Non ce' rose' senza spina

It has been a weekend of rose' wine.
For some reason this has been a component of the measure of my pleasure during these past few days. All around is hot and miserable, so hot, even the wine is sweating. And outside of my little world, fires are burning more fiercely than the nightmares that dot my dream world from time to time. Is this the beginning of World War III?

An Italian saying goes, Non ce' rosa senza spina, there is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.

It seems a surreal time again, like so many times in the past.

My lady friend, writing about the love of her life, noted that my gas grill was pathetic. I don’t know what caused her to strike out like that, perhaps she didn’t have enough of that wonderful pineapple cake my sister-in-law baked for my birthday.

A dinner from the Browning era, a cool cucumber soup, more cool salads and a little chicken sesame entree that was new, yet reminded me of something in time that had been lost. But the pineapple cake, that was the irresistible force of nature set before me on a plate. With it, a rose' wine, not too dry and not to red.

Something about red wine seems unnatural in this heat. Maybe it's the headache from the tannins, maybe it's the 13%+ alcohol. Maybe I just like rose' wine. Yes, I'm guilty. Are you or have you ever been a rose' wine lover?

Ask any wine lover, not the Parker toting wineabee types, but the real wine lovers. Like Parker or Kermit Lynch or Guy Stout or Paul Roberts..these folks bow to the alter of the rose wine. And so do I.

Anyway, while said lady friend flew away towards the nation’s capital, on her secret mission, I set about rebuilding my gas grill and her faith in my manly man-ness.
With sweat and drills and white lightning grease remover, I set to re-incarnate that pitiful hearth. To celebrate, my son and I inaugurated the new and improved grill with a set of Angus T-bones. And more Rose' wine, this time a Coteaux du Languedoc '05.

Many years ago, I took a drive from Firenze up to Fiesole up in the hills. It was July and hot down in the city. Fiesole was a bit cooler. At the Villa San Michele, I sat in at a dinner on the portico. The server, one of the the best I had ever seen, brought a rustic soup with beans and bread. And with it, a rosato of Sangiovese, I remember it like it was last week. The pale hint of embarrassment at being a rose', this Sangiovese didn’t make the cut to go on to Chianti Classico. Not in the cards. But the life of that wine left a legacy that has lived on to this day, many Chianti’s having passed this way and gone on to obscure corners of my memory. But the rose'...

Rose' and pineapple cake, rosato with rustic bean soup, rose' with grilled T-bone steak. Yes, this summer is hell, but I'm not letting it get me down.

You can't have the rose without the thorn. So when I came upon the fork in the road, I took the cake.

Lombardia ~ vini, formaggi e olio in vetrina a Dallas

La missione di Federlombarda. Chiusa ieri la promozione delle eccellenze lombarde
di Giuseppe Rizzo DALLAS (Texas) — Un successo. I sette prodotti lombardi – quattro formaggi, i vini di Franciacorta e Valtellina, l’olio del Garda – promossi alla ‘Fiera del gusto di Dallas’ con la missione di Federlombarda Agricoltori, hanno incontrato le simpatie del pubblico americano. Oltre, forse, le stesse attese degli imprenditori italiani. «Ce ne torniamo a casa con indicazioni importanti – ha spiegato Mario Maestroni, presidente della Libera Agricoltori di Cremona e membro della giunta di Confagricoltura – e con una certezza in più: l’Italia è vista molto bene negli Usa e qui in Texas in modo particolare. Ci hanno circondato di simpatia e le eccellenze dei nostri prodotti hanno colpito nel segno. Epperò va anche detto che agli americani non basta vedere il prodotto in esposizione, lo vogliono vedere nel piatto. E provarlo. In tutti i modi. Ma gli chef che si sono esibiti hanno soddisfatto pienamente le esigenze dei nostri interlocutori». La missione lombarda in Texas ha chiuso le sue cinque giornate di lavori con la visita al ‘Buzzard Hollow Ranch’ di Granbury (ove si alleva bestiame di qualità) ed un seminario in serata sul gusto al ‘Ferrè Ristorante’ in McKinney Avenue, nel cuore di una città relativamente giovane (è stata fondata nel 1841) ma esplosa dopo il primo ritrovamento dei pozzi petroliferi (1930) tanto che oggi conta un milione e duecentomila abitanti nel solo capoluogo; l’intera area metropolitana è ormai avviata a toccare quota 5 milioni e trecentomila. La missione italiana lascerà Dallas oggi alle ore 13 (locali); il rientro in Italia è previsto per domani mattina alle ore 9 (Malpensa). E’ difficile, in sede di primo bilancio, stabilire quale dei ‘magnifici sette’ prodotti lombardi abbia avuto maggior successo. I formaggi (Grana Padano, Taleggio, Gorgonzola, Provolone) hanno suscitato molta curiosità; ma se il Grana Padano Dop non è nuovo da queste parti, gli altri tre hanno dovuto essere presentati con il loro, straordinario retroterra di cultura, di lavoro. In particolare ha molto colpito il fatto che il procedimento di preparazione del Gorgonzola e del Taleggio sia stato scoperto 600-700 anni prima della fondazione di Dallas. Eccellente l’impatto dei vini di Franciacorta, meritato il successo dell’azienda ‘Cà del Bosco’ (presidente Maurizio Zanella, enologo Stefano Capelli); una sorpresa i grandi vini della Valtellina, qui presentati come il prodotto della più grande area viticola terrazzata di montagna e trascinati dallo Sforzato (o Sfursat), vino simbolo di Valtellina Docg, ottenuto dall’appassimento delle uve nebbiolo (ma citati sono stati pure i vari Sassella, Inferno, Grumello, Vagella e Maroggia). Infine commenti ampiamente positivi per l’olio extravergine di oliva ‘Garda’ Dop, denominazione (così è stato spiegato) condivisa con il Veneto e il Trentino. Insomma I ‘magnifici sette’ sono parsi la sintesi, emblematica, di un mosaico di sapori che dalle vallate alpine alla Bassa Padana, caratterizzano la Lombardia sul versante della varietà (ricordate anche le carni, i salumi, i cereali) e della qualità. Valori che i texani hanno colto con immediatezza già il primo giorno al ‘Southwest Food Service Expo’ e poi con i vari seminari che sono stati organizzati con relative degustazioni al ‘Viking Culinari Arts Center’ (i vini sono stati illustrati dal sommelier Alfonso Cevola). Conclude Mario Maestroni: «Credo che il sistema americano sia proprio rimasto soddisfatto. Ora non resta che rafforzare i rapporti».

Links
Valtellina
Summer festivals in Valtellina
Nino Negri - Inferno & Sfursat wines

Folonari Pink Pinot Grigio ~ Calamari Here I Come

Hey -- Lighten up...it's 104 F, here in the sunbelt...and that's in the shade... Last night at the horse races we sipped Prosecco and that was perfect...But now we need a little pink...just a little bit!
All I want right this moment is a sipping wine, I'll get back to redolence and gravitas soon. Bombs are dropping all over us, the fields are frying and I just have to stop, for a moment and clear my mind of all this evil!
Pinot grigio, in the distant past, came to the consumer as a slightly suntanned (ramato) wine. Due to the dark grapes (grigio=grey) some color is "available".
What do you want me to say? Yes, it's light, yes it's fresh, yes it's fruity...ok?
And the appeal here is that it is very cool and light and fresh....goodbye...

Folonari Pink Pinot Grigio 2005

Planet Sicily ~ What went on here?

Three wines that have been intriguing me are from the Planeta family. Cometa, a Fiano; Cerasuolo di Vittoria, which is the newest DOCG from Sicily; and Moscato di Noto, the dessert wine.

It's really easy to glom onto the fashionable attractiveness and the energy of the Planeta phenom. In a recent posting, I mentioned how I thought Diego Planeta must have felt when he first looked out and thought about the road that he was taking his family down. What I was also talking about was my vision of 35+ years ago and how hard it looked, as an outsider (albeit with a DNA window), to get the Sicilian engine stoked into the next generation of wine making. I grew up in California and we moved as fast as the waves offshore. Sicily was just awakening from a post war slumber.

America was entrenched in a war across the world and I was cannon fodder standing in line to take my turn. When I walked into Palermo with patched jeans, desert boots and some crazy shirt, along with my lengthy curls, peace signs and surplus army camera bag, folks looked at me as if I were from another planet. I was.
Looking around then, all I saw was the future running from the past. Looking around now, all I see is the future then.

From Palermo my uncle would cram us into his little Cinquecento and we would head off into the hills. Those hills would have hectares of wheat or artichoke, depending on where we were on the island. Now we see the beginning of the California sequence in Sicily. It is very wonderful for the innovation of the new world and the absolutely wonderful tradition of this palimpsest we've come to see as Sicilia (for can any of us ever "know" this island?). What Zio Peppino would tell me with his tours no language could ever, ever begin to explain.
We made a little tour of Sicily once, and when we did it was to "run errands". And to taste wine. First stop was Sambuca di Sicilia, where one of our cousins had some vines. He grew Cataratto, Grillo and Inzolia, white wine varieties. The idea was to grow as much as he could, for the local co-op would pay for bulk. Somewhere around the corner the germ of this wine was being dreamed up out of the astral mindscape of Diego Planeta.

Cometa, the first time I saw this wine was in Pantelleria and it fired me up! I love white wine, and in the summer climate of Sicilia and Texas this kind of pleasure is taken, often and willingly. For me, this is a red wine trapped in a white wine body. Look, you can go to the Cernilli's and the Maroni's of the current scene and get your scores and your stars. Frankly, the Planeta machine is moving quite fast without someone like me (or them) to sing their praises.

But.
I like this wine, I really like this wine. I could have only hoped, once I went back to California wine country and witnessed the birth of that scene there and then, that Sicily would "get it"...To "see" it is one thing to get there is another.
Yes. Yes. Yes... to plagiarize Joyce...

We followed the southern coast to Vittoria on the next day, Zio had a friend who grew tomatoes and Zia Vitina wanted to put some up for the fall. I don't know how we hauled all those pomodori back in that tiny Fiat. Along with the wine.

A Jesuit priest who lit the fire under me for Sicily was a gourmand and he told me this story of how he loved to say mass in the little parish towns along the southern coast. Every town had a different wine for the mass, and in Scoglitti he recalled a red wine they supplied, all he could remember was the word Cerasuolo. So over the years when I was in Sicily I'd hunt down a bottle or two of Cerasuolo and take it back with me, one for him one for me. This padre was able to tell me more stories about Sicily and when we opened a bottle of wine, this Cerasuolo, though it was rustic, the genie came out of the bottle and onto his lips. History, wars, eras, empires rose and fell with every glass of Cerasuolo. I only wish my Aunts tomato sauce and her wonderful arancini could have made the trip back to America with me and the Cerasuolo. This is a historical wine from what many of us consider the heart of Ancient Greece. Yes it is now Sicilia, but the Louisiana Homer taught this student more about the Ancients when this wine was opened than I ever learned out of the books.

Before we returned to Palermo, Zio had one last stop in Noto. Zia Vitina needed some special potion from a man who mixed herbs into a potion. She had the softest skin I had ever seen.

Noto, this little gem of a town, now almost as quiet as it was in the last century. The herb man is there and the almond milk man is there. This is a town Unesco has established for protection as a heritage center. Go there...just go there. Forget about Taormina..go to Noto, make a note to go to Noto...ok?

My first love, I still remember how she smelled. I have never, ever smelled that aroma, ever since the last time I kissed her. I still remember that wonderful sensation of her skin and her perfume. Something evoked that olfactory memory, dredged it out of the hulls of my skull. Maybe it was the herb man and his concoctions, Maybe the almond milk man's delicacy or maybe it was the dessert wine from this little treasure, this Moscato di Noto. This would be my mass wine, this would be my almond milk, this would be my lost aromatic memory of first love. I cannot tell you or even myself why these sweet things mean what they do to me, but this opened up a door and swept 40 years away!

go there....go now..

Suntanned Sicilian Tricolore ( all photos by the author)

Links ~

Planeta

Viaggio in Sicilia ~ Art and landscape project inspired and created by Planeta and Nuvole

Unesco World Heritage (re: Noto)

Val di Noto

Wines ~

Fiano

Cerasuolo di Vittoria

Moscato di Noto

Sardegna, Sicilia & Pantelleria ~ ' 5WG ' tasting

Wine dinner July 7, 2006 at home of Janet and

Phil Cobb in Highland Park (Dallas), Texas.

A few of us guys (5WG) get together on a regular basis and taste wines. Not really structured but some theme is agreed upon and then we meet and eat and drink. Guys include Phil Cobb, Hank Rossi, Neal Sleeper, Dave Whitney and me, Italian Wine Guy.
The Wines
Vintage -Winery – ‘Wine Name’ – Appellation - grape
White
1)2004 –Arcodoro (Cantina Sociale del Giogantinu) ‘Lughente’- Vermentino di Gallura D.O.C.G. - Vermentino
2)2004 -Cantina Il Nuraghe Mogoro- ‘Anastasia’ – Sardegna Semidano di Mogoro D.O.C . – Semidano grape
Red
3)1997 -Santadi -‘Terre Brune’ – Carignano del Sulcis D.O.C. – Carignane grape
4)2004 –Flli. Pala- ‘Essentija’- Bovale Isola dei Nuraghi I.G.T. – Bovale grape
5)2003 - Cantina Il Nuraghe Mogoro- ‘Vignaruja’- Cannonau di Sardegna D.O.C. – Grenache grape
6)2003 -Firriato -‘Chiaramonte’ - Sicilia I.G.T. – Nero d’ Avola grape
7)2002 –Terredora- Irpinia I.G.T. – Aglianico grape
8)2003 -Rapitala -‘Nadir’ - Sicilia I.G.T. – Syrah grape
9)2003 -Planeta -Sicilia I.G.T. – Syrah grape
Dolce
10)1994 Minardi- Passito di Pantelleria D.O.C. – Zibbibo (Moscato) grape

The Meal
-Mozzarella Pomodoro-buffalo mozzarella, flown in from Italy, with fresh tomatoes and basil

-Gnocchetti Sardi al Cinghiale- Sardinian teardrop pasta with wild boar

-Risotto al Nero con Gamberi alla Griglia- squid ink risotto with grilled prawns

-Couscous- semolina grain with fresh mediterranean vegetables

-Pescespada alla Griglia -Grilled Swordfish

-Dolce – light, fresh ricotta and pastry fantasy thing..went really well with the dessert wine.

Francesco Farris, executive chef of Arcodoro in Dallas prepared the meal.

The wines are listed above as is the food. I will comment on the wines and the foods in my fashion.

Notable to say this. One wine from the mainland slipped in, the Aglianico from Terredora. We let him stay. And two, the well know wines from Sardegna, Argiolas, Capichera, Contini and Soletta were not present. No reason, not enough time or room. So this wasn’t meant to be an all inclusive deal anyway. Sicily, too, a few well known ones are in the lineup but in no way could we even begin to cover it all. That being said, here’s what we sampled.

The first two whites were opened , the ‘Lughente’ Vermentino and the ‘Anastasia’ Semidano. Vermentino is a fairly well known grape from the region and Semidano is a “heritage” variety recently resuscitated and now back in play. The Vermentino, a private label of the Farris boys, was a refreshing, clean and very straightforward wine, very nice. The Cantina Sociale of Giogantinu has made great strides in rushing towards the new millennia and the wines are showing well.

The Semidano was an interesting wine and one that I had to research after the dinner. Spritzy like an Arneis but quite a refreshing wine. A bit effervescent on the palate but bone dry.

Sardinian white wines are, like much white from Italy, improving at light speed. Thank Bacchus!

The reds, first with an older carignane, the ‘Terre Brune’. At first the wine, because of its age, showed a little adobe color. But carignane has layers and we eventually found a few under the brick pile. Spicy and a little salty, the fruit was mature and enjoyable. Brought directly from Italy a week before, straight from Bugari’s Enoteca. Nice .

The ‘Essentija’, made of Bovale grape, thought to have been brought from Spain, was bright and lively. Some of the gents didn’t latch onto the wine at first, but its light refreshing quaffability made it a good match for the Gnochetti with wild boar sauce.

The ‘Vinayruju’ (sounds like an Indian deity) – was full throttle Cannonau (grenache) and at first opening was throwing off some carmel-like aromas. This dispelled, and like so many of these wines that are rooted in a rustic terroir, evolved and changed through the night. A deep wine, almost what I would think to be approaching the “vino da meditazione" category. Also brought directly from the enoteca by Hank.

We then stepped on the barge and went over to Sicilia, starting with a Nero d’Avola from Firriato. This is an interesting winery with a very strong-willed, charismatic woman at the helm. I’m finding this more in the wines of Sicily, strong women. Well, it makes sense, my grandmother sure was, and I’m glad for it. She had opinions and convictions and character. And things like that make for good components in a wine, especially when one is looking for the reflection of the land, some depth and above all character, in wine and in people.
Her Nero d’Avola, Chiaramonte, was rich and not too New World, alcohol was in check and wine was in balance. That was our only Nero d’Avola. Alongside Frappato, which is the grape of the important Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Nero d’Avola is a historic grape and one of interest to those who look to the region for their indigenous expression. Nero d’Avola is Sicily.

We popped on over to the Campanian countryside like a cold front settling in the valley where the Terredora winery sits. Look at a weather map of Italy in summer and you will often see it cooler in Avellino than in Trento. Locals refer to it as the Switzerland of the South. Nice…We had a basic red, their Aglianico Irpinia IGT. In the group and it showed fairly well, though it was a bit overwhelmed by the riper and extracted reds of the islands. It was a little older (2002), which wasn’t a problem vintage for the south like it was in Tuscany and Piedmont. It grew on the group through the night. Terredora is owned by the land-owning side of the Mastroberardino family, and they make, arguably, the greatest wines from their region. While the owners are pretty laid back folks and don’t beat their drums like their competitors, you can find their wines on the greatest of the great wine lists all over the world. So they may speak softly but they carry a big stick.

Back to the big island, and straight in to the arms of two Syrahs, from Rapitala and Planeta. Rapitala, owned by Hugues Bernard, Count of Gatinais, France, and his wife Gigi Guarrasi, a descendant of a prominent Palermo family, really attaches itself to the Arab roots planted in Sicily. Rapitala, from the Arabic, Rabidh-Allah, meaning river of Allah, and Nadir, from the Arabic Nazir, meaning deep, rare, precious. The wine has a restrained holding back side to it, revealing itself layer by layer, like a slow dance. Very European.

The Planeta family is high energy from the get go! These folks are seeing through a set of eyes, the eyes of visionary Diego Planeta, who must have felt very alone when he first saw where he was going and where he was taking his family. And now Planeta the winery, with the young sons and daughters at the helm, sits on a plateau looking forward and hearing the chant of the legacy given by the blood and sweat of many who went before them. Very exciting to see, one who has been watching Sicily from afar for almost 40 years now. The wine was rich and full-bodied; all the gents really seemed to like this wine.

But how can one not like a Cucinotta ?

For a finale we took a small plane to Pantelleria and sampled the Zibbibo passito from a small family, Minardi. These are not Parker-chasing people; probably don’t even know who that is. Straightforward and honest people, Andrea Minardi and his family are great friends. Pantelleria is a favorite stop of mine, and I’d live their part of the year if I could. I love the island and the people, and opening a bottle of wine like this instantly transports me there. The wine is the embodiment of terroir; this wine smells like the island, tastes like the island, looks like the island, feels like the island. Really a bizarre and wonderful experience to have this happen.

This has gotten too wordy and so I must stop now. I will suggest links, wineries and websites and photo links.

One last note. The Enoteca Bugari, in San Benedetto del Tronto in Porto d' Ascoli, if you ever get a chance to go there, is a wonderful place in time that is really a shrine to some of the forgotten wines of Italy. Started by a man who has been acknowledged as a seminal figure in the understanding and communicating of wine Italian, Signore Bugari. A friend and mentor of mine took me to see him 20+ years ago, for this was his mentor. This man was friend to Veronelli and Tachis, and more so to the lonely vine grower, toiling in the wine fields on land far from the sight of society and industry. Here was an ambassador who brought back word and wine from these outposts to tell the Italians and the world about the riches in the fields. By all means it is not a great address, and if you go you might think me crazy for wasting your time, but I can tell you this is an oasis in time and space, and that is important to people like me.

Ciao ciao








Links
Cantina Sociale del Giogantinu
Cantina Il Nuraghe Mogoro
Santadi
Flli. Pala
Firriato
Terredora
Rapitala
Planeta
Minardi

Arcodoro the restaurant
about the chef, Francesco Farris

Photos of Pantelleria
Photos of Sicilia and wineries

Post-Modern Fellini

Fellini's 8 1/2 - re sampled for today. Very cool.

Fantasy Island

This post is meant to serve as an explanation for whenever I use the Fantasy Island label. This simple key is this: Whenever I write a post with the Fantasy Island label, you can safely assume it is written from a fictional perspective. Just in case there are people who get mixed up about some of the posts here. After all, what is a blog, if not a writing laboratory for ideas and projects?

Thank you.

INTER(ior)VIEWS

For the record, just so nobody gets any wild ideas, I am thinking of doing some interview type posts that are totally made up; fantasies, springboards and otherwise fictional renderings from the interior of my mind.

Ok, we got that straight?

So, in case anyone confuses these posts with fact or reality, no, Mrs. Calabash, these are fiction.

White Heat

It is scalding. The car is hot; we search for a shade spot to park while we crawl into the next account to proffer our selection. Today, being a wine merchant is just downright miserable. The last thing I am thinking about opening is a bottle of Barolo or Burgundy or Syrah….just not possible…worlds will collide.

I’m in the desert and there is a mirage. Three sirens call. “This will quench your thirst.” And there I am back in the arms of the Italian, the Spaniard and the Portuguese. I’m rescued for a time.

The Italian we call Costalupo and this young Abruzzese, the newborn white blend of Trebbiano, Passerina and Riesling makes me long for the langosto of the Adriatic’s San Benedetto del Tronto. Here we must be content to sip and dream. But don’t dream the summer without this one at your side…


The Spaniard is a bit exotic, Spain being the place these days for experimentation in architecture, in food, why not in wine? I’ll never remember the name of this wine, Oroya, but the flavor will save me through the second month of the inferno here. Also a ménage of three grapes , Airen , Macabeo and Muscat of Alexandria, ready for the characters from Lawrence Durrell’s “Quartet” to raise a glass and drink through the night. Designed for sushi (or carpaccio di pescespada) and anything Ferran Adria, Grant Achatz or Katsuya Fukushima can... in their wildest imaginings.


A Portuguese man went blind at sea and for six years while on board the vessel circled the globe. Upon arriving home in Porto, within a month his sight returned. But his lament was for the world he discovered in those years, a world without war, a world with life and endless vistas. For the remainder of his life he wrote down all that he experienced in those six years..It took him twenty years to finish.
The wine? Oh yes, a simple dry vinho verde, called Famega. Absolutely quenching, even when one is trying to regain their lost years those lives lived.

Costalupo (appx $11.00), Oroya (appx $12.00) and Famega (appx $7.00).

Il mio giardino

A few pictures from the home garden.

The winter garden in transition.


Arugula and Italian Parsley re cycling.
In the back, Cardoons expecting their arrival. Peppers and Cucuzza incubating.

Nepitella for Il Gato.
Hoja Santa for Mozzarella Company and Artisanal.


The end of the Chard.
Hoja Santa mingling with Epazote awaiting their reincarnation with formaggio locale.

Basilico in the seldom seen shade taking un' ombra with Oregano and Aglio.
The flowering of the Cardoon.

Links

• Mozzarella Company
• Artisanal

The 31st of June

In the Veneto, legend has it that a monk got into a little trouble with the devil. The monk, Fra Stefano, wanted to make the greatest wine that had ever been made. Inspired by the miracle at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine, this monk filled his barrels up with holy water and called upon an unothodox power to help transform this into wine. A certain fellow, but a diabolical one at that, came upon the scene and offered to help this monk in exchange for his soul. This being harvest time and the monk wishing to enjoy the fruits of his labors, he bartered with the devil to let him have his soul until the end of spring. Now this monk wasn’t too good with time and numbers and when pressed by the devil for a definite date, the monk said, “the 31st of June”. At which time he and the devil made their deal. It seems the devil was none to good at time and numbers as well. But a deal is a deal even when one makes it with the devil. Oh, what a good wine it was!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A young man arrived in the Veneto, in a small town where the Prosecco wine is made. The town, Rolle, is very near the epicenter of the Prosecco heartland, Valdobbiadene. He had read about this area for some time now, the prospect of anticipation was now a reality.

As he settled in his room for the night, in an inn that had once been an abbey, he felt a serene familiarity with his surroundings. It was as if he had been reminded of something that hadn’t yet happened.

Valdobbiadene and the surrounding area is a fantasy land for wine and food lovers. One hour or so from Venice, but light years from the tourists and the hype and the come on. No menu turistica, no pizza, no gondolas. There is something wonderful about the sound of the church bell ringing at 6:45 in the morning calling the people to mass and the workers to their labors. As it has been for centuries. Roosters crow, doves coo and cuckoos announce the dawn add to the symphony of the hills. There is a peace in these valleys that resonates in ones soul long after one is back home.

The wine is simple. It’s white and often bubbly. Fresh and lightly fruity. Now it is fashionable in places like San Francisco and New York, but fashion from this place seems odd. The spirit of here whispers, “Timeless”. Some of the winemakers the young man will visit are Mionetto, Montesel and Bisol, all from the land of the Valdobbiadene.

The problem with fashion is that it overlooks the timeless for the new. Our societies in Italy and America are rapidly paving over the traditions once held in high regard. And with it go the people and the stories. People like Giuseppe, who owns a small plot of land clinging to a hill in Valdobbiadene. An octogenarian who rises at four in the morning to go out and work in his vineyard. The children have moved away to Milan to become accountants and pharmacists. They will never get home by the 31st of June. His way is dying and he tells me he fears this way of life will go when he goes. No legacy buyout from a corporation wishing to further his work into the future.

Sergio Mionetto sold his company some time ago but remains with the company as their spokesman and spiritual compass. The company now embraces modernity and innovation, hoping to reach a larger audience of Prosecco-isti. Sergio, meanwhile, has become a living symbol of those hills, etched on his face like the gulleys of his beloved Cartizze, a small drop of a land that is thought to be a place where the terroir of the Prosecco has its greatest potential. Only 106 hectares. Here the land is some of the most valuable in Italy, valued at $1,000,000 euro per hectare. On this land are more souls who work the land, become the land, who breathe out of that soil nectar that seldom is found in the land. Sell their land? Not likely.

A visit to a farm in the hamlet where the Prosecco of Cartizze is grown. Here in this land one doesn’t find over stuffed mansions of 10,000 square feet with 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, for only two people. Here is a small house with a wood burning oven, home made bread, cheese and wine. And two very content and happy people who live there. Looking at the purity of their smiles, the clarity in their eyes, the simplicity of their lives, these are people rich beyond the value of their land, wealthy beyond trust funds.


During the early spring the winemakers put on an exhibition of their wines in the
little towns. In one of these Sergio gathers with some of his friends and colleagues, journey men and apprentices. A modern day guild of sorts, this one to celebrate the miracle of grapes into wine. Without the devil and the holy water. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that happy gathering? What a life!

Renzo Montesel started as an agronomist for the region. On the outer edge of the Valdobbiadene zone, in Colfosco, He and his wife have a small farm. Their vineyard, the Vigna Paradiso, sits on tufa rock, porous soil that has excellent drainage and exposure. The wine has an infinitely fine mousse. These are younger people and with them comes the hope that some of the living legacy of the elders will live on in the labors of Renzo and his wife Vania. Their wine is ‘hand-made’ and rivals the best the region has to offer in Prosecco.

The Bisol family is equally understated in their outward appearances, but here is where the Prosecco finds an anchor. One of the largest landowners in the Cartizze (they hold 3 hectares) and gregarious in their reach. Their vines cover 50 hectares (where the average vineyard holding is 1 hectare); their family offers wine growing classes, wine tasting seminars and traditional cooking courses from their hospitality center, the Foresteria Duca di Dolle. Here one can lose oneself, or perhaps really find ones true reason for being. The opportunity is here in many ways.

And tonight this young man on his way back from several days out in the field with these beacons of inspiration. On his way back to the room he picks up a book, about an older man of the village. His life, his story, this man who after a period of traveling while young, came back to this little village and lived his life. How oddly familiar this story was to the young man, but only in the way one can sense something that might be about to happen, what they call déjà vu.

The next morning the young man, sitting out among the vineyards taking in the morning, was filled with light and an understanding of the cycle of the old mans life and his, entwined like the vines and the poles holding them up. As the church bells tolled, it was as if the life of the grapes made to sparkle infused within him to the point of immersion into the territory. He was becoming part of the terroir as a flower would bloom, a bird would sing.

It was then the young man knew that book about the old man's life was about the life he was about to start living, in an amazing place, in the hills above Venice.

June 31st had arrived.

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RESTAURANTS IN ROLLE
In this small, fascinating borgo there are two very renown restaurants: Da Andreetta and Locanda al Monastero, where it is possible to taste some fine local dishes, according to the culinary tradition of the Prosecco hills.
Seasonal products are an extremely important ingredient in the preparation of the menus: Mushrooms, Treviso Red Chicory, Spontaneous Wild Herbs, Asparagus, cheese from the Pre Alps, are just a few of the options available to the chefs. Wonderful al fresco dining in summer and excellent fireside dining in winter.

Ristorante da Andreetta – Terrazza di Rolle
Address: Via Enotria 7 Rolle (Treviso)
[this web site has additional information on Rolle ]

Locanda al monastero
Menu changes daily according to the seasonal offerings. My vote for last meal on earth. Address: Via Enotria 21 Rolle (Treviso)

RESTAURANT IN MAINE
Ristorante 'Da Gigetto'
An absolute pilgrimage to a shrine for food and wine. One of the best experiences I have ever had.
via A. De Gasperi, 4.31050 Maine
Trevisio
Italy

STAY IN ROLLE
A relaxing and pleasant stay at the “Foresteria Duca di Dolle” will be an unforgettable experience, where enjoying fine wine and cooking classes, visits to artistic sites and excellent local restaurants, mountain biking, walking, where getting what every body is looking for: the perfect balance between mind and body, can transpire.

LOCAL & REGIONAL FOOD FESTIVALS (SAGRAS) TREVISO PROVINCE
This land invites you to celebrate the joy of life. The gourmets will find their paradise in this area: in any season, local products are used to create fine typical dishes, and are presented in excellent restaurants and unique gastronomic festivals held all over the Treviso Province. Festivals are just some of the many interesting events to take part in while visiting Rolle.

Cocofungo (mad for mushrooms) - October
Cocoradicchio (mad for radicchio) - Febrary
The Radicchio di Treviso Festival - December
The Combai Chestnuts Festival - October
The Prosecco Spring Festival March - June
Amopesce (fish festival in April)
Riso e Verdiso… - middle of May
The Mostra Nazional degli Spumante Exhibition - September (held at the beautiful Villa dei Cedre in Valdobbiadene. An Italian Exhibition of over a thousand extraordinary, unique and sparkling wines).
Vino in Villa - last week-end of May (organized from Consorzio Prosecco of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene)

producers

Mionetto
Via Colderove, 2
Valdobbiadene 31049
Tel: 0423.9707

Montesel
Via S. Daniele 42
Colfosco Di Susegana, 31030
Tel: 0438.781.341
no web site

Bisol
S. Stefano di Valdobbiadene 31040
Tel: 0423.900.138