has never warmed my heart although I will say that I have usually eaten there during Vinitaly madness. On the other hand I have had several wonderful experiences at Dal Pescatore and La Tenda Rossa and will greatly miss Da Guido. I will always have a warm spot for Da Guido because of a spectacular meal I had there in 1983 with Angelo Gaja who did not order one bottle of his own wine during the almost 5 hour dinner. Instead he ordered what he felt were the best wines of his neighbors. It was a great evening to say the least. One of my top meals in Italy was at La Tenda Rossa in 1999 with the (in?)famous Marty Tiersky. The wine list at La Tenda Rossa is loaded with great values if you look hard enough. I have not been back since then though. I am very anxious to try both restaurants in Balzano and plan to be there during July.

If you've ever wondered why the price of California wines can vary from $5 to $325 a bottle, you're in good company. Esteemed researchers at the University of California, Davis, have done an exhaustive study to explain the price differences.

Hanzell Vineyards said today that it has suspended sales of its 2000 Chardonnay and 1999 Pinot Noir after tests showed the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) -- the chemical compound responsible for the musty aromas and flavors in corky wines -- in the 2000 Chardonnay and in the winery's cellar.

$20 for La Rocca? What a gorgeous wine. Makes all those $75.00 California chardonnays disappear from your mind. Why spend that kind of money when there are so many wines like this available?

I will second that. It is a wonderful place to visit. The people are among the friendliest in Italy and there are reasonable agriturismi everywhere.

Are there any really important wines - benchmarks - that still feature the Meritage name on the label?

14.5% on a straight Beaujolais? That must be a mouthfull! You mentioned the heat - how is the fruit?

Enoteca S.p.A., the operator of the nation's best-known wine specialty chain, was a small wine trader with a capital of only 10 million yen when established in 1988. It has now grown to be the nation's No. 1 Bordeaux wine importer and has 18 wine stores nationwide.

It'll be purple hands again for Chuck Wagner, who is stepping back into his old job as the hands-on winemaker at Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley. Wagner owns the noted Rutherford house of Cabernet and was winemaker until he handed over red wine production to Chris Phelps three vintages ago.

Nice wine, nice notes and a lovely story. Sounds like a perfect father's day.