I really enjoy giving educational winetasting classes to people that love and care about wines. This group raises funds for charity as a group of Army families and they use the wine tastings to help raise funds and to enjoy time with each other.
They requested a sparkling tasting so we did six wines, all sparkling, and produced with five different methods of production - Tank, Asti, Pet Nat, Carbonation and Traditional Method. I even sabered a bottle with a wine glass base and the group went wild. It was amazing to pair each wine with a charcuterie tray and the group made fantastic toasts with each round. What a night!!
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If you have not been able to watch Stanley Tucci in his show "Searching for Italy", I highly recommend you find the time to do so. The show will eventually cover all of the 20 Italian regions with a focus on wine, food and culture. Each region is unique and offers superb food and wine that follows the old axiom of "what grows together, goes together". The recipes are generally simple and that is the magic of true Italian cooking. Often, the Italian kitchen is based on meals prepared by the poor for centuries and now enjoyed by everyone. Simple but incredible ingredients that create unforgettable flavors. When La Cucina Italiana released their recipes for the featured foods (so far), I took the effort to create a PDF so that others can share in the brilliance of La Cucina Italiana and their selected recipes of Lazio, Tuscany, Campania and the other Italian regions. Enjoy.
I had a recent opportunity to discuss a Sonoma Coast Royal St. Robert Pinot Noir with the winemakers. These are not your ordinary winemakers and they can easily drop the names of the world’s most famous wine families – Antinori, Gaia. In telling their story to a small group of passionate wine buyers in the Nashville area, Tim and Dante Mondavi graced us with a personal Zoom tasting and discussion of the Royal St. Robert (Named after Robert Mondavi) and their Pritchard Hill brand- Continuum. I was struck by their absolute passion for producing world class wines, their interest in sharing their winemaking philosophy, the quest for quality, and the specific challenges of mountain fruit vs coastline vineyards. First, I want to express a deep thank you to my good friends at Cool Springs Wine and Spirits. They sponsored the event and shared the opportunity with only about 12 people. This included Pete Bothwell, a Master Sommelier, who also graced us with his valuable time and insights. Immagine discussing wine on a Thursday night with a Master Somm and the Mondavi family. WOW At one point, Tim Mondavi told a story of a shared meeting with the Antinori and Gaia Families. He stopped himself as he wanted to get back to answering questions from the group. I interrupted and offered, “Well, if your last name wasn’t Mondavi, I might accuse you of name dropping!!!!”. The comment received a laugh from the group but it was greated more enthusiastically by the father and son. This is just one example of their down-to-earth nature and inclusive approach. Despite the reputation and the impact that Mondavi family has had on American wine (one could argue international), every comment and insight was accompanied with humility, passion and appreciation for those that love their wines. The Mondavi family has been in the winemaking business for 100 years and Tim and Dante stressed the importance of carrying on the family tradition while breaking out into new areas, new wine styles and innovative viticulture. I could not have been more impressed with their passion and interest in pushing the world of wine forward with a complete dedication to expressing terroir and making the best wines that any one location can offer. Tim, Dante, and Pete discussed their wines, decanting, aging, proper storage, glassware and as many topics as the group could mention. It was a comprehensive view of enjoying wine to the fullest and capturing the moment in each glass. With regard to the Pinot Noir, the wine is of outstanding quality and very unique from the normal American Pinot of today. Grown on the cool, ocean-moderated coast of Sonoma County on less than 5 acres, this wine has only 12% alc0hol, high acid, medium body and beautiful red fruit, floral, subtle spice, vanilla and toast. The tannins are extremely well integrated, soft and complimentary to the fruity character of the wine. The wine has a very long finish, wonderful fruit concentration and is a beautiful expression of Pinot Noir. The structure is seamlessly integrated with the intense fruit character. Aromas jump from the glass of this medium ruby wine and the intensity elevates even more on the palate. This is a high acid, low alcohol, superbly balanced Pinot Noir that is more than just an excursion into the deep pool of Mondavi family brands. This wine is outstanding on every level and worth the time and effort to find it. I am honored to have participated and this wine goes on the list of go-to wines for special events. I chose to store the Continuum for the future and will write about it sometime. Ciao Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, Tourism to Italy and to San Gimignano has been dramatically reduced and we have a surplus of wine. Our objective is to increase sales while also opening up opportunities for future brand awareness and to attract new customers in the US market.
We contacted our US importer and devised a collaborative marketing event to offer a limited availability wine for on-line sales. PRODUCT: Our effort is focused on amplifying the experience of our wine as we offer a product that expresses the unique terroir and history of San Gimignano area. Our wine reflects this heritage as it is called, “Tante Torri” – many towers and we express this link in our advertisement on the website. We chose this branding to include DOCG production and a tie to history, tradition and a sense of place and experience with our wine. It works well locally and in international markets and the name and label have been effective in drawing in tourists, locals and international buyers. We are a well-known grape varietal and do not have to focus on explaining what we are but must be unique in some sense. Our focus on small, production, hand harvested, higher altitude hillsides with a specific tie to San Gimignano is a strong reason behind our brand approach. For the US market, we add organic farming to the promotion as it is a current trend (consumer preference) in that market. We use an exclusive importer that specializes with small, quality producers and interacts with several market sectors, primarily Experienced Explorers, Millennial Treaters, Premium Brand Suburbans and Bargain Hunters that look for high value deals of mid-priced to premium brands. We have a strong product of high quality and competitive pricing and are using a well-established importer with a well-known on-line market. This company is so well known for their selection of high-quality international wines that they have become a key opinion leader in the US market. Additionally, There is a renewed market trend in the US for consumers to buy limited edition wines and wine/liquor sales are substantially above normal for this time of year. We decided to use this avenue as an opportunity due to the unforeseen threat to the market with the COVID19 pandemic. PRICE - we are offering a very competitive price for a wine of this quality with limited availability and on-line only. (more below) PEOPLE – we target the experienced explorers and Bargain Hunters that are looking for unique, limited wines that express a specific terroir. We coordinated with the importer/on-line sales department to devise this offer with a price point just below competing wines in their inventory. Since we are in the US – the wines are available only with pickup or by forwarding to a third-party retailer/shipper. Those details are on the (imaginary) website. We are pleased to be able to rely on the established system of our imaginary partner and the experience staff, website designers, and PR staff. We are pleased that they have also established a third party retailer that handles the shipping from their warehouse location. They assisted us in identifying the price point and the market segments to focus our limited offer. PLACE: As stated, we are focused on using a mature market and mature market system to promote our wine in this instance and the partner/importer routinely sells to their established buyers with on-line advertisement, daily emails and reminders to their consumer base. They use on-line analytics to focus on certain segments of their consumer market at first and broaden the marketing outreach later if wine remains in inventory. Initially, they focus on customers with a known interest in Italian wines. PROMOTION – we focus on limited availability and our unique wine experience in our promotion. Since we do not control the third-party retailer/shipper – we cannot offer free shipping or additional promotion. Chateau Montelena
What's the producer's history? "Chateau Montelena's rich history began on a chilly fall morning when Alfred L. Tubbs spaded over and inspected the soil where he thought of planting estate vineyards. He had heard the Napa Valley was the best place to grow grapes in California. A deal was struck, and in January of 1882 the San Francisco entrepreneur owned 254 acres of rugged land just two miles north of Calistoga at the base of Mount Saint Helena. The soils are well drained, stony and loose - perfect for the vines he would plant." Mr. Tubbs planted and then built the still standing Chateau in 1886. The winery was originally named ant AL Tubbs Winery and was the seventh largest in Napa Valley. Everything stopped during prohibition after the Volstead Act of 1919 and a return to winemaking was slow. Alfred’s grandson, Chaplin Tubbs continued the venture and named the winery Chateau Montelena in 1940. After his death in 1947, winemaking stopped until the 1970’s when Jim Barrett cleared the vineyards, replanted and outfitted the winery with modern equipment. Barrett brought in the most talented team he could find and made wine again in 1972. "In 1976 Chateau Montelena helped put California at the forefront of the wine world. That year a who's-who of the French wine and food establishment gathered for a grand tasting at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Paris." The contest included 4 white Burgundies and 6 California Chardonnays and the Chateau Montelena 1973 Chardonnay was rated the highest by the all French judges. This was a significant pivot point for Napa and American wines, proving to the world that some of the finest wines were being made in Napa and that the American Wine industry was ready for the world stage. Where are the grapes grown? CHATEAU MONTELENA grows their grapes on a very unique property with a wide diversity of slopes, aspects and soil types. They use this diversity to blend wines into complex layers of flavors. The vineyards has steeper terrain at the top of the hillsides and they gently slope down to a flatter area with sedimentary soils that were originally deposited by ancient lakes. The vineyard extends toward Napa valley on alluvial soils, the most common on the property. On the back side of the property, volcanic soils, formed by ancient lava flows and tectonic shifting create outstanding soils for rich and full bodied cabernet sauvignon. They also grow old-vine zinfandel in both the volcanic and alluvial plots to produce a rich and spicy wine. The centerpiece wine of CHATEAU MONTELENA remains the Chardonnay but the grapes are not cultivated on the property. CHATEAU MONTELENA sources their Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes from other areas of Napa and Sonoma county. The wine is labeled as Napa Valley Chardonnay, allowing them to blend from multiple sites in the valley. The 1973 Chardonnay grapes were grown in Sonoma. What is the vineyard like? “Chateau Montelena Winery has been a pioneer in sustainability for over 40 years. In short, we were green before being green was trendy. When the Barretts revived Montelena in the early 1970s, it was during the time of the hippies’ ‘back to the land’ movement and the words we used then were ‘Environmentalism’ and so forth." - Bo Barrett, CEO In producing their Estate Cabs and Zins, they deploy sustainable farming practices and are Napa Green Certified. They believe that it supports their goal of producing the best wines and overall excellence in farming, viticulture and winemaking. This includes full use of solar power which was installed in 2007 and provides all renewable power for vineyard and winery operations. They integrate their vineyards into a wonderful and beautiful property for tours and to promote fish health in the local waters. They are famous for the lake initially created in the 1950’s and christened, Jade Lake. Their dedication to sustainable farming extends to assuring limited chemical use and providing voluntary, self-directed compliance with California standards for water quality. This allows Fish Friendly Farming in lands adjacent to the vineyards. The CHATEAU MONTELENA philosophy of winemaking starts in the vineyard with healthy soils and their focus on sustainable farming increases balance in the grapes and wines. An example is the release of ladybugs and the use of cover crops to combat spider mites and other destructive pests. Their vineyards are relatively low-yielding on rocky soils and they use green harvest and crop thinning to focus on quality rather than high yield. They actively monitor and control the canopy during the season to promote air circulation and avoid fungal diseases. They grapes are all hand harvested with an experienced local crew and picked at night to protect from oxidation. How is the wine made and is there any particular philosophy behind the winemaking? "The most important thing in winemaking is balance; from the technical aspect it is the strength of the triangle: balance of art, farming and science to make consistently great wines" The CHATEAU MONTELENA winemaking philosophy is to create wines that express the natural fruit characters in the grapes. They employ modern crushing, destemming and pressing equipment to minimize pressure and create a more gentle, less oxidative process. They use computer controlled, stainless steel tanks to control fermentation temperatures for their range of red and white wine offerings. They generally ferment at lower temperature ranges for a given varietal with slow and steady fermentations until transferring the wine to age in French Oak barrels. They use a combination of size, shape and age of oak, depending on the wine and to limit oak flavors. They often blend, bottle and age before release to assure a drinkable wine with age worthiness. The wines are matured in oak and in bottle in caves on the property which maintain high humidity and low temperature throughout the year. Then, if you can, make suggestions for how this brand story might be conveyed in a particular marketing campaign. CHATEAU MONTELENA relies on their history as a major element of their brand. Movies, books and historical references all point to the 1976 Paris Tasting as the most important moment in Napa (and perhaps American) wine history. They are very proud of the entire history of the winery and vineyard (including the grounds, the gardens, Jade Lake and the Chateau. While all these contribute to the brand, the 1973 Chardonnay award is the most fundamental part of their brand and they use it strongly in all business promotion activities. CHATEAU MONTELENA has also moved strongly to sustainable farming and this has become an important part of their brand. Their website covers several aspects of this and describes their dedication to sustainable farming well beyond the wine to the land, the fish-friendly approach and the use of full sustainable energy usage. An interesting part of their approach is to rely on the Chardonnay so heavily even though the grapes are not grown there. Their estate wines are only Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel and they have been slowly working to expand interest in their estate wines. When visiting the winery, the 1976 tasting wine is a centerpiece of the visit but the tasting focus is on the reds and red blends. They leverage their history and attempt to bring it forward into their modern approach. In any marketing campaign, CHATEAU MONTELENA will likely combine several aspects of their brand to promote the experience of their wine. For example, if they are promoting their estate zinfandel line, they will:
Note: all italicized text is from the official Chateau Montelena website. Going to Barolo, one of the most iconic and beautiful wine regions of the world, is good enough for anyone interested in wine, vineyards, history, food and beautiful sites. For me, the time I spent in the area was highlighted by Stefano and Elisabetta at La Vite Turchese. This enoteca was recommended to me by just about anyone I met in the area and it is easy to understand after just a few minutes in the place. First of all, Stefano is one of the most intelligent, informed and creative wine people I have ever met. He fundamentally knows every wine in his vast inventory and was my gracious host on at least 3 occasions. He tolerated my Italian even though I was speaking rather well at that point and he spent enormous amounts of time with each and every client. As he walked in to meet me the first time, Elisabetta told him, in a very nice tone, that I spoke Italian quite well so there we were - speaking of wine in Italian, sharing some of the best Italian and French wines of the world and arranging shipments home. They have a giant tank of inert gas feeding their Coravin so that they waste nothing but allow each and ever customer to taste any wine in their chambers (other than sparkling). They present maps of the Italian regions, discussing the soil types, microclimates and winemaking techniques and laws for each. Every wine had depth, interest and structure. Every wine was perfect for the food it was intended to blend with. On one visit, we mad a menu and then matched wines for the foods we listed. The experience was just unforgettable. On another visit, the table next to me had two Americans from Las Vegas. As I broke into English with them, they were just shocked by the transition but Stefano walked in and spoke perfectly with them as well. The table next to them was German - no problem. This place handles it all. The Americans were just stunned with the wines and we all must have stayed, chatted and tasted for at least 2 hours. Italian with Stefano, English with the Americans, great wines - WOW. Two days after my first visit, a friend in Alba, Emiliano, suggested to me that I go to La Vite Turchese and meet Stefano. I informed him that I already had and we laughed at the small world. I went again the next day and several more times during my trip. Needless to say, I have stayed in tough with Stefano and I cannot wait to visit him again. I gladly claim it as the best Enoteca that I have ever visited. https://laviteturchese.it Visit their website to know more.... WSET Diploma is really fun but also not for the faint hearted. The level of intensity is high and it requires time every day to read, study, apply the knowledge, answer the questions, work with a team and TASTE WINE. I don't use flash cards often and prefer to make pictures and write notes on tracing paper that I then carry around with me for a few weeks or months to repeat and repeat the important knowledge. There is always going back to the book to read each section 3 or 4 times and capture more depth each time. A few pictures of my notes below as well as the rather large book of the 95 or so pages I created in about a week...
Today, I started the long process towards WSET Diploma - A 2-3 year effort to obtain one of the highest levels of wine certification available. Before I headed out on this challenge, I decided to pursue the American Wine Expert and Napa Valley Expert certifications. American Wine Expert was a fantastic course and certification and I was thrilled to pass that exam about a two weeks ago and I am waiting to receive my certificate any day now. Napa Valley Wine Expert was very different from the other 5 certifications that I achieved in the last 13 months. The course and test were on-line and I received immediate notification of passing. The downloadable certificate is already on the wall next to my certificate for Italian Wine Professional. All of these coursed offer something unique in the world of wine and Napa Valley was no different. Prohibition with the 18th Amendment (reversed with the 21st Amendment) nearly killed the wine business of the United States and left Napa with very few pioneers. Robert Mondavi opened his winery in 1966 and Napa has essentially had a half-century to develop into one of the leading wine regions of the world. Four major pivot points have brought a unique culture to Napa wine. Varietal labeling rather than the location driven labeling of Europe opened a different path for American and Napa wines and it is something we think little of today but represents a break from World tradition. The 1976 Paris Tasting put Napa wine ahead or at least on par with French wines and immediately showed the potential of the area. Napa was on the map and has never looked back. White Zinfandel - a white or rather pink wine made from a black grape opened a huge wine market in the United States and leads wine sales in the United States even today. The French Paradox - an episode of 60 minutes showed the health benefits of red wine and the investment in high quality (and high priced) wines took off. Any way you look at it, Napa is a center of innovation and continues to evolve. The over 600 wineries range from traditional to experimental, contain art museums, work with various levels of technology, and manage their vineyards with ever advancing organic methods. There is no singular approach to Napa wine and this course reminded me of the great history and recent innovations that allow the artists of Napa to express the terror and the fruit in diverse and beautiful ways. Napa Valley Wine Expert was a short side trip on my longer voyage in the wine studies world but definitely one worth taking. Enjoy some Napa wine today and consider taking this course. I am proud that I did. Sora Margherita is a very small, very good restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto of Rome. In my opinion, Sora Margherita is one of the best restaurants of Rome and has given me several of my favorite restaurant moments. The restaurant can only hold about 30 - 40 people and they serve two sittings each night. A favorite for the local Romans, a tourist needs to speak Italian and a reservation is a must. The restaurant is so small that the house-made pasta is rolled out every morning on the tables in the main area – the kitchen is just too small to get everything everything else done at the same time. From the outside, Sora does not look like a restaurant and most would walk by never suspecting anything is going on inside. There are beads blocking the front door and recycling bins nearby. Make no mistake though – this is an incredible place to eat with a focus on traditional Italian and Roman food. The deep fried artichoke (only available when they are in harvest) is a Roman treasure and there is simply nothing like it. A wonderful way to start a meal as it is served on a simple plate on a bit of paper. You can order something else off of the handwritten menu but it is better to let the staff help with the daily specials and their suggestions. On our second trip to Rome, the hotel concierge informed me – to my great pleasure – that I was speaking Italian well enough that we could have dinner at Sora Margherita. Marco made it clear that I needed to only speak Italian when we entered the door and that we would enjoy a truly great meal. I did and we did. The waitress offered five daily plates for us to enjoy with a local wine. Every single aspect of the food was absolutely amazing. They placed us in the back corner of the room with my back to the wall. I handled all the communication as my wife and son had no Italian at their disposal. The waitress recognized this immediately. She played a game with my family, teasing them with, “Eat… You must Eat”, as she tapped her finger on the table. She would smile at me, wink and walk away as my wife jumped back into the plate of the moment. Everything about the meal was incredible but the thing that stayed with us from that moment and to this day was the meatballs. Oh my God – the meatballs. The flavor was so intense, they were so tender as to be impossible, and the sauce flavors lasted five minutes with each bite. All we could do was look at each other with amazement of what we were eating. I offered compliments to the chef and was told the 90 year old mother knows of what she does. She certainly does. For two years we referred to Sora Margherita as the best meal of our lives. Two years later and and my wife and I were back in Rome. Marco was still the hotel concierge (and one incredibly good looking man, according to every woman in the hotel – yes, even my wife). This time I told Marco we were going back to Sora and he arranged the taxi. We arrived to the nondescript door to see the owner struggling with two young women and the more-than-apparent language barrier between them. I don’t look at all Italian and the man looked at me with complete anticipation that I would add to his distress. Instead, I broke into italian and the man smiled. He asked if I spoke english and whether these two Romanian women could sit with us for the evening. We gladly agreed and we were positioned at the perfect table to watch the Americans in the corner receiving the same treatment we had only two years earlier. A perfect meal, complete joy on their faces, and the same waitress playing the same game. I don’t know her name and she noticed me looking at her as she walked by our table. She appeared annoyed so I found the picture of my wife with her from our previous visit. I offered to show her something – and presented her my cell phone. She grabbed it from my hand and ran through the restaurant showing the picture to others. “Look how beautiful”, she said. She ran back to the table, looked my wife in the eye and spoke to her in Italian. As only my wife can do, she smiled back and said in a disarming way but also completely unrelated to the topic, “I would like the recipe for your meatballs. Can we have the recipe for the meatballs?” Now I had two women speaking in different languages and having no idea what each other was saying. The waitress looked at me and I translated. A bit confused, she laughed and walked away. Within a few moments, she was back. Looked me straight in the eyes and now surrounded by other staff and asked if I was ready. I replied yes and she began to tell me the recipe. As she was describing every ingredient and every step in the process, Betsy continued to ask, “Are you getting this? Are you getting this?” I asked a few questions along the way but did indeed get the wonderful gift of the Sora Margherita Polpette recipe. Most of my questions dealt with the ingredients as Italian pork, eggs and milk, for example, are quite different from American equivalents. We said our goodbyes, hugged and kissed and off we went. It required about 3 attempts before I approached the flavor and consistency of the Sora Margherita Polpette but they are a bit famous now with our friends. Most people say they are the best meatballs they have ever tasted and I give Sora Margherita and their great people all the credit.. BTW - I later learned – in a conversation in Italian language class – that Sora is a Roman word for sister. I had no idea.
If you downloaded the Italian Adventure Blog you may have noticed the picture above on the front cover. This is the page from Massimo Bottura's book that he signed for me in Italian. The video below is Massimo with my brother Paul as he signed the book. He claimed it was the first time he had been asked to sign a book in Italian while in the United States. True or not - I was thrilled. I had spoken of Massimo many times and watched several videos just a few weeks earlier. When Paul called me to say Massimo was in Denver for a book signing, I insisted that he try and get it signed in Italian for me. Needless to say, it was my motivation for my Italian Adventure and it hangs on my way for daily encouragement. During my adventure, I traveled to Modena just to see Osteria Francescana... Massimo was there but I did not see him. I loitered around the outside of the Number 1 ristorante in the world, taking pictures of people by the front door. I cannot wait to eat his food some day and I continue to learn from him as I can. Massimo has a wonderful class on the MasterClass website and it has fundamentally changed the way I cook. Some pictures from Modena are below (Massimo drives the white car) as well as his MasterClass cookbook. Enjoy! Meeting Massimo - See my post on Osteria Francescana to see how I finally met Massimo and had the distinct pleasure of eating at the best restaurant in the world... With Betsy, of course...
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Dennis SmithHome Chef and Wine Snob Archives
October 2021
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