by whit on November 23, 2011
If you missed my Let’s Do class at Domaine LA last week, it was all about Italian wine and pizza pies. We talked regions, grapes and general food and wine pairing tips.
Here are the wines I poured alongside some delicious Mozza pizza. I called them my Ultimate Pizza Wines. But really, only being able to choose 5? SO hard.
I knew I wanted a Lambrusco (or a Gragnano). For SURE. I also wanted a barbera and a sangiovese based wine. Nebbiolo? Definitely. Then I would need a somewhat oddball- so, I picked one of my fav Emilia-Romagna orange wines. It’s a style of white that can handle bolder flavors.
If I could have gone on, the list would’ve also included an aglianico, nero d’avola, montepulciano and some aromatic lighter reds like frappato or rossese.
My main criteria for pairing wine with pizza: good acidity and some semblance of structure and tannin. Anything nice and cold is also pretty dope. Red bubbly? Perfect. It’s like the wine version of beer or Coca Cola (which is apparently what Italians really like to drink with their pizza.) Main things I avoid and that sound super icky: jammy, oaky or incredibly full bodied flabby wines. Actually, I usually avoid those qualities in wine regardless of whether or not there is a pizza in front of me. Point is- there are more things in the world of Italian wines that work with pizza than don’t. So it ain’t rocket science.
Thought: Could one become solely a pizza sommelier? That would be an off the charts amazing as hell job.
Question: If you could attend any wine class or tasting what would you want the topic to be? I would love to know. And if you live in LA, maybe I can make it happen!
by whit on August 12, 2011
Look! The survey is already working! This here post is a direct result of some of the requests I received. People want to see more of what I’m tasting on a daily basis and what my favorites are. Thus- Top of the Popped. I’ll post whatever excites me throughout the week. You dig it?
Yesterday at the shop, we tried this lovely little Lambrusco. It’s 100% sorbara, which I had never had before. It’s a clone of lambrusco, of which there are several- most notably grasparossa and salamino. Some Lambruschi also have a bit of ancellotta blended in. So, this wine- Cleto Chiarli “Premium”. The color was the first thing that excited me. Such a beautiful shade of ruby! And it tasted like a bushel of strawberries. But really clean, tart ones. That maybe rolled around on some rocks.
A little Italy in the glass and a whole lot of Hollywood all around it. Ah, such is life.
We will probably be bringing this in at some point in the near future, so keep an eye out. And do you know what you should eat with this wine when you do get your hands on it? This focaccia. Do it. I dare you.
PS- Thank you so much for all of your feedback. It is actually REALLY helpful. And if you haven’t filled out the survey yet, hurry up and get hip to this question answer party! Gracias.
by whit on January 2, 2010
I had a great year. There is no denying that. Mostly due to a spectacular summer in Los Angeles followed by an even more spectacular solo journey through Italy. Also known as “the trip of my dreams.” In keeping with the obligatory New Year’s blog post of something along the lines of Best Wines of the Year, My Top Ten Bottles of 2009, etc. I thought I would take a look back at some of my favorite drinking experiences as seen through the lens of my Blackberry’s handy little camera. It is, dare I say, a Brunello Behind the Scenes. Perhaps, True Hollywood Story: Brunellos Having Too Much Fun. Maybe even True Life: I’m ubriaca. I shall end there, lest I get carried away.
But, to further clarify, I say favorite experiences and not favorite drink or wine or bottle because sometimes the best glass of wine has not so much to do with what is in the glass but everything outside of it. It is the company, the laughs, the stories told, the favorite neighborhood bar, old friends reuniting, new friends being made, impromptu guitar solos and heavenly pasta dinners. The level of enjoyment of the wine and of the moment fuse together, simultaneously enhancing the other. So, without further ado…
The magical mojito from the Bazaar in Los Angeles. Followed by one of the more interesting dining experiences I've ever had. Proof of artistic expression and innovation on a plate and in a glass.
The staple of my summer at my favorite bar seat in town, Pizzeria Mozza. This was a Bastianich refosco rose from Friuli.
Plastic cups and lambrusco. I know how to make it classy. In the first days of my trip in Italy with one of my best friends. We were starving and had our aperitivo hour furnished by a campsite grocery. It was cheap, delicious and entirely satisfying.
A not at all unusual lunchtime spread while working the harvest at De Conciliis. That day was the pinot noir battle in which we raided Bruno's cellar for 3 different pinots: one from Italy (1998 La Palazzola), one from France (2005 Domaine d l'Arlot) and one from Oregon (2006 Drouhin). Italy won! And we were not at all biased, of course.
A Saturday night lamb bbq at my boss Bruno's home where we proceeded to open up 8 different fantastic Italian wines (and way too much grappa). At the end of it all, he stuck his knife in the neck of the winner (we liked having competitions, if you couldn't tell.) A 2005 Langhe Nebbiolo from Bartolo Mascarello.
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by whit on October 31, 2009
The Medici Ermete cellar is a masterpiece of modern technology and equipment. It is massive in size and houses huge tanks, millions of bottles for shipping, filtrations systems, an in house laboratory and a bottling and labeling machines bigger than most cellars. They are producing several million bottles a year; a number that I can’t even comprehend after spending most of my time with producers that usually make 30,000-300,000 bottles.
The Medici family has been producing wine (mainly lambrusco) in Reggio Emilia for over 100 years. This is a family business through and through and one with a lot of history. Alberto Medici, the fourth generation, is now “running the show.” We left the bright, clean, modern world behind and ventured out to the Tenuta Rampata vinyeard a few kilometers away which grows their prized (see note below) lambrusco salamino varietal. This property has a completely different presence and energy than the cellar. Alberto unlocked the door to a veritable museum of winemaking for me. Alberto’s father has preserved the tools that remain from his family’s property and has also become quite the collector of artifacts from auctions and estate sales.
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