Category Archives: events

May 13, 2013 · 9:44 pm

Mother’s Day, Gruner and Riesling

Mother's Day 2013

A happy Mother’s day to my sister and my mother, both interested in imbibing along with me through the years, one way in which we bond at every occasion.

I spent yesterday with my mother, buying her lilacs and chatting about life. One of our favorite topics over the last 15 years has been wine. She started me down this path when I was still in high school truth to be told. She drank Lancers and Mateus at the time while I drank Riunite in the 1980s before I was legally allowed to drink.

Both of our tastes have evolved and Mom drinks lots of white wines while I tend to favor red wines. In fact, I can credit her with bringing much of the Gruner and Riesling from Austria that I have had in recent years into my purview. I will be blogging about Austrian wines very shortly but today I wanted to send a shout out to my Mamma and thank her for keeping these wines on my radar.

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April 1, 2013 · 9:31 pm

Italian Indigenous Varieties: Catanese Bianco & Nero

This week’s grape varieties are Catanese Bianco e Catanese Nero. The former is almost extinct because of its’ extremely sensitivity to disease while the latter is generally used as a blending grape with other varieties in Sicily. This grape grows only in the provinces of Palermo, Trapani and Arigento. While the red version of the grape is hardier than the white, it is still very sensitive to diseases and if it is a wet year, can be affected by Botrytis or noble rot.

I’m on my way later this week to Italy for Vinitaly. I’m quite excited for the trip and one of the pavilions that I plan to spend time in is that of Sicily. I hope to try at least one wine that contains this variety.

As anyone who has been to Vinitaly knows, you must always plan you trip and which days you want to visit which clients, taste new wines, and the like. The fair is too big not to have specific plans.

This year I will be spending time at Vivit as well. This is the second year that Vinitaly has a section dedicated to natural wines – Vivit – Vigne Vignaioli Terroir. I have begun writing about natural wines for the Organic Wine Journal and am looking forward to checking out some new wines and to meeting new producers as well as to seeing old friends and colleagues.

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September 30, 2012 · 5:28 am

This Land Is Your Land..This Land Is My Land From California…

I’m in California for the second leg of the Morellino di Scansano 2012 Tour on Monday, October 1 at David Lynch’s place, St Vincent’s.. I’m very excited for the event but I am also interested in the developing scene around me.

While out here, I found such an amazing diversity of people from all walks of life and nations that I am having an Emma Lazarus moment:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
—Emma Lazarus, 1883

I have had involved conversations with people from Nigeria, Eritrea, Iraq, and Russia just by taking taxis, heard their stories, listened to their struggles and really learned an inordinate amount about the world around me. I was very impressed with all of them and their hard work here in America.

I missed seeing Nobel Peace Laureate and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who received an honorary doctorate from the University of San Francisco this weekend. I have followed her story with great interest for years since taking a class on Myanmar in college.

I’m here for work though so my mind never strays that far from the wine world and its evolution in other cities and other communities. I’ve also been trying my fare share of beer, food and other local delicacies while away.

I am amazed at how much wine is consumed throughout the States now and how it is sold in local groceries next to food in California as well as in big package stories. I had a relatively inexpensive Chardonnay yesterday from Benzigers while at Scoma’s restaurant with clam chowder and seafood salad with shrimp and crab meat.

The waiter, Tim, got my number in a heart beat, gave me a wink and said the Benziger’s wasn’t too oaky and that I might want to give it a try. He was right. The by the glass price was also just what I was looking for, under $10.

I’ve marveled at the amount of wine that is available and am ever more conscious of how difficult it is for a new winery to break into the market and how they need to see with their own eyes the reality that is the US wine market today.

What’s also great to see is how much people from all walks of life know about wine and how interested they are to learn more. We had a great class on Wednesday at the Texas Wine School with James King. I found the class very engaged, ready with thoughtful questions and eager to learn more about regions and wines. This bodes very well for America and of course for that area in Tuscany that means so much to me, Maremma with its Morellino di Scansano DOCG.

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August 15, 2012 · 9:35 pm

Buon Ferragosto and Bon Anniversaire to Julia Child

Today is Ferragosto or the holiday that celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. That said, mostly it’s a day when every Italian save the very unlucky few, is on holiday. The entire country is basically away this week and I for one applaud such dedication to relaxation for the mind, food & wine for the spirit and the beach to enjoy all of the above. I have spent many a Ferragosto on holiday in Italy or in other lands with Italian friends. It never feels right to me to work on this day but we do what we have to in order to get things done and I can’t complain having spent the better part of last week at the sea sailing or at the beach with a friend. On Saturday evening I even saw some of those amazing shooting stars I mentioned in my last post.

What do people drink on Ferragosto you might wonder? In my experience a bit of everything but it is slightly more celebratory than your average holiday so some sparkling wine might be involved or a good mixed drink like a Negroni Sbagliato. I can’t drink Gin it makes me mean like an angry cat so an ex-boyfriend introduced me to a Negroni Sbagliato years ago in Milan and I was hooked. I see I am not alone and that it has definitely made its’ way in the United States judging from this blog post at LA Cocktails.

Today we are also celebrating another holiday, Julia Child’s 100th birthday. I loved this piece in the New York Times by Jacques Pepin. She is and was such a part of our lives. Her cookbook stares out at me from my shelf everyday calling out for love as I slink past it to make simple fare. Sometimes though, I read it and imagine making what she would be making on any given night. As all readers of my blog know, like Julia, I was and remain a devoted francophile.

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July 18, 2012 · 3:04 am

Italian Regions: Piedmont – Indigenous White Varietals

This week’s indigenous variety post is a bit delayed on account of a long birthday weekend, mine. I love my birthday and always have since I was a little girl. As a child, presents used to arrive in an old red wagon. As I grew older the gifts got smaller and more exquisite. As an adult, the most meaningful are no longer gifts but words, actions, shared moments, shared meals and wines.

I like to celebrate all month long in July and tomorrow’s Piedmont tasting feels like a perfect occasion for further celebration. This is a maxi consortium tasting or a group of consortium that have put their full force behind this initiative. I’m not sure exactly which producers will be present but I am sure the lineup is very impressive.

Some producers and consortium I know well wondered why Piedmont would choose mid-July for a big tasting in New York. I too had that thought when I was looking at the region primarily as one of big red wines.

Instead today I thought of all the fabulous white grapes that are made into great wines that come from Piedmont, be it Arneis, Cortese, Erbaluce, Favorita, Malvasia or Moscato Bianco, to name a few indigenous varietals that make Piedmont proud. I have tried many an Arneis that made me happy in the past years, including a great one from Malvira’.

Moscato is all the range in the States but I think that it’s sister grape, Malvasia has been sorely underrated on these shores as has Gavi made from the Cortese grape. The most memorable Moscato I have ever tasted was from a producer named Gianni Voerzio. I wrote a long post about him back in 2008.

The idea of trying some of these wines brought a smile to my face despite the 100 degree weather we are experiencing here in New York. I hope to see some of my dear friends from Piedmont as well.

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March 9, 2012 · 8:58 pm

Japan: A New Beginning, A Year Later, Sakura

It is almost the anniversary of the terrible Tsunami in Japan which destroyed so much of the country and caused the loss of so many lives. Now, a year later, there seem to be some signs of hope. That’s certainly the way I see the news I got yesterday, International Women’s Day of the WIN conference in Japan.

My dear friend Kristin Engvig started this global conference series 15 years ago when we were living in Milan. I think it’s incredible that she is holding a conference in Tokyo and find it very supportive and refreshing.

Cherry Blossoms or Sakura are a symbol of Japan, Spring, renewal and rebirth. They are also part of the subject of this amazing short subject documentary that I saw three weeks ago and highly recommend, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.

I visited Japan over 20 years ago and have never been back. I think tonight I will make it a point to eat and drink Japanese food and think about that nation. I may go to one of my favorite places and visit the fascinating woman who runs it, Satsko.

After I finished my blog post, I just found this post on Wine Terroirs about Japanese standing bars, tachinomi and had to highlight it. Truly a fascinating read, it made me want to return to visit Japan immediately.

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January 31, 2012 · 8:44 pm

Family, Wines and A Big Birthday Hello

Today is my lovely niece’s 13th birthday. I find that a shocking fact but yes it’s true. I recently signed up for a new website called Tiny Buddha and I find it very on point most days.

Anyone who knows me even a little bit is aware of how I feel about family, my family and in particular these two cuties – my nephew and my niece.

Like all families, we have some things in common and many not. One thing that we do a lot together is eat. They each have their own particularities and “heavens” as they call their favorite foods.

Being in the wine industry is always a bit confusing for kids, they never know what exactly you do. I remember when my niece asked me how my job in the soda industry was going. I gently told her that it was wine that I was dealing with not soda but she was fixated on soda, probably because she wasn’t allowed to drink too much, if any of it.

As she has gotten older, she has asked me more about the industry, how wine is made and why I want to try so many different types. Now she seems genuinely interested but she often warns me that there is always a bottle of wine at my table and that she thinks it’s too much.

Soon I am sure she will see wine as a pleasurable part of her life too. I’m glad that she sees it on a regular basis as something that is a complement to a meal and not just something to drink on a special occasion but everyday.

Legal drinking age is a long way off and I hope the time goes slowly for all but I do relish the idea of teaching her about all of life’s pleasures, when she is ready. For the moment, I will raise my own glass to her and toast to my favorite girl – Lucia.

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January 10, 2012 · 4:20 pm

Up and Coming: Slow Wine Events in New York and Chicago

The Slow Wine Guide in English is almost here with launch events just around the corner on January 30, 2012 and February 2, 2012 in New York and Chicago, respectively. The guide and a number of producers will be the focus of events for the trade during the day and then for consumers in the evening.

The Slow Wine Guide adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety, taking into consideration the wine quality, typicity and adherence to terroir, value for money, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable viticultural practices.

The innovative guide uses three symbols to evaluate each winery:

• The Snail, the Slow Food symbol, signals a cellar that has distinguished itself through its interpretation of sensorial, territorial, environmental and personal values in harmony with the Slow Food philosophy;
• The Bottle, allocated to cellars that show a consistently high quality throughout their range of wines;
• The Coin, an indicator of great value.

I’m really looking forward to trying a number of these wines. I had seen the guide in Italian in Italy last year and meant to buy it but my suitcase was overflowing. I like the fact that this guide doesn’t have a point system and I expect, it will be an catalyst for the creation of other similar guides.

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December 16, 2011 · 8:06 pm

Feeling A Little Blue: Drinking Some Great French Wine

I had some bad news, nothing tragic though, and I have been kind of sad all week. The holidays can sometimes get to you when things aren’t exactly as you might want them to be so I started to look around for stuff that makes me smile.

Just this mere act, oddly enough, made me look again at beautiful photos from friends that have come floating in, expressions of love from people I care about, kind words from generous colleagues and new clients that have come knocking at my door in a different way.

I also have rekindled my love affair with France. I think France is my husband and Italy is my lover. I haven’t figured it out yet but I do know that they move different things in me.

In any event, I was reading an article in Le Figaro about a French film, “Intouchables” which really struck a cord. The article interviews someone who used this French expression “Etre joyeux est un acte de volonte.” (Being joyous is an act of will.) He went on to state that in order to “cultiver la joie, c’est aller vers l’autre sans prejuge et s’offrir totalement a la vie.” (In order to cultivate joy, we must go towards others without prejudice and offer ourselves up to life completely). Sounds good to me.

I have been drinking lots of French wine during the course of the last month since my trip to Paris in November. I was there when the Nouveau Beaujolais est arrive on November 16. While not a fan of le nouveau Beaujolais, I did drink this one very happily.

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August 1, 2011 · 10:47 pm

Sad To Miss The 35th Society of Wine Educators Conference August 3-5

Happenings:

This week is the Society of Wine Educators 35th annual conference in Rhode Island. I’m very sad not to be going and not to see old friends and make some new ones. Knee surgery has put a stop to many of my summer activities but that’s life. I have discovered that many people have had meniscus and/or ACL surgery, a shocking amount of people.

Back to the conference in Rhode Island where so many great speakers will be conducting seminars among them Alfonso Cevola, Kevin Zraly, Robin Kelley O’Connor, Mary Ewing Mulligan and Ed McCarthy, Mary Gorman, David Glancy, Sharron McCarthy, Ed Corry, Jane Nickles, Eric Orange and many others. I’ve always had a great time at the conference, meeting new people, tasting great wines and seeing the folks from the Society, Shields, Carla and others. Kentresa will be missed by many I am sure.

Every year at the conference I learned something new, met an interesting person and discovered a new wine that I enjoyed. I find the conference a great investment and wish that I were going.

My good friend Rodolphe and Eileen will surely share their experiences with me but I do wish I could participate in person. Next year…

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