ANA Discussion Forum
AN Community => AN Community => Topic started by: ppearl214 on June 20, 2008, 07:19:53 pm
-
Carried over from AN Issues/Blood Pressure thread. Have fun all!
Phyl
-
Hi all-
I see you startedthe wine pary without me! I don't know that much about wine, but I like to drink it! Did I hear it can cure ANs? What a great excuse... er I mean reason to have a bottle... oops, I mean a glass of wine.
Lori, are you and James doing garage surgery while you're sharing a bottle of wine or using it as anesthiesia? Since you mentioned he didn't use any anesthesia before, maybe this is the answer to the problem. Just liquor the paitents up until they can't feel anything. They won't know if their heads hurt from the surgery or if it's a hangover. You can be like real doctors and just say "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."
Debbi - There you are, right in the thick of things as usual! Don't forget to same a glass of wine for me!
Jan - First tattoos, now drinking too? Good to know you're my kind of person (well, I'm still not sure about the tattoo, but drinking sounds good!)
Wendy
-
So this is where the wine and grog went. Sneaky how you do that stuff, Phyl. Especially since you're on leave ashore ;).
-
Wendy -
truth be told, I probably drank more before I was legal than after ;) - which in my case translates into not drinking a whole lot for many, many years now :D
I'm glad that Phyl gave us all the option of either wining or whining - that way when we get off topic (like we usually do) she won't have to move us again ;D
Jan
-
I think the wine lured her back to the fold, temporarily.
Anyway, just to prove the point I started with: my readings have been in the 150s / 100 or so. Last couple of days I had a glass of wine with meals, and hey presto, my BP was down to 129/78. If that doesn't prove the beneficial properties of a good Chianti / Cab Franc / Petite Syrah / plonk, then I don't know what does!
Oh, sorry. I should have posted this on the BP thread... oooops. It's the wine.
Going to go and investigate a new wine shop up the road here and see what they have from the west coast. Porbably the usual suspects from CA. sigh.
Morning all! (for me it is anyway)
Ciao, Lorenzo :)
-
I didn't really drink much at all when everyone else was partying up when they weren't legal - I was a good little church girl (my crazy friend now, vicki, couldn't stand me in high school b/c I was too goody-goody!!). I am not some wild Bohemian now, but do enjoy a glass of wine new & then!! Never got to open one tonight... :-[
K
-
small glass a day with meals is just perfect. complements the food nicely! Even my docotr suggested I should drink a small amount of wine to help with my BP! It's good for us!!! :) When I think back at the stuff we used to drink when we were students... yikes. Eurk. :P
-
Lorenzo,
Glad to hear the wine helped yor BP. Mine is okay, but maybe I'll have some as a preventive measure. Sounds like a good excuse anyway, doesn't it?
Jan - I know what you mean, and I was really just kidding you! In my younger more carefree days I actually partook of alcohol spriits more frequentlyl. Maybe that's what made me feel so much more carefree. Hmm...another reason for a glass of wine! It just keeps getting easier to come up with reasons to celebrate!!
Wendy
-
I always listen to my doc (well, nearly), and if he says drink some small amount of wine, who am I to question his wisdom? It's all about health and taste. Just like dark chocolate lowers cholesterol, or can, apparently. But that's for another thread I think. Or maybe not.
Right now I'm planning today's wine choice. Not sure yet, probably a toss between south of france and south of italy. Feel like robust flavours.
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
I remember as a kid they drilled into us the 5 major food groups and fruit was one of them. A grape is a fruit and wine is only grape juice. So every one told me I should drink
wine, teachers, doctors, parents, and even TV commercials. Wine must be good for you.
Lorenzo I live 40 kilometers NE of Ramstein only 6 kilometers from the start of the Deutche Wine Strasse (German Wine Street)
Dan in Germany
-
See? Wine IS good for us, in moderation, of course. I agree, it's just fruit juice.
Ramstein. Ok, don't know it, but the closest I've come to live near there is Starsbourg in France. Don't know that part of Germany at all in fact. Weinland! Good reason to visit there! I'll collect the wine from there myself so! :)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Lorenzo,
My taste buds have change so much since I've had surgery. Last night while I was frying a variety of mushrooms for the roast, I opened a bottle of Louie's Petite Syrah. I always add wine to the mushrooms. You know with fresh garlic, fresh parsley from the garden and a bit a butter, the wine just adds another depth of flavour. I smelled the wine and decided to taste it. I poured myself a glass.............yummy. It was nice and light in colour and very light on taste. I was really impressed, remember I like white wine, so this was a pleasant surprise for me!!! Louie came into the kitchen and almost dropped seeing me drink red wine.
I enjoyed one glass slightly before dinner and during dinner, and one glass after dinner. Now Louie made this wine from grapes, not juice. He has really mastered the art of wine making. I think I will be kissing the sweet stuff good bye. When he starts to make the wine in the fall, I'll post pictures, its quite the operation he's got going on here. Mind you for about 4-6 weeks my house smells like a wino's delight!! :P
Salute,
Anne Marie
-
Yardtick,
Never mind photos, I think I'll just come over and document the entire thing and take part in it too. Produce a book on the original garage wine operation. :) Sounds wonderful. I'd love to see images of that!!! Hoembrew... lovely.
Glad you're getting to enjoy red wine now! Great!! Much better than sweet stuff. :)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Good idea on the personal, up close supervision, Lorenzo!
The whole wine making process fascinates me. For my birthday this year, my husband paid my "tuition" to a wine making school at a local vineyard (hey, no jokes about NJ wine, we all know if's pretty bad.) This vineyard actually imports grapes from Chile and California. They are starting the Chilean wines now, so I am planning to head out to the vineyard in the next few weeks for the pressing (I missed the crushing as it occured when I was in the hopsital). I'm planning to take tons of pictures and learn as much as possible.
So, you all now my favorite reds are the Willammette Valley, OR pinot noirs (IMHO some of the finest, most refined pinots in the world) - what are some other favorites?
Debbi (hic...)
-
I wonder does he give classes on wine making, her husband! I could do two things then, document and learn at the same time!! :) I can just see it: Urban Wine School!!
Ok I think I've listed mine already. Anybody else for their favourite wines? Ok, mine are many and international.
Italy: fond of wines from the south, Puglia. Also of course soem of the Piemonte and the the Tuscan guy aren't bad either. South of Tuscany, Unmbria and their nice red.
Specifically: from Chianti, Sassicaia, Flaccianello and Tignanello. Chianti Riserva, From Piemonte: Barolo, Nebbiolo and Barbaresco. Then, from the Veneto (my area): Soave (the good stuff, not the water one gets here), Valpolicella Classico and Amarone, (same comment) then Prosecco of course. Further into the mountains, some of the wines from the Valtellina.
And that's just Italy! Hemmm... this might take a while....
Onwards. France. Skip Champagne, overrated mostly as far as I'm concerned. Except for the bottles that cost the same as a small car. Burgundy: some nice reds. My preferred from Fra are from the south, Corbieres, Maury, Fitou, Cote du Rousillon. Rose from Bandol, and one particular one I like, even just for the: La Clappe.
Spain. Rijoa Riserva, most of them, Txacoli from the Basque country (YUM) then some Navarra wines.
CA: I'm a novice at those. Last trip we loved some wines from Napa, Coppola in particular. Only ones we could afford. Further south we found nice Petite Syrah from the Santa Ynez vallery, Epiphany. OH YUM YUM! Others too, but I can't remember them. have to go back and test some more!
After that, I go blanc. Fendant from the Valais in Switzerland, Some nice Riesling from Alsace in France, Whites from New Zealand...
Ok, I think I need a glass of something now. List complied after years and years of travel by car around Europe and bringing back wine to try.
:D
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Anne Marie - it could be worse - my husband makes his own beer - imagine how my house smells? I finally bought him a gas grill with one of those side burners so he can make it outside and not stink up the whole house!
I think we can probably use some of the James' homebrew and some of Dr. Louis' wine for the garage anaesthesia. I'm sure a combination of the two will be sure to knock anyone out!
Lori
-
Would the actual liquid be used for anaesthesia, or just the gases? :)
-
I think we're definitely goign to have to go for the low-end stuff for anesthetic purposes - I fear that the Garage Surgeons might drink the better stuff.
Lorenzo, I wonder if we can get any of your favorites here in NJ/NY? I'm always looking for new reds to try. And, of course, I am not adverse to a nice, cry, crispy white either (although I despise California Chards because, IMHO, they've just ruined them with too much oak...) Do love a fresh, sassy Prosecco - it seems an apt beverage for an afternoon on the patio...
Debbi - dreaming of wines yet to be sampled...
-
Debbi, No idea if you can get them there. I bet the Tuscan stuff (Sassicaia and so on) are available, for a small mortgage. Some of the others too, they're not that difficult to find, I don't think. Then of course, I have no idea what you guys over on that side of the Atlantic can get or not. None of those are difficult tinf here.
I like white, but absolutely detest oaked Chardonnay. Eurk. Crisp and (c)dry whites are nice!
Buona notte! :D
Lorenzo
-
Lorenzo,
as long as you're on the world wine tour, why not add Malbec's from Argentina which would match up well with your preference for varietals such as the Cab Franc and Barbera.
I can help you on the CA wines the next time you're in town ;D. I would also agree with those that there has been a tendency in Napa particularly to "over Oak" the Chards. However, there are a number of good "french style" ones , especially in the Carneros region, so it would be a mistake to reject the whole region in total
Mark
-
For my birthday this year, my husband paid my "tuition" to a wine making school at a local vineyard
So, Debbi, does this mean that Lori and I can expect to receive some of the bottles you're making when we're at the shore? I don't know the address of the place I'm staying, but I can find out :D
Jan
-
Malbec, forgot. Right. There's one wine I really like from Argentina called 'Lo Tengo' and it has one of the best labels I have ever seen. If anyone finds it, buy it, it's a hoot.
I recently had a few bottle of Sangiovese di Puglia, and nice they were too! Also found a really light and refreshing Vinho Verde from Portugal, perfect for those pre dinner drinks or for making Kir.
Mark, you're right, there are some Chards that are not oaked and are much better. Unfortunately I'm just not that fond of Chardonnay in any case, regardless of where they're from.
Salute, Lorenzo
-
Jan, sorry, but we are only pressing the grapes now and then they go into french oak barrels for a year - come back next year, though, and there's a bottle with your name on it!
Mark, thanks for the tip on the Carneros chards - I'll look for a bottle and give it a try. I do like some of the French chards I've had when in Europe, so maybe there is still hope...
Lorenzo - I had totally forgotten about Vinho Verde!! I love that wine, especially in the summer!
Debbi
-
Cool 8) my own personal bottle of wine! Booking my reservations even as we speak ;)
Jan
-
Debbi, yes, me too, until I had it for my post-birthday dinner at a restaurant, and I got interested in it again! Then of course I found the same one at a local discount shop, for 1/5 of the price!! They rip us off here for wine in restaurants, 300-400% mark up seems to be the norm. And one can't bring one's own wine for consumption either, they don't like that here! sigh. Now, I mostly drink a glass when dining out, or water. The good wines are just wayyyyy to expensive. Buying a bottle is out of the question!
Can I have a bottle too?
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Debbi - reserve me a bottle too! Unless you're stomping the grapes with your feet..then I think I'll let Jan have my bottle. :P
Lori
-
I know very little about wine ...as a kid in California in the late 60s early 70s I did sneak my parents from
time to time ...and after LA earthquake of maybe 70 or 71 I was a wreck and a doctor told parents to give
me a small glass of wine to calm me because he didn't want to give me tranquilizers ...could you imagine a
doctor telling parents that now ... I was in 3rd grade :o
I took to alcohol at about 25 years old to anesthetize my in myself in a bad marriage and
drank to excess to get numb...wine ...whiskey ... the occasional beer ...didn't work and after waking up at
a river dam about 3 miles down river from our house after floating there I decided that it wasn't for me ...
I do remember thinking a swim would make the hungover feeling go away and walking down to the river ...we
lived maybe 100 feet from the river... next thing I know I was several miles away on the shore missing one
shoe... that was July 1st 1986 and have not drank anything since ... I think I may have an addictive trait in me ...
I could not drank a mixed drink or a glass of wine... I drank 7 or 8 drinks or two bottles of wine ... didn't work
up to it just dove in... that lasted about a year and had I not took the swim wonder where I would be now...I
love the Elk River for spitting me up and waking me up...
I do like the taste of wine but settle on the scent when others around me are partaking ... too bad I don't
have smelling capability on this thing :(
OK ...veered off subject ....
Back to the original subject ... my blood pressure has been elevated since about 2 months after surgery... my
kidneys don't want to work full time and I hold fluid and it pushes up BP... one doctor suggested that all the
pills I swallow to keep my head on my shoulders may have caused some damage to kidneys ... other says no...
so who knows... I take diazide(sp) to flush fluid and it keeps BP in check
-
What can I say... :( The other side of alcohol. Glad that river spewed you out again and you live to experience a different life Soundy!
I can imagine that a lot of meds could cause some BP problems, maybe. I don't know, not an expert. In my case, I don't take anything other than BP meds, so that's not it. I guess it's just one of those things, no explanation. Not yet anyway.
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Debbi - reserve me a bottle too! Unless you're stomping the grapes with your feet..then I think I'll let Jan have my bottle. :P
Lori
Lori -
haven't you heard? Feet stomping adds to the flavor of the grapes - YUM ;) :P
Jan
-
... all those wild yeasts help with the fermentation! :)
-
Does anyone remember the "I Love Lucy" feet stomping, wine crushing rerun?
FUNNY!!!!
-
That's exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that! :D
Lori
-
You know, I'm not a big Lucy fan, but the grape stomping episode and the chocolate factory assembly line episode are definitely classics! Oh, and the one about Vita Vegamina - or something like that.
Jan
-
You mean Vita-meata-vegamin? Tastes just like candy!
The chocolate factory one was definitely the best though.
Lori
-
huh? :)
-
Il Magnifico -
don't they have I Love Lucy in your part of the world?
Jan
-
Not that I know of... sounds like i missed something! :)
Lo
-
Lo -
Lucy was the famous red-headed American comedien (I think I spelled that wrong) Lucille Ball.
we'll have to send you some DVDs of the episodes we mentioned. I'm confident you'd find them amusing! You do have DVD's in your part of the world, right? :D
Jan
-
Oh yes, I think I know about DVDs, those shiny plastic discs people use in their gardens to scare birds off? Those things? They have something to do with TVs? OH? Gosh, learn something every day here! :)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
My apologies - didn't mean to be a smart a** ;D
Seriously, if I run across some, I'll send them to you. Lucy was a comedic icon.
Jan
-
LOL :) Oh don't worry! Gees... I like a bit of smart a**! Please, don't stop! :D
by the way, YouTube is great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcdRDB14e0
-
Thanks Lorenzo, for the link to Lucy on UTube. I haven't really explored Utube very much (there is only so much time in the day for computer surfing, you know!) and didn't know she was on there. Lucy was great! Such a talented lady.
I'm like Lucy, in this clip. After a bit of wine, I'm usually saying, "Is it hot in here?" Always brings on a hot flash. I HATE that!
Sue in Vancouver
-
HI Sue,
Alcohol has that tendency, and I usually go the same way, and 'is it hot in here or is it just me?' is a question i pose many time. These days, no matter how little wine i drink, i get flushed. sigh.
Ok, time to go gardening for my morning routine before work.
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Hot wine tip!
Last night, after the de-piccing, Willie and I ventured out for dinner in NYC with a friend and had a spectacular NZ sauvignon blanc - easily one of the very best I've ever had. Cable Bay, NZ, 2006. I'm on the hunt for some - will check with our local wine merchant to see if he can order a case. I think it is around $12-$14 per bottle.
If anyone else has tried this one, I'd love to hear comments.
Debbi - enjoying the picc-free life...
-
Ah yes, New Zealand whites, Sauv Blanc. I really like one we can find sometimes here, it's called Sanctuary. They also make a Pinot Grigio, but I prefer the SB. Don't know the one you mentioned, ahven't seen it here. In general though, so far, I liked the NZ whites!
:) Ciao, Lorenzo
-
I can't join the wine part of this club! I used up all my drink tickets 20 years ago while living in the Caribbean! OOPS!! I guess I'll just have to just join the WHINE part!!!
BOO HOO HOO!!!!!(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirateface_crying_sm_wht.gif)
What????? AAARRRR!!!!!! Oops again! I forgot! Pirates don't whine!!!!!!
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirateface_laughing_ty_wht.gif)
-
Capt -
just show up at next year's symposium. No drink tickets needed. Steve's buying !!! ;) :D
Jan
-
you can always 'whine and dine' instead. food is lacking from the thread. :)
-
Chocolate is a food group, isn't it?
-
I'll take a little gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce followed by a nice rack of lamb roasted with rosemary and lots of garlic and a side salad of baby arugula with goat cheese and walnuts with olive oil and balsamic vinagrette. Boo hoo hoo.
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirateface_laughing_ty_wht.gif)
-
and chocolate for dessert. And yes Lori, it is a MAJOR food group! THE food group.
That meal sounds good to me, no boo hoo there I would think. Taste buds will be satisfied with that, sans wine. yum. I must make gnocchi, haven't in a while. The rest is sort of food we do anyway. Feck, forgot to put down arugula in the garden! Shall remedy that tomorrow. thanks for reminding me!
Lorenzo :)
-
The mere thought of all those tastes makes me want to faint from the sheer bliss of it all....
Debbi , swooning...
-
Capt Deb,
We need to met. I like your idea of a meal. Lorenzo can make the bread!
Anne Marie
P.S. I'm making funnel cakes for my boys, with fresh local strawberries!! YUMMY!! ;D
-
Me stepmummy is a Culinary Institute of America grad and an Italian to boot. She and me Pappy had a fine dining restaurant here in the NC mountains after they left the Virgin Islands. Her homemade gnocchi is to die for!!!
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)
still on Topamax
still a size six!
probably not for long after reading this thread
-
My aunt had a restaurant in the hills in the Veneto and I remember spending some happy summers sitting in her kitchen there watching enormous dishes of lasagne (pasticcio as they call it there) being made and roast rosemary potatoes, etc. No CIA grad, but a mamma cooking her stuff for big wedding parties. Another aunt came from a family that owned the village bakery, so I ate too much fresh bread when there, and helping my uncle in his grocery shop. OMG, I just realised they were all involved in food somehow!
Yardtick, make sure your resident wine maker brings a few bottles of his Petite Syrah, will ya? Thanks. :)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
You guys are really making me hungry - not to mention thirsty!
-
:D Just went out to the glass house, picked a couple of lettuce heads, a zucchini, bunch of parsley on the way back in, chopped sundried tomatoes, added a few purple olives and capers, olive oil, my own wine vinegar, and that was lunch, with my bread too.
i think I have a food fixation, not to mention wine!
:) Ciao, Lorenzo
-
from today's Boston Globe.... "Perfect wines for sipping on the back porch":
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2008/06/25/perfect_wines_for_sipping_on_the_back_porch/
-
Chef Lorenzo -
I'd like to place an order for what you had for lunch. How long do you think it would take to get it here?
Lori (stomach growling in Nashville)
-
Haven't seen any of them, but Saumur is familiar and had a few of those, yum, and the cotes du ventoux is good, and we indulge when we're down in that area, southern france that is. As for the one with 'notes of lead pencil' I wonder... makes one think, non?
Lori, transporting a salad by air might be a little difficult. Not sure they would let me on board with a big salad bowl, and anyway, I think the lettuce would get a bit soggy. On the other hand, I travel well, don't get soggy and those ingredients are available anywhere.
Io? A Chef? LOL Pleeeeease...
:D Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Alrighty then. I'll see you at lunchtime! :D
And as luck would have it, Paige (my 5 year old) just picked our first zucchini from the garden yesterday! I need to be bathing suit ready in a few weeks. I hear Jan looks like Christy Brinkley and I don't want her stealing all my attention! :D
Lori
-
I thought you were Cindy Crawford... Anyway, keep eating those salads and zucchini and you'll be ready alright!
Ciao, Lorenzo :)
-
Uh, yeah, I'm Cindy Crawford alright, but you know how it is with those blonde supermodels! Always stealing the spotlight. :D
-
Do they? I wouldn't know anything about that... I don't usually hang around with supermodels. lol
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Well, if you want to deliver lunch to Jan and me at the beach next month - you can! :D Better not forget the wine. You may need a LOT of that to make us look like supermodels!
-
Au contraire, I think wine would have the opposite effect, especially a lot of it!
So, what kind of wines do you all drink? Likes, dislikes, names, etc. Wine stories anyone? and i'm not talking about debauchery and student stuff...
I'm off to have some chocolate now.
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Actually, one of the best wines I've had (and don't laugh at me!) was when I lived in NY and bought a bottle of "Cheap Red Wine". That's what the plain brown label on the front said. I bought it as a joke for a friend, because it was just funny, and it turned out to be really good! They also made "Cheap White Wine", of course.
The worst was this "Tombstone" wine we bought in Arizona for my father-in-law for his birthday one year (as a joke again). The label said it went great with rattlesnake! I think that was all it would be great with! Bleecchhhh!
One year my Dad decided to make his own wine. It was awful, but of course, he drank it anyway because he had put so much work into it. Any time someone would come over, he'd give them a glass, and they would pretend to be polite and say "Mmmmm...it's good" as they were choking it down. Thankfully, his wine making phase was short lived.
I guess the best I've had was when James came back from deployment with 2 cases of different wines from Italy. I have no idea what they were, but boy, were they good! I think we might have a couple of bottles left. He also brought back a few giant bottles of good olive oil from over there too. I need to send him back to get more of both! Or maybe I should just go get them myself! :)
Lori
-
Funny ones I've had over the years:
Scraping the Barell from Australia
Dingos Hair from the same country
JaJA de Jau from southern France
LA Clappe from there too
Cardinal Zin from CA
RED from somewhere
one had a blank label, and that was a mistake, both in printing and purchase
one a friend made in italy, good for stripping paint off, which is what we used it for
An english wine
Wine from Ireland, rare and may it remain so
So, if you go to Italy, make sure to let me know where you're planning to go, and drop a few bottle off when you fly over this place, will ya? thanks.
Ciao lroenzo
-
Lorenzo,
Have you tried any of the Grand Cru Gewurztraminers from the Alsatian region? They're probably some of my favorite white wines, along with Gavi de Gavi, and french Chablis (la clos).
Regards,
Rob
-
Hi Rob,
Gavi I tried a few times, not enamoured. Gewurztraminers too, same thing. Lived in Strasbourg for a while, and had Gewurzt (very nice with Tarte Flambee) a few times needless to say, but again, the ones I remembers were a little on the sweet side for me. I do remember liking some of them though, so maybe they vary in style. Not sure. Don't know them that weel. Any particular ones you recommend? Always willing to try things! :)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Just thought of a nice, inexpensive little white from Italy that I haven't had in awhile - it is called "Est Est Est!" There is a whole amusing story behind the name of the wine, I'll have to try to rememer it. It reminds me a bit of the Vinho Verde - very light and agreeable...
I have also had a couple of French rose's that were surprisingly good - especically for a summer afternoon. I avoided pink wines for years, but realize I may have overlooked some lovely wines...
I am quite partial to Rhone wines - althoguh there is a lot of variance in quality on the lower price end. Still, usually a quaffable wine...
I've had the privilge of having a couple of superb Super Tuscans - quite pricey so not something I normally have - still, wonderful to mark a special event.
Under the category of funny names - there is a shiraz under the label of "Fat Bast*#@" (that's for the moderators!) Great fun to serve at a dinner party!
Ah, Lori - yes, definitely take a run over to Italy and pick up some wines and oils. And make sure you fly through Newark on the return leg to drop mine off... ;D
Debbi
-
Est, Est, Est? Yes. Lovely. Story goes: The pope was visiting some place north of Rome and him liking his wine always sent out a scout to find the local offering and leaving a message ('Est' which means It is in Latin) for the chosen wine. When the pope would get there with his entourage, he would have the wine ready for him. This time, the scout arrived in this town and found this wine. It was so good, he left the message 'est, est, est' for the pope.
At least, that's how I remember the story. :)
Another weird wine I saw in Italy, at a freeway stop: Il Duce Bianco, and the same in Rosso. Of course it had a photo of the man himself, I nearly bought it out of curiosity. Instead, we left that place in a hurry. As far as I remember it was in Piemonte, not far from Bra (I know, I know, moderators again) where the Slow Food movement is based.
Pinks I lke (but they never quite taste the same when brought home from France): Bandol, and there's one from the Ventoux area which I can't remember. Other italian wines that are lovely come from the Umbria area, est of Tuscany. Grecchetto is a variety that some really nice white wine. Lungarotti makes some really nice red wines (and has a fabulous restaurant at his winery), and west of there there's Orvieto and their various offerings. The classico versions only, as the ORvietos we get here can be just as bad as some cheap and nasty Chianti.
Oh, and while in Umbria, get some Olive Oil, some of th best in Italy.
Lori, can we place an order? :)
Lorenzo
-
Lori, can we place an order? :)
Note to Lori - big money-making opportunity. Don't forget to charge that large commission ;)
-
Wines stories, eh, hmmmmm...
Remembering my beginnings in wine, it's amazing I like the stuff. My sister and I used to be served a small portion of wine by my aunt, in a shot glass, only at family holiday gatherings. It was frightfully nasty tasting stuff, a sweet kosher wine, but since we were getting something that we were not supposed to have, we never would have admitted that it was dreadful, and choked it down. We would sip and grimace until was gone, all the while trying to stay out of the grownups sight in case they might try to take it away.
Jumping forward a few years into high school, a neighbor, who owned a well know French restaurant in Washington, DC, who used to bring by this great French bread left over from the restaurant, left us a bottle of French Burgundy from the Pommard region for a Christmas present. This wine was an epiphany, who knew that wine could be this incredible. I saved the empty bottle for many years. To this day, Pommard and the Volnay region next door are some of my all time favorite wines.
Regards,
Rob
-
Really nice area it is too. Usually stop in Beaune on our drives down to Italy and enjoy that part of France. Driving along the vineyards and visiting the wine villages is really nice. LOve it there, and really like their wines too! Chateau de Pommard, nice! :) I'm partial of one a bit further north, towards Dijon, Nuits Saint Georges. It's all an incredible area for food and wines.
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Well, alright.... sigh... if I have to go to Italy to get you guys some wine.... sigh again...
Tell ya' what - if you pay for me to get there - the first bottle is on me! Just keep in mind, I may not be coming home right away, so it may be very well aged by the time you get it. :D
Lori
-
I have a better idea, how about we ALL go to Italy, I'll play tour guide, we'll go to some vineyards and stay in some nice farmhouse accommodation with good food, and we'll just sample the wine there, on the spot. No point lugging all those bottles back. What d'ya say? Of course I'll charge a modest fee for my tour guide duties, a few bottles here and there to bring back with me...
Ciao e salute, Lorenzo
-
Sounds like a plan!!! I've always wanted to do that. Louie has a cousin that lives in San Remo and another that lives in Capri. His cousin's wife here in Canada has her own travel agency, maybe she will gives us a good deal. A group plan?
Anne Marie
-
Go for it! I'll probably drive down, that I way I can fill the car with a year's supply of vino.
Capri for sure!! A must, and the whole Amalfi coast too while we're down there, and Naples, so we can have the best pizza in the world!
:)
-
Lori,
You and your husband could take a MAC(Military Airlift Command) flight to Germany and ride down with me or a direct flight to an Air Base in Italy the flights are probably still under $50 a seat. Of course its space available and you may have to wait a few days for a flight. There is a Base not far from Pisa and another I don't think is far from Venice.
In Sept. I'm flying (not MAC)to Kos, Greece and they are also supposed to have some really good Greek Wines.
Dan in Germany
-
Lori -
Dan has a great suggestion here! Do they let non-military personnel on these flights? I'd be more than happy to go with you guys :D
Of course, there is always Lorenzo's tour. This is seriously a great idea, Lorenzo ;D We should definitely do something like this!
Jan
-
ya, maybe we should have an Extreme East Coast AN group meeting! LOL Around a table in an Agriturismo in tuscany sampling some wines and eating roast suckling pig. Sounds good? I know just the place.
:)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Count me in! I am fluent at ordering food and wine in Italian! Okay, maybe "fluent" is too strong a word, but I am functional. And, we have family in San Guiseppe (Vesuviano) and Sorrento...
Ah, I can already picture myself sitting on a nice piazza, sipping a brilliant rustic red wine and noshing on cheese and gelato...
Debbi, sighing with contentment
-
mamma mia, there might be something in this! LOL We could call it 'ANcora' meaning 'again' in Italian. This could become an annual event, different places, interesting food experiences, producers, etc etc... Hemmm...
:)
Ciao, Lorenzo
-
Fortunately for me, I am quite fluent at EATING the food! Or should that be unfortunately?
Dan, we keep saying we're going to take advantage of the MAC flights, but we haven't yet. One of these days.... Although, wouldn't it be a shame if I couldn't get a flight back right away and just had to say in Italy for a while? Gosh, I would just hate that.
Hey, Lorenzo, if you're driving down - why don't we all come spend a few days at your place, then you can drive us all to Italy with you! Do you have a big car? You might want to get one.
Oh.... gelato.... :)
-
Somehow I suspect we might need a bus...
-
Good idea. You should get a bus. You wouldn't want us to be uncomfortable on the ride, would you? :D
-
I don't have any relatives in Italy (thatI know of), I don't know anything about wine - except that I like to drink red and have no airline connections, but Dave & I are CERTAINLY in!! ;D
K
-
that makes 7 of us, mini bus. :)
-
Cool 8)
Now we just need a date for this adventure - oh, yeah, and some cash to finance it.
You're paying for all of us, aren't you, Lorenzo?
Jan
-
LOL You kidder.... I'm the tour guide / driver, you lot are paying for ME! :D
Lorenzo
-
Wait a minute --- I thought the Global Moderators were paying... ??? And what about their private jet...
Debbi
-
Actually the private jet is a myth :(
But if we can get them to trade in their Jaguar and their Lamborghini for a mini bus, we might be in business ;)
-
They own a jag and a lamborghini? Oh good, I won't have to trade in my ferrari so. Great! What a relief.
-
I think we may be able to get the mini bus with the DVD player if we trade in the Jag and the Lambourghini. We can put on I Love Lucy DVD's. Unfortunately, Lorenzo will be driving so he won't be able to watch them. Maybe if he'd be willing to sell his Ferrari, we could hire a driver - then he'd be able to to sit the back with us! Seems like a good deal.
-
Lori -
not only do you have beauty, but you have brains, too :o Who says super models are airheads?
Jan
-
Now THERE'S an idea! I guess I could a few dollars for my model Ferrari, that should buy a set of I Love Lucy DVDs. And by the way, hwo says I can't drive whle watching a DVD? I'm Italian, remember? Why do you think I'm driving while there and not you? I want to amkes ure we live, by driving the same way they do.
So we'll start in the north, Piemonte, work our way east towards Veneto, from there down to Emilia Romagna and on to Tuscany and Umbria, further on to Lazio and Rome, and continue towards the soth taking in Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria, ending up in Sicily. Return we go up the med coast all the way up to Liguria and genova, do a short detour on the most frightening freeway of all into France, and then put you ladies back on a train to Paris and your flight home.
Next year we'll do Switzerland and Alsace and parts of germany. Burgundy and the Rhone valley and southern french wines will be for the following year. After that, we'll venture into eastern europe and the Balkans. We'll skip Serbia to be safe.
:)
-
We're going to Paris too!!!
I'm so thrilled ;D
-
oh, forgot, i think about a month should do it. We'll aim for the late summer / early autumn, at least we can try to fit in some grape picking, depending where we are.
:)
-
Sounds great!
James sent me a picture from Italy during his last deployment - some window display of Italian pastries - I'll need to find out where that was. Can't live on pizza alone. Have to have dessert too!
And maybe for our next trip, I can give everyone a tour of beautiful Hoboken, New Jersey. Now, I know how wonderful that sounds to everyone, but we're not going to postpone the Italy trip to do Hoboken first. You'll just have to patiently wait. :D
Lori
-
oh goody!!! I've never been to Hoboken, NJ. Sounds exciting. When are we going? Do they make wine there (the natural way, that is)?
-
Can we go to Ascoli Piceno? I know a great restaurant there...
Oh, yes, Lori, let's definitley include the tour of Hoboken! No one has lived until they've been to Hoboken... And, then lets go to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx... ah, the Italian bakeries...
Debbi - really, heading out to the pig roast any minute now...
-
I don't think they make wine in Hoboken - but you can probably just borrow some from one of the locals - once they pass out in the gutter for the night, you can just take the paper bag with the wine bottle right out of their hands! :D
Yes, let's hit the Italian bakeries - Ferrara's used to have the best cannoli's. :)
Lori - getting hungry....
-
Lori -
didn't Frank Sinatra come from Hoboken? Or was that someone else?
Hmm, maybe I should ask Jim Scott - he's up on his NJ history these days ;D
Also, a friend of mine at work tells me that her aunt/uncle own Dot's Pastries in Ocean City, NJ. Know anything about it?
I'm definiting going to check it out when I'm in town ;D
I also got a hot tip from my dentist that Magnolia's in NYC has cupcakes that are to die for! Apparently they are huge! Wonder if he's just hoping I'll return with a cavity from all that sugar ;)
Jan
-
Lorenzo
Fall and grape picking sounds great. I helped my father-in-law a couple of times in the vineyards pick grapes and the tradition here is then in the evening to eat onion cake and drink new wine. You have to be careful though, the new wine tastes like really good grape juice but has the kick of normal wine and can cause terrible headaches. The onion cake also causes bad breath but the taste with new wine is amazing.
Dan in Germany
-
Dan -
onions and wine ??? Who knew :)
Jan
-
Onion cake and wine - sounds devine! You might have bad breath, but you won't care!!
Jan, yes, definitely make a trip to Magnolia for the cupcakes! However, if you are very limited on time, skip Magnolia and go straight to Ferrara's in Little Italy (Canal Street, just south of SoHo) and have espresso or capaccino and Italian pastries - absolutely to DIE for! Lori will back me up on this, I'm sure!
-
Dan, Ah yes, the fresh 'Most' - Killer stuff!! Onion tart sounds great! I guess it's a form of quiche, or is it like the tarte flambee in Alsace?
Debbi, Ascoli Piceno is on the cards now. Great agriturismo near there, recommended by Slow Food.
Ferrara's? Missed that one when we were in NY. Sigh. Made it to Balducci before it closed, thankfully.
-
I love Little Italy - I could spend a whole day in Ferrara's. Of course, I'd be too fat to fit out the door at closing time if I did!
I don't think I've ever been to Dot's in Ocean City - but there's a place on the Boardwalk there (can't remember the name, but I'd know it by sight) that has the best coconut macaroons! I know all the good dessert places, don't I?
Lori
-
Ascoli Piceno ... sigh. My hubby and I had one of our most memorable meals ever there in a tiny little restaurant near the main piazza. No menu, no English - you eat the 6 or 7 course meal that is served to you - along with unlimited vino locale. It was absolutely amazing and I think the entire dinner was about 25 Euro (several years ago, but still a great buy even at today's exchange rates...)
I think Ferraras has been in NYC for over 50 years - my mother in law remembers going there as a teen, and she's 79 now...
Mangiamo!!
Debbi
-
I think Ferraras has been in NYC for over 50 years - my mother in law remembers going there as a teen, and she's 79 now.
Their website http://www.ferraracafe.com/ (http://www.ferraracafe.com/) says 'since 1892'. 116 years!
Impressive, even though I'm not the connoisseur of Italian cuisine that you folks seem to be. I'm more of a meat-and-potatoes guy, preferably well done beef and some French Fries will do, thanks. However, I can appreciate fine food, whether I choose to partake of it or not. Come to think of it, all this talk of food is making me hungry. Luckily, my wife is grilling some chicken out on the patio. See ya' later! :)
Jim
-
OMG! I went to that web site! My blood sugar spiked just looking at those gorgeous pictures. I LOVE the beauty of baked goods. I know that probably sounds silly, but decorated cakes, and all those specialty desserts LOOK so artistic and so good. They are just pretty. Wow, wouldn't that be fun to be able to order something special from them for the holidays or something.
Thanks for the link....I think!
Sue in Vancouver
-
I figured it had been there for a while, but I didn't figure quite that long!
I know when I was growing up, when my grandmother would come visit from Italy, she'd have to fly into JFK airport and she'd "make" my Dad stop at Ferrara's on the way back to our house to load up. I always wondered how much they actually ate in the car on the ride home.
Jim, I have a feeling some nice Italian pastries would taste really bood after some grilled chicken!
Lori
-
I'm familiar with Dot's Bakery in Ocean City, NJ. It's at 34th and Asbury. If you like donuts, Dot's is it. Go early on weekends, it gets quite busy and they sell out. A lot of people realy go for their creme filled donuts. Ocean City is "dry", so there is a large wine shop on the mainland side of the two bridges over to OC. Both wine shops have good selections.
The other food place to check out in OC is Mack & Manco Pizza on the boardwalk. Really good "pie". Just watch out for the sea gulls, they dive bomb the unsuspecting from behind and try to knock the slice right out of your hands.
Regards,
Rob
-
Ah, yes, the divebombing seagulls. What would the shore be without them?
Jan, Seaside is not "dry" - so some on down! And they have Three Brothers from Italy pizza, which is like pizza on steroids - one slice will fill you up for the whole day! Oddly though, there used to be 3 - Three Brothers from Italy pizza places down there, which made sense - last year when I went I counted 6 of them. I think they're multiplying. :D
Lori
-
Rob -
thanks for the wonderful tips.
As for the seagulls, I can just hear my son now saying "You should have let me bring my pellet gun!" LOL
Lori -
we'll have to check out Three Brothers from Italy (the pizza, of course! not the brothers ;) ) and Mack & Manco Pizza. IMO you can never have enough pizza!
Jan