The Terroir of IWM

a sense of place

The day begins early, and watchful eyes survey the landscape. People make notes preparing for the day’s activity. The espresso machine hums while I check messages. Discussions break out on the roster of incoming wines. The portfolio managers settle before their computers, wrapping up the previous days business—printing tasting notes and gift cards, fulfilling pre-arrival orders, and generally gearing up for the day. Downstairs the sales staff are doing inventory, polishing and reassembling the necessary items from the previous night’s event. Scents begin to waft from the kitchen as the staff prep for the servings of the day. Mid-morning the phones ring more often as our portfolio managers begin to weave their magic. There is advice to be given, pairings to be made, and deliveries to be coordinated as we cater to the particular needs of our loyal clientele.

Sometime around noon staff lunch is called, served family style in our Studio del Gusto, and we scramble downstairs in shifts to partake. We troupe up in scattered shifts. The espresso machine hums. Phones ring.

Momentum builds as the afternoon deepens. Constant streams of conversations abound as we process orders, organize campaigns, and make impossible requests of our acquisitions department. The store is also in full swing, and a bottle is selected for patrons to taste as they browse. One or another of us drops downstairs to meet a client, confer with our chef, visit the cellar or speak to our shipping department. A happy bustle reigns.

The crescendo approaches as evening approaches. Shipping deadlines are met, allocations made, and the vintage room is prepared for the night’s event. Wines and glasses are arrayed, appetizer courses laid out, bottles opened and some are decanted. The guests arrive, speeches are made, and many a glass of wine is tasted, and n atmosphere of conviviality is achieved. Occasionally, festivities carry on, and celebrities are gently removed from the chandeliers.

Upstairs the work continues. The phone calls slow down and often there are new wines to try. Merits and shortcomings are discussed, opinions solicited, and while the loose ends are tied, the homeward-bound workers begin to file out. Eventually it dwindles to the last two or three, staying to provide coverage for our west coast clients, or just going the extra mile, because it’s expected of us.

To my thinking, the terrior of IWM is as magical as the slopes of Piemonte, the sun slanting on the Valle d’Aosta, or the breeze from the Adriatic Sea. We work hard to create the “sense of place” you experience in every interaction with us, and above everything else, we stand behind what we do.

Rules are Meant to be Broken

red meat, white wines, great taste

I’m breaking a rule. I’m pairing a white wine with red meat. The dish in question is a favorite of mine created by our very own Chef Kevin Sippel: a simply prepared roasted duck breast on a bed of charred baby Bok Choy garnished with some thinly sliced radish and a dusting of some sea salt. The Bok Choy adds a little char flavor, while the radish adds some earthiness, texture and freshness. This dish really relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients due to its simple preparation, and normally people would look to pair this with a red wine because of the gaminess and fattiness of the duck.

In choosing a white wine, we need to think about a wine with a decent alcohol percentage and a body full enough to carry the weight of the duck. We also need some acidity to balance the fat of the breast and a fresh mineral character to cut the duck and lift the flavors of the veggies. My suggestion would have to be a white from Alsace or a special white from Umbria.

Alsace is, as all wine aficionados know, a region in Northeast of France bordering the Rhine River and western Germany where the Vosges Mountains to the east create a rain shadow effect that turns what would be a cool rainy area into one of France’s driest and warmest regions. The warmth and sunshine allow the grapes to ripen fully, and the granite and schist soils contribute the wines’ complexity, mineral character, and structure. Alsatian Pinot Gris have a spicy, peachy and mineral profile, and they have an oily texture with just enough acid to keep it fresh. Put this wine with the duck and you’ve got yourself a pairing that doesn’t overpower but allows both the flavors of the food and the wine to sing.

If I wanted an Italian white, I would go with the 2008 Paolo Bea Santa Chiara. This wine is amber color and has these beautiful citrus rind flavors that make your mouth water. Due to the extended maceration on the skins, the wine contains a little bit of tannin and more body, so it complements the protein and fat in the duck. To top it off, this wine has a beautiful freshness that carries all the flavors through to the mouthwatering finish. It’s spectacular white from Umbria, from a classy producer loaded with tradition and personality.

Of course, there are lots of other whites that will happily dance with meat. You want to keep in mind the basic principles that make these wines work: a higher percentage of alcohol, a fuller body, bouncy acidity, and a weighty taste profile. A sprinkling of tannins won’t hurt either. Rules are meant to be broken—what are your favorite wine rebellions?
(Photograph by Alamy comes courtesy of The Telegraph.)

photo credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/6950685/Insiders-guide-to-France-Alsace.html

Go-To-Wine Tuesday

Sartarelli 2008 Verdicchio Tralivio

It’s autumn, and I’m drawn to rustic harvest treats. Apple cider, salted caramels, and pumpkin pie are all seasonal staples, but this year I’m obsessively drawn to butternut squash filled homemade pasta—specifically Agnolotti. Sometimes after working nightly events in the IWM studio, we’re lucky enough to score some leftover pasta from the night’s celebration. Alberto is our in-house pasta-making Sous-Chef, and his works are always delicate pasta pods of perfection. I recently took home a large container of butternut squash pasta goodness and have been eating it for every meal for the past week. I’m delighted in this perk.

Knowing that I had a new wine to try, the Sartarelli 2008 Verdicchio Tralivio, I chose to make as its complement butternut squash Agnolotti with sage, butter and amaretto sauce. I decided that would pair the Verdocchio and the Agnolotti, even though the pairing was sure to be unusual and quite possibly a terrible one. I like to live dangerously, at least in terms of gastronomy.

Luckily, I was wrong, and I thoroughly enjoyed my fall favorite with the luscious Verdicchio from Le Marche. Under $25, the wine was surprising citrusy on the nose, and it showed bright acidity in juxtaposition with a velvety smoothness with notes of apricot and nuts. It was a delicious, very odd mix of flavors and textures, which is the exact reason it was such a great pairing for my pasta. The acid and citrus notes cut right through each bite, refreshing my palate and enhancing the buttery, creaminess of the pasta itself. I didn’t expect a success, yet I had one, however serendipitously.

Previous Go-to-Wines:

Castello Fageto’s 2008 Rosso Piceno

2008 Girlan Sauvignon “Indra”

Being There

how portfolio managers help make special occasions extraordinary

I am a Portfolio Manager at Italian Wine Merchants. I’m sure many of you wonder what exactly that means. To put it in simple terms, we are “consultants” who live and work to help our clients with their wine goals. Whether we’re helping people figure out what wine they should drink that night, or what wine they should buy and save for the next twenty years, we’re all here to share our knowledge and expertise. But more than that, we’re kind of the fairy Godmothers of our clients’ wine worlds.

Often, we get pretty close with our clients—after all, we virtually live in their cellars. For example, I had one of my clients call me the other day to ask for my help choosing a wine for a big date that he had planned. With him on the phone, I went to the restaurant’s website and took a look at the wine list and walked him through it. It was an Italian restaurant, so the wine list was broken up by region, and we went through and I pointed out certain wines that I recommended with some talking points. I told him which ones were good values and what kind of food they would complement. This way he could choose the wine that best matched what they were both eating, feel confident in his decision, and impress his date.

I also had a lot of fun helping a client who was looking for wines from 2006, his son’s birth year. He wanted to find wines that would age long enough to open up and celebrate on his son’s 21^st birthday. We ended up choosing a mixed case of several different bottles so that they could open up some the year of his son’s birth, and others after his birthday passed. It was such an honor to help pick these selections out because I knew how much it meant to the client and how much trust he had in me. I hope that in 17 years they will enjoy the wines to the fullest.

These are just some of the ways that I help my clients throughout the day. My work really takes the shape of my clients’ needs. That’s what keeps it interesting and personal; I get to know people on a deep level and understand what wine means to them. And I get to go home happy that on some invisible level, I’m there with my clients, sharing in their best memories.

Just the Desserts

on finding wine to match your candy corn

One of the benefits from working in our showroom floor is the opportunity to directly work with people and talk about wine. The interaction is not quite the same when you’re in the office or on the phone, conceptualizing a bottle. I feel I can explain the differences and merits of a traditional Mascarello Bartolo 2005 Barolo vs. a modern Super Tuscan Gaja Ca’Marcada 2008 Promis better when I can grip both bottles in each palm and wave them about. All eccentric behavior aside, I believe that wine is best discovered when two people come face-to-face and talk.

Perhaps, this is why I am looking forward to October 30^th when I’ll host an event that will bring people face-to-face, or perhaps mask-to-mask (what with the Halloween weekend), in a tasting of dessert wines and distillates. The event will be called “After Ate,” and it marks both my first Halloween in NYC and my first tasting with Italian Wine Merchants.

Although I won’t be adorned in a costume, I’m dishing out plenty of treats, and only humorous tricks. For example, I’m looking forward to giving a combination of chocolate cake, a sweet biscotti and a taste of lush, fruity Brachetto d’Acqui. I’ve found that often aperitifs and dessert wines don’t get their just desserts—and that’s just a tragedy. Some of my most seductive wine and food experiences have come from the sensual combinations of creams, fruits, and sweet liquor.

It being Halloween, I’ve also got a couple tricks up my sleeve: a premium citrus and a barrique aged Grappa to keep you from feeling too delicate. Polio Grappa, again, underappreciated, is always a humorous experience for me. Its overblown pungency reminds me of late night laughter and good humor. Appreciated best in moderation, I believe we should take a second look at both these grand-finales and reacquaint ourselves with the pleasures of what is to follow “after ate.”

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