Real wines don't spoil within minutes

Ciò che ha detto Mike Tommasi ( snipped-for-privacy@tommasi.org) è così interessante, che devo dire la mia:

A international stalls definitely is worth for such beautiful guys and wines :-) Luk

Precisely. Too many wines are made to impress tasters, rather than to be DRUNK with food. That's why I oppose 'tasting'. It encourages the production of wines that 'taste' good but do not necessarily go well with food. It does not, however, have anything to do with 'breathing'.

The rest of your post was false.

I'm just the opposite. I don't want food to wreck a great wine. I'd rather drink a great wine by itself and not let it get tainted by food.

If I am presented with a mediocre wine that goes well with food.....I guess I'd rather have a beer.

"Uranium Committee" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

No, it is true. I was there and confirm each word. The problem is that Mike is talking about wines that I suppose you never tasted (and I'd like you did).

Luk

Wine by itself? nah.....

I don't know how many Italian wines I have enjoyed, but it is a large number....

I tend to shy away from the 'international style' wines, and stick with the more traditional ones...especially lately. I have enjoyed a good many wines from the south.

Patrigione Notarpanaro Salice Salentino Primitivo Aglianico Vulture Il Falcone Regaleali (Sicily) Monica di Sardegna Cannonou di Sardegna Carignano (Sardegna) Nuragus (Sardegna) Vermentino di Sardegna Velletri Ramitello Morellino di Scansano

etc. etc. etc.

I don't know how many Italian wines I have enjoyed, but it is a large number....

I tend to shy away from the 'international style' wines, and stick with the more traditional ones...especially lately. I have enjoyed a good many wines from the south.

Patriglione Notarpanaro Salice Salentino Primitivo Aglianico Vulture Il Falcone Regaleali (Sicily) Monica di Sardegna Cannonou di Sardegna Carignano (Sardegna) Nuragus (Sardegna) Vermentino di Sardegna Velletri Ramitello Morellino di Scansano

etc. etc. etc.

Luk, non rispondere, questo e' un trollone di quelli che non mollano.

Sorry, just warning Luk about AFW recent history...

Hey Luk, so when are we going to taste that bottle of Liechstenstein sparkling pinot noir that Kurt Wachter gave us last weekend? I know you are the custodian, but I am nervous ;-)))

Ciao

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Ciò che ha detto Mike Tommasi ( snipped-for-privacy@tommasi.org) è così interessante, che devo dire la mia:

Oh, I'm afraid.

eh eh eh you are talking about my treassure?.. Next wine meeting Mike. Moreover it is too yung... Luk

In the original evrsion it was "preciousssss".

Ack!

Vilco

From 'The Wines of Italy' by David Gleave, MW (pp. 25–26)

"Having bought the wine, the knowledge brought to bear in making the decision can be negated simply by serving it on the wrong occasion, too young or too old. too warm or too cold, or with the wrong food. Some wines, both white and red, should be drunk young, while others need to be aged for a number of years before they reach their peak. The factors influencing the length of ageing range from the grape variety and the vintage to the producer.

In Italy today, the tyranny of fashion dictates that white wines should be drunk as young as possible. This means that any wine more than two years old is regarded by most restaurateurs as lacking in freshness. This is idiotic. Many of the best white wines, whether a Pinot Grigio or Tocai from Friuli or a Tuscan Chardonnay, need at least a year to shrug off their youthful awkwardness and to begin to develop some interesting secondary flavours in bottle.

Many of the red wines are also drunk too young. Some, like several of the Super Tuscans, are produced to be drunk young, in restaurants, within three to five years of the vintage, but many others are made to last. Only through experience, or by talking to the person selling the wine, can you hope to distinguish between those wines that are more forward, or those from a lighter vintage, and others that should be tucked away to shed their burly, youthful character.

I, for one, seldom have the patience to wait for the decade or more that these latter wines need. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I like to tackle the powerful fruit to see how it is developing in bottle. In these situations, it is often wise to attempt to accelerate their development once the cork has been drawn. With a young Barolo, for instance, the wine should be opened for a while prior to drinking, anything from four to six or even ten hours, depending on vintage, producer and your preference, and decanted. Decanting wine not only enhances its aesthetic appeal, but also aerates it, allowing it to develop flavours that have been suppressed during its time in bottle. Indeed, I have heard people argue that all wine should be decanted before serving because you, too, would need little time to show off your best if you had been in a bottle for years.

All this preparation will go amiss, however, if the wine is served at the wrong temperature. Too often, even in the best restaurant, red wines are served too warm and white wines too cold. The temperature at which a wine should be served varies greatly, and depends upon its style and age. All Chianti, for instance, should not be served at the same temperature: a young "normale" can be quaffed cool, at a temperature that enhances its fresh, lively fruit; a more mature "riserva", on the other hand, needs to be served at a slightly higher temperature, but not so warm that it becomes soupy and volatile. Quite often, it is necessary to plunge a bottle of red wine into an ice bucket to chill it down, all because of some mistaken interpretation of what constitutes room temperature. In these days of central heating, red wines are often ruined if they are served at actual "room temperature".

If red wines are served too warm, whites are too often chilled beyond all recognition. Light, perfumed wines, like a Moscato d'Asti, should be chilled, but an oaky Chardonnay should seldom be served cooler than a young Chianti. Exact temperatures are impossible to define as they depend not only on where you are and how you feel, but also on what you are eating with the wine.

The character of many Italian wines can be radically altered if served alongside different foods. Italian wines need food to be fully appreciated, but they need the right food; for instance, the neutrality of some whites can actually be enhanced by food, while the acid and tannin of certain reds, like Barolo, can be subdued by the right dish.

To Italians, wine has always been a part of the meal. I have often arrived at a farm in Italy to visit and taste the wine, only to find that a meal had been prepared. To them, the thought of tasting wines without food, outside the context in which they are produced to be enjoyed, is absurd. After politely protesting, I usually manage to taste the wines twice, once prior to the meal and again, much to the detriment of my waistline, during the meal. The difference is often quite remarkable. A wine that seems indifferent without food, like a pleasant enough Soave, can, beside a seafood risotto, reveal its personality and taste brilliantly.

Italy's cooking, like its wine, is essentially regional. To match the cuisine of the Veneto with wines of Piemonte would be to do both a great disservice. The wines of a particular region cannot really be understood without being drunk with the dishes native to that region. A dry Lambrusco as a foil to rich, Emilian cooking is just as valid as a Barolo partnered with hare. Each wine comes into its own alongside such dishes.

The problem, even in Italy, is to find an opportunity, outside the home, where quality wines can be matched with real Italian cooking. No matter how many "trattorie" you come across, each advertising "cucina casalinga", the only time you are likely to find real home cooking is at someone's table. Take advantage of it to see how the wines of the region partner the food. If the flavours of the food are complex and rich, then the wine should be simple and direct; if, however, the food is simple, then it should be served with a wine of complexity, a wine whose lustre will, when set against a plain background, shine all the more brilliantly.

To match wines with specific dishes is always difficult. The English, given a plate of spaghetti, will always say "Now all we need is a bottle of Chianti". Maybe, but so much depends on the sauce. A rich sauce may prove too much for a younger Chianti to compete with; a Dolcetto is likely to be just the thing. The wine for other pasta depends to a great extent on the texture, filling and, of course, the sauce. Generalisations, other than the one that Italian wines need the right food, are difficult to make."