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1: When did you start wineloving and why especially Italy?
My passion for Italian wine first emerged when I started spending time in Montalcino in 1989. I was a student in Italy and a friend lent me the keys to his apartment in Bagno Vignoni (just south of San Quirico) and I became friends with three brothers whose family own a hotel there. Ironically, the first fine Italian wines I drank were all Super Tuscans!
2: Do Bianchi? Your name is Jeremy Parzen! Is there a explanation?
Edoardo "Do" Bianchi was a pseudonym I used many years ago when I wrote anonymous for an Italian food magazine. It was inspired by Mark Twain. Some believe that Mark Twain's name meant "mark me down for twain," in other words, give me two (twain) whiskeys, a common phrase in the San Francisco of the 1800s where Twain lived. Do Bianchi means literally "two white wines" ("due bianchi") in Venetian dialect. In other words, "due ombre," just like the title of your blog.
3: Together with Franco Ziliani ( Vinoalvino ) you share Italian wine news at vinowire.com. How did your relationship started and what are your sources?
I had been a fan of Franco's writing for a long time and when I launched my own blog, he was very supportive and he encouraged me to write what I really felt ? in part through example and in part by letting me know that he shared a lot of my feelings about Italian wine. Our sources today are most primary, with Franco doing the reporting and me doing the translating. We often find interesting news stories in feeds and other blogs that would not be available to English readers otherwise.
4: In Europe we all know Robert Parker and his 100 points score system. When you`re buying a French wine; do you use his system?
Mostly, I use his system to know which wines I DON'T want to buy. ;-)
5: With a wine club we taste wine ,all over the world, blind. For me a very difficult occupation. New winemaking techniques, higher quality standards, mayby to much Merlot over the world. Is blindtasting easy for you or?..?
I believe there is a time and a place for tasting blind but I am generally opposed to it. As a psychological experiment, I think it reveals more about the nature of perception and the nature of taste than it does about the wines we blindly put into our mouths.
6: Brunellogate, Tuscanygate. Please your opinion?
I believe that winemaking is an inexact science and that winemakers will innocently make mistakes, especially in the case of large-scale wineries, where tons and tons of fruit is arriving during harvest for vinification. At the same time, we've seen a very clear pattern of heavier, more concentrated wines from Tuscany and in particular from Montalcino, beginning in the 1990s. It was inevitable that winemakers would try to "stretch" the rules to emulate the Super Tuscan style. The good news, and the Italian should be applauded for this, is that government regulators have weeded out the wrong-doers. It was just a handful of wineries but unfortunately, nearly all of them were big producers. I, for one, am glad that the Italian government has used the law for what it was intended: to protect those producers who follow the rules.
7: Descending in your winecellar. What are your greatest `treasures`
Right now, my greatest treasure is a 1989 Barbaresco by Produttori del Barbaresco. I don't have a lot of money to invest in my cellar but Produttori del Barbaresco is a winery whose wines I love ? and can afford!
8: I like to drink great Italian wines young. Full of tannins , spicy and firm. Do you drink Barolo/barbaresco and Brunello young or wait patiently a few years?
In America we tend to fetishize wine and many believe you have to wait until Barolo and Barbaresco and Brunello reach "their peak" before opening. I think the 10-year rule is a good one for all of these wines, but then again, it depends on the producer and the style. In Italy, these wines are opened on special occasions: when the occasion calls for great wine, there's nothing wrong with opening it, no matter what the age. As with any tannic wine, patient aeration (even opening a bottle the night before) is the key. In fact, many Italians will open Nebbiolo the morning it's going to be consumed so that its tannin will mellow and the fruit will emerge.
9: The Italian appellation system is booming the last year. Amarone, verdicchio and prosecco were promoted to DOCG. Right or wrong?
The boom in the new DOCGs was due the EU deadline for DOCG status, before the authority to create new appellations passed from Rome to Brussels. Italians haven't paid much attention since they don't see the appellation system as an indicator of quality. The producers are well aware that outside of Italy, these labels have value.
10: Enough talking??I drink a valpolicella `ripasso` tonight with a lovely steak. Whats uncorking Jeremy?
Tracie Band I have been LOVING the 2007 Dolcetto Monte Aribaldo by Marchesi di Gresy. Last night we watched the Golden Globes and munched on cheddar cheese and crackers as we savored every last drop of that wine!
Jeremy, Thank you very much !! Maybey in the future we drink a couple of `do bianchi ` in Venice !
