ANA Wine (or whine) Club

[lori67]

Alrighty then.  I'll see you at lunchtime!   

And as luck would have it, Paige (my 5 year old) just picked our first zucchini from the garden yesterday!  I need to be bathing suit ready in a few weeks.  I hear Jan looks like Christy Brinkley and I don't want her stealing all my attention!   

Lori

[Lorenzo]

I thought you were Cindy Crawford... Anyway, keep eating those salads and zucchini and you'll be ready alright!

Ciao, Lorenzo 

[lori67]

Uh, yeah, I'm Cindy Crawford alright, but you know how it is with those blonde supermodels!  Always stealing the spotlight.   

[Lorenzo]

Do they? I wouldn't know anything about that... I don't usually hang around with supermodels.  lol
Ciao, Lorenzo

[lori67]

Well, if you want to deliver lunch to Jan and me at the beach next month - you can!     Better not forget the wine.  You may need a LOT of that to make us look like supermodels!

[Lorenzo]

Au contraire, I think wine would have the opposite effect, especially a lot of it!
So, what kind of wines do you all drink? Likes, dislikes, names, etc. Wine stories anyone? and i'm not talking about debauchery and student stuff...
I'm off to have some chocolate now.
Ciao, Lorenzo

[lori67]

Actually, one of the best wines I've had (and don't laugh at me!) was when I lived in NY and bought a bottle of "Cheap Red Wine".  That's what the plain brown label on the front said.  I bought it as a joke for a friend, because it was just funny, and it turned out to be really good!  They also made "Cheap White Wine", of course.

The worst was this "Tombstone" wine we bought in Arizona for my father-in-law for his birthday one year (as a joke again).  The label said it went great with rattlesnake!  I think that was all it would be great with!  Bleecchhhh!

One year my Dad decided to make his own wine.  It was awful, but of course, he drank it anyway because he had put so much work into it.   Any time someone would come over, he'd give them a glass, and they would pretend to be polite and say "Mmmmm...it's good" as they were choking it down.  Thankfully, his wine making phase was short lived.

I guess the best I've had was when James came back from deployment with 2 cases of different wines from Italy.  I have no idea what they were, but boy, were they good!  I think we might have a couple of bottles left.  He also brought back a few giant bottles of good olive oil from over there too.  I need to send him back to get more of both!  Or maybe I should just go get them myself!   

Lori

[Lorenzo]

Funny ones I've had over the years:

Scraping the Barell from Australia
Dingos Hair from the same country
JaJA de Jau from southern France
LA Clappe from there too
Cardinal Zin from CA
RED from somewhere
one had a blank label, and that was a mistake, both in printing and purchase
one a friend made in italy, good for stripping paint off, which is what we used it for
An english wine
Wine from Ireland, rare and may it remain so

So, if you go to Italy, make sure to let me know where you're planning to go, and drop a few bottle off when you fly over this place, will ya? thanks.

Ciao  lroenzo

[HeadCase2]

Lorenzo,
  Have you tried any of the Grand Cru Gewurztraminers from the Alsatian region?  They're probably some of my favorite white wines, along with Gavi de Gavi, and french Chablis (la clos).
Regards,
 Rob

[Lorenzo]

Hi Rob,

Gavi I tried a few times, not enamoured. Gewurztraminers too, same thing. Lived in Strasbourg for a while, and had Gewurzt (very nice with Tarte Flambee) a few times needless to say, but again, the ones I remembers were a little on the sweet side for me. I do remember liking some of them though, so maybe they vary in style. Not sure. Don't know them that weel. Any particular ones you recommend? Always willing to try things! 

Ciao, Lorenzo

[Debbi]

Just thought of a nice, inexpensive little white from Italy that I haven't had in awhile - it is called "Est Est Est!"  There is a whole amusing story behind the name of the wine, I'll have to try to rememer it.  It reminds me a bit of the Vinho Verde - very light and agreeable...

I have also had a couple of French rose's that were surprisingly good - especically for a summer afternoon.  I avoided pink wines for years, but realize I may have overlooked some lovely wines...

I am quite partial to Rhone wines - althoguh there is a lot of variance in quality on the lower price end.  Still, usually a quaffable wine...

I've had the privilge of having a couple of superb Super Tuscans - quite pricey so not something I normally have - still, wonderful to mark a special event.

Under the category of funny names - there is a shiraz under the label of "Fat Bast*#@" (that's for the moderators!)  Great fun to serve at a dinner party!

Ah, Lori - yes, definitely take a run over to Italy and pick up some wines and oils.  And make sure you fly through Newark on the return leg to drop mine off... 

Debbi

[Lorenzo]

Est, Est, Est? Yes. Lovely. Story goes: The pope was visiting some place north of Rome and him liking his wine always sent out a scout to find the local offering and leaving a message ('Est' which means It is in Latin) for the chosen wine. When the pope would get there with his entourage, he would have the wine ready for him. This time, the scout arrived in this town and found this wine. It was so good, he left the message 'est, est, est' for the pope.

At least, that's how I remember the story. 

Another weird wine I saw in Italy, at a freeway stop: Il Duce Bianco, and the same in Rosso. Of course it had a photo of the man himself, I nearly bought it out of curiosity. Instead, we left that place in a hurry. As far as I remember it was in Piemonte, not far from Bra (I know, I know, moderators again) where the Slow Food movement is based.

Pinks I lke (but they never quite taste the same when brought home from France): Bandol, and there's one from the Ventoux area which I can't remember. Other italian wines that are lovely come from the Umbria area, est of Tuscany. Grecchetto is a variety that some really nice white wine. Lungarotti makes some really nice red wines (and has a fabulous restaurant at his winery), and west of there there's Orvieto and their various offerings. The classico versions only, as the ORvietos we get here can be just as bad as some cheap and nasty Chianti.

Oh, and while  in Umbria, get some Olive Oil, some of th best in Italy.

Lori, can we place an order? 

Lorenzo

[leapyrtwins]

Lori, can we place an order? 

Note to Lori - big money-making opportunity.  Don't forget to charge that large commission 

[HeadCase2]

  Wines stories, eh, hmmmmm...

  Remembering my beginnings in wine, it's amazing I like the stuff.  My sister and I used to be served a small portion of wine by my aunt, in a shot glass, only at family holiday gatherings.  It was frightfully nasty tasting stuff, a sweet kosher wine, but since we were getting something that we were not supposed to have, we never would have admitted that it was dreadful, and choked it down.  We would sip and grimace until was gone, all the while trying to stay out of the grownups sight in case they might try to take it away.
  Jumping forward a few years into high school, a neighbor, who owned a well know French restaurant in Washington, DC, who used to bring by this great French bread left over from the restaurant, left us a bottle of French Burgundy from the Pommard region for a Christmas present.  This wine was an epiphany, who knew that wine could be this incredible.  I saved the empty bottle for many years.  To this day, Pommard and the Volnay region next door are some of my all time favorite wines.
Regards,
  Rob

[Lorenzo]

Really nice area it is too. Usually stop in Beaune on our drives down to Italy and enjoy that part of France. Driving along the vineyards and visiting the wine villages is really nice. LOve it there, and really like their wines too! Chateau de Pommard, nice!    I'm partial of one a bit further north, towards Dijon, Nuits Saint Georges. It's all an incredible area for food and wines.
Ciao, Lorenzo