Big Night, with Barolo (and Vermont Turkey), Plus, Plus, Plus, Yes! More New Wines!

If you never saw the great food/wine/music/Italo-fest film, Big Night, starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub, rent it, please. The prospect of creating an alpha-omega meal for Louis Prima’s band at a New Jersey restaurant, circa 1955, sets the stage for a night of dancing, reveling, and intrigue. It has inspired many a meal in my house, and last night might be the finest. Some neighbors were at a party a few months ago, when I suggested a series of theme dinners to help fight cabin fever. I volunteered to do the first, and hopefully set the bar high enough to make it either a truly noble failure, or a chewy success.

Rather than get too classically bound with homemade pasta, and piles of paper thin veal cutlets you can read through, I took it a little sideways, and made a dish centered around good old homegrown Halifax turkey. Quarter inch thick breasts, cooked in olive oil, garlic, one very hot red pepper, and salt, for two minutes. Remove turkey, garlic, and red pepper, and warm up strips of tomatoes, olives, and capers in the turkey pan. A dash of Magneau, (new at the Co-op, off-dry, tastes like an expensive Graves, only 10.99), and four minutes later, reunite with the turkey, garnish with big, fat basil leaves, and enjoy.

Antipasti was a mixture of roasted red bell peppers, (hot from the oven, skins removed), onions, sundried tomatoes, anchovies, and red wine vinegar, all on toasted bread drizzled with garlic-infused olive oil. Some fresh mozzarella, and black olives on the side. Soup was ribolita; mostly carrots, celery, squash, a couple cubes of last summer's peso, and a slow cook on the wood stove. We finished with a salad of oranges and fennel, dressed simply with olive oil and lemon.

As for the wines: I discovered Livio Felluga Pinot grigio at a local restaurant. It’s nice and minerally, smooth as silk, and a real crowd pleaser. (At 24.99, it ought to be.) A long awaited and anticipated magnum of 1997 Barolo from Renato Ratti was opened the day before, when I discovered the cork had leaked. Fortunately the wine was in great shape, probably due to it’s acidity.  The primary tastes of deep, dark raspberries and a sensuous baker’s chocolate finish will not be soon forgotten. The crowd whizzed through the Ratti, and we finished with a 1999 Langhe-Nebbiolo from Paolo Scavino. What fun! I was up until midnight washing glasses, but it was all worth it to see the happy faces around the table. Can’t wait to see what we have at the next dinner.

Avalanche of New Wines Buries Brattleboro Wineman! Dramatic Rescue by Canadian Mounties! Details Follow!

Sometimes it feels like years are passing, and no new wines are coming through the door. Do you think I don’t notice the disappointment, the long faces? Wearily they proffer articles ripped from Consumer Reports, the Wall Street Journal, or BillyBob’s BackCountry WineWorld. “Can’t you get these wines? Nooooooo!? Ohhhhhh, why!?”  The sobbing gets a little embarrassing, and I hate the whining, but, honestly,  I feel your pain. All of it. And here’s hoping the following compendium of treasures will act like some wondrously allopathic/homeopathic/jeanredpathic/crystal pendulum/referendum/non-addendum/manfred mann-dum/applaud-en-um/laudanum, and make the sun shine, followed by three feet of powder, after which a diamond blue sky, dotted with little white puffy clouds will appear over Vermont, with temps in the mid-twenties.

Rather than drown you in details and a lengthy menu advisement, with further words of wisdom from my dog Pearl, world’s smartest Black Labrador, I’ll simply say these are culled from a huge bunch, and these are all excellent values, and your cabin fever should come down a few degrees.

• 2002 Rocking Horse Zinfandel-(Napa/Sonoma)13.99-best Zin, chewy and earthy
• 2005 Irony Pinot Noir-$14.99-Smooth Monterey fruit
• 2004 Armador Carmenere-(Chile)-11.99-Spicy and smooth
• 2003 Cuvee les Tendrelles(Gigondas)-29.99-Monster fruit and depth. Celebrate!
• Petite Crau (Cote du Rhone)-9.99-Modest, but not shy
• Vida Organica-(Argentina)Torrontes, and Malbec-Back in Stock!-7.99
• 2005 Wattle Creek Sauvignon Blanc - (Mendocino)-15.99-Big, juicy, lemon/mango dry
• Santa Julia-(Argentina) Organic Cabernet and Chardonnay-7.99
• 2005 O’Reilly’s Chardonnay (Oregon)-14.99-Back in stock! Always a winner.
• 2003 REI Cannonau (Grenache from Italy)-16.99-Bold, dry, garrigue and spice
• 2005 Cuq Merlot/ Bonarda (Argentina) -11.99-Soft and easy, great blend
• 2003 Masi Campofiorin/Ripasso (Veneto)-16.99-Corvina is the major grape, serious wine at  a nice price
• 2005 Montecillo White (Rioja)-7.99-100% Viura, elegant and sassy, like Ipsum, only possibly better
• 2006 Yellowtail Pinot Grigio - (Australia)-7.99-Love this wine! Get over your YT prejudice, if you have one
• 2003 Healdsburg Merlot - (California)-9.99-Real Merlot at a great price
• 2002 Giuppa Nebbiolo-(Piedmonte)-Ask for the price. I didn’t write it in my notes, but it’s a great bargain
• 2003 Louis Bernard Lirac (France)-11.99-Faboulous deal on a Rhone red that sings!
• 2004 d’Aupilhac Mourvedre (Languedoc)-19.99-Smooth blend, and roast beef-ready
• 2005 Masi Masianco (Veneto) 14.99-Sauvignon Blanc-styled white. Delicious!
• 2004 Masi Modello (Veneto)-11.99- Tastes like a baby Amarone in-training
• 2003 Masi Brolio di Campofiorin-(Veneto) 29.99-This will fool you. Sumptous, dense, espresso.

That’s all for now. Hope you find a few winners. As always, you’re welcome to comment on the blog. (If only I had six extra arms, I could blog all day.) Cheers!

By the way, what is up with Kate and Sawyer?