Philly wine festival

[Kim WB]

I joked with my husband tonite, told him I like to consider it the DiBruno tasting...anyway, this is one of the few wine events that makes our "must go" list...this year, 6ppl, then dinner at the Prime Rib afterwards.

Katie, I know I've bumped into you there...anyone else attending?

[KatieLoeb]

I joked with my husband tonite, told him I like to consider it the DiBruno tasting...anyway, this is one of the few wine events that makes our "must go" list...this year, 6ppl, then dinner at the Prime Rib afterwards. 

Katie, I know I've bumped into you there...anyone else attending?

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I'll be there in the early afternoon for the "trade tasting" with some fellow staff from Amada, then I'll shamelessly be back in the evening for the "press" portion of the tasting which coincides with the regular hours for the huddled masses. I think I'll be wearing a brown dress and sweater...

There's too much stuff to cram into two hours so this way at least I can pace myself and try some of the bigger stuff last and not blow out my palate. I'll be spitting out everything but the SuperTuscans and the vintage Bordeaux.

[Rich Pawlak]

I'll hitting the Great Taste tomorrow for a bit.

[Kim WB]

Katie, we're at the 5 pm tasting, so I suspect that's the one nestled in between your two press/industry events. I think the 5pm tasting is a pretty small window, 5 to maybe 6, 6:30. Then its the general public. So hopefully we will overlapand I can say hey. Rich, when do you think you will be there?

[Rich Pawlak]

Katie, we're at the 5 pm tasting, so I suspect that's the one nestled in between your two press/industry events.  I think the 5pm  tasting is a pretty small window, 5 to maybe 6, 6:30.  Then its the general public.  So hopefully we will overlapand I can say hey.  Rich, when do you think you will be there?

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"Media" are invited for 6:30, so there I will be.

[Greg Ling]

I'm gettin my drink on at the four p.m. opening

[shacke]

I was at the Feudi di San Gregorio dinner last night as I was interested in sampling some of the local grape varieties.

Notwithstanding the painfully slow pace (4 hours+ and we left early), the food at Penne was good and the pasta, which is apparently Chef Roberta Amaro's specialty, was particularly excellent. Orechiette with wild boar ragu and locatelli.

On the wine side, I was really looking forward to trying the monster Serpico of Feudi's but it was not poured. This is a controversial wine with people taking both sides of the taste issue. The WA gave the 2001 serpico (a blend of aglianico, cab and sangiovese I think) a 98 rating and some people think he is mad while others heartily concur. What was poured was the FEUDI DI SAN GREGORIO TAURASI SELVE DI LUOTI 1998, 100% aglianico, which was interesting. I had not tried this grape before. Some of these aglianicos need aeons to calm the eye popping tannins but this does not seem like one of them. Good drinking now if anyone is interested in sampling the varietals of southern Italy. Goes for $40 range. The Campanian "cult" wines are typically aglianico based and can go for a lot more than that.

The other wine that may be appealing to zin fans is the "primitivo". This grape is believed to be a long lost ancestor of the zinfandel and it has similar characteristics - a couple of notches below the hot and bold domestic offerings. Think of it as an old world zin. That goes for about $20.

The whites of the region, to me, are not as interesting although they are eminently quaffable characters and pretty good value (greco, falanghina)

IMHO, FWIW ... etc

Evan

[KatieLoeb]

There's a seminar with winemaker David Ramey from 4-5PM that I definitely want to attend and then I'll be loitering until they let me back in with the media at 6:30.

I changed my mind about what I'm wearing. Long black dress with pink flowers and a green shrug sweater. Hope to see you there!