The Feiring Line

How To Present a Barolo Seminar

I think I've got it. Finally. Too bad I didn't figure it out before I had to deliver at the Summit Wine & Food Festival in the morning July 25th instead of the afternoon. The next time, if I follow my notes below, I'll do it better. One hopes. #1-Present the bottle that changed my life. Project the passion I have for it. Tell the story of how I came to experience this wine, tell the story of my father's mistress, and her ex-husband. (If you open up my book to page 1, you'll read of the episode). #2- Deliver the basics. No matter at what level the audience rings up at, a primer of a reminder isn't such a bad course to take.Even if nothing else gets accomplished they'll leave knowing something about Barolo. There will be take aways. One or two tangibles they'll remember. 1) State the obvious that the wine is 100% Nebbiolo grown in the Piemontese region surrounding the town of Alba. terroir. For 101 level, just say amongst the twelve communes, there are five that are the most famous: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba. 2) Shock them by letting them know that before the mid 1800's Barolo was a sweet wine (and between you and me, big mistake on Wikipedia about Barolo, when they said the French wine consultant that helped the region go dry, Oudart, used selected yeasts to help Barolo ferment dry. Even though Pasteur isolated yeast in 1846, cultivated yeasts were still experimental until post WW2) 3) Inform them about nebbiolos eccentricities. How this is its rightful home. Though others like Randall Grahm in California and John Paul Cameron in Oregon grow the grape, and even though it exists all around the northern part of Italy, it never has the depth and complexity and fierce qualities as it does in the hillacious, white truffled paradise of the Barolo region. 4) Talk Dirty! Soils on the west side of the region, Barolo and La Morra are compact and relatively fertile, date from the Tortonian period and composed of calcareous marl, clay and iron, Conventional wisdom is that they birth more feminine wines. On the east side are Serralunga and Montforte. The soils here are older Helvetian, made up of limestone, iron, phosphorous and potassium. Supposedly these are more masculine. (of course, depending on vinification, yield and tarting up, these conventional wisdoms fly out the window) Oddly, a favorite region of mine is Castiglione, which is smack on the fault line and to me a little bit like a mix-breed, fascinating and intelligent. #5: Talk Law. The wines comes to the market with a minimum of two years in the cask and one extra year in the bottle. Some come to the market much later. Most of the wines reach the market with five years or more. So right now, we're seeing the 2004s. #6--Me: I look for, what charms me? Aromas and flavors of tea, roses, tar, truffle, sueded texture, and chestnut honey. This is one wine that just does not reveal the best of its nature until it's at least ten years old to vintage but preferable fifteen. #8- Analyze: launch into the nature of Barolo and spirit of the people who live there. The culture and the spirit of the people gets into the wine. In the 1990's the style changed dramatically in an effort to make the wine easier to understand when it was just released. This unleashed a slew of different vinifications that some believed robbed the wine of its soul. While this trend went on in every other part of the world, from Tuscany to Rioja to Burgundy to Argentina and even in America, it was only in Piedmote where war broke out. There was on one side a teensie group of fierce opponents to the trappings of these new wines, the roto-fermenters, the added yeasts, enzymes and toasty new and small barrels which imparted foreign flavors like coffee, toast and vanilla. The well recongized leader of this movement was Bartolo Mascarello, whose daugher now runs the show. But included in the traditionalists are: G. Conterno, G. Rinaldi, G. Mascarello (uses yeast however), Cappelano, Fennochio, Fontana. and Roagna. Giacosa used to be, before 2004. Okay! Bottoms up! Breakfast Barolos were: Bovio, "Vigna Gattera" 1996 (La Morra) Rocche Dei Manzoni, "Vigna Big" 1995 (Monteforte) Dosio, 2001 (La Morra) Sobrino 2004 (la Morra) (note to self; even if I didn't love the wines, somehow FAKE IT) Remember to thank my sommeliers: Mollie Battenhouse and Elissa Cooper! Now after that discuss the wine, talk about my barolo chapter, encourage people to talk about their favorite wines, talk about food, encourage questions, and have a nice day. Even if after this, I flub up , even if I make a fool of myself (in front of Molly and Elissa in fact), even if have too many silences and the group is staring at me blankly and wondering what they are doing drinking these wines in the morning when they should be tasting riesling and listening to me rattle on about a wine's soul, at least they will leave knowing something more than when they walked in. Hats off to Ivan Ruiz for pulling off a terrific little festival. When I was heading out from the event, I was feeling humbled. To cheer myself up, I stopped by his store, The Wine List

How To Present a Barolo Seminar

I think I've got it. Finally. Too bad I didn't figure it out before I had to deliver at the Summit Wine & Food Festival in the morning July 25th instead of the afternoon. The next time, if I follow my notes below, I'll do it better. One hopes. #1-Present the bottle that changed my life. Project the passion I have for it. Tell the story of how I came to experience this wine, tell the story of my father's mistress, and her ex-husband. (If you open up my book to page 1, you'll read of the episode). #2- Deliver the basics. No matter at what level the audience rings up at, a primer of a reminder isn't such a bad course to take.Even if nothing else gets accomplished they'll leave knowing something about Barolo. There will be take aways. One or two tangibles they'll remember. 1) State the obvious that the wine is 100% Nebbiolo grown in the Piemontese region surrounding the town of Alba. terroir. For 101 level, just say amongst the twelve communes, there are five that are the most famous: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba. 2) Shock them by letting them know that before the mid 1800's Barolo was a sweet wine (and between you and me, big mistake on Wikipedia about Barolo, when they said the French wine consultant that helped the region go dry, Oudart, used selected yeasts to help Barolo ferment dry. Even though Pasteur isolated yeast in 1846, cultivated yeasts were still experimental until post WW2) 3) Inform them about nebbiolos eccentricities. How this is its rightful home. Though others like Randall Grahm in California and John Paul Cameron in Oregon grow the grape, and even though it exists all around the northern part of Italy, it never has the depth and complexity and fierce qualities as it does in the hillacious, white truffled paradise of the Barolo region. 4) Talk Dirty! Soils on the west side of the region, Barolo and La Morra are compact and relatively fertile, date from the Tortonian period and composed of calcareous marl, clay and iron, Conventional wisdom is that they birth more feminine wines. On the east side are Serralunga and Montforte. The soils here are older Helvetian, made up of limestone, iron, phosphorous and potassium. Supposedly these are more masculine. (of course, depending on vinification, yield and tarting up, these conventional wisdoms fly out the window) Oddly, a favorite region of mine is Castiglione, which is smack on the fault line and to me a little bit like a mix-breed, fascinating and intelligent. #5: Talk Law. The wines comes to the market with a minimum of two years in the cask and one extra year in the bottle. Some come to the market much later. Most of the wines reach the market with five years or more. So right now, we're seeing the 2004s. #6--Me: I look for, what charms me? Aromas and flavors of tea, roses, tar, truffle, sueded texture, and chestnut honey. This is one wine that just does not reveal the best of its nature until it's at least ten years old to vintage but preferable fifteen. #8- Analyze: launch into the nature of Barolo and spirit of the people who live there. The culture and the spirit of the people gets into the wine. In the 1990's the style changed dramatically in an effort to make the wine easier to understand when it was just released. This unleashed a slew of different vinifications that some believed robbed the wine of its soul. While this trend went on in every other part of the world, from Tuscany to Rioja to Burgundy to Argentina and even in America, it was only in Piedmote where war broke out. There was on one side a teensie group of fierce opponents to the trappings of these new wines, the roto-fermenters, the added yeasts, enzymes and toasty new and small barrels which imparted foreign flavors like coffee, toast and vanilla. The well recongized leader of this movement was Bartolo Mascarello, whose daugher now runs the show. But included in the traditionalists are: G. Conterno, G. Rinaldi, G. Mascarello (uses yeast however), Cappelano, Fennochio, Fontana. and Roagna. Giacosa used to be, before 2004. Okay! Bottoms up! Breakfast Barolos were: Bovio, "Vigna Gattera" 1996 (La Morra) Rocche Dei Manzoni, "Vigna Big" 1995 (Monteforte) Dosio, 2001 (La Morra) Sobrino 2004 (la Morra) (note to self; even if I didn't love the wines, somehow FAKE IT) Remember to thank my sommeliers: Mollie Battenhouse and Elissa Cooper! Now after that discuss the wine, talk about my barolo chapter, encourage people to talk about their favorite wines, talk about food, encourage questions, and have a nice day. Even if after this, I flub up , even if I make a fool of myself (in front of Molly and Elissa in fact), even if have too many silences and the group is staring at me blankly and wondering what they are doing drinking these wines in the morning when they should be tasting riesling and listening to me rattle on about a wine's soul, at least they will leave knowing something more than when they walked in. Hats off to Ivan Ruiz for pulling off a terrific little festival. When I was heading out from the event, I was feeling humbled. To cheer myself up, I stopped by his store, The Wine List

Native Yeast, Wine and Me and Disconnect

Cory Cartright had a splended idea to celebrate natural wines on his blog Saignee. There, he collected a myriad of voices for 31 Days of Natural wine essays and articles with 'guest' bloggers. Noble! Fun! He even got me to write for free, even after I publicly said NEVER AGAIN. Cory is a persuasive guy, he even got Joe Dressner and Jon Bonne to sign up as well. There are several lovely, fun entrees, and some...problematic. And those came about because Cory was reluctant to edit or pass judgement. (Jon Bonne talks about this in his Cellarist blogYeast

Native Yeast, Wine and Me and Disconnect

Cory Cartright had a splended idea to celebrate natural wines on his blog Saignee. There, he collected a myriad of voices for 31 Days of Natural wine essays and articles with 'guest' bloggers. Noble! Fun! He even got me to write for free, even after I publicly said NEVER AGAIN. Cory is a persuasive guy, he even got Joe Dressner and Jon Bonne to sign up as well. There are several lovely, fun entrees, and some...problematic. And those came about because Cory was reluctant to edit or pass judgement. (Jon Bonne talks about this in his Cellarist blogYeast

Biodynamics on Fox TV?

Just kidding. But who knows? Sky news gives the Lunar calendar a whole 5:41 minutes. Shocking.

Biodynamics on Fox TV?

Just kidding. But who knows? Sky news gives the Lunar calendar a whole 5:41 minutes. Shocking.

Oh, The Things They Think Of!

I came across this crazy champers for billionaires and thought, hey! What a great 'rich baiting bubbles' addition. It would be perfect for a story I was researching. That is, if it were true. I made inquiries. Who produced the wine inside this Le Billionaire Champagne,---of which only five of the bottles (Salamanzar) of the jewel encrusted bottles, entering the market, priced at $2.75 million? No answer I mean, is there champagne inside instead of processo or seltzer? No answer. However I did get this: 'The production of the billionaire version is very complex. It is manufactured completely manually. Every diamond or rather crystal is manually stitched on the designer dress. It takes all in all 5 days (!) until one bottle is completely manufactured! This is the reason for the high price.' Is there a cheaper bottle? Yes, there is. Turns out if you want to buy a 750 ml bottle, if you found it (not on winesearcher) you will find a bargain at less than the cost for Krug's Clos Ambonnay. Only $2,750.00! Who is Leon Verres? As below, directly from their email. ++Leon Verres has been supporting needy children for years. However, he does that without shouting it from the rooftops. He knows what it means to grow up without a lot of money. Therefore, a big part of the earnings from our champagne goes directly to needy children under the motto 'I stand for children!' Additionally, Leon Verres lives very unassumingly compared to his designer colleagues. No yacht. No private jet. No 5 cars. No 30 room villa. The only luxury which he allows himself is his freedom...his independency! Why would they launch in April, in one of the worst champagne markets in history? Where luxury cuvees are down 85% or more? Ballsy no? No answer. I did get the fluffy press release and emails from their press officer, but the tone seemed juvenile. Oh, I thought, benefit of the doubt, their English was rustic. The subtleties didn't translate. Or perhaps they passed the copy through an electronic translating device. But, with no information to speak of other than tack and hyperbole, I canned the emails. Couldn't substantiate this product or 'luxury company' existed, so, I promptly forgot and filed my story. This morning? They asked to see my story before it went to print. For some reason they assumed I was writing about them instead of merely making inquiries. I asked a few more questions. I suggested that if this whole deal might be a hoax, a prank, I was interested and can use it in the WSJ Magazine story. Then I got this email. ++ HATERS MAKE THE LE BILLIONAIRE CHAMPAGNE FAMOUS! DANKESCHON! LVLG - LEON VERRES LUXURY GROUP to me, legal-advice, shapiro show details 3:07 PM (0 minutes ago) Hey Alice.... have you a problem with us? Check our page and stop talking bullshit! Check our luxury shoes and stop talking bullshit! Check our fragrance and stop talking bullshit! Check our credit card dresses and stop talking bullshit! And don´t forget: Our champagne is ultra limited! Born to win! Created for the luxury elite...created for true verresians! Vive La Champagne Revolucion! Angry? Shocked? Are you crazy? Your envy is our pride and your hate is our victory! We are VERRES! We are harder than a diamond! Stronger than the power of the universe! Leon Verres will give you the right anwser! Promised! See ya in the States! See ya in Brooklyn! FYI: Forbes have a Video Network! Your reactions tells us a lot! Best regards to your Moet Chandon friends! In Leon Verres we trust! Goodbye, Sabine Forster Legion Verres Management ++ I searched for a German dwelling Sabine Forster. One exists on Facebook. She is a Courtney Love look-a-like. Her photo features an extended middle finger-- she cited belonging to a German Youth group. The tone was sympathetic with the emails I've been getting. My spies tell me there really is company LVLG. It's an Ltd, and it is in Germany. This all compounds the mystery. Is this real, trying to lure those who truly want to flash money and have no clue what champagne is? You know, champers for pashas, oligarcs and shieks? Or is this a kid prank a modern version of a phony phone call? But with technology, complete with their own websites and network? Quite the macquereau, amusing, food for thought especially when this is put in context. Over the past few years there have been champagnes put out there just so people can flash money. Let me think: how many bottles of Larmandier-Bernier can I get for the price of one plump bottle of Leon Verres? If you want to see the video, check out this URL....and weep. The Champagne for Millionaires Video

Oh, The Things They Think Of!

I came across this crazy champers for billionaires and thought, hey! What a great 'rich baiting bubbles' addition. It would be perfect for a story I was researching. That is, if it were true. I made inquiries. Who produced the wine inside this Le Billionaire Champagne,---of which only five of the bottles (Salamanzar) of the jewel encrusted bottles, entering the market, priced at $2.75 million? No answer I mean, is there champagne inside instead of processo or seltzer? No answer. However I did get this: 'The production of the billionaire version is very complex. It is manufactured completely manually. Every diamond or rather crystal is manually stitched on the designer dress. It takes all in all 5 days (!) until one bottle is completely manufactured! This is the reason for the high price.' Is there a cheaper bottle? Yes, there is. Turns out if you want to buy a 750 ml bottle, if you found it (not on winesearcher) you will find a bargain at less than the cost for Krug's Clos Ambonnay. Only $2,750.00! Who is Leon Verres? As below, directly from their email. ++Leon Verres has been supporting needy children for years. However, he does that without shouting it from the rooftops. He knows what it means to grow up without a lot of money. Therefore, a big part of the earnings from our champagne goes directly to needy children under the motto 'I stand for children!' Additionally, Leon Verres lives very unassumingly compared to his designer colleagues. No yacht. No private jet. No 5 cars. No 30 room villa. The only luxury which he allows himself is his freedom...his independency! Why would they launch in April, in one of the worst champagne markets in history? Where luxury cuvees are down 85% or more? Ballsy no? No answer. I did get the fluffy press release and emails from their press officer, but the tone seemed juvenile. Oh, I thought, benefit of the doubt, their English was rustic. The subtleties didn't translate. Or perhaps they passed the copy through an electronic translating device. But, with no information to speak of other than tack and hyperbole, I canned the emails. Couldn't substantiate this product or 'luxury company' existed, so, I promptly forgot and filed my story. This morning? They asked to see my story before it went to print. For some reason they assumed I was writing about them instead of merely making inquiries. I asked a few more questions. I suggested that if this whole deal might be a hoax, a prank, I was interested and can use it in the WSJ Magazine story. Then I got this email. ++ HATERS MAKE THE LE BILLIONAIRE CHAMPAGNE FAMOUS! DANKESCHON! LVLG - LEON VERRES LUXURY GROUP to me, legal-advice, shapiro show details 3:07 PM (0 minutes ago) Hey Alice.... have you a problem with us? Check our page and stop talking bullshit! Check our luxury shoes and stop talking bullshit! Check our fragrance and stop talking bullshit! Check our credit card dresses and stop talking bullshit! And don´t forget: Our champagne is ultra limited! Born to win! Created for the luxury elite...created for true verresians! Vive La Champagne Revolucion! Angry? Shocked? Are you crazy? Your envy is our pride and your hate is our victory! We are VERRES! We are harder than a diamond! Stronger than the power of the universe! Leon Verres will give you the right anwser! Promised! See ya in the States! See ya in Brooklyn! FYI: Forbes have a Video Network! Your reactions tells us a lot! Best regards to your Moet Chandon friends! In Leon Verres we trust! Goodbye, Sabine Forster Legion Verres Management ++ I searched for a German dwelling Sabine Forster. One exists on Facebook. She is a Courtney Love look-a-like. Her photo features an extended middle finger-- she cited belonging to a German Youth group. The tone was sympathetic with the emails I've been getting. My spies tell me there really is company LVLG. It's an Ltd, and it is in Germany. This all compounds the mystery. Is this real, trying to lure those who truly want to flash money and have no clue what champagne is? You know, champers for pashas, oligarcs and shieks? Or is this a kid prank a modern version of a phony phone call? But with technology, complete with their own websites and network? Quite the macquereau, amusing, food for thought especially when this is put in context. Over the past few years there have been champagnes put out there just so people can flash money. Let me think: how many bottles of Larmandier-Bernier can I get for the price of one plump bottle of Leon Verres? If you want to see the video, check out this URL....and weep. The Champagne for Millionaires Video

The Davero Sagrantino works!

Last night we popped the cork on a barrel sample of the Sagrantino I helped to make (foot stomped, wine copped) up on my rooftop. Here is Pascaline, sommelier of Rouge Tomate's reaction For the back story , head to The New York Times

The Davero Sagrantino is DELICIOUS

Last night we popped the cork on a barrel sample of the Sagrantino I helped to make (foot stomped, wine copped) up on my rooftop. Here is Pascaline, sommelier of Rouge Tomate's reaction For the back story , head to The New York Times