Long time follower of the wines of Italy. Back in my early learning days of the seventies focused mainly on their reds with so many excellent value wines flying under the radar. Tried many whites but often found them rather soft, simple, early oxidizing, and generally disappointing. My earliest favs were the lively Pieropan Soave Classico from their own Veneto vineyards of Garganega & Trebbiano and first vintages (from 1975 on) of Jermann “Dreams” Vintage Tunina from Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In the late 70s & early 80s visited each April at Vinitaly in Verona and was exposed to so many “new” Italian wines. It was around 1979 that Tony Terlato first imported into the USA that
popular Pinot Grigio from Santa Margherita. By the mid eighties many beacons of hope were shining brightly including among others the first vintage 1985 of Cervaro Della Sala Chardonnay (with that fresh touch of Grechetto) from Umbria by Antinori and balanced 1985s from Mastroberardino in Campania of Fiano di Avellino & Greco di Tufo. Also check out Falanghina from Campania. Today there are a plethora of white wine choices across the 20 regions of Italy all so well made from designated vineyards using state of the art winemaking. Enthusiast about so many from the Northeast those lovely crisp wines from Alto Adige (Alois Lageder), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (try versatile Friulano), and Veneto (Soave), Northwest for solid Roero Arneis DOCG and Cortese, Passerina and Verdicchio from the Marche, to the South for Sicily with Carricante, Catarratto, & my fav structured Grillo, to
another Island for Vermentino di Sardegna. A wealth of value priced treasures to explore.

Nostalgic home dinner on January 17, 2022 full of great memories as we enjoyed our last bottle of 1985 Greco Di Tufo from Mastroberardino beautifully paired with a fresh black cod plus a farro vegetarian dish. Worked magically. We were delighted with our earlier 11 bottles (purchased at BCLDB in May 1989 at $8.55/bottle) but kept this one an extra long time to see the longer aging potential of Greco. Remember learning so much from my wonderful late friend Antonio Mastroberardino (passed away in 2014 at age 86) a true wine visionary. Antonio dined at our home in Vancouver and kindly gifted to me his outstanding legendary red Taurasi Riservas of 1968 – a wow Castelfranci. He stated that aromatic Fiano di Avellino usually had the higher acidity and balance for aging longer. However, this Greco (a clone brought from Greece in 1st century BC) is from Tufo (volcanic rock subsoil) DOCG and has aged beautifully. Look at the still young colour in the glass at nearly 37 years of age. Some minerality there but that defining “cheesy” character (like Parmigiano Reggiano) with rich smooth complex flavours. What a statement it made! Probably my best bottle of it yet. Amazing.

Lots of reasons – including ageability – to be excited presently about the quality status of Italian white wines. Recommend you try some and experiment with cellaring a few.

Question: My Whisperkool wall mounted wine chiller just failed.  Do you have recommendations for a replacement?

Answer: Difficult question to answer specifically here without further detailed information as to what you actually need for your space and desired size capacity. Lots of competition out there for wine cooler refrigeration units. Probably fewer available in Lake Tahoe but on line shipments are easy across the USA by many online suppliers including a wide selection on Amazon. Recent article on 12 best units at www.lovecraftwines.com that you could check out. A great benefit with WhisperKOOL is the wonderful humidity feature for helping to keep the corks from drying out. Why not continue with WhisperKOOL if you were happy with them? However I suggest you first shop around online to see which one best fits your space. Good luck.

The Dine Out Vancouver Festival (#DOVF) January 14-31, 2022 is well underway with their 20th year of culinary celebrations this time under Covid-19 provincial order restrictions. These include the following:

1. A maximum of 6 people at a table.
2. Two metres or physical barriers between tables.
3. Customers must stay seated and cannot move between or visit other tables.
4. No dancing.
5. Normal Liquor service hours.
6. Masks are required when not seated at a table.
7. Restaurants must scan proof of vaccination QR codes for entry.

The focus of #DOVF is definitely on the well-being of the public and staff in the hosting restaurants. Good luck. The website shows 325 (up from the first year of 57) restaurants participating plus wineries, craft breweries and outdoor events including the food trucks “Street Food City”. There are special set price menus starting at around $20 and going up to a top of $59. Check it all out. Well organized indeed. Your scribe was delighted to attend a Dine Out sneak preview dinner at an isolated table for two on January 11 at Giovane Bacaro downtown at 1029 West Cordova Street. Wonderful informative service by manager Matthew and his conscientious team of servers. Learned they are working on an extensive expansion of their street patio area in front. Liked their Venetian Italian bacaro theme and was impressed with the quality of the food on their $49 three course menu. Also be sure to try their home made very thin potato chips with crispy herbs for $6 – best in town! The starter of Insalata di cicoria was really well conceived, colourful, and perfectly dressed plus crispy fried potatoes as a lovely combo with the $8 addition of tasty smoked sablefish (black cod). Light yet so satisfying and ample enough for even a light luncheon dish on its own. Smart BC wine choices are available throughout the meal including boutique Bella fresh sparkler (or Blue Mountain) and probably the best wine by the glass anywhere at #DOVF of that amazing classy Mirabel Pinot Noir 2016 (only 450 cases released at $70). Suggest booking to just experience the outstanding value (3 wine pairings for $49) of this excellent example of what the buzz is all about for top BC pinot noir! The bigoli con anatra was a genuine big serving with subtle spiced duck ragu as was the designer artwork of the fresh pasta filled with caciocavallo. Quality is outstanding and attention to detail superb presenting both dishes on hot plates. Blown away by the dessert of Gianduiotto-chocolate & hazelnut semifreddo. Flavours and textures to die for. So enticing and delish. What a Menu deal of three wonderful outstanding courses!

Lots of opportunities over the next 2 weeks to try the brilliance of Giovane Bacaro or another most worthy Vancouver restaurant. You have a plethora of fine choices. Well done #DOVF.

Question: How popular are non-alcoholic wines?

Answer: All Non-Alcoholic beverages are expanding and becoming an important popular category. More consumers are checking out “better for you” alternative choices to follow for a healthy lifestyle including less alcohol in their daily “diet”. Wine Spectator (WS) just produced an informative update article “Are There Any Good Non-Alcoholic Wines?” which I posted yesterday on my Twitter account @winefoodguru that you can check out. They review in some detail the three different production methods used to de-alcoholize wine and how it actually tastes. WS rated current 2020 releases of chardonnay & cabernet sauvignon from Ariel Vineyards as the best followed by chardonnay & red blend from Fre (Trinchero Family Estates). However, their conclusion is as follows: “Although serious wine drinkers may find de-alcoholized versions tough to swallow, consumer interest suggests that wine companies will continue to work to improve and expand these product offerings.” Yes, growing interest.

Big fan for decades of Charles Heidsieck (CH) bubbles. Used to buy “Tri Packs” of Brut Reserve listed for $170 Canadian on sale in August 2000 for $91.95 at BC Liquor Distribution Branch (while across the border selling at $45-47 US per bottle). These comprised 3 bottles of early Mis en Cave from 1993, 1995, and 1996 as a new concept and the quality recognition was then flying under the radar. Enjoyed drinking so many of these and became a convert for the brand. Also because your scribe always liked the texture of super cuvee Blanc des Millenaires from the very beginning of the 1983 vintage followed by only 1985, 1990, 1995, 2004 and presently the 2006. Respect how their website captures the contributing 5 major crus to this Blanc de Blancs superior blend as follows:

“Oger: lushness and structure
Mesnil-sur-Oger: balance
Avize: minerality
Cramant: complexity
Vertus: freshness and floral side”

Owner Remy Cointreau sold CH in 2011 (including Piper-Heidsieck) to EPI (Societe Europeenne de Participations Industrielles) under chair Christopher Descours who has revived this luxury brand. See this Blog reference of CH & P-H of March 30, 2020 here. The classy house style has continued and improved under current chef de cave Cyril Brun (since 2015), managing director Stephen Leroux, and team in those historic Crayeres underground cellars. Really admire the classic 2012 current vintage Brut Millesime (60PN & 40C Mise en 2013 disgorged 2020 with 8 grams dosage) so fresh, balanced and structured for further aging while already approachable now. Interesting to note two first protective consistencies used for improving CH 2012 with a jet injection of .1 microlitre of water after disgorgement to have resulting bubbling foam expel any oxygen plus then resealing by Diam’s new Mytik cork closure.

However for many Champagne consumers the big deal to know about is the fantastic wonderfully mature toasty complex regular Brut Reserve. Back label announces the key as “40% of reserve wines aged 10 years on average” This sparkler is almost like a top cru rich toasty aged white Burgundy with fine bubbles yet more reasonably priced. Every bottle is so delicious and consistent but sometimes with different nuances depending on the helpful “Mis en Crayeres/Laid in chalk cellars date”. They certainly all show that great house signature of “complexity, precision, depth, and creaminess”.

Over the Christmas 2021 weekend we enjoyed the last bottle from our oldest cache being mise en 2009 and disgorged 2015. Best one yet and pure luxury pairing with turkey! Over the past several months we have tried many other dated bottles from mise 2011 was disgorged 2017, 2013/2018, 2016/2019, and 2017/2020 and all have been excellent but of course the younger bottles were even fresher if you prefer that timing. Please note that they have reduced from 6 years on lees to 5 and now currently at 3 years. A quality Champagne brand that definitely is worth checking out.