Craig Camp

From the Italianmade.com - the government sponcered site.Please note that those rigid tasting panels allow wines like the Argiano (correction: that's Argento) Barolo that sells for $10 at Trader Joe's to use the DOCG. Must be a tough tasting panel. It is nice to know that the wines are tested to at least see they are not poisonous.

This sound a bit funny - maybe we are confusing some kind of definition of 'raw'?

In comparing the Sanford and Saintsbury (trying to forget the oak) which do you feel had the best fruit complexity and terroir?

That's true to an extent. The subscriber base of The Wine Spectator and The Wine Advocate is tiny percentage of the wine buying public. Most people buying in a store based on a 'necker' or 'shelf talker' sporting a high score have never read either publication but buy based on the recommendation of a supposed expert. This is the same as someone reading a movie or restaurant review. The wine scores on promotional pieces are the same as critics 'stars' used in movie and restaurant ads. Wine law is not a consumer based concept and never will be. Consumers are not part of the development process. Wine law is a commercial activity designed to control a particular name and to protect its selling price. You cannot confuse any sort of consumer protection into the process any more than you can into the movie rating system which is designed to protect the movie industry from censorship - not to protect consumers. This is why wine law is much more important to the bottom and middle of the quality spectrum than for those at the top. Chateau Latour will sell at the same price with or without the Pauillac AOC, but Bordeaux producers at the low end are able to sell at higher prices just because they are Bordeaux.

Cotechino con lenticchie is for tourists. Zampone con lenticchie is the real deal. da vero

Nah, they don't make any good cheese there. Heh! thems fightin' words.

This is sure to draw howls of protest and cause Italian vintners to take up arms in a revolution. The Gambero Rosso Vini d'Italia guide is no less controversial than than Robert Parker's Wine Advocate in the United States. The Gambero Rosso heavily favors very oaky, modern style 'show' wines at the expense of traditional and more complex, elegant styled wines. Having Marvin Shanken (publisher of the Wine Spectator) define wine law in the United States would be less controversial.

Only regional - not a national standard.

I called the good people at Faicco's and they told me it's raw, so it needs to cook. They suggested that I prick it a few times, then simmer it for at least an hour. Does that sound right? Good call - that's exactly why I wanted some suggestions. Wilfred, those ideas sound very good. I'd love some ideas on an appropriate salad and cheese. Maybe the cheese should come from Emilia Romagna or somewhere in the north? I never heard of 'raw' cotechino. It is a made of cured pork.

In Italy this would be called "un piatto unico" or a dish to be served by itself without a first course. The cotechino is quite rich and the lentils quite filling so it stands by itself. The exception is New Years Eve, which if you attend a dinner party, the cotechino con lenticchie will arrive after midnight no matter how many courses have preceded.

I agree with you completely in your description. The problem with DOCG is that there is an implied guarantee of quality.

In Italy they will be flawed. The needs of the producers and the thinking of the bureaucrats are always going to be in conflict. There is a reason the bureaucracy is famous in Italy. The 'Super Tuscan' phenomenan was led by innovative producers that would not live within the constrictions of the DOC or even the Chianti Classico Consortium (the famous Gallo Nero). A perfect example of this was Sergio Manetti of Monte Vertine in Radda, Chianti Classico. One of the leaders of innovation in Tuscany he was not even including 'foreign' varietals in the mix - just 100% sangiovese in his great wine, Le Pergole Torte. The DOC and the Consortium allowed too many mediocre wines to be made under the Chianti Classico name. He finally just chose to leave the DOC/DOCG no matter what changes they made because the he believed that these very lax wine laws were destroying the image of his brand by the mere association with their definition of Chianti. Many great estates have followed this pattern like Jermann in Collio and Anselmi in Soave. It is also important to remember that wine laws, like DOCG and AOC, are not consumer protection laws, but producer protection laws. They are designed to protect the prices producers can charge for their wines by maintaining a MINUMUM quality level. They are not to protect the consumer by encouraging a MAXIMUM quality level.

I think very few teenagers buy CDs, they download their music from the internet. Sorry - showing my age!

Craig, While I understand some regret, if you enjoyed them when you had them, perhaps that tempers it some. Best, Jim They are very fond memories. You mention both the Sanford and the Saintsbury being over-oaked - do you usually perceive them this way. I have always seen the Sanford as a good 'terroir' winery making wines that taste of place and never thought of them in the past as being over-oaked. Saintsbury was always overtly fruity to me - that strawberry Carneros Pinot taste. Have they both increased or somehow changed their barrel programs? Are the Brander wines still barrel fermented - you note it as being crisp? I just found a bottle of 1981 Brander SB at the bottom of another case. I am not optimistic.

By under-ripe do you mean a herbal 'green' bitterness?

I could not agree more - that is the point of wine tasting. However to think that as a human being you can always eliminate all external stimuli is to lie to yourself. The best tasters are honest to themselves about their own strengths and weaknesses. One of those weaknesses is that we are human and perfection does not exist. The only way to become a great taster of wine (and food) is to understand that these distractions and variables exist. Lets jump to something in your background - music. Does not the cover of the CD have an effect on how a teenager perceives the music?

Their Nielson ratings just went off the charts. I'm going to change the channel now!

Why is it? Are you saying it makes a difference to circulation? Well that was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but yes both circulation and advertising. A popular restaurant critic means more ads in your dining section.

A.G. Ferrari - mostarda I confess I have never seen it served with mostarda - but what the heck, Its worth a try. Mostarda, a specialty of Lombardia where we live, is usually served with boiled meat dishes (which are common) and with cheeses.

No. I don't know about you but, when the glass isn't up to my mouth, I'm usually peering into the glass and swirling. Wine doesn't taste better in a beautiful setting. But it is more pleasant to drink it in one. The point is you have a mental predisposition to like it. This gives the wine an advantage. No one is totally immune to the influence of environment, mood and your own body (tired, etc.) - no matter how 'expert' they are. Even the most experienced tasters admit to 'good' and 'bad' days. The most talented chefs can make mistakes in matching flavors - if there were no variables in taste and the way the world around us affects taste this would not happen. Presentation is just one of the potential variables in taste.

I think part of the problem you are having is you are underestimating what it means to be a true gourmet. You are not taking into account how much of a buffer their expertise provides against the type of manipulation you have described. Have you ever tasted a wine at the winery - you know overlooking the vineyards, the mountains - on a beautiful day and loved it only to be slightly disappointed when you tasted it at home? It seems like something is missing in the wine? What's missing is the presentation.

Critics of various publications compete with each other for readership. No one wants to look like they are not on top of the latest happenings. One goes - they all have to go. Restaurant criticism is a cut-throat, vicious and potentially dangerous business - you always have to watch your back.

ornellaia? For now.

Twenty years ago Montelena was a deity in California. Today it seems often overlooked as so many hot shots have flashed on and off the scene. I have always found these wines exceptional and one of the most age worthy wines in California. I drank most of mine too soon.

We better all taste it again. Steve, what time can we come over?