Italian Wines & Festa Fun

by Frank Mangio

Plans are just about completed for the coming together of a leading wine shop, a leading winery and a leading Italian cultural organization in San Diego County, to bring Italy to Carlsbad, Saturday July 12. It’s the 4th annual “Festa Italiana” and the Wines of Italy, in cooperation with the Sons of Italy, Carlsbad Wine Merchants and Salerno Winery of Ramona. Admission is free at the Island Shopping Center at Faraday & College from 10am to 5pm. Scheduled attractions include: opera singing, music and dance exhibitions in full costume, Italian food, art, craft and even a bocce ball booth. Carlsbad Wine Merchants will have an Italian Wine Tasting in their shop from 2 to 5pm, for a $10. tasting fee per person. Call 888-750-WINE for details.

In a typical Italian party atmosphere, a pre-event gathering was held at the Salerno Winery off Highway 67 just south of Ramona. The “maestro” of wine, owner Herman Salerno, who is also an Italian trained opera singer, broke out a sample of his latest releases. He is known for his Petite Sirah, a more concentrated, fruit forward version of the more popular Syrah. But on this day, the big buzz was his venture into the traditional Italian grape-growing area of Piedmont, to present Salerno Barbera.

The Barbera grape is Northern Italy’s answer to Tuscany’s Sangiovese grape, a foundation for the Chianti and Chianti Classico wines. Unlike its more expensive, moody cousins, Barolo and Barbaresco, Barbera is the everyday star grape, full of structure and accent but without the highly tannic power of the other two. The rustic taste shows through, but it is a “drink now,” delicious wine.

No aging needed here. It is the most widely planted grape in the Piedmont district, but here in California, it has no yet caught on. Salerno Winery’s goal is to change all that. Angelo Abril, a Spaniard who has embraced the Italian style of winemaking, is General Manager of Salerno, and even though he has high praise for the signature Petite Sirah, feels that Barbera will be conquering many wine aficionados given the time to catch on. “If there is a red wine for summer, it would be Barbera with its smooth. low tannin entry and slight acidic mouthfeel, ready to pair with a summer salad, hard cheese, olives and a rustic loaf of bread” he said.

The grapes are sourced from Paso Robles, and the Salerno touch in making the wine is what makes this Barbera music to the taste. The 2006 and 2007 is being barrel tasted with 2006 bottles available soon. Contact the winery for details at 760-788-7160. For more information on the Italian Festa event on Saturday July 12, call Joe Zazzaro, chairman, at 760-438-0554.

Red Wine Consumption Can Extend Your Life
It happens time and time again and with more credible reports: red wine consumed in moderation, can lengthen your lifespan through the anti-oxidant Resveratrol. The latest findings came as a result of work with living organisms.
Resveratrol is an active ingredient, found in the grape tannins cultivated in red wine. Health officials conclude that this ingredient may extend life by cutting down on the degenerative diseases of aging. Still another reason to consider wine as the beverage of choice. Drink to your health!

Half Bottles Spotlighted at Updated Humphries

by Frank Mangio

San Diego has some venerable names in its restaurant history and none have a more romantic reputation than Humphreys on Shelter Island. So when I heard that this anchor spot had undergone a major makeover of the décor, dinner and wine menu, I had to see and experience the upgrades.

Humphries and the adjacent Half Moon Inn are hallowed grounds for me, having done all the communications for this intimate, south-seas format many years ago.

I have enjoyed countless music events on the grounds at the Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. It could be the most intimate venue in the country to see big names in the music business.

At Humphreys new format, I was struck by the positioning of the tables so that each had a view of the bay and marina. Cool, maritime colors are relaxing and inviting. The new executive chef is Paul Murphy (seen in the accompanying photo). He has created a modern, global menu to accent his French-trained skills. You may know him from his previous work at El Bizcocho in Rancho Bernardo and Delicias in Rancho Santa Fe.

I chose the seared Blue Crab Cakes and Treviso Salad for starters. The paired wine was an ’04 Trefethen Chardonnay. I then moved into a gorgeous Prime Rib with rock-salt crusted mash potato, au jus. That’s when the red wine accompaniment arrived: a half bottle d’Arenberg, “the Dead Arm” McLaren Vale 2002 from Australia. Humphreys knowledgeable manager, Shauna Aguirre, personally selected this varietal, and it was a home run.

Half bottles make a lot of sense in a restaurant environment. With its three- serving content, it’s perfect to complete the bottle in one sitting. If your companion likes something else, ordering up another half bottle won’t break the budget. And Humphreys has some household names that I never knew made a scaled down bottle: Grgich and J Lohr Chardonnay, Beaulieu and Chateau Montelena Cabernets and Opus One Meritage.

Humphreys also has dinner packages wrapped around a number of their summer concerts, that include up-front seating. You can also have the dinner package, concert, plus a guest room at the half Moon Inn. For more information or to make a reservation, call 619-224-3577 or visit www.humphreysrestaurant.com.

Wine World Mourns the Passing of Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi, the icon of Napa and one of the most respected winemakers in all the world, died on May 16th. He was 94. He was the father and founder of the American fine wine industry. He started his first winery in Napa in 1966, believing that world-class wine could be produced in California. His innovative spirit and techniques brought his Robert Mondavi Winery to the pinnacle of greatness, culminated by the Opus One Winery, a Meritage masterpiece. His Italian roots held firm with his message that wine and food are created equal, and he wanted to see a bottle of wine on every American table.