Lupicaia IGT 1999 – Pleasure in a bottle

Lupicaia, an IGT Super Tuscan by Rossi di Medelana, is gluttonous pleasure. It costs about $150 retail and $250 in a restaurant. This positions Lupicaia out of the pocket book of many wine lovers but the price quality relationship is much better than most of those $500 a bottle wines. It has been a while since I have purchased an expensive wine. The few great wines left in my cellar are destined for future occasions. A stroke of luck brought 6 bottles of Lupicaia IGT 1999 entered my home.

I have known Lupicaia for many years. She has been a warm and cuddly friend, elegant and encompassing. While her company can be appreciated in the te’ ta te’, a menage a trois is most certainly the best environment to truly appreciate one of mother nature’s greatest gifts. Just any meal would not be appropriate. She deserves a savory and hearty meal. I prepared a bed of potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters along with baby carrots and two peeled onions. A large rib eye, seared on both sides was nestled discreetly and the top of the Dutch oven went into the oven for 45 minutes. One quick turn of the meat and a shuffle of the vegetables the third party to our festivities went back into the oven for another 45 minutes.

I opened the feisty Tuscan. She is young and needs to breathe. I admired the deep garnet color, fighting the temptation to consume her prematurely. I could smell the black cherries filling the air as I swirled the bottle. Genetics do not lie, a 90-10 Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot mix that could have been born in Bordeaux.

Finally our table was set. The anticipation created a nervous tension was high. A moment to admire the beautiful cut of meat surrounded by carrots, potatoes and a whole onion. The large mouth glass strategically positioned at the top right corner of the plate. Lupicaia slithered into the glass. Ruby red flashes filter through the stream of nectar and the fingernails are burnt orange.

A soft hint of tannins caressed my lips. A wave of velvet encompassed my mouth. The distinctive taste of Cabernet Sauvignon revealed itself as notes of cedar filled my gums. Finally a clean finish with hints of toasted coffee. I shared my attentions between the savory pot roast and Lupicaia. After each sip I was fully prepared to taste another bite of food. Culinary ecstasy consumed my senses. She was young, already mature, but surely in 10 years Lupicaia will take on additional personality and class. Lupicaia IGT 1999 will accompany me through the years, always present at special occasions.

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Fiat 500 Wins Prestigious Car of the Year Award

As we are shopping for the perfect gift how about the Car of the Year. The newly introduced Fiat 500 has been named Car of the Year by a group of 58 automotive journalists from 22 countries. The 500 was reported to have been a hands-down winner over its six rivals thanks to its look, safety features, the quality of its interior and variety of its models and engines.

Competing against the 500 were the Ford Mondeo, the Kia Cee'd, the Mazda 2, the Mercedes Class C, the Nissan Qashqai and the Peugeot 308. The 500, a re-edition of the classic car, produced from 1957 to 1977, made its official debut in Turin on July 4.

The car has a retro-look to recall the classic 500, named after its original engine size, following the example of the new Volkswagen 'Beetle' and the BMW 'Mini'.

Between the end of the Nineties and the start of 2000, Fiat design put the emphasis on the product’s high degree of practicality, with particular attention to the car’s interior space. Today, the brand has evolved in a new direction for Italian design, where details are carefully amalgamated with harmonious forms and homogeneous styling: a combination of traditional values in a bubbly, innovative setting.

The theme of stressing the brand’s Italian quality is expressed by the rediscovery of influences from Italian cars of the Sixties and Seventies and expressions of Italian culture, particularly fashion; also contributing to the Fiat brand’s new personality are major design companies in the Turin area, such as Pininfarina, Bertone or Italdesign, who represent a cultural heritage envied throughout the world.

Unfortunately, Fiat does not have a US commercial presence. The entrance of the Smart car by Mercedes gives me hope that sometime in the near future this little jewel will find its way onto US streets. Fiat developed the platform for the 500 with Ford Motor Company of the United States, which will use it for its revamped 'Ka' model. Perhaps this collaboration can be the foot in the door for Fiat while giving Ford a hot car for the US market.

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Bottle of Ornellia 2005 sells at auction for $33,600 – Friends of Florence

I can imagine that many are checking their wine cellars right now to see just how many bottles of Ornellaia are on the shelves. Before you break you neck jumping down the stairs to open the doors of newfound riches, patience. Ornellaia is a wonderful wine. It is one of my favourites. It is not, for any year of production, a $33,600 wine. The sale took place at a Christie’s Auction in New York. The winners were a couple from Seattle and the proceeds go to the “Friend’s of Florence” to restore and maintain the entrance doors of the Battistero of Florence.

There are various non-profit organizations in the US dedicated to helping maintain the human treasures of Florence, Venice and Rome. From the Friends of Florence Website:

Friends of Florence is a non-profit 501(C)3 international foundation based in the United States. It was created to allow the citizens of the world to participate in the preservation and enhancement of this glorious city and the Tuscany region.

Through carefully selected projects, various works of art, architecture and literature will be restored, safeguarded or finally opened to the public. A committee of internationally respected experts and historians will guide the foundation in the selection of projects that will benefit from the foundation's work.

The great re-awakening of the human spirit from the darkness of the Middle Ages occurred in Florence. In the early 15th century, the study of antiquity - of the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome - became a Florentine passion, and with it carne a new respect for learning and a new-found creativity. The fruits of the great Quattrocento were boundless in Florence, making it the center of Western civilization for arts, architecture, philosophy sciences and political idealism. This small city became the emblem of humanism and gave the world such geniuses as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Galileo, Dante, Giotto and countless others who created works and ideals which continue to inspire the world. As we enter the third millennium, it is ever more important that the legacy of Florence and the Tuscany region be preserved, enhanced where possible, and protected. Many of the unique treasures found in and around Florence are in danger of being ruined from neglect or sporadic preservation. The city itself is a work of art, rich in beautiful palaces, churches, museums, secret corners, and splendid gardens. All must be carefully protected so that Florence and Tuscany will remain a symbol of humanism and man's creativity and genius for centuries to come.

Current Projects include:

Sculptural Group Above the Door of the Baptistry
Ghiberti’s “Door’s of Paradise”
Twelve Caesars of the Medici Collection
Tribune in Uffizi Gallery

You can receive additional information on their projects, how to get involved and/or what is coming in the future directly from the group.

Tags: Ornellaia Wine Auction Red Wine Florence Tuscany Sommelier Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Vino Novello – Italian 2007 New Wine available Tonight!

At 1 minute past midnight the Novello season begins. Novello is new wine. At one time it was the farmer’s opportunity to try his latest harvest with food and refine the aging process. Vino Novello traditionally makes it debut in the first week in November in order to get a jump on its more famous French cousin, Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais cannot be opened until the third Thursday of November, this year November 15.

Novello, like Beaujolais Nouveau, is a light, fruity red wine which by law must be bottled within a year of the harvest, but in practice is bottled within a few weeks. The fruity flavour of new wine is in part due to the fact that the juice of the grapes is not left with the grape skins that contain the chemical tannin.

One of the main differences between Novello and Beaujolais is that several of the Italian wines retain some of the carbonation used to accelerate the fermentation process while the French Nouveau is traditionally flat. The Italians call a fizzy wine “moved”. Moved wines are a favourite with the younger crowds and women as a daily table wine.

The unusual weather in Italy this past summer resulted in a reduction of total wine production. The exception is Friuli-Venezia-Giulia that saw both an increase in quantity and quality. Novello will also suffer reductions in quantity so when you find it you may want to pick up a bottle. Tradition has it that Vino Novello should be consumed before the first extreme cold (sometime in late December) but current production methods will make this wine available through March.

Tags: Novello Table Wine New Wine Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Where of Where have theTruffles Gone? Italian Truffle Harvest Report Fall 2007

Fall is such a great season. The harvests come in and the bounty of the earth can fully be appreciated. New wines begin to appear and the cool nights are perfect for the heavier meals and more complex wines. In the predawn quiet I am alone with my keyboard as note flashes on my screen and fills my soul with melancholy. The Truffles have abandoned us. Perhaps it is global warming [this would explain why Al Gore is so intense] or just the nature of things but Truffles just are not to be found.

Italy's prized white truffles are so few and far between this autumn that prices have soared and some restaurants are being forced to take them off the menu.

White truffles, which are rarer and more pungent than black ones, are pricey at the best of times. But unusually dry weather this year has made it hard for the humidity-loving tubers to grow, making them even more exclusive.

At the Truffle fair in Alba prices are as high as 7,500 Euro kg. That translates to about $ 5,500 a pound. Just sniffing their perfume this year will cost you $50.

Experts say that the long hot summer coupled with steady winds in truffle-growing regions has meant the tubers have not had the underground conditions in which they develop best.

Nestling in the roots of about 50 trees - mostly oaks but also hazels, poplars, mulberries and willows - truffles are rooted out by specially trained dogs.

The average weight of the few white truffles harvested so far this year is only 150 grams, while in other years 300 grams has not been unusual.

Despite the high prices this year, the white truffle's appeal appears undiminished. As proof of this, truffle farmers note that for the first time ever there will be a delegation of Chinese buyers at Florence's international truffle auction on December 1.

Tags: Italian Recipes Truffles Risotto Alba Gourmet Foods Travel Italy

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