I initially learned about Patricia Guy from her book, Wines of Italy, which should be on every Italian wine lover’s book shelf. Patricia lives in Verona, Italy, where I eventually made her acquaintance. She grew up in the US, but has lived most of her adult life in Europe. She is a wine lover, an excellent writer (hence, no need to edit her interview) and a quiet thinker. She lives, from where I perch, an ideal life, and I am honored to have her comments here at By the Bottle.
What wines do you have standing up right now?
They’re all laying down, as am I at the moment.
What’s the last great wine you drank?
2007 Pietramora from Fattoria Zerbina. The perfume unfurled: raspberries, cherries, a note of blueberries. The palate echoed the nose: a whirling top of flavors that merged and mingled. It continued to evolve and with each sip.
I asked Cristina Geminiani, the winemaker and owner of Fattoria Zerbina to send a bottle of her Pietramora, aged for at least a decade, to me once a month when I eventually (and inevitably) end up in the Old Wine Writers Home to remind me of the pleasure of tasting a well-made wine. I do not expect her to do this, but it is a nice to think about us old fogies sitting, sipping, chatting and remembering in the presence of a gracefully mature wine.
Describe your ideal drinking experience (when, where, what, how).
When: late afternoon, the sun still in the sky. Where: on a terrace, with a gentle breeze blowing. What: something with an evocative fragrance and an ever-evolving flavor. How: with a good friend or two for company.
What’s your favorite wine no one else has heard of?
In these days of social media, no commercially available wine will be unheard of.
What wine should everybody drink before the age of 21? What wine should nobody drink until the age of 40?
I can’t answer any question about what a person should do at a certain age. Time is fluid. Everyone is shaped by their own experience. Some people are ready for a particular wine at 19, others at 40, and still other will never be ready to embrace a particular wine experience.
Do you count any wine as guilty pleasures?
Why feel guilty about any wine? Pleasure, my dear, is pleasure, whatever form it takes.
Has a wine ever brought you closer to another person, or come between you?
I can only answer this in a general - not a specific - way. Generally speaking, a nice glass of wine encourages conversation and conversation can lead to understanding. As to “come between you”: I don’t even understand the question. It’s like saying has your choice of round-toed oxfords come between you and another person. How can a relationship hinge on a choice of beverage or shoe style?
What moves you most in a wine?
Scent. Evocative fragrances that go right to my spine and manifest a precise world made up of equal parts memory and expectation.
Which styles do you especially enjoy drinking?
It depends on the temperature, food, and company. If it is a hot day then beer is the answer. For my own pleasure I prefer older wines from Italian indigenous varieties (particularly Sangiovese or Sangiovese/Montepulciano blends). I also like Trento DOC because bubbles always life my spirits.
How do you organize your wines?
Easy drinking wines are on easy to reach shelves, then favorites. Wines that are kept for ageing or special occasions are on the bottom shelves (thereby being spared from an impetuous urge).
What wine might people be surprised to find in your racks?
Anyone who knows me would be surprised at nothing I say, do or put in my rack. However, the oldest bottle in my wine closet at the moment is a 1934 Boal Madeira.
What’s the best wine you’ve ever received as a gift?
A 1961 Chateau Lafite. It was given to me for my 36th birthday by Richard, my London wine tasting buddy.
How have your drinking tastes changed over time?
I still take great pleasure in wines that are subtle rather than overt, sinewy and supple rather than big and fat; wines that give intellectual as well as sensual pleasure. However, after over a year in lockdown (or semi-lockdown) I no longer turn up my nose at a nice glass of something easy to sip with my dinner and/or the umpteenth viewing of a Columbo episode.
You’re organizing a dinner party. Which three people from the wine world, dead or alive, do you invite?
Franco Zanovello: he was a great winemaker and a genuine lover of poetry. Kyle Philips: editor of Italian Wine Review and a quietly witty book lover. Fred Plotkin: charming expert (and there are not a lot of those) on not only Italian food and wine but also opera. All three of these men are not only exceptional tasters but also interesting and original thinkers who are comfortable talking about a variety of subjects and who understand the give and take rhythm of a good conversation. Those qualities are essential for any dinner party.
What wines are you embarrassed not to have drunk yet?
The world is wide and full of wonders. How can you feel embarrassed by something you have yet to do? As long as there is time, there will always be possibilities for new experiences.
