Posts belonging to Category Tuscany

Touting a Garagiste – aka “G.” – purchase is always dicey. Like nostalgia, praising a great G. buy only works in retrospect. Rimmerman’s selections almost always sell out so there is no going back and buying in. You have to be there when it all goes down. There are other pitfalls when mainlining G. which Dotoré will insist we mention [ed. and we have in an earlier G. post] such as Rimmerman’s twist on the “availability principle,” as in “it’s not a question of price but availability.” With G. you have to strike early and decisively since it is apparent G. buys “on the come.” When you check your warehouse chart you will find many “pre-arrival” notes next to the wine for which you so willingly even anxiously..yes thrillingly!!…pulled the trigger! (more…)

It was the heavyweight showdown of the Winter season. Leonard vs Duran. Griffith vs Paret. Ali vs Foreman. Maybe more like LaMotta against Robinson?? We threw examples into the ring of the best that the two premium regions in Italy had to offer: two Baroli from Piemonte and a “classico” Tuscan blend…not a Super Tuscan or some Syrah concoction. C-L-A-S-S-I-C Tuscan. 80% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and 10% Colorino. Pure Tuscan sunlight and air. The Baroli were no slouches – a 1995 from the Dean of Barolo New Wave and a 1996 IN MAG from across the road below Monforte d’Alba. Just another wet evening delaying the arrival of Dotoré and IGTY’s favored season. A night of vinos tesoros. (more…)

This is NOT a post about JEREMY LIN. Isn’t he fun? Asian kid from Harvard? OK. Plays in the NBA? Wha? Has led his crummy Knicks team to 7 consecutive wins? No freakin way. But this is NOT a post about Jeremy Lin just so we can write about unlikely wines that turn out to be stars. Like Tom Waits. Who could have expected he would become a cultural icon. Do they love him in France? The piano has been drinking…
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Dotor√© and tBoW were pondering the pop hit F*CK YOU by Cee Lo Green. What used to be called a “catchy” pop beat comes right outta the 60s. Soul era visual signals are all over the video. The lyrics show Tin Pan Alley chops: “I picture the fool that falls in love with you; (oh shit she’s a gold digger).” The obvious hook is the expletive once unspeakable in polite company, now suitable for tweeners’ iPods. But, how does this all stack up to the¬†lyricist of our generation, Bob Dylan? After all, Mr. Zimmerman wrote lots of f*ck yous in his day. They were just hidden behind layers of imagery and required some interpretation. You know something’s going on but you don’t what it is… (more…)

The emergence of a newfound wine snob can be dangerous. Chances are things go the wrong way if the ingenue parrots all the same stoopid metaphors, failing in the process to represent a personal point of view. And make no mistake; it is the POV that matters. It also helps to have a tasting palate and to generally enjoy wine and good food. Things go well when the fearless taster is willing to share his point of view and can craft his own metaphors for what he experiences. Say hello to Wild Willie, a man who described a Sangiovese as “typewriter ribbon”. Now, he might have been having a little fun but the effort was strong. Refreshing as a bright fruity Albari√±o. (more…)