Last week I visited some stunning wineries in Kent and Sussex with my fellow members of the British Circle of Wine Writers and Julia Trustran-Eve of the English Wine Producers ... see more photos and get tasting notes in my DIARY ...
Supermarket Sweep : Ignorant consumers, impatient producers, gagged journalists and bad buyers ….
I wanted to find some decent supermarket wines to write about in my next Taste Italia article. I drove around to a few local supermarkets and bought about six bottles of Italian wine from each. I never buy my wine in supermarkets, except for Waitrose, because I prefer to buy it in Europe and drive it home, or buy through my husband’s wine agents and pay restaurant trade prices … which I still think are too expensive. Having always assumed that all supermarket wine is bad wine, I wanted to determine how biased my opinion really was. I also invited a few friends to see what they thought.
I learned several things …
1. Since when have supermarkets been putting sell-by dates on the bottles? Where have I been? I was discussing this topic with some colleagues a few months ago in France and assumed it was a joke.
2. There are actually some really enjoyable vino de tavola - quality wines out there that provide good value.
3. Supermarket buyers are a changed breed.
Ignorant consumers and impatient producers …
Never in my life did I think I would read on the back of a Chianti label, the words: “to be consumed within 6 months of purchase”. I have seen the whole picture now – the joke has come full-circle. I think I know how and why this has happened: when the Old-World age-worthy reds were sold in supermarkets, the consumer did not understand that you cannot compare a young Bordeaux blend to a “Heritage” blend from California or Australia. The New World wines, due largely to climatic conditions and the use of lots of new oak, were fruity, approachable and immediately drinkable – no cellaring required. The consumer did not understand why they had to buy a French or Italian wine then, that they could not enjoy that instant, but have to cellar. Who cellars anymore? Today, everyone buys for their wine in the night. So, now the Old World producers who have the supermarkets as their target audience, have regressed and made New World versions of their grapes. They want to get in on the action and follow this consumer trend and be easy and approachable too. And what is ironic, is that Mother Nature has been propelling the Old World towards this hot, alcoholic, in-your-face style anyway.
Still, I don’t understand why you’d want to make an early-drinking Chianti. Also, nearly all of the wines had screw-caps. Which, if the wine really is meant to be drunk in under a year, makes sense. But ….it annoys me that the wine industry has had to bend over backwards to accommodate consumer trends based on utter ignorance and impatience. The consumers are ignorant and the producers are impatient. When a wine producer says “hey, I give the people what they want”, this is wrong (they don’t ALL say this, by the way). The consumer will buy what they are given – what is put on the shelves. If you put crap on the shelves … they will drink crap. Period.
Gagged journalists …
Consumers should not be followed, they should be led. …and educated…which is another entire issue and rant of its own. Editors of wine columns in newspapers and magazines now only ask that their wine writers merely provide a glorified “shopping list” as opposed to content that is educative. That’s assuming that they even fork out the money for a wine expert to write their wine column. Most of them now promote a self-proclaimed expert from within their publication. And if all this said expert is doing is listing the wine on sale at Tesco, copying the back of the label for content and sticking in a food match ….you don’t need an expert, just a self-important moron.
Bad buyers …
So, who is putting the crap on the shelves? The producers or the buyers? The trade has completely changed. I remember, when editing Vintage Magazine in Paris, back in the early 90s, I would meet UK buyers when tasting in Burgundy or Bordeaux – the Press and the Trade mixed at the larger tastings. We journalists looked upon the UK buyers with envy and awe. In most cases, they had been well-trained and had well-formed Old-World palates. If I fell in love with a rustic, animal, seductively perfumed Pommard, I could write about it, yes. But if a Buyer did, he or she could decide on the spot to buy it and have an order drawn up for large quantities. The power ….
Then, this power was taken away from them. Any Buyer with experience was fired and replaced by a young thing who never lived in a wine-producing country and was trained to buy-by-numbers. …if they are even allowed to buy. In Chianti recently, I listened to a many buyers as they went about their business. I am determined to find the missing link in this chain. They all inevitably zeroed in on the easiest, most approachable, ubiquitous wines that were present at the tasting - the worst ones, really. They were choosing the wines they thought the international consumer would pay for. They were not buying, hence rewarding, the wines that were the best made, the superior wines, the wines that the consumer should be drinking. And usually for the sake of a euro, in most cases, may I add (ah, but this 1 euro, multiplied up the margin chain would fatten unrecognisably). And then they talked price cuts and volume discounts and then they told the producer that they would have to check back with headquarters and get back to them – a process I have been told can take six months. It was a most repulsive procedure to witness.
Anyway ….here is a small sampling of my local find. It was an enjoyable exercise and one I shall repeat regularly.
SAINSBURY’S
Sainsbury’s House Chianti DOC 13% 2010
The label does not mention the grape variety, so there is no way to tell if it is a classic Sangiovese or a Super Tuscan -version and mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, well, I could taste it and tell….will give it a go. The wine is classified under their “smooth and mellow” style category … this is done to assist the consumer in selecting their wine. But all essential wine-making details are withheld. So it is not teaching anyone anything, but is promoting “buying by numbers”, like when the labour government temporarily dropped the classic phonetic spelling technique in favour of the learn by sight method and filled our country with a generation of illiterates.
This is the first time that I have seen a recommendation to drink Chianti within 6 months of purchase. Little or no oak, which should mean a refreshing lively wine, but here, lays bare a poor quality of matière première (primary matter – fruit extracts).
Nose is clean and fruity. Mouth is astringent and medicinal. Cherry bon-bon,. A technical and poorly-made wine.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC, Mondelli, Edizione Uno 2010
Nose fresh and warm, well-balanced, slightly oaked very appealing. Not bad on the palate. Oak is soft, but “stuck on” like a Post-it. very sweet. No finish. Very little varietal character – could be any grape. All the appeal and attraction is in the first attack. Again, this has a screw cap and a suggestion that it is drunk within the year of purchase. So these people are not even bothering to make a wine for cellaring. So, to be fair, it does what it says on the label. This wine was not made to hold the road and it won’t. Eggy finish.
Primitivo del Salento, IGT 2010 Puglia, Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
Screw cap, drink within one year of purchase. Nose, stewed plums and oak. Palate. is hot and finish is alcoholic and short. Retro-olfactive is like a shot of ether alcohol. So hot all the varietal character is erased …could be anything.
M & S
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2010, M & S
Less-insulting label: provides grape variety (Montepulciano) and region and winemaker’s name. Still recommends drinking this noble grape variety in under 6 months!! Screw cap. Nose is tight and focused. Palate goes nowhere – it falls apart here. Cheap cherry soda. No finish.
*M & S Italian Red NV
12.5%, one-litre sized bottle, screw cap. Just says that it is a blend of grapes from Puglia, to drink within 3 months of purchase!!! Clean, fresh nose. Balanced, straightforward palate, finish is decent. Harmonious, pleasant. Delicious. Has a lovely rustic feel to it – a vino de tavola …not bad.
TESCO
Greco di Tufo, Lava 2010 DOC, £12.99
12.5%, natural cork, label in Italian, apologising for any debris at bottom of bottle due to their minimalist winemaking techniques ..hmmmm, marketing hype or true? I love Geco di Tufo…I love volcanic whites…for their acidity, austerity and steeliness and smoky appeal. This is flabby, sweet and highly citric. Very unappealing. Made my eyes water and my mouth pucker.
Villa Taurini, Barbera, Piedmont 2009 DOC £4.99
13.5% Very sweet and okay on the nose. No drink time limit – should have, because this won’t last at all. Flabby, sweet, lacking any structure or varietal character. All sweet oak and sweet fruit. No identity at all.
Nero d’Avola, Sicily 2010 £6.99
13.5%, bottled by Settesoli, in Menfi, Sicily. Label says vineyards are selected by Diego Planeta. Mr Planeta’s wines are in my opinion, always hot and big and New World and lack subtly or terroir or style. I seriously do not get why he has suddenly ecome a huge wine celebrity – probably for putting Sicily back on the map at all. You can taste his imprint on this wine. This wine has a wonderful enticing, flashy first attack, with bright, intense fruit and then after the premature explosion, there is nothing. Palate is heavy and non-descript. Boring.
*Chianti Riserva DOC 2008, £7.99
Here, the label says that it is Sangiovese and from Chianti, explains its bottle aging and suggests it will age a further 2 years. A very decent Chianti in deed. Nothing to fault. A light, clean nose focused fruity well-balanced palate and a clean finish, moderately long finish. A pleasure.
** Tesco’s Barolo DOC 2007 £12.73
14%, label says to age another 5 years, explains that it is made from Nebbiolo and from Piedmont. Good. Stunning nose of pencil lead … elegant, grown-up, smoky. Mouth well-balanced. Gorgeous fruit –clean, focused finish. Well-made. A touch too high in alcohol, but the fruit just manages to keep it in check.
CO-OP
*Co-op Sicilian white IGT NV, £3.79
12%. Screw cap. Good label, includes grape and region info: Inzolia, Catarratto, Grecanico. Just love this one. Really original. Voluptuous oozing tropical fruit wrapped up in a steely, volcanic acidity. It moves and evolves and keeps your interest. A great find.
Orvieto Clasico 2010, £5.75
12%. Grapes: Procanico, Verdello, Malvasia, Grechetto, Drupeggio,
Another good, clear, informative label. Wine is flabby and insipid. Lacks acidity. Painful.
Co-op Valpolicella 2010 £4.79
12%, Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara
Informative label with grapes and “best by” info: Drink within 12 month. Has that cherry bon-bon, medicinal taste, but less so than many others I have tasted. Am pretty impressed by this.
Canti vino rosso, NV £4.75
Produced by Fratelli Martini but no label info, what grapes ? 12%
Non-descript and harmless. Ok. No huge faults. Correct but no more.
*La Chiave Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2010, £4.29
Good label. Nose is closed at this tasting, but it is serious, tight, focused. Composed, restrained fruit. Very grown-up. Body holds together nicely with solid fruits. Well-made, nice. A bit sweet.
** Co-op Sicilian red NV, £3.79
Grapes: Sangiovese, Frappato, Nero d’Avola, A lovely surprise. Appealing, true varietal character – well-balanced, nothing dominates the clean, heathy fruit – very solid little wine.
Chapoutier's classic and a Basque jewel ...
DINNER PARTY AT BARBARA and NICHOLAS's house, Turville Heath.
Côtes-du-Rhône, Michel Chapoutier, Rhone Valley 2007
This was served with a partridge stew with mushrooms and lentils that had been sitting and gathering in perfumed potency all day … gamey and perfectly balanced. The wine was a great match, with its aromas of freshly picked black cherries, lavender and mineral, earthy backbone.
Pipas Txakolina, Bizkaiko Txakolina 2010
A very, very bone-dry and highly acidic, vivacious wine. Right up my alley. Perfect with the fresh goat’s cheese and the runny Epoisses Barbara served. This is a very unusual grape variety from the Basque region. I once lived in Biarritz, and I know and love these wines; they personify the lush, mystical greenery and misty rain clouds of the Pyrenees and the salty, moody beaches of the Atlantic beaches.
Lunch with General Dempsey at the Portobello Gold
Lunch at husband’s Notting Hill Pub with my son-in-law Michael Wisecup and his boss the cheekily charming General Martin Dempsey with his wife and friends. They loved the wines ... All of these are also available at www.ellisofrichmond.co.uk. Contact David Azam on 07920 583 087 and tell him that Linda sent you!
2000 Bollinger La Grande Année
I have always loved Bollinger for its weighty, savoury style. I prefer those that are Pinot Noir dominated as opposed to Chardonnay. However, the 2000 is not drinking well today at all. It just does not seem to have the power and the matière that the 1996 has. I had the 1996 recently and it is drinking beautifully still.
2002 Puligny-Montrachet, Louis Carillon
Flabby – lacking acidity. Diluted fruit and wobbly structure. A real mess. Boring. Perhaps it didn’t have the extracts to carry it to this age? It should be just coming into its own. What went wrong? Will re-taste in a few weeks and see if I am mistaken.
2004 Meursault-Genevrieres Domaine Jobard
Stunning. Focused, tight, clean, vivacious and lively. A mineral, salty nose and a full, textured palate and long finish.
2003 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Grand Maupertuis, Domaine Jean Tardy
This is an estate to follow…he just gets better and better. I do miss the old, unabashedly feral and animal Burgundies from the 70s and 80s, but I miss the good old days a bit less when I can drink a wine like this. I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy this as I was running around, hostessing. I have a few bottles tucked away at home and will bring then out over the holidays and write some proper tasting notes.
Second wines: La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet
2006 La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet, Jean Gautreau
I bought a case of this also at the Caves de Taillevent (www.cavestaillevent.com). They always have a sort of “wine of the week” on sale for affordable, everyday drinking, and again….a Bordeaux second wine steals the show.
This is the second wine of Château Sociando-Mallet. I drank this vintage (2006) a couple of years ago and it was closed and tight. But it is drinking beautifully now. Fresh, clean acidity … buoyant fruit and integrated, mature tannins. Very nice.
Ellis of Richmond tasting: Portobello Gold, London
David Azam has been my husband’s wine merchant for years…since the Portobello Gold first opened in the mid 1980s, David was with Heyman Barwell Jones. But Coe Vintners took them over last year and the list and the service has just plummeted in terms of quality. David left and is now with Ellis of Richmond, and he is much happier….as is husband. I don’t get too involved in the wine selection at the Gold because I get upset when I spend all my time in Italy and France, drinking nectar at 8-12 euros and get home to the UK and have to drink international, mass-produced crap for 8-12 pounds. Really drives me mad. Anyway…here is a small list of some of the little gems he brought over for us the other day.
(www.ellisofrichmond.co.uk) David did not put the vintages on the tasting sheet and I forgot to mark them, so I wil add them later or just know that the current vintages will be those in the on-line catalogue.
- Chardonnay « Réserve » La Vigneau, pays d’Oc
- Pinot Grigio Portenova (great acidity and crisp texture)
- Sauvignon Blanc Wairau River (great for a NZ, muscly but elegant and on the restrained side)
- Monte Blanco Verdejo, Rueda (great grape …floral and clean and fresh)
- Sancerre, Domaine Gerard Morin (great…in the traditional style)
- Cotes de Duras Domaine du Grand Mayne (year?) A peppery, well-structured rosé of Cab Sauv and Merlot)
- Rioja Tempranillo “Azabache”, Bodegas Aldeanueva
- Pinot Noir “Croix d’Or” Vignerons de St Pourcain
- Vega Tinto DFJ Vinhos, Duoro Valley (YUM)
- Château Tour de Luchey
- Malbec “Alpataco”, Familia Schroeder
- Merlot Reserve « Block Selection » La Playa
- Nebbiolo di Langhe “Lirano” Rivetto (perfect)
2002 Silex, Didier Dagueneau
2002 Silex
After having the 2008 in Paris, I intentionally went and bought the 2002 at the Caves de Taillevent and brought it home to see if my impressions would change once I had the wine with some age on it. But no. This is a very pretentious wine. In general, I am a huge fan of oaked Sauvignon blanc (which Bordeaux does so much better than the Loire Valley – try Pessac-Leognans for good examples). I much prefer that style to the horrendous cartoon characters of grassy herby sauvignons. But this wine is all style and no substance. Flashy. I know that its creator, Didier Dagueneau, was a much-loved and respected maverick, but I just do not agree about the fuss made over this wine. It is hailed as having great complexity. It does not: it simply has a lot of stuff going on, but these things are not integrated. It talks too much. It is hyper. It is a busy wine but not a complex one. The initial attack is very appealing: a gout de vas reminiscent of aged Chablis and its earthy lees. But the grapefruit-flavoured yeasts and other tropical fruit flavours stick out like a pastiche, like something stuck on with glue as an afterthought. The oak is too dominant, there is a lack of acidity, the finish is short and the overall effect is disappointing.
Dinner at l'Absinthe, Paris...with the Comtesse
Dinner at l’Absinthe, Caroline Rostang’s bistro in Place du Marché Saint-Honoré with the Paris Passion girls and Jill. (www.restaurantabsinthe.com)
A fabulous ambiance and fabulous food. Here are just a few of the délices we devoured:
Pressé de Joues de Boeuf marinées, Salade de Choux croquant
Tranche de Foie gras rôti, Crème de Potimarron et Huile de Courge
Oeufs au plat, Champignons sauvages, Gruau de Sarazin
Ravioles de Romans à la Crème de Langoustines
Travers de Porcelet au Satay
Grillade de “Prime-Ribs Black-Angus”
Gratin de coquillettes au vieux Beaufort
And drank it all down with a 2002 Réserve de la Comtesse, which is the Second Wine of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. I adore second wines: they are the best kept secret of Bordeaux! The grand crus have quantity and quality “quotas”, and if there is “left-over” wine, it goes to their lower “gamme” or second label. It will be the lesser selection from their batches ….maybe the newer, younger vineyards, the less favourable plots, etc, but it is still a huge slice if the original. It won’t age as long, but it is a wonderful way to enjoy the great crus at a third of the price.
La Reserve de la Comtesse is a three-string pearl choker … a lavender-infused lace and silk negligee strewn over a chair in a boudoir over-looking a rose garden…. A lipstick-stained tissue on a dressing table and a pair of black heels left carelessly at the foot of the bed.
Sunday Lunch at Jill's in Paris (Silex and 1982 Ch. Pavie)
Am staying with my friend Jill Goodman in Paris. This is her current tipple, she loves her wine and she and her husband spoiled me rotten.
2008 Silex, Domaine Didier Daganeau
This is the first time I have tried this legendary Loire Valley sauvignon blanc. There was, and still is, a tremendous amount of hype attached to it and its wonderful character of a creator.
Its nose has a lovely gout de vas, like an aged white Burgundy with lovely forward fruit…but it lacked acidity and the finish was short. Mid-mouth lacked texture. I really, really wanted to like this wine, but I found it clumsy and unbalanced.
1982 Chateau Pavie
This was a real treat. I have been following this chateau on and off for 20 years …one of my favourites. I have not had the 1982 since 1995. It’s on its way out…waning…but remnants of its previous grandeur are still very excitingly evident: steel, pencil lead, restrained fruit, elegant and perfectly integrated oak. A solid, perfectly-constructed wine – whole and integral and focused. Yes, the finish gets thin and a bit onto the acetates, but, wow.
Dinner at Tanis' flat, Paris ...
Dinner with my best and oldest girlfriends from our Paris Passion Magazine days (late 80’s) at Tanis’ house near la Bastille. She made the most stunning feast, a perfumed orgy of Middle-Eastern spices and textures. We started, as we always do, with Champagne and then I brought two wines…and as delicious as the Barolo was, it was too austere for the meal…it needed the Amarone which was a perfect compliment … for the heavy spices and textures.
2006 Barolo Oddero
Well-made … still young. Nose is clean, fresh with notes of leather and spice. Well-balanced fruit and oak…powerful and structured.
2008 Amarone Classico, Cantina di Negrar
Opulent and appealing. A touch too sweet…needed more structure to carry the fruit and the finish could have been longer, but it is a very attractive and personable wine- made you easily forgive its slight faults.
Dal Forno Amarone with Patricia, in Verona ...
Arrived from Venice and spent the afternoon sipping Campari with girlfriends in Piazza Bra and then dear friend Patricia Guy’s lure me to her house for a sublime surprise ... (www.patriciaguy.com)
1996 Amarone Dal Forno Romano
One of the great’s. Alcohol quite evident on the initial nose, but quickly followed by black ink, lead and mineral tones…tastes like a thick, heavy purple velvet throw on a golden bed made high with downy feather mattresses…sinking into ripe huge fat scented plums …wrapping me in black silk sheets…its corpulent, fleshy palate was still fresh and led to a long, clean finish. I nearly had to light up a cigarette…
Ristorante Messner, Dorsoduro, Venice
Corte Viola, Soave DOC 2010 (Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave)
Very bone dry and acidic and salty with perfectly balanced fruit. Had this with home-made filled tortellini in butter and fresh sage.
Sansovino, Refosco dal Penduncato Rosso IGT 2010
Love refosco ... a particular grape. This was fresh and well-balanced (12.5% alcohol), perfect with my grilled lamb chops with herbs.
Al Bocon, Campo Santa Margherita, Venice
Another trip to Vodafone … where my key works. So, it must be the bad reception at the flat. So I have to work in cafes, where my batteries die, and I drink too much. Al Bocon in Campo Santa Margherita is now my spot. I went in at 11am for a spritzer. I have learned that 11am is the absolute earliest one can ask for a cocktail in Venice, and even then I seem to drinking alone with some pretty local-looking locals. The owner is busy getting her selection of delicacies out. The smells from the kitchen are divine. She offers me a frittata …a loose sort of round ball with the consistency of gratin dauphinois. Then I try the tuna balls and the chicken balls and the mozzarella balls. Now, I know that all of these have names …and I will look them up and add them later. The winner, the dish that will keep me up tonight with cravings, was her mozzarella in carrozza (again, will check spelling later). This is a sandwich of mozzarella and sometimes prosciutto which is then dipped into egg batter and fried. I know, it sounds a bit like the thing Elvis Presley used to do with peanut butter and bananas. But this is divine. And hers are perfect. this is one of my favourites at home, but when I make it, it is heavy and greasy. So I ask: “Come si fa a renderlo cosi leggero?” And she tells me that she adds either beer or sparkling water to her egg batter. Aha. So of course I need to try another, accompanied by a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio by Giovanni Bellia, to better understand how she makes this magic.
Costera, Argiolas 2008, L'Incontro, Dorsoduro
Another stunning, sunny, crisp autumn day. Make my way to Campo Santa Margherita for my daily newspaper, intending to go back home to work, but get distracted, as usual. Just too beautiful here. End up in Ca’ Rezzonico, again, go every few days…my favourite museum because it has most of the original furniture and décor. Then decide to work in a café and so sit in the rio terra canal, between Campo San Banarba and Campo Santa Margherita, in this little restaurant (L’Incontro) I like. I am about to order a nero d’avola when the owner asks me to try one of his favourites…and I do, and it is lovely, especially with my lamb chops …it is
Argiolas’ 2008 Costera issued from Cannonau di Sardegne.
It was 33 euros on the list and when I asked him where I could buy it, he said he gets it from the Auchun in Mestre, so you know that there one can probably get it for under 10 euros. It was gorgeous and a grape I do not know. I didn’t know that the French hyper-market had found its way to Italy. Anyway, I get a text from Mary…she is museumed-out and can she join me? She soon shows up and helps me polish off the bottle before I drag her to Ca’ Rezzonico. She loves all of the modern marble sculptures that have been added for the Biannale. I think that they are grotesque, apart from the hermaphrodite in black marble, done in a very classical style, reclining on a modern leather sofa, also in black marble. It was fascinating…all contradictions. We catch the traghetto to Guideca and accidentally walk in on Sunday evening mass in La Rendentore, so stay a bit…hoping to atone for our vinous sins.
2005 "Le Bessole" Amarone, Accordini and Pantagruelica deli, Venice
I have invited the girls to dinner tonight and so make my way to the fish market in Campo Santa Margherita right after morning coffee and writing session. Dinner is grilled aubergines, onions, red peppers…burrata and San Daniele … gambas and garlic butter … spinach gnocchi with pumpkin, courgettes and parmesan … scallops in their shell with a mushroom and cream sauce and breadcrumbs, grilled ….veal scaloppini with wine sauce…and ricotta cake.
Wine: picked up this bottle in Pantagruelica, a gorgeous deli in Campo San Barnaba, next to Ca’ Rezzonico. When I chose it, the shop owner said “now that’s a nice bottle” and I agreed and believe it or not, he said, “Now, be sure not to serve it too warm.” I died! Finally, a normal person. I needed no further encouragement and dove into the story of the night before and the abruti of a restaurant owner who yelled and me and chased me out of his restaurant because I did not want to drink his Amarone at 22-effin degrees. He agrees and says, 16-18 if warm out and a bit more if it is cold out. As I as telling my story, a few of the locals listened and joined in the discussion. They all offered to go back to the restaurant with me and tell the man off. Pantagruelica owner said that most people just do not know about wine and think that because they are Italian, they know more than anyone else. Feeling very vindicated, I carried my 2005 Amarone Classico “le Bessole” from Accordini home with me ….to the delight of my friends…it was nectar.
I also served a few wines from this wine shop around the corner …. The place where the locals buy their wine for 2 euros a litre and the wine is kept in baskets and siphoned out into used water bottles. Wanting to see if any of it was any good…I bought the Prosecco and the Refosco and the Pinot Nero. The Prosecco was light and fruity and that’s it. The Pinot Nero was way too sweet. When I asked why the Pinot Nero from Treviso is so sweet, the Rastafarian-cum- rabbi youth cheerily running the shop assured me that it was simply down to the soil type. I am not at all convinced. I think they just piss the vines and then add a lot of sugar. You could not even tell that it was Pinot Noir. I know the Pinot Neros from further north, in Alto Adige and they are stunning – they rival Burgundy’s Volnays: very feminine, floral yet strongly-structured wines with great acidity. I am also a fan of Refosco…but again, this version was palatable at best. So, have come to the conclusion that most Italians drink dreadful wines and don’t even know it.
Anyway, having fed our bodies, it was time to feed our souls and so we made our way to the Scuola de Carmini to attend a concert of Operettas and ballet.
Trattoria do Forni, San Marco, Venice
Got my highlights done in the salon in Campo Santa Margherita this morning. A wonderful time-warp…yellowed posters taped to the wall…grey-haired clientele getting their weekly wash … hairdryers from circa 1950 … potions and creams in all sorts of pink bottles with fancy script writing on the labels. The older owner and her younger assistant both went to work… said my hair was too thick for one person and it would take too long. As the younger one kept asking the older one what to do next…”blonde here or dark here”? I was petrified that I would come out with two different heads. We chat and gossip and laugh. I learned so many new Italian words this morning (bleached-blonde, bimbo, full-head, half-head, foil ….)
Run errands. Walk and sightsee until I can no longer walk. Have lunch in the corner Osteria near San Basilio. Big mistake. Bad food. Hard, green, unripe tomatoes, sliced with dry slabs of packaged mozzarella. Decided to not risk the wine list and had a spritzer. A team of men in orange suits started digging up the pavement stone right in front of my table, releasing all sort of toxins. The table to my left had too older American couples…and I hear one say “you won’t get real tiramisu here. I can tell. With a real tiramisu, they take a lady finger and soak it in liqueur, not coffee. Let’s go back to that place we ate in last night. It was better.”
It is too bright and hot to work on my laptop, and the stink is really getting to me, so I head home to work. Then I get bored, and head up to the Rialto to the cinema and see “This Must be the Place” …no subtitles, so I struggled. Got the gist of the plot…and could tell that Sean Penn had excelled himself, as usual.
At 10pm I meet my old Paris friend, Mary Gallagher and her sister Michele, for dinner. Mary and I met when we worked for Time Out’s Paris Passion Magazine. They just flew in from Milano for the weekend. We find what we think looks like a charming place – granted we are in the heart of tourist-land (San Marco) and it is late. They don’t look very happy. Mary, married to an Italian artist and so speaking good Italian, asks for a table and we are grunted towards one and told to hurry up and order. I spy a good Amarone on the list from Montresor, 2007. But I see him get it for us from on top of a high armoire, under lights near this hot kitchen … and Venice is having a heat wave this week…I ask (politely) for an ice bucket to cool the bottle down – as it is warm to the touch. He flies into a rage. Ranting, literally… “This is my house, our house, we do things our way here, you do not drink red wine cold, it should be served ambiente”. I try to explain to him that it should be served between 16-18, especially in the summer, or this heat – and maybe 19-20 in winter. And that his restaurant, this “room”, is hot and stuffy and he keeps his wine up high under lights, standing upright. He just won’t listen to me. His mother joins in …screaming at us…. “Why don’t you just go to Harry’s Bar, you tourist, you’d be much happier there!” (This from a woman whose Menu is in ten different languages). They are so rude that Mary and Michele say “that’s it” and get up…I call him a “pig” and a “plouc” and flounce out.
We are breathless with rage and still starving…and this is poor Michele’s first time in Venice, so I am feeling pretty awful. We wander into a few more places but they all say, it is late…our kitchen wants to close, so you can eat if you hurry up. Finally, Mary spies a tucked-away place…Do Forni. They welcome us and are received like goddesses and are led through a maze of long rooms with cosy, fabric-filled side rooms, like a luxury railway car, until we reach a back room with red velvet walls and dim lighting ….packed full with Italians.. no rushing…all smiles…they act as if they are happy we are there. Meal is good, wine is good, ambiance and service are excellent…we have a great evening and are allowed to stay until well after 1am…and we are not the last.
Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore, 2009, Sartori
Took the train to Venice and spent the day unpacking and cleaning and shopping for my rented flat in Dorsoduro. I love it here. It has a private, quiet garden and is tucked behind the hustle and bustle. I come as often as I can…and I try to write, but I end up walking the streets. The owner always leaves a few bottles of wine in his drinks cupboard and you are allowed to help yourself as long as you replace it for the next person. So I made myself a dinner of burrata and plum tomatoes, steamed artichoke hearts in vinaigrette and a veal chop with a mushroom and cream sauce and opened a 2009 Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore from Sartori. It was boring and lacking any personality, but it kept me company well enough. Little body or texture for a Ripasso, and the short finish was light, dusty and dry. I went for a walk to St Mark’s Square to say my “hello” to the city and had a spritz while watching the tourists dance to the orchestras.
Osteria Al Carroarmato, Verona, Italy
Arrive in Verona late…meet my friend Patricia Guy for dinner at her local Osteria, Al Carroarmato. This is the place that she and her husband Michael call "home" ... their daily watering hole. the owner was a witness t their wedding. I met Patricia when judging at Vinitaly last year. I was hobbling to the bus in high heeels and she was amused...until I pulled out and slipped on my super slick black leather shoes from Venice: perfect walking shoes. She had a very similar pair and we bonded over footwear...as real women do. Later, when I caught her name ... I realised that we’d both contributed to a book together (Wine Tours of the World ...available on Amazon ..wink wink nudge nudge). Patricia is my authority on Italian wines, period. The meal began with a refreshing Spritzer of white wine and Campari – it is boiling hot today…
Then, antipasti of artichokes and courgettes and aubergine …then the house’s home-made tortellini …so thin they were translucent … with a sprinkling of fresh sage and a drizzle of butter. And although it is not quite appropriate to drink a heavy Amarone with this…Patricia allowed me to ….and chose for me…Zanoni’s Amarone. Perfect.
Masi's Costasera Amarone 2006 Veneto, Italy
My sister and I drank this while dining at the Azurea at One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville, Florida. One Ocean is the dreamiest Art Deco revival-style hotel. So stylish - not at all contrived. And the dinner was near perfection. After a week of eating huge portions of bland, flavourless meals that were taken from my dining table and put into styrofoam containers (never have I more wished that I actually did travel with my dog), I was wowed into submission. I had the Hudson Valley Duck Two-Ways. This was seared foie gras with a dusting of sea salt with a French toast of brioche, also with a spring roll with confit of duck with a shallot jam, that had some sweet chilli sauce, I think. This was followed by the Tenderloin with a white truffle herb dauphinoise. My sister had the Porcini Mushroom Raviolis with raosted garlic and confit of fennel and baby tomatoes in a sherry cream sauce ... simply to die for.
The Wine List was very extensive and obviously chosen by a well-travelled eye: a strong representation of the Old World. But I wish that better European wines got into mainstream US distribution. Masi was the only Amarone I could find. I have nothing against Masi, but it is the starting point: the reliable, basic, the homogenous version of this great wine. Drinking it, my sister was in rapture, and when I explained to her that it was probably a 5/10 of what Amarone can be, she thought that was not possible.
The 2007 Costasera (70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara) was drinking well: dark opaque robe, a nose of spice, dried herbs, stewed cherries and cinnamon and violets ... and even after being vinified "appassimento", drying the grapes on straw or bamboo racks to concentrate the sugars, the alcohol was 14.5% ...which preserves its freshness and complexity - unlike the dry reds from Napa that have 15.5% + ...pure alcohol.
Lewis Cellars Reserve 2008 Napa Valley
My brother-in-law, the most switched-on wine lover I know, opened this for me while I was visiting them in Florida. I asked him to show me some California wines, which I don't get on with too well, wishing to be proved wrong. Well, this wine did not do that. The nose was very forward with a lot of fresh fruit ... nice, but also there was a worrying amount of new oak. The mouth was way too oak-dominated and the alcohol (15.5%) stripped the palate of any fruit, finesse or texture and erasing any varietal character or definition. Is this an American thing? When I got home, I checked out the Lewis web-site and they write that they liken this wine to a fresh new Ferrari. Well, that's just my point. Why would you want to do that? Where is the elegance, the restraint or the subtlety? I tell you, it didn't get MY engine started.