Sardegna and wine - a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

From the archives

By chance, I’m sitting in a restaurant and nearby me is a table of four. Urban dwellers, well-traveled, by the looks of their garb and little snippets of conversation that float into the dining room for all to hear. One in the group starts talking about wine and Italy. The usual suspects are cited – Rome, Florence, Venice, The Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre. And then someone mentions Costa Smeralda in Sardegna. By this time the wine has been flowing, social lubrication amplifies the voices and one in the group states, for all to hear, “I love the Costa Smeralda, the beaches are great, the seafood holds a candle to no one and the people are friendly. But honestly, I don’t get Sardinian wine.”

It was one of those moments. In a busy dining room it was as if time had stood still. A conversational lull in the room had occurred at that time, and the last statement, “I don’t get Sardinian wine” bellowed throughout the room and careened off the walls. Had the wine gods issued a dispatch?

By the Bottle: Martin Sinkoff

Wine lovers on wine and the vinous life.

My next participant in the By the Bottle series is Martin Sinkoff. I first met Martin in 1980 in Dallas, where he had recently taken a job as the fine wine director for a small but growing wine wholesaler, Glazer’s (now SGWS). Martin brought the company into the world of fine wine and changed a lot of lives (including mine) as a result of the waves he created. He went on to start his own import company, Martin Sinkoff Wines, Inc. and a very successful wine label, Reserve, St. Martin. Martin sold the company to a budding importer, looking for a bevy of well-made and value-driven French wines. Not content to rest on his laurels, Martin was lured back into the world of fine wine by Richie Cacciato of the Frederick Wildman, where he helped redefine the company’s image and direction. He now heads up an international consulting bureau, Martin Sinkoff Associates, with offices in New York and Tel Aviv. And he moved to Tel Aviv, where he is a (still new) Oleh Hadash in Israel (almost two years). He writes a frequent wine column for the Times of Israel when he is not devoting time to enriching his cultural spirituality, studying the Torah. Martin is fluent in French and is now learning another language, Hebrew. He is the embodiment of a modern-day Renaissance person. [*Note: This "conversation" took place before the current violence. We are both wishing for peace and calm.]

What wines do you have standing up right now?  

Tzora Vineyards “Judean Hills” 2018 (Judean Hills, red); Chateau Senejac 2016 (Haut Medoc, red); Moulin de Gassac 2019 (Languedoc, red); Itay Lahat “Adom” 2019 (Galilee, red); Francesco Cirelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2019 (Montepulciano, red).

What’s the last great wine you drank?

Hmmm. Depends on the definition of “great”.  The last wine that took my breath away was Chateau Beaucastel served by Marc Perrin himself at my friend, Etienne Hugel’s, wedding, now I am guessing close to 10 years ago (maybe fewer).  Etienne is now no longer with us and so the wine and the event both remain in loving memory.

Are there any classic wines that you only recently had for the first time? 

Not classic but “up- and-coming”: several wines from Georgia (the country not the state). With thanks to my friends Lisa Granik MW (in the US) and Vova Diachenko (in Tel Aviv) for the introductions.

What Italian winemakers can imbibe from their Swiss watchmaking cousins

Guido Terreni is running out of time. And he knows it. Terreni, who is in his mid-50’s, left a comfortable and prestigious job as president of Bulgari’s watchmaking division, to go to work for a smaller watchmaker, Parmigiani Fleurier, as their CEO. What does this have to do with Italian wine? I pondered this thought as I glanced through a recent interview with him. I’ve been getting interested in watches, thanks to a friend of mine who is shoulder deep in the study of horology and timepieces.

I’d noticed, when I would go to Italy, that the Italians loved watches and timepieces. In fact, it borders on a national mania. I would always have a dependable watch on, but my Italian counterparts would have these electronic sundials and steampunk chronometers flashed upon their wrists. It was fascinating to observe.

That said, I’ve been running the idea up the flag pole that the Swiss watchmakers could impart some valuable lessons upon the Italian viticultural landscape. This quote (with additional following ones) from Terreni that really drove this idea home was this:

“Emotions don't come from the turnover that you make or the profit that you make. Emotions come from what you can give in terms of pleasure to people who buy the products and crave what you are making. This is something that evolves over a long period of time.”

We often pooh-pooh the notion of emotionality, as if it is an uncontrolled, irrational thing. You read in the business pages that the stock market is going haywire, running amuck, feeding off emotions, and one might get the idea that an emotional basis might not be most stable foundation. But Terreni thinks differently. It’s how one captures loyal customers, and keeps them. I find this path to be a solid one, as it was something that I saw again and again. If you’re just filling a slot, making a product for a possible demand, it could be very successful. But it might be a flash in a pan. Look at some of the classic wineries in Italy, they seem to be more like watchmakers than trendsetters. They are moving from generation to generation, at a slower pace, with not quite such a steep angle of ascension. But they are moving towards their summit. That’s part of their evolution.

By the Bottle: #1 - Ole Udsen - a new series about winelovers and their tastes (and loves) in wine.

Wine lovers on wine and the vinous life.

I’m starting a new series, By the Bottle. It mimics the By the Book feature in the Sunday NY Times Book Review, which asks a series of questions to authors about books. This time, we’ve turned the tables on wine lovers, winemakers, and all kinds of folks in the world of wine. It’s all for fun, with the hopeful expectation that we might gain insights into friends and colleagues in a lighthearted and easygoing way. Expect more, not consistently, but from time to time. Usually on Thursdays.

Kicking this off with Ole Udsen, a wine merchant, wine writer, senior oil industry negotiator and commercial innovator. Ole is a dear friend who lives in Vedbæk, a community on the coast 20 km. north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Ole is one of the most learned people I have ever met in regards to Italian wine, and southern Italian wine in particular. He has an ecumenical thirst for knowledge for wines from all over the world and is one of the most open-minded people I have ever met. But he is no pushover; which is probably why we get along so well. Thanks for launching the ship, Ole! See you at dinner.

What wines do you have standing up right now?

Many. Some Albillo and Garnacha from Sierra de Gredos, a 2011 Hunter Valley Sémillon, a 2007 Pfalz Spätburgunder, and about 10-15 others.

What’s the last great wine you drank?

Barolo Prapò 1996, Az. Agr. Bricco Rocche / Ceretto.

Describe your ideal drinking experience (when, where, what, how).

I don’t have any. Great drinking experiences come in many guises.