As you've read by now, A' Rebours was not an option this weeek so we're/you're doing Italian at TDV. Trattoria da Vinci 400 Sibley St., St. P, 55101 222-4050 It's in the "far end" of down town St. Paul, near the Farmer's Market. If you're traveling on I94, take the 7th St. Exit. Who? Annette Bob Betsy Lori Bill Warren/Ruth Russ/Sue Dave? Nicolai? Karin? Have fun. I'll be watching NCAA Final 4/Gopher Hockey.... Other things. Would be good to re-expand our Italian options. Perhaps January/February would be a good time to get into the place at Raymond and University in St. Paul (Biagio?) France 44 Sale is on-going. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- X-MessageWall-Score: 0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 14:45:04 -0500 (EST) To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor - Two Italian whites From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Sender: <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, April 1, 2005 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSORS: * CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Special Edition Coming Up! http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers * FRENCH WINE EXPLORERS Speaking of the Rhone, won't you join me there in June? http://www.wine-tours-france.com/RhoneValleyWineTour.htm ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * TECH NOTE E-mail distribution problems continued on Wednesday. * TWO ITALIAN WHITES Even with the booming Euro, these offer decent value - and they're great with seafood. * MACULAN 2003 "PINO & TOI" VENETO BIANCO ($12.49) A crisp, tart varietal blend from Northeastern Italy. * CABRAS 2002 "CIELO BLEU" VERMENTINO DI SARDEGNA ($11.99) From Sardinia in the Med, a fresh and snappy aromatic white. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ TECH NOTE That loud chattering sound you may have heard Wednesday was me gnashing my teeth as our E-mail distribution system failed midway during delivery again, for the second issue in a row. I'm hoping we've got the technical problem solved today and you'll all get this edition in due course. Please cross your fingers with me! Again, my apologies to those who missed us Monday and Wednesday. To catch up on those and other past issues, check the archives, http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml. ________________________________________________________________________ TWO ITALIAN WHITES It's Friday, it's spring, baseball season is back, and nobody wants to work this afternoon. Let's cut right to the chase today, with quick tasting reports on a couple of recently tasted Italian white wines. Both wines are dry and crisp, with snappy citric acidity that makes them natural-born companions with a range of seafood and fish. Coming from opposite ends of Italy, they both offer a taste of "interesting" regional grapes that provide a break from the more familiar varieties. And, in spite of the continued strength of the Euro against the dollar that's forcing up U.S. prices for imports, both still offer decent value for the money. Doubly so if you're reading this in a place where your local currency isn't taking a Euro-hammering. Quickly told, today's first wine is another of those with a short, attention-grabbing front-label name - "Pino & Toi" from Maculan - with the particulars in fine print on the bottle's back side. (It's a Veneto Bianco IGT, a blend of the local Tocai Friulano with Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco.) The other wine of the day is a Vermentino, a white grape that hails from offshore Sardinia and also from Liguria, the Italian Riviera. ________________________________________________________________________ PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE Here's a simply formatted copy of today's Wine Advisor, designed to be printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or other wireless device. http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/print050401.html ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you'd like to ask a question or comment on today's topic (or any other wine-related subject), you'll find a round-table online discussion in our interactive Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, where you're always welcome to join in the conversations about wine. http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=60053&mi… If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. ________________________________________________________________________ MACULAN 2003 "PINO & TOI" VENETO BIANCO ($12.49) A blend of the regional Tocai (60%) with Pinot Bianco (25%) and Pinot Grigio (15%), this wine from Northeastern Italy shows a clear straw color in the glass. Light white-fruit aromas add a whiff of almond. Bone-dry and crisp, lemony acidity gives structure, and a distinct bitter-almond note adds a touch of flavor interest in the finish. It's on the simple side, but clean and fresh, and its tangy citric snap makes it a natural with seafood. U.S. importer: Winebow Inc., NYC, a Leonardo Locascio Selection. (March 17, 2005) FOOD MATCH: A natural match with linguine with white clam sauce. VALUE: It's up 25 percent from the $10 tag on the 1999 vintage, but in fairness, the Euro is up 60 percent against the dollar. Not a bad buy at current rates, but it fits best as an under-$10 wine, and is still selling in that range at some vendors. WHEN TO DRINK: Freshness is a virtue. Drink it this year, then move on to the 2004 when it comes in. WEB LINK The U.S. importer has a fact sheet on Pino & Toi here: http://www.winebow.com/wine_basicinfo.asp?ID=237&producer=41 FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Look up Maculan Pino & Toi on Wine-Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Maculan%2bPino%2bToi/-/-/USD/A?referring_… ________________________________________________________________________ CABRAS 2002 "CIELO BLEU" VERMENTINO DI SARDEGNA ($11.99) This is a clear, pale-gold wine from Sardinia, with a good, fresh scent of white fruit lent complexity by aromatic notes of almonds and banana oil. Light and crisp, fresh and snappy white-fruit flavors evoke apples and pears, with a squirt of lemon in its clean, tart finish. U.S. importer: HB Wine Merchants, NYC. (March 18, 2005) FOOD MATCH: A natural match for seafood and fish, it went well, too, with a vegetarian pasta dinner, rapini (broccoli rabe) with orechiette. VALUE: It would have sold under $10 before the rise of the Euro, but it's still fairly priced against the competition. WHEN TO DRINK: The bold aromatics should hold it, and possibly see a little additional complexity evolve, over the next year or two. PRONUNCIATION: Vermentino = "Vehr-men-TEE-no" FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Find vendors and compare prices for Cabras Cielo Bleu on Wine- Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Cabras%2bCielo%2bBleu/-/-/USD/A?referring… ________________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: * WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/ * 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/index.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/foodletter.shtml * Wine Advisor Premium Edition, alternate Tuesdays ($24/year) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/premium.phtml ARCHIVES: For all past editions: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml CONTACT US E-mail: wine(a)wineloverspage.com SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com ________________________________________________________________________ ADMINISTRIVIA To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, switch from weekly to daily distribution, or for any other administrative matters, click to http://www.wineloverspage.com/admin.php?id=20970&cs=7d1109b668af1f87d36… We welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. We do not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail to anyone. All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry. Friday, April 1, 2005 Copyright 2005 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *