Craig Camp

De Loach Vineyards Files for Chapter 11

Here is a link to a thread on Sherry that you may find useful. Sherry Thread Thanks for the useful and interesting post!

Not that I can imagine in such a short time. I guarantee you every bottle you drink has seen some serious shaking on trucks and sea containers before arriving on your table. That is assuming it is not old wine where the shaking has stirred up the sediment into the wine which will affect taste. I would not recommend for long term cellar conditions.

The best arancini are made with left over risotto. You can fill them with that wild boar ragu. I don't like to go from a heavy meat sauce to a seafood secondo. Slkinsey's recommendation for Pasta con le Sarde followed by lamb sounds very tasty. It is easier to handle the wine this way as it is always a pain to go back to a white after a red. For a recipe resource check out the excellent cookbook, La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio

I have been known to occasionally take wine with my meals. I am also known to occasionally to breath.

My understanding is that PJ's in Manhattan stocks Kurni.

US: Duckhorn acquires vineyard 19 May 2003 "The Californian wine producer, Duckhorn Wine Company, has announced that it has acquired the former Floodgate vineyard in the Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. The 202-acre property has 52 acres under vine, primarily in Pinot Noir. Duckhorn is to incorporate the vineyard into the production for its Goldeneye winery which is located south of the town of Philo. "The purchase is part of a long term strategic plan," said general manager, Alex Ryan. "This acquisition will support the winery's efforts in creating a national luxury tier Pinot Noir brand based in the Anderson Valley appellation." Source: just-drinks.com editorial team

Austria Introduces New Wine Appellation System

Could you elaborate on this point?

Winner: Most Scary Avatar Contest Thanks for the clarifications. I think you are right. However, I do notice in dishes where you cook leafy vegetables with the pasta (like Orecchiette e Broccoli Rapa con Alice Salata) the leafy vegetables will hold a lot of the salt making the dish too salty when you add the anchovies or sardines. In this case I do not add salt to the water.

E.&J. Gallo Winery, 70 years old this year, has reinvented itself in the past decade -- moving from its jug-wine roots to international acclaim as a world-class producer of fine wines.

Americans' Boycott of French Wine Fizzles

Now you are being clear. It is not a 'halfway' thing but a taste thing. This is , of course, the only way to tell if a pasta is done. There are still some problems here. You cook pasta in a lot of water so there is room for the pasta to move and cook evenly. If you take it out too soon it is difficult to cook it evenly in the pan with the sauce - unless you are using way too much sauce. The common problem here in the USA. It is also obvious sauces need to reduce, but you take a unnecessary and unrewarding risk by adding the pasta to the sauce too early as you can easily overcook the pasta if the sauce is not reduced to the proper degree when the pasta is done. The most important reason for the blending of the sauce and the pasta over heat is the blending of the flavors and to better adhere the sauce to the pasta. This can and should be done quickly. The sauce should be completly ready when the pasta is ready and then finished in the pan for the above reason. At this point it can be 'corrected' with the pasta water if too thick. As you mention in another post, the water for fresh pasta needs to be salted differently (less) than for dry. As salting levels can vary it does not make the pasta water a very reliable method for 'salting' a dish. I prefer to know exactly how much salt I add to the sauce.

It is after all fifteen years old. I like them when they start to gain delicacy and complexity as compared to the in-your-face Pamala Anderson style everybody seems to like these days. Can you expand on your comments - color, fruit etc.?

You would seem to rate the Rochioli, West Block one of the best Pinots in the group. Are you a fan of this wine?

Questions: The 85 Sandrone is already shot? I have no question about the 90 Le Pergole Torte The 90 Ghemme was too young? How so? I remember discussing the 96 Rosso d'Abazia - it just keeps getting better!

Jim - were you a little down on the white Burgundies? The Ramonet notes seem pretty lackluster.

What the article fails to take into account are the buying patterns of American wholesalers. Wholesalers would have purchased inventories for the 2002 holiday season and the early part of 2003 in the late summer of 2002 and taken delivery in fall. Normally they do not restock on imports until the weather improves and their sales improve in the spring. That means many importers are looking at a 30% increase in pricing from when they brought in their last orders in 2002 to when they bring in their first orders of 2003.

Changing the boiling point is just bonus points. The salt is to add flavor. The reason you only add the salt after the water has reached a boil is in order not to trash your nice pans. If you put the salt in early it lays on the bottom and acts like little jackhammers on the bottom of your pan as it comes to a boil.

Are you suggesting to take a dried pasta that takes about twelve minutes to cook out of the water and trying to finish it in the sauce after just six minutes of boiling? That just does not work. You only 'finish' the pasta cooking in the sauce in order to blend the flavors.

One step at a time Tommy - when we get more tasting notes we can create a new system. In the meantime the wine names - like Cabernet are searchable. OK?

The eGullet Wine Forum is a place where all are welcome to discuss and seek information about all wine related matters. No question is too basic to be asked. Novices will find the broad range of wine knowledgeable members more than happy guide them through their introduction to this most interesting of beverages. If you are a bit nervous to post a question at first, please feel free to send me a PM with your question. For you connoisseurs, few topics can bring out such an intense debate as a discussion of the relative merits of various vineyards, vintages, producers and wine producing countries. We look forward to many blood pressure raising debates. To be clear upfront, I will lay my prejudice on the table. For my palate, the best wines are produced in Europe. I like a good natural acidity in my wines and a strong taste of terroir - the soil from which they came. I do not like squeaky-clean industrial products. I also believe that today great wines come from every serious wine producing region in the world. I have been seriously involved with fine wines from all over the world for thirty-years, both as a professional and as an amateur . I have never been bored once - although I am sure that I have been able to bore others with a topic that I find so fascinating. Here we wine geeks can go on and on and on... Welcome to the eGullet Wine Forum. Best regards, Craig Camp Wine is bottled poetry. Robert Louis Stevenson

Tasting notes can be one of the most useful parts of a wine discussion forum. Sharing information helps everyone experience new wines, get updates on the progress of wines in our own cellars and make informed buying decisions. We welcome and encourage tasting note postings of all wines - no matter the price. In order to make these notes easy to find and use, we ask you post them in this simple format, starting with 'WTN:', to identify it as a tasting note. On the Topic title line enter: WTN: wine name, producer name, vintage So Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon would look like this: WTN: Cabernet Sauvignon, Spottswoode, 1997 You can also use the topic description line if the name is too long. If the post is for a group of wines of the same type title the post in this way: WTN: Various Napa Valley Cabernet or TN: Various Italian Tasting notes are more useful if at least grouped by country of production instead of mixing French and Italian wines in one big note. A notable exception would be a head-to-head comparison of a particular grape type produced in various countries - like a comparison of sangiovese wines produced in California and Italy. Don't forget to list all pertinent information at the top of the note because the whole name of the wine and the region often does not fit in the title line. For instance, at the top of the Spottswoode post it would be helpful to restate the name of the wine with all the information like this: Cabernet Sauvignon, Spottswoode, 1997, Napa Valley These style rules do not refer to the now famous 'Florida Jim' style, which is renowned for its glorious and lyrical descriptions of wine and food combinations. Please Jim, don't change a thing - just post more!

Half-bottles should be pretty tasty about now. They are much more forward.

Don't watch. It is all you can do.