I don't always drink wine, but when I do I prefer....
Winery: Feudi di San Gregorio
Grape: Falanghina (Type of wine) - Fal-ann-ghyne-a
Price: around 15 bucks depending on year and where you buy it
Where to buy: I dunno, sold out where I last bought it. I am sure online
Since we are in the middle of a bit of a heat spell I thought I would start this off with one of my (and Mrs HJ's) favorite summer time whites, Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina.
A lovely straw colored white from Campania, which is a state in southern Italy famous for among other things Naples, pizza, mozzarella, and great wines both red and white.
The wine is crisp like an apple, richer than you'd imagine yet still light on the palate. It has a nice fruitiness, a little round, yet finishes slightly citric/acidic and very clean. It is not oakly or buttery like a California chardonnay. I am not into cloying whites that taste of wood.
It is great with what whites usually work with....grilled fish, lighter pastas, veggies and salads, milder cheeses, chicken - also handles spice nicely too.
I had the wine in the Umbrian town of Spoleto this summer with Strangozzi alla Spoletina (think spicy light tomato sauce) for lunch - was incredible! Mrs HJ recently had a couple of glasses and Susan Feniger's Street on Melrose.
The Feudi di San Gregorio is my favorite right now, but if you can't find this producer and run into other Falanghinas, go for it. I have tried this varietal by other producers and have enjoyed it.
In general, I think that the wines coming out of the Mezzogiorno (literally mid-day, what the Italians call the south of Italy) are some of the best values in the world right now and are filled with interesting and unknown varietals like the Falanghina. If you go to a southern Italian restaurant and order a Falanghina, rather than asking the steward if they have a chardonnay, you will be in the club and treated like someone in the know....try it and see
I hope you enjoy and let me know how you like it!
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This is pretty cool. I feel like mentioning Corbett Canyon in a box just to see if I get tossed.
by jim hitchcock (railway) on Sep 7, 2011 4:48 PM PDT reply actions
You can this varietal from other wineries at under $20
at The Wine House (winehouse.com) in West Los Angeles.
I don't drink anymore
But when I did, I was mostly a California wine drinker. Some of my favorites were:
Eberle “Latin Quarter”. A blend that was great for summer BBQs. About $18 (club price)
San Marcos Creek Reserve Zinfandel. A really great zin for about $22
Sea Smoke “Southing” Pinot Noir. Absolutely stupendous Pinot, but about $75 per bottle
It's not what you look like, when you're doin' what you're doin'
It's what you're doin' when you're doin' what you look like you're doin'!
I like CA wines and really love oregon Pinot’s
but find less values there and sometimes less interesting
In italy they are ok with the wines being a little funky, I like the funk
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 7, 2011 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah. I live near that Sea Smoke you speak of. Prices have not gone down. Generally speaking, although Santa Barbara is “known” for Pinot Noir because of that movie, in most cases it is not especially good, aside from a very few makers, and is often overpriced. Sea Smoke is one of the exceptions in quality, and is very pricey though you can;t exactly say over-priced. What’s really and truly great from this region is the Syrah. We must have among the best Syrahs in the world, and you can hardly go wrong. But some are more special than others. Let me know if you’re going to be in the area. Some are now hard to find if you’re not a member of their wine club, except in some restaurants. For example, if you ever get the chance to try Jaffurs (many different vineyards, also the generic Syrah is terrific), try it.
awesome – you are absolutely correct on the Pinots – I very much prefer Oregon
Looks like I might be taking the Mrs HJ up to Santa Maria for the weekend in October. BBQ and Wine…any recommendations on where to go?
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 7, 2011 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions
The pinot I had on Monday night in Mammoth was the Domaine Drouhin from Willamette Valley, OR: it was excellent. It reminded me a bit of some Pommard I had about 30 years ago! I had some left over (to make room for that great Armagnac I mentioned) which I brought back with me and finished off last night. Still good.
Hmmm, I don’t know anywhere in the town of Santa Maria itself. But there are a number of great wineries with tasting rooms, which you probably know about (or ask). Foxen, Sanford, etc. etc.
I have to say that for what you describe – BBQ and Wine – there’s only one place you must go to, which you must also already know about. That’s the Hitching Post in Buellton. Yes, it was in That Movie, but I knew it long before then. In fact, I was taken there after my job interview here, back in 1993, and I’ve gone there whenever I can. The steak is the greatest – get that (ribeye by preference). Nowadays, you need to book. They do specialize in Pinot, of course, since they make their own, and that’s what you should get when you’re there. They, too, are among the Pinot exceptions. At the restaurant, you can get various “library” vintages not available elsewhere, and you should. The place next door to it does BBQ, but I don’t think the wine list has much (though being in the area, there must be something).
For fine dining. if you get the urge, I think that Fess Parker’s in Los Olivos is the best place – it’s also a hotel. The restaurant there is now called Petros Los Olivos, but it looks like it may have changed management since I ate there. A great place to know about in Los Olivos is the Los Olivos Tasting Room, right on the corner of the main intersection. It’s the place for all – and I mean all – the wineries that don’t have their own tasting rooms. Go there.
OK, a recommendation out of left field: just in case you’re not happy with your espresso, there’s someone (from Italy, of course) who hand-makes the best espresso machines in North America (actually, he even sells a few to Italy) based in, of all places, Solvang. He/it is called Salvatore’s. Go there to see his workshop, even if you’re not interested in buying. But this is the greatest little machine, that can do milk steaming for capuccino immediately without having to wait even one second. Anyway, don’t take my word; check it out and go visit. http://www.salvatore-espresso.com/
Some tasting rooms, including my favorite, Jaffurs, is in Santa Barbara itself, not the wine country. If you can stop off for a meal on the way, let me know and we’ll make arrangements. (The restaurant Bouchon is [one of] the best in town, serves only Santa Barbara wines.) Any way, ask more if you wish.
I am a complete heathen compared to HJ and berkowit, but Syrah is one of my favorite red varietals. Overlooked by many, but generally complex enough to be interesting, without having to wait the better part of a decade for the tannins to settle down.
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I’ve had only a couple Syrahs, both on my 21st birthday wine tasting trip through Napa. They’re too dry for my liking, but I did find I like the fruity taste some wines have, so now I tend to stick with Chardonnay, Rose or White Zin. I’ve only recently started getting into Sauv Blancs and Cab Sauvs.
@RB_GScott
give it time
push your palate but not the point of non-enjoyment, pair with regional foods (if it grows with it, it goes with it), and you will develop an appreciated for the drier – more tannic – wines
White Zin is something I loved in my early 20’s but cannot drink now – thing change
I still love summertime and early fall Rose/Rosatos – can go with bigger foods than you’d think – like roast pork and shit like that
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 9, 2011 9:19 AM PDT up reply actions
I’m also still in “this one is only $4!” territory, so Yellowtail is usually my wine of choice, and I’ll drink anything by them, though I have not tried the Syrah.
@RB_GScott
in the $4 dollar class you have to be careful
Cheap big reds are a danger – will be overly tannic and too sharp, or too much fruit, too much alcohol, with little or no “finish”
Heard good things about this (have not tried it) – not quite $4 bucks but a nice price at K&L Hollywood…
2006 Leone de Castris Salice Salentino Riserva ($9.99)
90 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: “The 2006 Salice Salentino Rosso Riserva 50th Vendemmia (Negroamaro, Malvasia Nera) is a very pretty, nuanced wine laced with wild cherries, plums, graphite and spices. Silky tannins frame an exceptional, elegant finish. This cask-aged Salice Salentino is a gem, not to mention an absolute steal for the money. The 50th Vendemmia celebrates the estate’s 50th vintage in grand style. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016. These new releases from Leone de Castris are some of the finest wines I have ever tasted from this property. Consulting oenologist Riccardo Cotarella arrived in 2006 but only began making the wines from start to finish in 2008.”
It will have some spice like a syrah – I would eat it with grilled meats or tomato based pastas….
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 9, 2011 9:39 AM PDT up reply actions
Uh oh. Think me and Eric are both oughtta here.
by jim hitchcock (railway) on Sep 7, 2011 4:52 PM PDT reply actions
I am a big tent kind of drinker
all are welcome
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 7, 2011 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions
This sounds great, HJ. I’ll look out for it. I’ve never heard of it. Falanghina. I’m surprised and impressed that it was on offer in Umbria: is Italy becoming more “catholic” in having out-of-region wines available?
I had a really great red Calabrian or Sicilian wine a year ago, in New York, at a wonderful refined Sicilian restaurant called Convivio just behind the United Nations, and has since, alas, disappeared. It was a terrific bargain for lunch, and had a menu I’d never come across before. Outstanding. The wine was deep and rich, which they sold by the glass for about $8 (!). It had a long name, three words maybe, which I’ve forgotten. (Not much use, sorry.) I had them write it down on a card, which I just came across again recently when I was going through my papers, and now can’t find again. I hope I didn’t throw it out. If I come upon it again, I’ll mention the name.
is Italy becoming more "catholic" in having out-of-region wines available?
Like all things in Italy the answer is Yes and No. We were actually drinking a lot of the local Umbrian whites, they are famous for the Orvieto, but we also like the whites made with the local Grechetto
Three word southern reds…could it be Nero di Avola (Sicily)? Aglianico del Vulture (Basilacata?)
heck both of these are subjects for another post if I stick with it
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 7, 2011 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions
By request - Michel Guérard's restaurant in France
Phil suggests I copy and paste my Michel Guérard story here, not to lose it. So here it is again (with car reference fixed):
I mentioned earlier that I had eaten at a restaurant in France equivalent to the French Laundry. This was many years ago, and the restaurant was the one belonging to Michel Guérard, co-inventor of the so-called "nouvelle cuisine". (That was some 15 or so years earlier. He had by now come around a bit to classical French cuisine, where the "nouvelle" bit was more a style or influence rather than an overdone fad.) I compare it to French Laundry because not only did it have the requisite 3 Michelin stars, but in the even more influential Gault-Millau Guide, which is usually ahead of Michelin by about 2 years, and gives marks out of 20, where 17 = 1 star, 18 = 2 stars, and 19 = 3 stars, this restaurant was one of just two in France at the time, I think, that had the highest grade of 19.5. Unlike many other famous French chefs, Guérard’s restaurant was not in Paris, or Lyons, or even a city at all. It was in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny village in southwest France. For once, it truly required, not just merited, the Michelin definition of a three star restaurant as "worth the detour". That it was. This is how I was able to make a reservation, a month or more before I left for vacation in France, by car. (I lived then in England.) I think this was the vacation where I turned my lumbering, English right-hand drive Renault 16, from a one-way street the wrong way into two-way traffic after my first night in Rheims, and hit someone taking their driving test. But I digress.
Anyway, this restaurant of Guérard’s was sort of all by itself out in the countryside, looking like the sort of magic palace that Disneyland tries to imitate. It also doubled as a hotel but, like your friend [responding to Marty’s story of a friend who ended up staying at a nudist camp by mistake], I was afraid that I was going to be spending so much money on the meal for my girlfriend and myself (I remember that the menu alone cost 50 francs, about $8 then, to take away as a souvenir) that I couldn’t afford to stay in this deluxe hotel. So I booked a tiny hotel in a nearby town about 10 kilometers away. This place was really cheap, in all ways you can think of. But it made the restaurant visit negotiable, so was worth it.
After returning from this fantastic meal in fantasy-land (I still recall that the piece de resistance was Lobster "aux 4 humeurs", 4 different sauces) we wended our way back to the hotel, suitably satisfied and sozzled. The next thing I knew, car horns were blowing their heads off outside my window, somebody was banging with full force on the door of our room, the phone was ringing. I groggily got up to find the hotel desk guy, accompanied by a policeman, outside my door. Apparently the empty parking lot where I had parked at 1 AM the previous night after returning from the meal was in fact the town square where the farmers’ market took place every morning, or that weekday, starting at around 5 AM, and there I was in the way. A rude awakening, to say the least. I scrambled downstairs not fully dressed, I think still in my bathrobe (but NOT nudist, I hasten to add), and if I remember rightly, shoeless, to move the car. Still well worth it.
This one is awfully long – apologies.
I am not into cloying whites that taste of wood.
YES
I pitched to Matt Kemp, and all I got was this stupid earned run.
The key word is cloying. I don’t mind a white that has a certain essence of oak, but too much is definitely too much, plus I do tend to favor other crisper and spicier types of whites. Is Gewurztraminer too sweet to be serious? A favorite for picnic type foods – I think I would have liked one at the TBLA picnic.
So, TBLA wine tasting event?
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- The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Is Gewurztraminer too sweet to be serious?
a good wine, is a good wine – I think the sweeter wines have a time and place, I find them less versatile, but hot days, picnics….
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 9, 2011 7:23 AM PDT up reply actions
for sure
in India, if we want wine, we go with sweeter whites or medium body spicy reds
but with most Indian food, I prefer Kingfisher
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 9, 2011 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions
I definitely swing toward beer with spicy Asian foods. I do like a Gewurz with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner though – which is sort of a super fancy set of picnic foods. Stuffing, gravies, roast turkey, etc.
Follow @DavidYoungTBLA
- The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
I also am 100% over “buttery” in wines – too much, too long, too many bad California Chards had this manufactured “buttery” component – ugh
I still drink chardonay, but I prefer steel tanks…I greatly prefer steel.
by Hollywood Joe on Sep 9, 2011 7:24 AM PDT up reply actions

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