WineAdvisor: More weird wine and food

It's Lambrusco Robin is talking about, an Italian, "frizzante" concoction that is light and on the sweet side, not Vitis labrusca, a vine species, which isn't exactly a hybrid.

Sorry, Thomas, I was making a leap from his example to hybrids without connecting the dots - am aware that Lambrusca isn't = labrusca

Sorry, Thomas, I was making a leap from his example to hybrids without connecting the dots - am aware that Lambrusca isn't = labrusca

Actually, Bill, you'll find a thread in afw where Vilco claims that Lambrusco's name is derived from v. labrusca, though he later explained to me that it's a different v. labrusca than the one that's autochthonous to our continent.

Mark Lipton

Actually, Bill, you'll find a thread in afw where Vilco claims that Lambrusco's name is derived from v. labrusca, though he later explained to me that it's a different v. labrusca than the one that's autochthonous to our continent.

And here I thought autochthony was an attribute applicable only to humans - oops - maybe its the Labrusca tribe - green people smelling of fox and dung?

That's interesting Mark - did you believe him? Save me digging out the thread.

Actually, Bill, you'll find a thread in afw where Vilco claims that Lambrusco's name is derived from v. labrusca, though he later explained to me that it's a different v. labrusca than the one that's autochthonous to our continent.

And here I thought autochthony was an attribute applicable only to humans - oops - maybe its the Labrusca tribe - green people smelling of fox and dung?

That's interesting Mark - did you believe him? Save me digging out the thread.

Well Mark, did you believe him?

I know they have labrusca vines planted in Italy. I have a grappa that I got in Friuli that was produced from concord--even under all that alcohol I could smell the concord as the winemaker opened the bottle.

I know they have labrusca vines planted in Italy. I have a grappa that I got in Friuli that was produced from concord--even under all that alcohol I could smell the concord as the winemaker opened the bottle.

Man - that is some persistent funk if it even made it through the distillery!

Bill,

You wanna talk persistent funk: last night, 35 miles from home, I smelled Niagara from the bottle at the wine and culinary center. This morning, at my breakfast table, everything smelled like Niagara to me...

So here's a new wine/food twist for me. David's 18th birthday last night (and his girlfriend's 17th), took them to Nobu. Betsy and I shared a bottle of Macon. It went fine with most dishes. But as others ordered dessert, I (the anti-dessert-person) got an ankimo pate. Taking a sip after the pate, the Macon was suddenly almost tasteless. Like it had been diluted 3 parts water to one wine. I repeated, same result. I drank a glassful of water, and the Macon tasted the same as it had earlier in meal. Now that's weird.

I know they have labrusca vines planted in Italy. I have a grappa that I got in Friuli that was produced from concord--even under all that alcohol I could smell the concord as the winemaker opened the bottle.

Thomas, that is correct; in fact labrusca plantings are very common all across Europe, including Eastern Europe. These tend not to be commercial, but private plantings, and people don't have a built-in inferiority complex when it comes to these grapes - that, I believe, is a very distinct feature of the wine industry and professionals who simply think a certain way.

But with that aside, there is a real presence of labrusca in the countryside and I was pleasantly surprised on my recent visit to Poland to see that virtually all the grapevines that people have are labruscas. Again, the view that the taste of the fruit is objectionable is not a grass-roots thing; you just don't hear ordinary folks saying that. It's a learned thing that comes with vinifera-attuned wine geekery (though having said that, as a vinifera-interested person myself, I've always sought a place - a distinct sphere - for each genre).

Concord is surely planted in Italy, but so are Isabella and Clinton (they sound like a happy couple).

Here in Toronto, just visit the Italian and Portuguese parts of town and it's hard to spot a backyard WITHOUT labrusca vines on a trellis.

"Concord is surely planted in Italy, but so are Isabella and Clinton (they sound like a happy couple). "

but only if Isabella likes cigars...

<B>Eggs:</B> Some say eggs are a wine no-no, an opinion that's an absolute mystery to me. Fluffy, buttery scrambled eggs ring my chimes with fruity reds or crisp whites; add a filling of cheese, mushrooms or any other wine-friendly ingredient to a well-made omelet and you've got a brunch or light dinner that begs for wine.

I was at an aromatic wine workshop one Sunday morning a few weeks ago, then after the workshop, brunch was served.
The Vinoptima Gisborne Gewurztraminer 2004, arguably New Zealand's best and most Alsatian-like gewurztraminer, was a sensational match for Eggs Benedict served with bacon.

Cheers,
Sue

I've been at my wine convention this past weekend and I just got back in town. We met some of our winemakers from Chile, Australia, Burgandy, Tuscany, California and Verona. It was absolutely amazing! My website - http://www.boutiquevineyards.com is forwarded to my Traveling Vineyard website - http://www.myttv.com/Shannon5596. So you may be able to view it with the above address.

I do free in home wine tastings with boutique wines from around the world. We are only in 26 states in the US. AZ,CA,CO,CT,FL,IA,ID, IL,MA,MN,MO,NC,ND,NE,NH,NJ,NY,OR,SC, TX,VA, WV. It looks like you are in Alberta, Canada. Unfortunately we can't shipped to Canada. Wine shipping is a very complicated animal!! Let me know if you are in one of our shipping states and I will send more information about the business. It is definately a fun business to get paid to drink wine from around the world!

Cheers,

Shannon

[Robin Garr]

Shannon, with all respect, one of the few serious rules we have in this forum is that participants who are in the wine business avoid using forum posts to promote their own businesses, wine-related and otherwise. I'm going to assume, once, that you didn't understand this rule, but I'll ask you to please avoid doing so again, and to avoid using your signature line as an advertisement for your home business.

I would also gently suggest that you might want to sample the level of wine expertise and knowledge among many of our members before you go too deeply into extolling the "boutique" nature - or the value - of your organization's products.