The Weekly Word of Vino, Italian Wine & Spirits

In This Issue:

September 6, 2006

•	Upcoming Events and New Arrivals at Vino

•	Wine Opinion: I'd Rather Eat This Old Hat

•	Wine Tastings: the Modern South

•	Meet Your Winemaker Dinner Series: Filena Ruppi

•	Fall 2006 Class Schedule

•	A dream come true: Sogno Uno is here!!!

Upcoming Events and New Arrivals at Vino

Sogno Uno is finally here!!! Because of limited quanities, Savanna Samson's Cesanese blend Sogno Uno is available for purchase exclusively on our website. For more on this much-anticipated wine, see below. To purchase, click here. Vino and I Trulli Partner This Fall to Bring You Winemaker Dinners and Tastings Dinner with one of Italy's leading women winemakers Filena Ruppi, Tenuta del Portale (Basilicata) Monday, September 25, 8:00 p.m. Ristorante I Trulli 122 East 27th St. (Between Park and Lex. Aves.) $100.00 per person (including tax and gratuity) Ten seats available. to reserve please send an email to: events@vinosite.com Five Wines, Including: Pian del Carro (cru) 2001 Aglianico Riserva 2000 Vigne a Capanno 1998 Four-Course Dinner featuring Basilicata specialties see details below New Wines Added to Vinositeshop.com Our new e-commerce site www.vinositeshop.com is now live and we've already added a number of new wines, including the wines featured in this week's tasting (see below). For Manhattan customers, delivery is free for orders over $100 ($5 for orders under $100) and expedited shipping is available for outer-borough and out-of-state orders. To shop and browse our wines online, click here.

Wine Tastings: the Modern South

This Thursday and Friday, September 7-8, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Chardonnay 2004 Planeta (click here to order) Planeta's 100% Chardonnay put the winery on the map when it was first released in 1994. Fermented in small French-oak barrels, this wine showed that Sicilia offered an ideal environment for the production of modern-style Chardonnay: great weather and lots of sun. Today, Planeta and its Chardonnay continue to lead the Southern Italian wine revolution, producing approachable, fruit-driven wines that the winery offers to modern-style lovers at a reasonable price point. Merlot 2003 Planeta (click here to order) Another ground-breaking wine from Planeta, this Merlot is blended with small amounts of Petit Verdot and spends twelve months in barrique before being released. Ceuso 2001 Ceuso (click here to order) If there ever were a "Super Sicilian" wine, this is it: 50% Nero d'Avola (Sicilia's most noble grape) blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. A Bordeaux-style wine vinified and blended in the same tradition as the Super Tuscans that preceded it. Nero 2002 Conti Zecca (click here to order) Sourced from top growing areas in Leverano and Salice Salentino, Conti Zecca's Rosso del Salento is a blend of Negroamaro with smaller quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon. Negroamaro is one of the region's most ancient red grapes. Some believe its name to mean "black bitter" (from the Italian negro and amaro) but others believe that it means "black black" from the Italian negro and the Greek maurus for black, perhaps a reference to its dark color. Although Cabernet Sauvignon has been cultivated in Puglia for more than two centuries, innovative producers like Conti Zecca have just begun to experiment with modern-style blends like this one. Their Nero has been one of the first Super Pugliese wine to emerge on the scene, receiving great praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Naima 2003 De Conciliis (click here to order) De Conciliis' Naima is a 100% Aglianico made grapes grown in Cilento (in Campania). The wine under goes temperature-controlled fermentation in small French-oak barrels. The result is a gorgeously modern expression of Aglianico. The wine takes its name from the famous composition by jazz musician John Coltrane, a reflection of the family's interest in jazz and their desire to push the envelope of winemaking tradition. Click here to browse and shop our wines online.

Fall 2006 Class Schedule

All classes last approximately 2 hours.

To register, please send an email to register@vinosite.com.

Please be sure to include the following information:

* Class and Date.

* Names and Number of Persons Attending.

* Billing information including 1) name as it appears on the card 2) card number 3) expiration date and 4) billing address and phone number.

* Day and nighttime phone number.

All reservations will be confirmed via email.

Due to limited availability, all reservations are final and no refunds or exchanges are allowed.

Italian Wine 101
Wednesday, September 27, 6:30 p.m. ($55)

Wine educator Robert Scibelli, DWS, gives a command performance with his popular Introduction to Italian Wine course. Participants will sample wines from different regions of Italy, learn how wine is made, and explore Italy's wonderful range of winemaking styles and traditions.

A specialist in Italian wine, Robert Scibelli currently serves as the National Development Coordinator of the International Wine Center in Manhattan where he also lectures on a wide range of wine-related subjects.

The Killer B's: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello
Wednesday, October 4, 6:30 p.m. ($95)

No, it's not an Alfred Hitchcock movie: Wine Director of Vino and I Trulli, Charles Scicolone, guides course-participants through a tasting of Italy's most sought-after and collectible appellations, Brunello di Montalcino, Barbaresco, and Barolo, including single-vineyard and blended wines from some of Toscana's and Piemonte's most famous producers. This seminar is a must for both connoisseurs and neophyte collectors of Italian wine.

Charles and I Trulli have been nominated for outstanding wine service and wine list for five years running by the James Beard Awards. Charles coordinated wines for the Italian-themed Year 2000 James Beard Awards. He has lectured on Italian wines for the Italy America Chamber of Commerce, the Agricultural Ministry of the Region of Sicily, La Cucina Italiana, The Italian Trade Commission and The Smithsonian Institute. Recently, Charles worked as a consultant for Waterford Crystal on their new line of stemware. He has appeared on national television on Emeril Live!, In Food Today, Ciao Italia, and Cooking Live and has been a guest on The Arthur Schwartz Show and was a weekly wine commentator on The Bea Lewis Show on radio. Charles is a member of the Wine Media Guild.

Pizza, Any Way You Slice It
Saturday, October 14, 1:30 p.m. ($85)

Charles Scicolone (see bio above) teams up with his wife, celebrated cookbook author Michele Scicolone, to teach this ever-popular course on pizza based on their best-selling and definitive work on the subject, Pizza, Any Way You Slice It. With Ristorante I Trulli as the backdrop, Michele and Charles lead this hands-on seminar where participants learn how to make true Neapolitan pizza dough, experiment with traditional and fusion toppings, and sample wines that pair well with pizza.

Michele Scicolone is a cookbook author and writer who specializes in food, wine and travel. Her Mastering Pasta, Noodles and Dumplings was published by Williams Sonoma/Free Press in October, 2005. Her 1,000 Italian Recipes, was nominated for a 2004 James Beard Award and was a main selection of The Good Cook book club. She is also the author of The Sopranos Family Cookbook and Entertaining with the Sopranos, cookbooks based on the popular television show. Michele's writing appears regularly in Bon Appetit, Wine Spectator, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Gourmet, Food Arts, and many others.

Noble Nebbiolo
Wednesday, October 18, 6:30 p.m. ($85)

Many believe that the word Nebbiolo comes from the Latin nebula or "cloud": the famous fog of Piemonte helps to keep the grapes cool as they ripen to perfection in the late summer/early fall. While the Nebbiolo grown in the Langhe hills is used to make the most notable expressions, Barolo and Barbaresco, Nebbiolo is also used to make Piemontese appellations Carema (in Carema) and Ghemme (in Novara) among others, as well as Valtellina in Lombardia (where it is used to make dried-grape Sfurzat or Sforzato) and the Valle d'Aosta. Participants in the Noble Nebbiolo seminar will sample a variety of Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo-based wines as they explore a wide range of winemaking styles and techniques. Wine director Charles Scicolone leads the guided tasting and comments on the many different Nebbiolo clones, aging potential, tasting profile, and the similarities and differences between the Nebbiolo grown in the Langhe and that cultivated in other parts of Italy.

Vintage Italian
Wednesday, October 25, 6:30 p.m. ($95)

Old wine is a topic dear to Wine Director Charles Scicolone's heart: there is perhaps no other subject that inspires him to wax poetic than a tasting of vintage Italian. Especially today, wine lovers are tempted -- by producers and wine sellers -- to drink open bottles young. In his Vintage Italian seminar, Charles leads participants through a guided tasting of young and old wines as he discusses what to look for in young wines in order to assess their longevity and reveals how wine and tasting profiles evolve (e.g., secondary and tertiary flavors and aromas found only in vintage wines). He will also discuss cellaring and wine collecting. Aglianico, Sangiovese, and Nebbiolo are just some of the grape varieties that will be tasted (young and old).

Italian Wine and Cheese
Saturday, November 4, 1:30 p.m. ($85)

What could be better than having dinner with Charles and Michele Scicolone over a variety of Italian wines and cheeses at I Trulli, where Michele discusses the formaggi and Charles pairs the wines? In what has become one our most popular courses, Charles and Michele hold court at the restaurant and discuss fresh, aged, and ripened cheeses, cow's milk vs. goat's vs. sheeps, and in what has proved to be the high point of the event, Michele tries to stump Charles with an unusual and hard-to-pair cheese. This seminar fills up fast and availability is extremely limited.

Grappa and Italian Brandy
Wednesday, November 8, 6:30 p.m. ($75)

Back by popular request, the Grappa and Italian Brandy seminar includes a tasting of a wide variety of distillates, fruit- and pomace-based (spitting is encouraged!). Following the grappa mania of the late 1980s and early 90s, a tide of grappa flowed into this country, not all of it good. Today, myriad labels are available to the consumer but quality varies greatly and in some cases, you pay more for the hand-blown Murano bottles than you do for the contents. As an extra added bonus, I Trulli and Vino's Operations Manager Jim Hutchinson will lead a hands-on demonstration of how to prepare a flavored grappa (an excellent holiday gift idea).

Amarone and the Wines of Verona
Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 p.m. ($95)

This class is a must for collectors of Italian wine. The wines of Verona and the Valpolicella are often Italy's most misunderstood and are certainly among the most unique in the panorama of Italian winemaking. Amarone and Recioto (both dried-grape wines) are some of the world's most collected and collectible appellations. These are long-lived wines with great power and depth. But the province of Verona also produces Soave, an appellation that has enjoyed a renaissance as winemakers have moved away from commercial production, and a wide range of monovarietal wines. Wine director Charles Scicolone leads a guided tasting that includes dry and sweet wines, white and red classics, and some of the cutting-edge and more unusual labels that have appeared in recent years.

Wine Opinion: I'd Rather Eat This Old Hat

A few days ago, someone told me that I was "old hat." This said person said this to me because he didn't agree with my position on wine and only drinking wine with food. I thought about it for a while and decided that they were right. I am old hat. By this, I mean that I like my wine in the traditional style, that is to say, made in the winery, not in the laboratory with machines that torture the poor grapes, and that wine should never be served without food. Wine is made to go with food. I never drink wine anywhere unless it’s accompanied by food. Recently, someone wrote, in one of the more trendy wine magazines, that we must break the tyranny of food and wine. It makes you wonder: is this a joke or a trick question? Wine belongs with food and food belongs with wine and it has been this way for the last 3,000 years. In my opinion, give me wine made in the traditional style, not those that are meant to be drunk on their own. Those wines are meant to be drunk on their own because they are too big, juicy, and concentrated to be drunk with food. Wines that are too alcoholic, too jammy, and taste more like Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia than wine, are not for me. I’ve also been told that I am old hat because I insist that my stemware have a stem. My wine glass must be made of glass (or crystal) and it must have a stem. There are wine glasses that look more like they would be fit for Bourbon or Scotch than for wine. These glasses are a problem because you get your fingerprints all over them and the heat from your hand warms up the wine. In Britain they call wines that are drunk from these glasses, "stand-up wines," in other words, wines you drink standing up without food. I've also been told that I am old hat because I drink my wine sitting down and my caffe' standing up. One of the great things about the Italian bar is that when you go there in the morning, you stand at the counter, you chat with the barista, and you drink your morning caffe' or cappuccino standing up as you enjoy a brioche. Italians never drink cappuccino after 11 a.m. They do not refer to their coffee as espresso... they call it caffe' (kahf-FEH). Call me old hat but never ask an Italian for lemon peel to put in your coffee. The concept does not exist in Italy. And they do not serve coffee in styrofoam cups. I, for one, refuse to drink my caffe' from plastic or styrofoam. If it's not in a ceramic cup, I will not drink it. In Italy, a few months ago, we were with a woman who came out of an Italian bar and was almost hysterical. She could not believe that they would not give her coffee in a large styrofoam cup filled with ice, with a straw, that she could drink as she walked down the street. "What is wrong with this people?," she said. "They are so backward!" On our recent trip to Italy, I was reminded of why serving food with wine is so dear to my heart. Michele and I were in Sicilia and we ordered a bottle of spumante. The waiter brought the bottle and along with it fresh Sicilian olives and tramezzini, small crustless sandwiches made with hard-boiled eggs and Sicilian tuna and caper, fresh marinated anchovies and mozzarella, and the standard potato chips, pretzels, and peanuts. Italians do not drink wine without food. This is something that they don't even think about. In the long run, and in the short one, too, I am just someone who, when they see a bottle of wine, wants someone to say, this is your grandfather's wine and thank goodness for that. --Charles Scicolone, Wine Director, I Trulli and Vino Charles would love to hear from you. Please email him at charles@vinosite.com.

Meet Your Winemaker Dinner Series: Filena Ruppi

Dinner with one of Italy's leading women winemakers Filena Ruppi, Tenuta del Portale (Basilicata) Monday, September 25, 8:00 p.m. Ristorante I Trulli 122 East 27th St. (Between Park and Lex. Aves.) $100.00 per person (including tax and gratuity) Ten seats available. to reserve please send an email to: events@vinosite.com Five Wines, Including: Pian del Carro (cru) 2001 Aglianico Riserva 2000 Vigne a Capanno 1998 Four-Course Dinner featuring Basilicata specialties The Tenuta del Portale winery in Basilicata is quickly emerging as one of Southern Italy's most coveted and collectible labels. Led by Filena Ruppi, the wife of famed producer Donato d'Angelo and an acclaimed winemaker in her own right, Tenuta del Portale has been producing single-vineyard Aglianico del Vulture since the late 1990s when she acquired a sizable estate in the region's only DOC. "My wines are intended to convey a message from the past to the future," says Filena. A prime example of her keen awareness of her heritage is the Vigne a Capanno, named after a now obsolete vine-training method whereby the indigenous reeds of Basilicata were used as stakes for the vines (the reeds were used to build a capanno, i.e., a pergola). Since she began growing her own grapes in the late 1990s, she has always used Guyot training for her vines but the reference to the capanno method represents her respect for and homage to the winemakers who came before her. The 1998 is showing beautifully right now: Filena is bringing bottles herself especially for the occasion. And while her traditionally vinified Riserva 2000 is also drinking well right now, she tells us that it certainly has 15-20 years ahead of it. "In the cellar, we treat this wine very traditionally," she says. "The resulting wine is an example of Aglianico's great aging ability and its power." The Aglianico del Vulture appellation (in the northern section of Basilicata, which forms the insole of Italy's boot) is by far one of Southern Italy's most interesting and vibrant. Made from grapes grown in the shadow of the extinct volcano Mt. Vulture (VOOL-too-reh), this wine is considered one of the South's most noble and most coveted. The presence of Aglianico in Basilicata dates back to the era of Greek colonization and by the time the Latin poet Horace was a young man, it was widely cultivated there (many claim, indeed, that his famous line, nunc est bibendum, "now is the time for drinking," is a call to drink Aglianico). The volcanic subsoil of the highlands surrounding Mt. Vulture and the high elevation create the ideal environment for the cultivation of long-lived wines that show minerality and structure.

A dream come true: Sogno Uno is here!!!

Web Exclusive!!! The long-awaited Sogno Uno has finally arrived. The wine, the product of a collaboration between actress Savanna Samson (pictured right) and maverick winemaker Roberto Cipresso, has been the talk of the Italian wine world since it was first introduced a few months ago. Sogno Uno or "Dream One" is Ms. Samson's first foray into the wine world. It is a blend of Cesanese with smaller amounts of Sangiovese and Montepulciano, made from grapes grown in Lazio. The front label reveals an image of Ms. Samson while the back label quotes from the second book of Virgil's Georgics. The passage, one of the work's most famous, describes an offering to Bacchus, god of wine. For those of you who don't read Latin, a translation follows: Grim masks of hollowed bark assume, invoke/Thee with glad hymns, O Bacchus, and to thee/Hang puppet-faces on tall pines to swing./Hence every vineyard teems with mellowing fruit,/Till hollow vale o'erflows, and gorge profound,/Where'er the god hath turned his comely head./Therefore to Bacchus duly will we sing/Meet honour with ancestral hymns, and cates/And dishes bear him; and the doomed goat/Led by the horn shall at the altar stand,/Whose entrails rich on hazel-spits we'll roast. To purchase click here.