Posts belonging to Category Barolo



Chinato: the Perfect Digestivo

gout is good!

gout is good!


After a leisurely evening sampling a lineup of Italian wines red and white while dining on a mouthwatering pork roast that followed pasta i funghi made fresh… you really need something to help with the digestion… something flavorful, a proven cure-all. Something from the Old World. Something made with quinine! More on this wonderful potion shortly.

First, let us examine the testimony of excess that necessitated relief.

casa-coste-pianeWEBNV Casa Coste Piane Frizzante Naturalmente Prosecco $15: One of the only Prosecco wines fermented in bottle just like champagne. Supposed favorite among Piemontese who know better. This is not the fruity giggly sparkler that charms everyone soon as you meet her KITTEN-WITH-A-WHIPWEB[ed. you are a sexist chauvinist comparing giggly bubbly effervescence to a female caricature]. This is not the fruity giggly sparkler that charms everyone soon as you have a chance to sip and swallow. This is Prosecco with spine. Sexy. Makes you want some more. Not easy to find out here on the Best Coast. 12%

I-MasieriWEB2011 Massieri Angiolino Moule $35: Another Garganega wine (!!!) like the one reviewed here a couple posts back recommended by the somm at the Santa Monica restaurant Tar and Roses. Call it Soave but this is not the BevMo/Costco staple Santa Margarita style. This white wine has acid, some body, and it is a nice precursor to the soldati heavies in the lineup. The grape is experiencing some kind of renaissance as are other lesser known indigenous varietals on the verge of extinction now resurrected thanks  to the dedication and moral sense of natural winemakers. Good story on the hillside vineyard and the relatively new family business. 11.5%

brangero09WEB2009 Brangero Nebbiolo D’Alba Briccobertone $25: A Langhe young vines non-tannic road runner from the Langhe. Lighter weight intro to Barolo and wines made from the Nebbiolo grape that is delicious and easy to drink. If we were in a museum this would be the dogent. Look for it.

There were other Italian red wines including the 2006 Ar Pe Pe Grumello which stole the show recently and once again. Check out the earlier tBoW review.

We were so excited about trying the Chinato we hardly regretted indulging the food and drink. The Chinato proved to be an amazing drink. We had it after but I am sure it would work just as nicely on its own. Like we enjoyed it over the next week. Read the review on the Eno Fine Wine site.

chinatoWEBNV Vergano Nebbiolo Chinato $43: [kee-not-toe] This wine comes in a 500 ML bottle. This does not taste like any drink with which we are familiar. The wine is “aromatized.” The wine is made from a quinine base and includes tinctures and extracts of Nebbiolo wine, cinnamon, ginseng, etc. The winemaker is the story much like the Almencistas who specialize in Sherry. This wine was not loved by all. But it was not roundly disliked either. Some were on the fence where they remain today. I love it and hate it. Like my marriage. Hey you! Get off that fence! [ed. Mike Myers moment]. For tBow this is a bog wow. Absolutely brought a feeling of digestive assistance. Flavors included licorice and Sen Sen! Bravo!! We prefer water con gas to flat anyway so the taste is familiar. One can smell and taste the quinine. The mixture of the other ingrediments is where the winemaker’s skill makes the difference. It is the perfect after dinner drink. 16%.

This fine Italian interpretation by John Renbourn is also good for settling down the demons.

Holiday Road Trip to The City

pray for parking

the dao of parking

It is hard to go wrong with a quick trip to San Francisco. In the Wintertime the San Francisco air is exceptionally crisp. The sunlight can cut glass. What’s not to like? OK. Cars are strongly discouraged. It can cost twice to park overnight as it does to rent for a day. The scene at Union Square is bright and cheery and overly commercial; full of holiday shoppers.

However, if you want to try another cultural flavor the city is hardly bereft of captivating neighborhoods. arlequinWEBThe Mission bustles with local shops and plenty of homeless people crashing in the alleys. The mural filled alleys of the Mission are tourist destinations. Thank you Trip Advisor. Hayes Street Gulch has two blocks of shops, food spots and a very appealing wine shop/bar/deli. The sign says Arlequin. If you like a combo wine shop/deli this should work. tBoW purchased a bottle of Cowan Cellars Ribollo Gialla that came highly recommended as an “orange wine.” This Eastern Mendocino product tasted nothing like oranges but it was pretty cool even though we did not decant as recommended. We opened and poured on the spot.

Cowan-2012-Ribolla_400WEB2012 Cowan Cellars Ribollo Gialla $24: From the website: “Light gold color, brilliant; aromas of apricot, light honey, persimmon, nutmeg and a floral note might give the impression of a sweet wine but the palate is dry; the flavors echo the nose, concentrated texture, lively acids and grippy tannins; good length but needs a year in bottle to become integrated. Should be cellared for at least a year and should drink well for another decade. This wine should never be over-chilled; cellar temperature or warmer for service.” The wine has an orange tint. The winemaker stops fermentation so “retain acidity.” What a great idea! As Kris-B touted, this is a good sign of the thinking winemaker figuring how to make wines more food friendly and generally interesting. As Cowan’s website states “fine wines for lighter meals…if you want a wine of personality and quality at a reasonable price…” We’re convinced. 12.5%

Mission mojo hand

Mission mojo hand

tBoW dined at Foreign Cinema in the Mission. The expansive restaurant is set in an old movie house. A movie plays on the rear wall in the (heated) outdoor patio. The rustic interior hall is noisy and alive. We shared half a fresh Dungeness crab with a glass of Old World white from the more than satisfying wine list. This is how it is in SF dining. In fact, wine is passe. The cocktail culture has gripped on the city. tBoW ordered a muddled something with Bourbon and cane sugar. Yum.

Here are some pretty impressive bottles recently cracked.

TAMI12WEB2012 Arianna Occhipinti ‘Tami’ Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane $15: Soulful, luscious, inspiring in the most sensual ways. But enough of Arianna Occhipinti. How’s her wine? Blackberry fruit, bright acid, light to middle weight. The label says typical for Southern Italian wine AND at a price everyone can afford? What’s not to like? Ms. Occhipinti is a terrific winemaker. We hope she gets out a little. All that time stirring the cap and beating down the must has to make a girl lonesome. A U20 deal. 13%

PerraudMaconVillages09WEB2009 Domaine Perraud Macon-Villages Vielles Vignes $19: Nobody can say it better. “A wine made by XXX censored2WEB so you can count on lots of oak/batonnage, etc. Whatever they have to do to make it slutty. And they’re not picky about farming practices.” Hey. Don’t shoot the reporter. We thought we were crossing the line sexualizing Arianna O. Slutty wine? We liked this little Chard but we would not buy it again, especially now that we could get herpes or something worse. Screw top Chardonnay [ed. big tip right there] from Burgundy’s bargain basement. I feel so dirty. 13%

2007 Angelo Germano Barolo $34: Entry level Barolo from Germans. Very good buy from Eno Fine Wine. Bro’ in law flipped and the last time that happened with wine was when I showed him the Arianna O googleimages page. Dark red black color, not thick. Anise nose on the open, full of life, could take decanting but it is so exciting right away. Not much chance to see it develop as it got sucked up tout suite. Higher alcohol not even noticed. Listed online for less $$ but not usually in stock. 14.5%

Papa Fred Memorial Saturday.

Champs of Sports ::: Champs of Wine

Dom Moulin Aux Moines

Domaine Moulin Aux Moines

Baseball fever is here. 100 point scales for ratings wines are dumb. Can these claims be related? YES. Baseball is dreary for 162 games then suddenly it is wonderful to watch. Most wines are bad. Until you hit on one that you know will be good but it is, in fact, remarkable. Why slog through the long hot summer when you can tune in to exciting play on the diamond come October? Why slog through plonk upon plonk from TJs or Costco – and they are the best of the worst – when every bottle of wine can be like watching at least a divisional playoff game?

BUT… does the best of every region offer the same quality and excitement? We have answers.

Forget wine’s 100 point scale for “scoring” wines. It is more useful and far more interesting – not to mention more defensible methodologically – to rank regions/varietals.

RIP RnR Animal

RIP RnR Animal

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Tahoe Mishpocha Tasting: Teachin’ and Beachin’

later afternoon on the lake

late afternoon on the lake

Tahoe is to Alpine lakes like Barolo is to great red wines. Peerless. The whole damn fam assembled on the beach for 9 days. Nearly all the Young ‘Uns too; studying analogies for LSATs, living with parents hoping for a job in San Francisco, working their way through JUCOs on their way to a UC, finishing high school, and on and on and on. Good opportunity to pull corks. (more…)

Winter in Piemonte: the Krisses Visit Mascarello

La Morra Feb 2013

La Morra Feb 2013


Ah, Italia! Land of the Tuscan sun, golden Mediterranean coasts, and…snow-covered fields? Yes, to those of you more familiar with an Italy of sun-baked hilltop towns or, less romantically, the oppressive summer heat of cities like Rome or Venice, it may seem odd to picture the country under a blanket of snow. But please suspend your disbelief for a moment and imagine Italy in the middle of February: the north-facing slopes of Piemonte are white, the wind is cold, and slush rains down periodically. Maybe not everyone’s idea of Paradise, but it is certainly perfect weather for tasting wine! (more…)