Orange Wine Night At Convivio - Appellation Feiring

He was talking about the chimerical wine category now called Orange. 'Count me in', I said.

Get your mind out of the gutter. These are not orange flavored or Tang colored wines. Neither rose, white or red, they are the other. Thanks to elongated skin contact, the wines pull tint in a range of Benjamin Moore paint chips of color. But while, skin isn’t exactly this century’s barrique, you can call it a current fad. Yet, the Romans did it and the Georgians and Turks do it. From there it was resuscitated in Slovenia and Friuli, most notably Radikon, Gravner and Movia. The technique goes hand in hand with amphora fermentation and elevage. Amphora is not necessary but the vessel and skin is like peanut butter and jelly.

An old friend, the violinist and non-drinker, Joel Smirnoff used to tell me that the world is divided into scanners and focusers. I'm such a scanner, that in my myopia, I placed some delicious and gloopy buratta and tomato on my linen napkin, mistaking it for the square plate.

Tabelmates, Jeff, Jim and Thor noticed. They pretended not to see it until I blew my own cover when sl I realized my mistake. Obviously, you can take the girl out of the shtettle, but you can't take the shtettle out of the girl.

With my klutz out of the way before I even had a sip, I was safe for the rest of the evening to discover that thirty-six wines at dinner is too much to be professional but plenty to provide 1) a hangover 2) an impression.

What I love about the wines, the best of them, is the complexity from the whole grape, the tannin and that little comes between nature and the wine. Some folk have called this technique a manipulation, but I strike that one down. Seems to me any choice in fermentation that is just man and grape, not machine and grape, not chemical and grape, is just choice.

A group favorite was La Stoppa 2004 Ageno (Emilia-Romagna. There's a wild carnation quality in it, a dose of Brett perhaps, and the most shockingly tannic wine on the table

Personal favorite: Frank Cornelissen 2007 MunJebel 4 Bianco (Sicily). I've heard about this guy from a friend in London (hello David!), a Dutch man who makes wine in Mt. Etna. There are wines that I drink when I say, I have to meet the person behind it. This was one. I must go. I had heard rumors that this was one of those wildly unstable babes, with dirty underwear and holes in its socks. Maybe at one time but this lass has passed through puberty to the other side. Shocking. Banded. Floral. Intense. Tannin. Deep. Talk to me. Grit. Wafting. Clover. Then she blushes and disappears, and as the night comes to a close, she was reduced to more salty brine. She became Lot's Wife.

Ca de Noci 2006 notte di luna (Emilia-Romagna). I've written about this charmer before. Filled with church spice and cookies and ocean air.

Massa Vecchia 2005 Maremma Toscana Bianco (Tuscany). This is like the handsome guy who walks into the room and knows he can bed everyone—man or woman.

Bea 2004 Arboreus (Umbria). While I am not a great fan of the wine Giampeiro makes for the nuns, his own won me over. Zippy, blowing out candles and hot wax over my fingers.

So cherry in color, it was almost rosé. Almost 17% alcohol? This was crazy. I forgive its alcohol because it is a beast, but a rock and rolling one.

For more on the evening

Levi Dalton, who empowers the list at Convivio, might be the high priest of wine geek sommeliers. Early his summer he had a crazy thought and posted a come hither on the wine board, winedisorder.com, a thread by the name of 'Show Me Some Skin.' He was talking about the chimerical wine category now called Orange. 'Count me in', I said. Get your mind out of the gutter. These are not orange flavored or Tang colored wines. Neither rose, white or red, they are the other. Thanks to elongated skin contact, the wines pull tint in a range of Benjamin Moore paint chips of color. But while, skin isn’t exactly this century’s barrique, you can call it a current fad. Yet, the Romans did it and the Georgians and Turks do it. From there it was resuscitated in Slovenia and Friuli, most notably Radikon, Gravner and Movia. The technique goes hand in hand with amphora fermentation and elevage. Amphora is not necessary but the vessel and skin is like peanut butter and jelly.

The night came. I walked through one of those east coast, summer of 2009 cloudbursts and arrived at Convivio, ferchatted and drenched. I nodded to Eric Asimov, Kevin McKenna, a partner in the Louis/Dressner multinational, the fabulous Lee Campbell, SFJoe, and found a seat in the company of three die-hard winedisorder card-carrying members who have Virgo-trap, wine memories that put my own to shame. An old friend, the violinist and non-drinker, Joel Smirnoff used to tell me that the world is divided into scanners and focusers. I'm such a scanner, that in my myopia, I placed some delicious and gloopy buratta and tomato on my linen napkin, mistaking it for the square plate. Tabelmates, Jeff, Jim and Thor noticed. They pretended not to see it until I blew my own cover when sl I realized my mistake. Obviously, you can take the girl out of the shtettle, but you can't take the shtettle out of the girl. With my klutz out of the way before I even had a sip, I was safe for the rest of the evening to discover that thirty-six wines at dinner is too much to be professional but plenty to provide 1) a hangover 2) an impression. What I love about the wines, the best of them, is the complexity from the whole grape, the tannin and that little comes between nature and the wine. Some folk have called this technique a manipulation, but I strike that one down. Seems to me any choice in fermentation that is just man and grape, not machine and grape, not chemical and grape, is just choice. A group favorite was La Stoppa 2004 Ageno (Emilia-Romagna. There's a wild carnation quality in it, a dose of Brett perhaps, and the most shockingly tannic wine on the table Personal favorite: Frank Cornelissen 2007 MunJebel 4 Bianco (Sicily). I've heard about this guy from a friend in London (hello David!), a Dutch man who makes wine in Mt. Etna. There are wines that I drink when I say, I have to meet the person behind it. This was one. I must go. I had heard rumors that this was one of those wildly unstable babes, with dirty underwear and holes in its socks. Maybe at one time but this lass has passed through puberty to the other side. Shocking. Banded. Floral. Intense. Tannin. Deep. Talk to me. Grit. Wafting. Clover. Then she blushes and disappears, and as the night comes to a close, she was reduced to more salty brine. She became Lot's Wife. Ca de Noci 2006 notte di luna (Emilia-Romagna). I've written about this charmer before. Filled with church spice and cookies and ocean air. Massa Vecchia 2005 Maremma Toscana Bianco (Tuscany). This is like the handsome guy who walks into the room and knows he can bed everyone—man or woman. Bea 2004 Arboreus (Umbria). While I am not a great fan of the wine Giampeiro makes for the nuns, his own won me over. Zippy, blowing out candles and hot wax over my fingers. Biggest surprise of the night? Scholium Project 2006 San Floriano del Collio Rocky Hill (Sonoma Mountain) – So cherry in color, it was almost rosé. Almost 17% alcohol? This was crazy. I forgive its alcohol because it is a beast, but a rock and rolling one. For more on the evening Eric's blogThor Iverson's