On vacation.

I will be beack soon with even more wine news and facts.

Cheers!

(this is a follow-up from a previous post I wrote a few weeks’ ago…)

My last glass of Italian wine shall be taken beside a beach. The sea will be wide and blue, waves flowing in and out gently.

The waves are listening.

The sand on which I sit will be fine - made pink from tiny crystallized shells that in their death, left a beautiful visual legacy.

Rocking chairs are not allowed on the beach. But I am defiant. I rock in my chair, naked, the sand giving way, welcoming the curved tattoos the chair makes. When the moon seduces the waves to sway to shore with more vigour, the waves will taste the curved imprint left hours ago.

My wine glass shall be made out of rainbow thread, dashed hopes and recycled dreams.

A sea lion shall waddle onto shore and pop a purple oyster into my glass.

I’ll smile.

A mermaid shall follow with a bottle of wine made from 700 Sangiovese grapes. Looking happy, but looking sad (for me), she will fill my glass, kiss me on the fingertip, then go back to sea with the sea lion. A couple madly in love.

I am alone.

But I am not lonely.

I need no-one for company.

Nature is enough. Almost.

For every sip I take, I shall look out to sea for reassurance.

For every sip I take, I shall pour one drop onto the pink sand.

Until there are no sips left to be had.

I shall place my finger in the glass and lick the remnants of Italy.

The glass belongs to the sea now.

The glass belongs to the sea.

When the moon seduces the waves to sway to shore with more vigour, the waves will taste the curved imprint left hours ago.

(img by: jurvetson)

Well, that’s what a top hotel in Rome is offering. Yes. The St Regis Grand hotel. Yes. £10,000.

I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t getting the zeros mixed up.

The tour includes a helicopter ride to Bolgheri to explore the vineyards and cellars where Ornellaia wine is produced; a trip to the mansion where Brunello wine is made as well as lunch and exclusive wine-tasting in both areas, some which haven’t been tasted by the public before.

Erm, ok. Does that include hotel accommodation as well? Or is that separate?

I wouldn’t spend £10k on a wine tour - no way - no matter how exclusive it was, not even if they served me wine with sediments made out of gold floating at the bottom of the bottle. (though if they threw in a night with George Clooney, thick walls and copious amounts of tiramisu and Sangiovese wine, I might be tempted. Possibly.)

I don’t have the money, anyway …and if I did, I’d hope a good friend would talk some sense into me (or whoop me upside the head) if I ever decided to whip out that amount for a wine tour. Don’t get me wrong, I like Italian wine, I’m interested in its history and the names sound so beautiful to me, but would I spend that much on a tour?

No.

Would you?

My father is an ex-accountant, so maybe it’s that side of my genes talking. Also, mild-to-heavy sarcasm is my way of addressing situations I deem to be utterly frivolous and ridiculous, so pay me no mind. If you can afford the tour, then good for you, go for it. Bring me back a souvenir, like a grape or something.

Ciao!

(img by: luismi1985)

There’s a new film coming out very soon (Aug 6^th) called Bottle Shock. Based on a true story, it’s about the lives of two men involved in the wine business striving to become successful at what they do. One is an ex real estate lawyer turned winemaker, lives in California, and is trying to perfect the art of making Chardonnay – while the other is a British man who owns a wine shop in Paris.

The film is also about relationships as the California-based winemaker struggles with his relationship with his son who doesn’t seem to be pulling his weight. He also has the added pressure of creditors breathing down his neck.

The wine shop owner in Paris, in an attempt to revive his business, decides to hold a competition between French wines and Californian wines (known as ‘The Judgment of Paris tasting’).

Back then (in 1976), Californian wines were just finding their feet and weren’t on the map whilst French wines were a lot more established. There was no comparison. French wines were going to win hands down. You can’t run with the big boys.

Or so they thought.

The Californian wine maker won the competition!

The film, Bottle Shock, portrays the events leading up to this competition.

Unfortunately, it’s only showing in the US which is a real shame. A real shame. A lot of people would have enjoyed watching it. Maybe it’s due for wider distribution in the future or perhaps it’ll go straight to DVD in other countries, but whatever happens, I want a copy!

I do hope the script’s well written and the film’s well directed and produced. There’s no greater sin than a fascinating true story that makes a weak transition into film.

The trailer’s available on the site. I’m gonna go watch it now. Care to join me? You bring the wine, I’ll bring the popcorn!

Ciao!

(img by: shodan)

I had the Sicilian Sangiovese. It was a beautiful experience. Such that it left angels speechless…

…and Bacchus patted my head affectionately, with a Humphrey Bogart accent, saying ‘you done good, kid. You done good’.

You should have been there. But then I would have had to share. And I was already sharing it between two members of the family.

I didn’t give into temptation in the wee hours of the morning as mentioned in the previous post. I just let the wine be (reluctantly) until my brother-in-law was ready to open it.

I had some again this afternoon while I worked on the computer. Only a bit. But I got a bit light-headed. Should have checked the alcohol content. All I know is that I opened the fridge and before I knew it, I was pouring myself some.

I like the colour of Sangiovese wine – it’s a deep rich red. I think that’s one thing red wine has over white wine. The visual appeal.

This one tasted a bit dry, but it also had a certain level of sweetness that rounded it off quite nicely. If it was part of a sentence, it would be an ellipsis (dot, dot, dot) rather than an abrupt and final full stop.

It’s my wine of choice at the moment …until my tongue elopes with another vintage. I really like it.

As I’m into the meaning of names, I thought I’d find out more about what the name ‘Sangiovese’ actually means.

‘Sangiovese’ is derived from the Latin word ‘sanguis Jovis’ which means ‘the blood of Jove’. Jove (or Jupiter) is a deity prevalent in Roman mythology. He was the god of gods, so to speak (similar to Zeus in Greek mythology).

The weekend’s winding its merry way round. I do hope you have a good one.

Ciao!

(img by: booleansplit)

There’s a bottle of Spanish Cabernet on my brother-in-law’s worktop – opened.

There’s a bottle of Sicilian Sangiovese on the wine rack – unopened. I cannot open it ‘til the Cabernet’s finished. Those are the rules in the household.

There’s less than half of the Cabernet left. It’s almost 2am and I’m thinking of putting it out of its misery to speed up the process of moving on to the Sangiovese.

There are two problems though:

1) my brother-in-law: he’s still in his prime in the memory department – he’ll remember just how much was left.

I could always tell him the rat drank it. Or the tooth fairy.

2) There’s another bottle of unopened Cabernet on the rack so there’s no guarantee that the Sangiovese will be the next one to be popped open (even though you’d think he’d have had enough of the Cabernet after the first bottle).

So, what do I do, dear reader? Down the rest of the Cabernet and hide the other one? Then when my brother-in-law wakes up, upon discovering two of his bottles have ‘mysteriously’ disappeared, he’ll be so distraught that he’ll want to console himself with the Sangiovese.

Sounds like a plan?

No?

Ok, how about I just drink the bloody Sangiovese? What’s the worse that could happen? Pound-for-pound, I’m bigger than the guy so he couldn’t possibly wrestle me to the ground! (not in front of the children anyway, so if I go everywhere the kids go, I’ll be just fine).

It’s not as if I won’t share it with him once I open it, though. I’ll only have a glass. Or two.

Make it three. And a quarter.

I’m quite sad, aren’t I?

It’s ok, you can say it!

Don’t judge me – just admire my courage …and my complete lack of willpower!

Ciao!

(img by: lngorrr)

I said it before and I’ll say it again (even if you’re growing tired of me saying it), I LOVE THE INTERNET! It has its fair share of drama, but when you come across a site that’s dedicated to unusual wine labels, then you’ve got to appreciate the smile it puts on your face. God bless you, Peter F May – you’ve made my day (or should I say: my very early hour of the morning)!

I know there’s a Chilean Sauvignon called ‘Monkey Puzzle’, but I never knew there was a Sauvignon Blanc called (wait for it) ‘Cat’s Pee on a Mulberry Bush’, or a Chardonnay called ‘Fat Bastard’!

Not exactly the kind of wine label I’d like to get my mum for her birthday as the humour would be lost on her - she’d probably think I was insulting her, then I’d have to get another bottle of wine (clean label this time) by way of apology.

I’d very gladly receive such a gift myself, even if it went as far as sporting the F word! I’d probably be more offended if the wine tasted awful.

I already know about ‘Est!, Est!, Est!’ - an unusual Italian-wine label with a rather interesting historical build-up to the name.

According to Peter’s site, there’s also an Italian wine called ‘The Full Monte-pulciano’!, and a Sicilian one called ‘Flying Pig’ (the makers believe there’s a better chance of seeing a flying pig than getting another bottle of wine like theirs at that quality).

There are other weird and wonderful labels like the French ‘Frog’s Piss’ (I kid you not) and the Spanish wine ‘Scraping the Barrel’ (very clever use of a well-known cliché) as well as one called ‘The Unpronounceable Grape’ from Hungary.

I’m all smiles! You?

Ciao!

(img by: apdk)

Wow, I really didn’t know such an event existed. There are quite a few blogging conferences out there, but one strictly for wine bloggers is a fabulous idea!

The first ever European Wine Bloggers Conference will take place in sunny Spain (Logrono) from August 29th-31st. The main focus of the event is to discuss the influence wine blogging has had on the wine industry and its consumers. Within that, topics covered will include discussions about wine rating, wine blog writing and monetisation.

Blogging is a force to be reckoned with. It’s a conversational way of reaching & connecting with people. Advertisers know this which is why they’re willing to pay bloggers to review their products.

My guess would be that wine blogging has had an influence on the wine industry. It’s just a matter of determining just how much of an influence it has had. Once that’s established, then the wine blogging niche will be an even greater force to be reckoned with (because the more you’re aware of your power, the more adept you become at using it).

There’ll be about 30-40 wine bloggers this time round, but who’s to say there won’t be more next year? For this year, and with it being the first one, it does seem like more than enough bloggers to be getting on with.

There’ll, of course, be a lot of wine tasting! (as well as a tour of some of the local wineries). Every blogger is encouraged to bring along wine from their region or the wine that’s focused on the most on their blog.

Some of the participants at the event will include author of the Wine Anorak blog (Jamie Goode), author of La Gramiere (Amy Lillard) and Able Grape author, Doug Cook.

For more details, visit http://ewbc2008.wineblogger.info/about/

Ciao!

(img by: Daquella Manera)

I’m a bit of a quirky eater. I like to play with my food – call me an earthy food scientist, if you may!

These are just ideas I want to share (involving Italian wine). Some might work and some might not. Who cares?! Let’s be big kids and take our tongues through a culinary playground.

Ok, so here are the ideas:

1) Do you like jelly? Well, while preparing it, why not add some sliced-up strawberries, add a bit of black pepper, pour in a bit of Italian wine for an extra kick and leave it in the fridge to set.

2) Sweet Wine and Coffee porridge: Yes, the everyday oat porridge you get in supermarkets! I’ve tried making sweet coffee porridge before and I found it to be a deliciously low-fat way of enjoying dessert. It tastes like rice pudding but, well, without the rice! So I see no reason why it can’t be jazzed up with some sweet Italian dessert wine (like Marsala wine, for instance). Add the wine last so it doesn’t burn off. While you’re making the porridge, you could also squash some really ripe bananas into it. I suspect that with the alcohol added, it might taste better cold (with some single or double cream poured over it and a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg sprinkled over. Mmmm.)

3) Soak some bread in some strong fragrant Italian wine and vanilla pods overnight. Take the bread out carefully and leave to dry. Add a bit of almond oil and toast it. Use as toppings for vanilla or strawberry ice creams or yogurts.

I plan to try these ideas out over the next couple of weeks and post feedback about how it went. I’m not too worried about it falling flat on its face. Maybe the Italian wine I choose to use might not be forgiving, but I’m looking forward to experimenting.

You can join me if you like! Tweak the recipe as you see fit and comment on how it turned out for you.

Ciao!

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Now, some of you might already know some, if not all, of the tips below, so feel free to skip this post, but not before contributing your own tips if you so wish (as they are most welcome. I’m not a wine expert myself and so I’m open to learning new tips ).

WHAT I KNOW…

1) the bottles should be stored in a dark place, the kind of dark spaces ghosts and vampires would love!

2) the space you store the wine in should have a room temperature of between 40°F-55°F at a humidity of no higher than 70%.

3) keep them away from vibrations (i.e. the fridge, the washing machine). I don’t know exactly why but my guess is that any vibrations would unsettle the sediments in the wine thereby affecting the overall taste of it over time.

4) same thing goes for heat and sunlight. Keep them away from those. The sun likes to drink wine and will suck the flavour out of it, leaving you with a wine that’s a shadow of its former glory.

5) bottles like to sleep like babies so store them on their sides to keep their corks nice and wet. This stops air from being absorbed through the cork. (If the cork dries out, it shrinks and lets the air in, you see).

6) wines are like water, they sometimes absorb smells too. The last thing you want is garlic-flavoured Chianti! (though chocolate-flavoured Chianti doesn’t sound too bad! I could live with that! Wouldn’t take much to persuade me!)

7) Stored red wine will keep for 4 to10 years and white wine for 2 to 3 years.

Like I said, any tips you might have, feel free to contribute via a comment. Let’s share what we know.

Ciao.

(img by: cappellmeister)