IMO Thursday - My Favorite Italian Wine "Geek"

After the drama I wrote over the past 3 days I wanted to discuss something that makes me smile almost everyday: the wonderful wine blog, Italian Wine Geek by the talented and implacable wine explorer Joanie Karapetian. Joanie is an Italian -American, fully fluent in la lingua bella, and a top-flight wine professional based on the west coast.

Italian wine has gotten me out of bed in the morning and driven me to late night philosophical rants since 1995. I have been to 18 of the 20 Italian states and drank wine in them all. I taught classes on Italian wine and was the leading retailer of these wines in Texas for years. I know and love these wines. Joanie knows and loves them more.

I am rarely surprised by the notion of an indigenous grape or wine I do not know in Italy, as there are purported to be over 25,000 of them. I am constantly surprised by how many of these wines Joanie finds, tastes, and suggests where to drink in the good ol' USA. This is not an academic blog geeking out on detail that only a scientist could love. This is a blog about tastes, excitement for a place, and the joy in discovery and camaraderie of like-minded drinkers. Joanie's blog is also about great food (which wine actually is to me as well) and where to eat it :-)

I think her title only suggests a modern nomenclature for this wine talking endeavor. Joanie is affable, charming, and witty without ever seeming the pedant. She knows her stuff and if you read her lovely blog, you will too. I am so thankful to have found this piece of wine enlightenment floating about the web and I am more thankful Joanie and I have become friends.

Take a read and if you like wine at all, you will be hooked.

Congratulations Italian Wine Geek, you have captured and re-kindled a passion in me I thought may have waned.

Killer Wine Review - My First Germano and the Talented Women who Inspire Me

Inspired by the insightful wine writing of Paprika and Pinot yesterday in her blog post challenging  preconceived wine pairing notions; I decided to do a little experiment. My dear friend Joanie Karapetian, author of the wonderful blog Italian Wine Geek has for months extolled the virtues of the winery Ettore Germano in Piedmont (northwest Italy) and I went in search of this producer.

I was lucky enough to find a bottle of Ettore Germano Balau at a lovely wine shop in Arvada, Colorado called Primo Vino. I was turned on to the shop after a lovely wine dinner at Bella Bistro, also in Arvada, hosted by the indomitable Shelly Hunsucker Steinhaus.

These three women have really reached deep into my wine psyche and opened some doors to trying new things that an old curmudgeonly veteran like myself may not have tried otherwise. Thank you ladies and on to the experiment.

The Balau 2005 is a blend of 50% Dolcetto, 25% Barbera, and 25% Merlot. Merlot? Yeah, this guy is out there and I can tell you; I like it. The wine was a little closed (not very aromatic) at first while tart with cherry and lactic acid on the palate (lactic acid is the same acid found in milk and is not nearly as bracing as other forms of acid we eat). I find this lactic component almost always with Barbera from the Langhe - an area of great repute in Piedmont.

The challenge was to pair this bad boy with Szechuan Chinese food left over from Friday evening. Lo Mein with crispy chicken thighs, Ma Po Tofu with Pork, and Eggplant with Mushrooms. There was some spice, some sweet, a lot of savory and plenty of umami. So while I would normally grab a Riesling I thought this high-toned red blend would pair well and I wanted to challenge my natural tendency to pair white wine with Szechuan Chinese.

As it turned out the wine seemed flat and a little tired alongside the very flavorful food. The noodles were extraordinary re-heated and maybe even slightly better than Friday with a bit of added olive-oil crunch from the hot pan. The tofu really broke up in the cooking process and while the eggplant remained impeccable and tasty, the final two dishes as a whole were a bit weaker on the re-heat.

Now, once the food was gone, the wine began to sing. The dark cherry fruit from the Merlot and Barbera were jumping from the glass while the racy Dolcetto backbone seemed to be a perfect frame to showcase the two other grapes in the blend. Now, the reason the wine improved could have been one of two things.

A. The wine was just better because it needed to be open longer and evolve in the glass

B. The wine just paired poorly with the food and once the food was gone the wine began to show its true nature.

I am just going to have to get another bottle of Ettore German Balau 2005 and find out. There is going to be a tasting of Germano wines at Bella Bistro on March 20, and I for one cannot wait to see more of what this guy is doing in one of my favorite parts of the world.

Stay Thirsty My Friends!

A New Favorite Italian Wine Geek

My love of Italian wine is rooted somewhere close to my love for breathing. Lately, I had been sticking with old favorites when choosing Italian wines and perhaps I was even beginning to be stuck in a rut.

Suddenly, along comes JOANIE KARAPETIAN with a comment on one of my blog posts and I immediately knew she was for real. I went to her blog ITALIAN WINE GEEK and after reading for 30+ minutes my passion for interesting and esoteric Italian wines had been re-ignited by this talented young woman, who truly gets it.

Joanie, like many of us in the Italian wine world is highly educated, driven to eat and drink by some immovable spirit, and has a sense of humor that marries well to her passion for all things Italia. Joanie works for a really super importer and is based in Southern California

Please check out her blog if you are into Italian Wine, and I think the only question I have for this Italian Wine Geek is:

Does Joanie indeed love Ciacci?