Franciacorta

Last Friday, I attended a symposium about Franciacorta, the DOCG for sparkling wines made in the traditional method in Italy.

Rose Hill Historic House

The talk was given by Paul Wagner of Balzac Communications, who has studied the region in depth, but also represents many of the producers through Balzac.  It was hosted by Harriet Lembeck at her Wine and Spirits school in the Rose Hill Historic House in Murray Hill.

First, a little history about the region.  Franciacorta is in the northern region of Lombardy, about 1 hour east of Milan.  It's a mild climate tempered by Lake Iseo and the Alps.  Franciacorta is a wealthy wine region, home to the Riva boat manufacturer and the Beretta family (of gun fame) who have a home on the Lake.  Most people who have homes in the region live in Milan.

Franciacorta is the first wine region in Italy to receive the DOCG quality designation in the traditional method.   That's all they make -- sparkling wine. The official grapes are chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot bianco (up to 50%), unlike in Champagne which uses pinot meunier as the third allowable grape.  Mostly though, the wines are chardonnay driven.

It sells over 10.5 million bottles per year.  It's the official wine for Milan Fashion Week, La Scala opera house and the Italian soccer teams.  Needless to say, they sell everything they make, which is quite an accomplishment.

We tasted 6 wines in all.  One wine called Ronco Callino Satén, meaning satin in Italian, was made with less carbonation and less acidity than other sparkling wines.  It was softer in the mouth, had a huge foam with smaller beads.  It was made as a primer for those who are not into sparkling.

In all, they were all pretty delicious.  Guiseppe said he would LOVE to visit the region next so let's get packing!


Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Hill_(Manhattan)
www.balzac.com

Emeritus Pinot Noir

The other night, Guiseppe and I attended a dinner in New York City hosted by Brice Cutrer Jones, the proprietor of Emeritus Vineyards, of Sonoma California.  Guiseppe is a big fan of pinot noir.  In fact, pinot noir is his red grape of choice.  We have been buying Emeritus wines for several years now and when Brice Jones emailed me the other day to invite us to a wine tasting dinner at the Harvard Club featuring his wines, we graciously accepted.

Brice Cutrer Jones started the Emeritus label in 1999 after selling his stake in Sonoma=Cutrer to Brown-Forman Corporation, the huge conglomerate best known for Jack Daniels whiskey. Sonoma=Cutrer is a big producer of Sonoma chardonnays and pinot noirs in the mid price range.  Brice started Sonoma=Cutrer back in 1973.

Mr. Jones was a very nice man.  In a room full of friends, guests and fellow Harvard Business School alum, Brice talked about how he came to attend Harvard Business School after the Vietnam War, his business career before starting the Sonoma=Cutrer wine label, selling it and creating a new wine brand called Emeritus.  Additionally, Brice talked about grape growing land in California and why the Emeritus sites were so well suited for the pinot noir grape.

Brice Jones

Dinner started with a clam risotto paired with the Emeritus Ruby Ruby rose.  The rose had a strawberry hue and tasted light and pleasant.  It paired well with the clam risotto.  We've always had clam sauce with pasta, but never with risotto.  We were pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.  It was finished with an extra virgin lemon oil.  Lemon oil?  The lemon finish gave the risotto the perfect lightness, just like a rose.

sea bass

Next, we tasted the Emeritus pinot noir Hallberg Ranch with a sea bass.  The Hallberg pinot was our very first contact we had with the label at the New York Athletic Club years ago.  It was elegant, rich for a pinot noir but had all the hallmarks of a pinot -- minerality, earth, cherries, medium tannins and elegance.  It was the reason I contacted the winery in the first place.

This was followed by duck breast paired with the Emeritus William Wesley pinot noir.  The William Wesley a little fuller than the Hallberg pinot.  It was also smoother.  It seemed more ready to drink than the Hallberg, which I felt had a slight burn in the back palate.  I thought the William Wesley was a nice pairing to the heft of duck.  As a surprise, Brice poured out the Emeritus Don's Block pinot.  This wine was created as an homage to the winemaker, Don Blackburn, who died of cancer by the 2008 vintage.  The new winemaker and the man that worked under Mr. Blackburn, Nicolas Cantacuzene, made this special wine in Don's honor.  It was our first time tasting it and Guiseppe and I felt it was different from the other two.  To us, it tasted more European, if there is such a thing.  It was the most elegant of all three wines.  And of course, it was also the most expensive.  But one sip of Don's Block, sold us on it and we bought some 3-packs.

THANK YOU Brice for the generous invitation and we'll be sure to come out to California for a visit!

Links:
www.emeritusvineyards.com

Fashion's Night Out

Now that Labor Day is behind us, we look forward to fall fashion and fall foods.

Giuseppe and I enjoyed our time at the beach, but we're also looking forward to not entertaining so much.

The other night to kick off Fashion Week, we went to Fashion's Night Out.  FNO was an idea conceived by Vogue Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, as a single night for stores in New York to stay open and stimulate the economy after the 2008 economic implosion.  It is now one of the most important nights to launch next year's collection and has spread to just about every major city around the globe.  It's a night where designers and celebrities all make personal appearances at Bergdorf's, Saks, Barney's and boutiques up the Avenue stay open well into the evening.  It's the night where everyone gets dressed up -- pulling out that outrageous outfit that would look only too normal on a night like FNO.  Think Carnival in Rio.  The streets were mobbed. It was so alive.

Giuseppe and I spent the evening at Bar Italia on Madison Avenue.  Nello's down the street was smart enough to have rental chairs and tables nearby to accommodate the influx of diners who wished to gawk from a table.  Thankfully, a sidewalk table fortuitously opened up when we arrived.  Who was that walking by?  Oscar de la Renta? He just left his eponymous boutique where he sang with a live mariachi band.  There was Dennis Basso in his fur boutique greeting his customers with bubbly and the new fall furs.

We sat there watching the world go by sipping Bellinis and martinis over grilled salmon and branzino.  It was marvelous.

We're back!


Links:
www.fashionsnightout.com
www.baritalianyc.com