Pinot Noir will always be my favourite red

Every once in a while some other wine lover asks the big "Question" ( I certainly do it a lot as well) What is your favourite grape??

The question is really hard to answer and at minimum should be divided into 2 questions - the white and the red grape. But still, you have great whites that contain red grapes in it and the reverse although more uncommon also happen!

My answer for the reds is Pinot Noir, I will leave the choice of white for later, or for you to guess?

Pinot Noir is very picky and, and will certainly demonstrate a lot of the terroir, climate and technique in its wines. Elegant, Fragant, more or less pronouced, but always an amazing company with or without food.

I leave above the bottle I cracked open for tonights Dinner, all the way from New Zeland... well worth a try!

We will always have New Orleans

Feeling very refreshed and yet nostalgic after well deserved holidays through Italy and Barcelona, where the only thing missing was certainly live Jazz. So as I return, I start looking to make it up and find a good 10 gigs I would love to attend, if only I had the time and money...

On the things not to miss is this amazing bunch from New Orleans, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be playing at Ronnie Scott´s this coming June (get your tickets as I am sure it will sell out easily).

Their history goes way back to the early 80s and to the sixth ward, the neighbourhood in the heart of the Tremé that was also their original name. The band became an icon of modern New Orleans Jazz very quickly, and mixing the tradition with beats of funk and bebop, and their performance live is certainly something to look for. Along their 12 albums, they made joint ventures with the likes of Dizzie Gillespie, Elvis Costello or even Chuck D from Public Enemy.

And its this track I leave here, with soundbytes from Mayor Nagin, and images of the unforgettable Katrina, "What´s Going On"...

Enjoy!

Off topic - mandatory downtime due to holidays

Watch "Manu Chao - Rumba de Barcelona" on YouTube

To all readers, do expect 4days of no posting, as i indulge in the land of gaudi, dali and priorat.

The importance of labels

I spent the last few days arguing against official studies that say label is the most important  thing when choosing a wine. Apparently this is true for 90% of consumers.

I do not believe in this but fell into a trap at the chianti tasting a couple of days ago and choose a wine for lunch because the label looked nice.

And then got home, and as my partner sees this picture she goes "must be the best wine out of the 500 you tried" :)

I want to be happy... don't we all??

Another little note on this lovely wine and jazz bar in Firenze. Starting with the jealous note, every once in a while we find someone who has our dream job, or if not a dream job, an amazing job, which you would be happy to have it instead of them. On this visit to Italy, that job has been taken by Ciro.

As described in the post just before this one, Le Volpi e L'uva is an oasis of good taste in the heart of romantic, medieval and also full of tourists Firenze, just nest door to the Ponti Vecchio. Howie took me there, and I was immediately dazzled by the concept of this bar. Then we looked at the wine list and ordered a couple of glasses of Tuscany whites, followed by yet another round of yet some more tuscany whites. 

Since we arrived I had been commenting on the lovely music selection by Ciro, just some nice count basic, or NYC jazz to go with the wine, and providing the most amazing background to enjoy the company and the conversations. (A note that it was valentines day, and the place was quite full of couples sharing a drink before dinner and so on...). Then sometime between the Verdicchio and the Muscat, a new track started a that really called my attention and commanded me to ask Ciro's help on finding who was playing. It was this tune, by the Monk on the piano and Sonny Rollins on the trumpet, a lovely melody with moments of pure virtuous technique by these to great composers, recorded by Prestige in 1975.

hope you enjoy it as much as I did

wine and jazz bar... firenze's best

le volpi e l'uva

The French say that the best perfumes come in small bottles. I guess the Italian twist to this will be "the best wine bars(enotecas) are the most hidden streets. It is certainly not easy to find this place, even though it sits just next door to Ponti Vecchio, one of the most touristic places in Florence.

This very little wine bar/shop is a little world of wonderful taste. the very good wine selection, from the ones you sell by the bottle to the offer by the glass is ranging from very good to outstanding, and the prices are very fair, certainly very cheap if like me you are used to London prices. I tried 5 glasses from the menu(the verdicchio twice), and would be happy to finish the rest of the day drinking the rest of the bottle. 

To go with this if have a good offer a range of local products from cheese, to cured meats, bread and the most exquisite jam of dark rum and tobacco, on our table only 50% loved it, and it got a bad reaction from the Italians who were sharing the Brunello with us, but I must say, its the best match I had with Pecorino cheese, and Howie certainly agrees with me.

One last note to the lovely decoration, the amazing books, and above all, the jazz. A playlist to rival any specialist radio, and certainly better than Jazzfm, a very good choice to match the style of slow food and slow drinking that makes every visit a "degustazione". 

P.S. A further post will follow about the music selection thanks to Ciro...

Montepulcianno

Leaving beautiful Firenze and heading south, to the lovely fortified village of Montepulcianno, and some Vino Nobile :)

Freedom by Ihlan Ersahin

Every once in a while I tell myself I need to learn to play the saxophone, still, to this day, it has not happened. It's Valentines day, and as the world wakes up to roses, chocolates and cheesy tunes, I woke up with this music in my head.

Ihlan is now more of a new yorker than a turkish musician, with the nublu collective(also a NYC jazz bar) they have produced some really good records of jazz with "around the world music" influence. This tune is from Istanbul sessions, where you get a lot of turkish influence on a more elegant, classic jazz backbone. A lovely album that on this track has the colaboration of the great Erik Truffaz on the trumpet.

Stay a while and listen...

The undiscovered and overlooked pleasure of Vermentino

Pinot grigio is by far the most famous italian white, so fresh and easy drinking makes it a really popular choice for a summer lunch but also to have on its own. When you look for quality, Gavi is probably the most respected white wine of the country. but with hundreds of indigenous grapes and so many appellations, what else is there?

Last night I had a really interesting Vermentino DOC,  from Tenuta la parrina. Vermentino also delivers the freshness of the whites, but can give much more. This one had remarkable vegetal notes (I got asparagus) and some lovely herbal, leafy notes on the nose.
On the palate, the first thing to note is its creaminess, almost velvety texture. such a full bodied white, brings the freshness through a good balanced acidity with high alcohol, 14.5%, whisch is quite high for a white. The fruit is juice with citrus and a hint of melon, and finishes with spice notes.

all in all a great white wine, good on its own, but also with food, and being in Tuscany, there is a lot of good choices to choose from.

the WOW factor - Sandemans 20yr Tawny

I actually have a different post already written that was to be here instead  of this, I was going to talk about an Amarone della Valpolicella but We openned this after work and it dazzled me. What an amazing Porto. (you might call it Port, but you are wrong :P)

I bought this last Christmas when I went home for the festive season and decided to bring some of the city back with me. It has been sitting on a shelf since then, that was until tonight.

For the "pure" Porto drinker, this is a more lighter style, but I find it rather more complex. The nuttyness traditional of this profiles is clearly there, but there are other dimensions of jammy notes and caramelised fruits, and to finish it a well balanced acidity that makes it feel less sweet and with an orange zing. I had the first sip and then topped up my glass 4 times :)

A lovely wine to be shared in great company, and it can be found online on a few retail sellers at about 50pounds with a supermarket chain making a really nice offer at 35,

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!  Cheers!!

what ticks your boxes?

After a little bit of thought and search of tunes that unite jazz and wine, this is still my favourite choice.

I am sure wine is not what New Orleans is famous for, and I am willing to bet that at any bar Bourbon is the most popular order, but this music is all about party and enjoying what ever is the poison that ticks your boxes.

Performed the the amazing Soul Rebels brass band, this is part of the Treme Soundtrack, a TV series about post-Katrina New Orleans, also a must!!!
If you enjoy this tune, you should look into their stuff, which includes an amazing cover of "Sweet Dreams", and if theyn are playing near do grab a ticket and "Enjoy Yourself"!

the "No mission" statement

When you start a blog it is normal to describe its goal and function. What you want from it.
But in reality, readers define what a blog is, what it is worth and what it means for them, so defining anything on your 1st post with virtually no readers appart from yourself its not only pointless, it is illogical.
You could try and define its content which is a better exercise, although not perfect! So I will start there. This blog with display content about my 2 passions, wine and jazz! Posts will not be technical or analytical, they will be about the feelings they express to me, with pleanty of space for reader comments, and arguements.

you are all welcome at this table, have a glass and listen...