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Post by spinno on Aug 17, 2023 21:51:46 GMT
Short of a lot of things, can't list them all but including compassion, empathy, common sense, honesty, scruples, etc., Ye missed - sentience. I missing that too |
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Post by Chester PB on Aug 18, 2023 23:00:50 GMT
I once had a fascinating conversation with a man who ran an Indian (well, really Bangladeshi) restaurant in a town in Tuscany. He had been there over twenty years, and having mastered Italian, had been careful to keep his English in regular use by talking to visitors like my wife and I. However, I once witnessed him pretending not to understand English when the restaurant was busy and a large family of US citizens with teenage children were being very annoying ('Why don't you serve Coke? Call this a restaurant?'). He later admitted to being a Basil Fawlty fan. I do hope that the anecdote is not an exaggeration. Tuscany is the home of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino, and is the spiritual home of Sangiovese.(quote pinched from Majestic web site) I would enjoy drinking any of those in a Tuscan restaurant. Perhaps with an Indian/Bangladeshi Tuscan restaurant one of these italysfinestwines.it/en/best-white-wines-tuscany/. I would take advice. Quite honestly I know nothing about the wines of Tuscany, but if I was staying their for a week or two then I would learn pretty fast. I would not want Coke.
I could afford to appreciate Brunello di Montalcino when in Tuscany in the late 1990s, and once visited the town. I recall seeing a vintage bottled in the year I was born (so then 43 years old) selling for about £500, when it would be long past its best at that age. The restauranteur I referred to kept a few local wines, and although he didn't drink alcohol himself, had taken advice about storing and serving it. Bottles from 6 or 7 years ago, with labels I recognise, are currently selling for £30-£60 a bottle in the UK, so sadly I won't be 'appreciating' any in the foreseeable future. The US visitors should have gone to a restaurant offering a 'tourist menu', because it would have probably have provided indifferent pizzas as well as Coke for the children. One restaurant I visited in Tuscany impressed me by telling a noisy family with 3 very loud children that 'all the tables were booked', when my wife and I had arrived a few minutes earlier and been offered a choice of tables (it was a weekday evening in April or May). It was a very small family-run place (my favourite type of restaurant), and the owner told us that 'that party' would scare off other customers, so he would prefer they went somewhere else. |
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Post by nickr on Aug 19, 2023 9:08:58 GMT
I do hope that the anecdote is not an exaggeration. Tuscany is the home of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino, and is the spiritual home of Sangiovese.(quote pinched from Majestic web site) I would enjoy drinking any of those in a Tuscan restaurant. Perhaps with an Indian/Bangladeshi Tuscan restaurant one of these italysfinestwines.it/en/best-white-wines-tuscany/. I would take advice. Quite honestly I know nothing about the wines of Tuscany, but if I was staying their for a week or two then I would learn pretty fast. I would not want Coke.
I could afford to appreciate Brunello di Montalcino when in Tuscany in the late 1990s, and once visited the town. I recall seeing a vintage bottled in the year I was born (so then 43 years old) selling for about £500, when it would be long past its best at that age. The restauranteur I referred to kept a few local wines, and although he didn't drink alcohol himself, had taken advice about storing and serving it. Bottles from 6 or 7 years ago, with labels I recognise, are currently selling for £30-£60 a bottle in the UK, so sadly I won't be 'appreciating' any in the foreseeable future. The US visitors should have gone to a restaurant offering a 'tourist menu', because it would have probably have provided indifferent pizzas as well as Coke for the children. One restaurant I visited in Tuscany impressed me by telling a noisy family with 3 very loud children that 'all the tables were booked', when my wife and I had arrived a few minutes earlier and been offered a choice of tables (it was a weekday evening in April or May). It was a very small family-run place (my favourite type of restaurant), and the owner told us that 'that party' would scare off other customers, so he would prefer they went somewhere else. Italy tends to drink most of its decent wines, and demand a fairly steep price for the ones it exports. I've had some excellent wines in Tuscany - yes, the Brunello di Montalcino, lovely stuff, some really good Chianti Classico - some of the best from the farm we were staying on (in a converted barn) just above San Gimingano - and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, from, oddly enough, Montepulciano - town, lovely wine. Best white was just a Vino di Tavolo from a little restaurant in another hill town - sadly I can't remember the name of the town or the wine. The wine was simply a table wine because the winemaker didn't want the restrictions of making a DOCG wine or whatever. We bought a bottle from the attached shop - 50 barking Euro it was. Worth every penny, to be fair, but... On our last trip to Tuscany, we were staying at another converted barn on an ex-farm just above a small town about half an hour from Florence - the little shop in the middle of the town sold the best Mountain Gorgonzola I've ever tasted (second best was in a little shop next to the Duomo in Sienna), and a very cheap Pignoletto sparkling wine at 2 Euro a bottle - far better than expected. And the wine shop across the square was wonderful. I'm lucky - never met any obnoxious tourists in Tuscany, even in Florence. Never had anything less than lovely service in a restaurant there. It's somewhere I've always felt very at home, even with my dreadful level of Italian. |
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Post by zou on Aug 19, 2023 9:32:42 GMT
When we were in Tuscany we had a night near Montefollonico, within sight of Montepulciano. Did get a glass of the vino nobile but the table wine held up very very well. Proprietor explained that it was from a vineyard just outside of the DOGC boundary but with basically the same terroir. I believed him.
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Post by geoffr on Aug 19, 2023 18:12:05 GMT
When we were in Tuscany we had a night near Montefollonico, within sight of Montepulciano. Did get a glass of the vino nobile but the table wine held up very very well. Proprietor explained that it was from a vineyard just outside of the DOGC boundary but with basically the same terroir. I believed him. I have never found a house wine in Italy that wasn't good, most restaurants are very happy to do what they can for you if you are polite. |
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Post by willien on Aug 19, 2023 18:29:00 GMT
I think the wine producing nations are also vinophile nations.
No point in serving crap domestically other than in obvious tourist traps.
So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same lable as the good stuff.
When in Germany on business a long time ago my colleague recommended a german fizz at a really good price in duty free.
It was brill.
A bit later I was delighted to find "it" in the UK at a good price - it was total crap.
Embarrassingly I had given a bottle to a half german friend before trying it myself.
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Post by geoffr on Aug 19, 2023 20:53:38 GMT
I think the wine producing nations are also vinophile nations. No point in serving crap domestically other than in obvious tourist traps. So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same lable as the good stuff. When in Germany on business a long time ago my colleague recommended a german fizz at a really good price in duty free. It was brill. A bit later I was delighted to find "it" in the UK at a good price - it was total crap. Embarrassingly I had given a bottle to a half german friend before trying it myself. I never buy German wine except in Germany. |
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Post by willien on Aug 19, 2023 20:54:10 GMT
I think the wine producing nations are also vinophile nations. No point in serving crap domestically other than in obvious tourist traps. So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same lable as the good stuff. When in Germany on business a long time ago my colleague recommended a german fizz at a really good price in duty free. It was brill. A bit later I was delighted to find "it" in the UK at a good price - it was total crap. Embarrassingly I had given a bottle to a half german friend before trying it myself. I never buy German wine except in Germany. Very wise. |
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Post by spinno on Aug 20, 2023 11:12:10 GMT
I think the wine producing nations are also vinophile nations. No point in serving crap domestically other than in obvious tourist traps. So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same lable as the good stuff. When in Germany on business a long time ago my colleague recommended a german fizz at a really good price in duty free. It was brill. A bit later I was delighted to find "it" in the UK at a good price - it was total crap. Embarrassingly I had given a bottle to a half german friend before trying it myself. I never buy German wine except in Germany. I prefer my anti-freeze neat... (Please scientists don't spoil the joke) |
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Post by geoffr on Aug 20, 2023 12:02:15 GMT
I never buy German wine except in Germany. I prefer my anti-freeze neat... (Please scientists don't spoil the joke) Neat as in tidy? |
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Post by JohnY on Aug 20, 2023 12:21:37 GMT
I never buy German wine except in Germany. I prefer my anti-freeze neat... (Please scientists don't spoil the joke) Quite a few years ago there was a bit of a scandal in Austria which involved diethylene glycol. |
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Post by spinno on Aug 20, 2023 17:08:03 GMT
I prefer my anti-freeze neat... (Please scientists don't spoil the joke) Quite a few years ago there was a bit of a scandal in Austria which involved diethylene glycol. Quite |
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Post by spinno on Aug 20, 2023 17:08:27 GMT
I prefer my anti-freeze neat... (Please scientists don't spoil the joke) Neat as in tidy? That's bang tidy |
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Post by John Farrell on Aug 20, 2023 19:37:40 GMT
So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same lable as the good stuff. I doubt that applies to New World winemakers. |
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Post by JohnY on Aug 20, 2023 20:57:39 GMT
So they export the crap. Sometimes in the same bottle with the same label as the good stuff. I doubt that applies to New World winemakers. True, I think. But I do wish that more New World wine makers would pander to British taste for French wines. I rather like some Argentinian Chardonnay that could pass as Burgundy. I would prefer to drink such a wine from the Commonwealth or even Chile. To us oldies the 'Argies' are still an enemy. |
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