Italian Tech Mogul Pierpaolo Barzan

Italian executive and art collector explains his contemporary winery and artists’ residence in Tuscany

Jennifer Fiedler
Posted: March 9, 2010

Rome-born Pierpaolo Barzan, 35, founded Altay Scientific, which manufactures high-tech scientific teaching equipment, in 1997. As his company grew, his travels introduced him to museums and galleries around the world and he developed a passion for collecting contemporary art, establishing the Depart Foundation in 2009 to highlight and support emerging artists. Eight years ago, Barzan and his wife bought Poggio Golo, a winery in Tuscany’s Montepulciano region. Recently, they commissioned the Los Angeles–based architectural firm Johnston Marklee to build a new structure to house winemaking activities and artists’ residences. Barzan spoke with Wine Spectator about the tension in balancing tradition and modernity in Italy, and speculated on what comes next for Italian winemakers.

Wine Spectator: Why did you get into the wine business?
Pierpaolo Barzan: I always enjoyed drinking good wines. My wife and I had this dream of making wine and I’m very happy I did it. It’s very challenging. We are striving to produce a good-quality wine as well as a wine that fits within the scenery of the winery. Montepulciano is a fantastic place for wine production.

WS: You are building a modern winery at your estate?
PB: It’s a very contemporary building. It’s a work of art in itself, but it blends well with the landscape. Being modern doesn’t mean that it’s out of the context. You can have good or bad architecture no matter if it’s modern or old.

Rome, where I live, is a place where tourists come to see the old. We feel sometimes, as Italians, that being contemporary, not only in art but in architecture, does not belong to us, but I think it’s a key element for the success of the country. Contemporary art is a very engaging, vibrant scene. It’s an important platform for the development of creativity, innovation, so it has a very important social role.

WS: Are you making more of a traditional style of wine or a modern style?
PB: At the moment, we make a classic Vino Nobile de Montepulciano but then we also have a blend of Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s an IGT. … If I could think of a wine as a benchmark for the Nobile, it would be Casanova di Neri, a Brunello. Concerning the IGT, my ambition is to have a Château Latour type of wine. I consider it one of the best blends of Merlot and Cabernet. … It’s not like I want to make a French wine in Italy; I just want to make an excellent wine. I think the terroir is so strong that no matter what, even if you make a very modern type of wine you can keep the character of the place.

I’m not a traditional person. What I do is risky: I collect very contemporary artists. If you collect a more established artist, you are safe in your bet. With wine, if you do a classic Montepulciano wine, you will not go wrong, but you will not excel.

WS: What kind of wines do you drink?
PB: Mostly Italian wines. We love Brunello di Montalcino; we love Amarone. I like French white wine and even wine from the New World. We love Chablis [and] Pinot Noir from Burgundy. I cannot have a collection; I end up drinking it.

WS: Was there a winery you looked at for inspiration?
PB: I have a big admiration for what Gaja did for Italy. He did an outstanding job making top-quality wines in Italy and bringing a different methodology.

WS: What do you see for the future of wine in Italy?
PB: I think that we have to move into the future without losing our heritage. The wine business is already very competitive and will become more so as technology evolves. It will be easier to make good-quality wines almost anywhere in the world. We have to sell and present a vision, not only a wine. Either we are able to do this and really concentrate on quality or we will lose ground.

Alcohol May Help Fight Weight Gain In Women

A study finds that women who drink moderately gain less weight despite alcohol’s calories

Jennifer Fiedler
Posted: March 8, 2010

America’s ever-expanding waistline makes front-page news on a regular basis, as health professionals and policymakers labor to stem a growing tide of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and type-2 diabetes. But now, drinking alcohol may be ruled out as a cause for weight gain, at least for women.

Women of a normal weight who consume alcohol in moderation appear to gain less weight over time than nondrinkers, according to a study published in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The results of the study point to intriguing potential avenues for research regarding the metabolism of alcohol.

Drinking alcohol would seem to be a plausible culprit for weight gain. Nutritionists point out that people tend to underestimate the calories in the beverages they drink. Each gram of alcohol has 7.1 calories—higher than equivalent amounts of carbohydrates or proteins, which contain 4 calories per gram (by comparison, a gram of fat contains 9 calories). Consuming more alcohol—and thereby more calories—would logically lead to more pounds.

But that wasn’t what a research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, headed by Dr. Lu Wang, found when examining almost 13 years of data collected from 19,220 female health-care professionals. They selected women over the age of 39 without preexisting medical conditions who had a normal weight for their height (18.5 to 25 on the Body Mass Index scale) and tracked their lifestyle choices via a questionnaire administered every four to nine years.

Nearly all the women gained weight as they got older. But those who didn’t drink alcohol gained on average 8 pounds, while the women who reported drinking alcohol gained less, with those who drank 30 to 40 grams of alcohol a day (the equivalent of around three to four 4-ounce glasses of wine) gaining the least, at an average of 3.3 pounds. “Our study results suggest that women who have normal body weight and consume a light to moderate amount of alcohol could maintain their drinking habits without gaining excessive weight,” wrote the authors.

Moreover, women who drank alcohol were less likely to become obese or overweight. Roughly 41 percent of the women became overweight (a BMI over 25) or obese (BMI over 30) during the tenure of the study, and the abstemious were the most likely to be included in those categories. Women who drank 15 to 30 grams of alcohol a day (the equivalent of two to three glasses of wine) were the least likely to pass that threshold, with a lower risk of about 30 percent.

This effect carried across all categories of alcohol: red and white wine, beer and spirits, with consumption of red wine showing the strongest link with lower weight gain, and white wine showing the weakest, but still a significant association.

The results cannot be explained away through lifestyle choices, though there were marked traits among women who reported regular consumption of alcohol. They were, on average, more likely to be older, white, smokers and post-menopausal. While moderate drinkers showed the highest level of physical activity, drinking alcohol was associated with a diet of nutritional no-nos: Drinkers were more likely to eat red meat and high-fat dairy products, but not fiber or whole grains. Even after researchers statistically accounted for lifestyle and genetic factors, however, the inverse association between drinking alcohol and weight gain remained significant.

Interestingly, women who drank alcohol appeared to ingest more calories overall than nondrinkers, but fewer calories in their diet came from sources that weren’t alcohol. The study’s authors raise the possibility of differences in the way our bodies process alcohol in comparison to other caloric sources. For instance, previous studies have shown that heavier women metabolize alcohol more efficiently than leaner women.

Metabolic differences could explain why this effect is not seen in studies of men who drink alcohol. In fact, some studies show that men who drink alcohol gain weight at a greater rate in comparison to their abstemious counterparts. Men have a greater proportion of alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that helps process alcohol in the body, and this difference could explain why men who drink might gain weight faster.

The study’s authors also point to research that has shown that after consuming alcohol, men exhibit a moderate change in energy expenditure, while women show a substantial increase, meaning that women could potentially show a net loss of calories after consuming alcohol beverages.

Potential applications for further research aside, the study’s authors stress the limitations of their methodology. Self-reported data on weight and alcohol consumption means that the validity of the study hinges on how accurately their subjects could remember and relay their choices. Plus, the study did not differentiate between women who drank a glass of wine every day with those who drank seven drinks on one day of the week, meaning that behavioral factors could further muddy the results.

And the authors cautioned against interpreting the results as a recommendation to drink for the prevention of obesity, noting the numerous problems—both medical and social—associated with drinking. For now, they call for further research into the role of alcohol in weight management. Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutritional consultant and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, agreed. “A study like this could be interesting,” she said. “But don’t treat this as an invitation to run to a liquor store.”

Phony French Pinot Draws Class-Action Suit Against Gallo

Federal alcohol authorities are also investigating the fraud case

Tim Fish
Posted: March 8, 2010

It looks like E&J Gallo’s headaches over the Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir scandal are far from over. On the heels of a Feb. 17 ruling in a French court that found Gallo’s suppliers guilty of selling it millions of bottles of phony Pinot Noir, a Los Angeles law firm has filed a class-action suit against the global wine giant and its Red Bicyclette partners.

Claiming fraud and false advertising, the firm Kingsley & Kingsley filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of consumer Mark Zeller and against Gallo, French wine merchant Ducasse and the large Languedoc cooperative Sieur d’Arques.

The suit claims that the “Defendants, by labeling, marketing, promoting, distributing, and selling the falsely labeled wine, either knew or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that their conduct was misleading and deceptive.”

The equivalent of 18 million bottles of Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir were routinely cut with cheaper Merlot and Syrah over several vintages. Much of it was sold in the United States. The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is also looking into the case, the latest in a series of increasingly aggressive investigations into allegedly mislabeled import wines from France and Italy. “We’re definitely aware of the issue,” said Tom Houge, congressional liaison for the agency. “It is absolutely something we watch.”

Gallo vice president Susan Hensley said the company does not comment on pending legal matters, but in a statement added, “We continue to believe that we have operated in good faith to provide a high-value experience to our consumers. It’s important to know that our contract with our French supplier guaranteed to us that the wine we purchased would be Pinot Noir. There is no way to chemically test wine to establish its varietal composition with certainty.”

The case dates back to 2006 as demand for inexpensive Pinot Noir was growing. Gallo had been working with Limoux-based Sieur d’Arques on various Red Bicyclette wines but the co-op did not have enough Pinot to meet demand, so it turned to Ducasse to help buy the varietal from other growers and producers.

In a 2008 audit by the French fraud agency, officials found several inconsistencies. Ducasse had sold 53,889 hectoliters of Pinot Noir when the entire region only produces around 53,000 hectoliters a year. In addition, the wine had been sold for 58 euros per hectoliter, much less than the typical bulk-wine market price of 97 euros per hectoliter for Vin de Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir.

In January, all the suspects except two executives from Sieur d’Arques pled guilty. Prosecutors told the court that the scam produced 7 million euros in profit.

Kingsley & Kingsley specializes in class-action, personal injury and employment law and is soliciting clients to join the suit. “If consumers do not know that the region or varietals in question are what the label says, especially in the lower end of the wine trade, then labels will cease to have any meaning,” attorney Eric Kingsley said. “This lawsuit and potentially others like it are important to deter unscrupulous conduct and ensure that companies spend the time necessary to verify what they sell to the public.”

The suit seeks an unspecified sum as restitution and damages against Gallo and its Red Bicyclette partners.

Tasting 2008 and 2009 Rhône Wines

James Molesworth is visiting top domaines to try the young reds and whites from two very different vintages

James Molesworth
Posted: March 8, 2010

Finally, it’s time to head to the Rhône again. It’s been a year since my last tour through the region so I’ve got some catching up to do. (You can reference my reports from earlier trips through the region via the links in the sidebar.)

Since I began covering the region in 2004, it’s been an embarrassment of riches. The southern portion of the valley has cruised along with a string of outstanding vintages, though they have been quite different in style from year to year. The north has also been consistent, if not as spectacular, from 2004 through 2007. However, now comes the tricky part ….

The 2008 harvest wasn’t an easy one for Rhône vignerons. In the Northern Rhône, the bulk of the growing season was cloudy and rainy—not a recipe for success. Disease was an issue, and underripe grapes were still hanging as September approached, when some heavy rains fell. At the time, some growers thought they might not even make wine.

Luckily, after the early September rain, the weather cleared and the mistral

2009 was a different story however. The growing season was warm and dry, sanitary conditions in the vineyards were ideal, and ripening came relatively early and easily. The colors, aromas and tannins are abundant in the wines, and the vintage looks to bear large-scale wines in a structure-driven style, à la 2005, with normal yields to boot. The key in 2009 was tannin management—are the wines too astringent, or were producers able to achieve balance in their wines?

I’ll be spending the next 10 days in the Northern Rhône, visiting domaines and touring the vineyards as I focus on the 2008 and 2009 vintages. I’ll be starting my trip with visits in Côte-Rôtie, arguably the most exciting Northern Rhône appellation today, before heading down through the rest of the northern half of the valley. For background on the appellation, you can reference my feature story from the Nov. 30, 2008, issue, which details the rise of a new generation of producers, along with a downloadable PDF map of the appellation, with some of its most important vineyard sites. In addition, I profiled more than two dozen producers in a two-part package, as well as reported on a horizontal tasting of the ’99 Côte-Rôtie vintage, with tasting notes, which may give you some context for how the wines age. (See the sidebar for a list of links.)

If you’ve followed along before, you’ll know to watch my blog over the next week and a half as I report regularly on the domaines I’m visiting. If you’re new to this space, here’s how I work:

• The domaines I visit are based on the results of my ongoing tastings in New York. There, I officially review wines via blind tastings of formal, bottled, properly labeled wines. From there, I head out into the field to meet with those vignerons who are producing the best and most exciting wines from the region. Some producers I see on a regular basis, though I always try to mix in new faces and discoveries as well.

• When I report on my cellar visits, I do not provide scores on the wines I taste. The wines are typically not yet bottled and are not tasted blind, so a formal score, even a range, is premature to me. Instead I describe the general quality, as well as the style of the domaine in question, explaining how they work and explaining what makes them interesting. If you’re looking to get in line for certain wines on a pre-arrival basis, you’ll be able to glean enough qualitative assessments from my barrel tastings to make your choices, despite the lack of an initial score.

• In addition to tasting through the two most recent vintages, I’ll also be taking the time to taste through some older wines as well, including a vertical of one of the Rhône’s true iconoclast producers. (Hint: His wines need time to show their best.) Notes on the vertical will be posted in my blog with ratings, since they are finished, bottled wines and those who may have them in their cellar may appreciate an update on their development. Likewise, I will also share some other notes and scores for older wines—such as those I have at dinner or during cellar visits—in our Tasting Notes forums. (Any wines rated from a non-blind tasting will be duly noted.)

If you have questions or comments, feel free to fire away during my trip. Though my days are long when I’m working in the field, I always try and respond to as many as I can.

Read James Molesworth’s newest Rhône trip blogs—starting Tuesday, March 9—for cellar notes and more.

Mouton Magnum Auction Supports Haiti Relief Efforts

The top two bidders on WineSpectator.com each picked up the celebrated 1986 vintage in exchange for their donations

Ben O’Donnell
Posted: March 5, 2010

Wine lovers tend to be a generous lot: How else to explain the tens of millions of dollars raised at auction for charities every year? So when Wine Spectator and Bordeaux first-growth Château Mouton-Rothschild decided to put two magnums of the 1986 Mouton on the block for the benefit of Haiti’s earthquake victims, we knew our readers would meet the occasion.

A few weeks ago, senior editor James Suckling happened on a depiction of the 1986 Mouton label, which showcases the work of the late Haitian artist Bernard Séjourné, and it gave him an idea. Soon, thanks to the largesse of Mouton’s Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who was already providing financial support to relief efforts, James had two magnums of the celestial 99-point red Bordeaux up for auction, with the comments section of his blog acting as the saleroom.

On March 1, bidding closed, and Claus Wessel Jensen and Sander Joniau emerged the winners, offering $3,800 and $3,600, respectively. While both jumped at the chance to snare the celebrated wine, this was not the primary motivation for either in entering the bidding.

Wrote Jensen in an e-mail message, “I feel humble and happy that I won the auction and a chance to give a donation to the people of Haiti. It brings tears to my eyes watching the devastation and suffering they are going through.” Joniau echoed, “I felt compassion after hearing about the devastating tragedy in this already impoverished nation,” adding, “I’ve never had the fortune to sample a Mouton-Rothschild before, nor any other first-growth. I probably wouldn’t buy it if there wasn’t charity involved.”

The money is on its way to Fondation de France’s Haiti Solidarity relief and rebuilding initiative. The Moutons, meanwhile, join Joniau’s and Wessel’s collections. “I will give it a V.I.P. treatment in my cellar for a couple of decades,” explained Joniau of his plans for the bottle. “Then I hope to enjoy it with my wife, kids, family and friends. And I hope Haiti will be fully recovered and flourishing by then.”

Sean Payton Steals a Trophy (Wine)

Plus, Canada’s women’s hockey team does Champagne on ice, Molly Ringwald’s memoir features wine pairings and a gift from the Postal Service’s “dead wine office”

Posted: March 4, 2010

• The New Orleans Saints have pulled off another interception. The reigning NFL Super Bowl champions were known for forcing turnovers last season, most famously picking off Peyton Manning for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl to clench the victory. Apparently head coach Sean Payton knows how to steal a prize too. Last weekend, Payton and his coaching staff were in Indianapolis for the annual NFL scouting combine. Friday night, they dined at the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winning St. Elmo Steak House. When Payton found out that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had reserved the same private room for dinner the following night and asked for a magnum of Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 to be put aside, the Saints coach decided he also wanted the Caymus. The staff told him it was the last bottle. Payton, the same man who inspired his underdogs to a Super Bowl win and then took the Lombardi trophy to bed that night, would not be refused. After some cajoling, the staff brought him the magnum. After the Saints enjoyed their dinner and wine, Payton left the bottle for Jones, with the inscription: “Who Dat! World Champions XLIV, Sean Payton.” Reached in Napa, Caymus proprietor Chuck Wagner told Unfiltered, “I’m glad to hear people were enjoying the wine, especially since the ’07s are drinking well.” Both Payton and Jones insisted afterward that it was all in good fun—Payton was an assistant coach for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2005. But the two teams are both contenders for the NFC championship in 2010 and will meet in Dallas during the regular season. Unfiltered wonders which wine the winner will enjoy?

• Speaking of champions and controversial trophy wines, Unfiltered was happy to see Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn survive her gold medal celebration unscathed by broken Champagne bottles, but we weren’t surprised to learn that the Vancouver Games did include at least one sparkling wine controversy. After receiving their gold medals for winning the Olympic hockey tournament, the Canadian women’s team returned to the ice to revel in their victory with sparkling wine, Molson Canadian and cigars. Unfortunately, at least one of the celebrants, Marie Philip-Poulin (who scored both goals in Canada’s 2-0 victory over the American women), is still shy of British Columbia’s drinking age of 19. After the International Olympic Committee’s expected tsk-tsk’ing, the Canadians apologized. And Poulin will turn 19 this month. Unfiltered will hold off on our cheers until then.

• An entire generation of teenage girls took cues for how to navigate high school from Tiger Beat mainstay Molly Ringwald, the wide-eyed redheaded star of The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles. Nearly 20 years later, it only makes sense that now that everyone’s all grown-up, the Brat Pack lifetime membership card holder is back to offer advice on life after 40. Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family and Finding the Perfect Lipstick, her forthcoming new memoir, will reveal life lessons she’s gleaned from years in the spotlight, including some of interest for wine lovers. Ringwald will purportedly offer pairing suggestions and wine tips she picked up from taking a French cooking class. We can’t wait. Sure, it’s a far cry from the keg and flask set pieces from her big-screen adolescence, but that doesn’t change the fact that the girl with whom we most wanted to share a slice of birthday cake is one that we’d want to open a bottle of wine with as well.

• In case you aren’t throwing your own Oscars party, Unfiltered has the details on who will be pouring which wines and where. The Elton John AIDS Foundation annual Academy Awards viewing party and gala dinner in Hollywood will have Sterling Vineyards wines on hand for the fourth consecutive year. Parent company Diageo is a longtime sponsor of the non-profit organization, and this year is offering the California winery’s SVR 2006 and the Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2008. And should you make it to the Governor’s Ball in Los Angeles to hobnob with the winners, you can sip some of the 1,200 bottles of Moët & Chandon Champagne NV being poured alongside Wolfgang Puck’s cuisine.

• Unfiltered has long known that interstate wine shipping is a sticky
issue in the state of Pennsylvania, but the story of Frank Digorio Sr.’s shipped-and-eventually-received bottle of bubbly is another thing entirely. Mr. Digorio, a resident of Brookline, Pa.,
purchased a bottle of Martini & Rossi Asti NV for his son’s birthday, packaged it up and shipped it to him in California. The bottle arrived at Frank Jr.’s home in early January—nearly 25 years after it had been sent. Frank Digorio Sr. told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’d selected the bottle for his son back in 1985 because “he’s single, and I thought it might come in handy.” It’s unclear whether the package got lost, spent time in a so-called “dead letter office” or was perhaps walked across the country on foot, but one thing is clear: As Asti is not made for long-term aging, that bottle has surely outlived its “drink by” window, and Frank Jr., who told the Post-Gazette that he’s “still single,” would probably be better off purchasing something new the next time he’s entertaining company.

• The Dijonnais invaded New York this week, with mustard tastings in Grand Central Station, a wine-and-food pairing at the French Embassy-Cultural Services in conjunction with an art exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Burgundy wine auction at Sotheby’s. Dijon Must’Art celebrates the opening of The Mourners at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a showcase of 40 medieval statues that have never before been seen outside of Dijon, France. The Met kicks off a two-year tour of the sculptures that ends at the Cluny Museum in Paris before returning to Dijon. Burgundy producers including Domaine Humbert Frères and Joseph Faiveley have also been conducting tastings at the various events. And on March 3, Sotheby’s auctioned off magnums and two jeroboams donated by 41 winemakers to raise money for the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts, totaling $35,000. The two top lots were a magnum of 1992 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet that went for $4,000 and a magnum of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St.-Vivant 2000 that sold for $3,000.

Importer Winebow Adds New President to Its Portfolio

Jon Moramarco brings experience in California and international markets to distributor

Mitch Frank
Posted: March 4, 2010

Wine importer and distributor Winebow has added a new member to its team. Jon Moramarco, formerly an executive at Constellation and Allied Domecq Wines USA, will join the company as president this month. The new hire may be a sign that Winebow, which built its reputation specializing in Italian wines, plans to enlarge its import portfolio and its distribution of American wines.

“Jon has a unique background that combines a wealth of experience,” said Leonardo LoCascio, chairman and CEO of Winebow. “He understands both domestic and imported wines, as well as the different needs of larger brands versus smaller, iconic brands. He is also experienced in both the distribution and the national sides of our business.”

Moramarco started in the wine business with his family’s Southern California winery and has an enology and viticulture degree from University of California Davis. He moved into the management side of the industry as an executive with Allied Domecq, then spent 10 years at Constellation, eventually as CEO of their international operations. More recently, he led a group of investors that helped keep Vinfolio, a cellar management firm, afloat during restructuring.

“Winebow has been very successful growing their business in what has been a very tough environment for luxury goods,” said Moramarco. “They have a wonderful portfolio that ranges across many price points, so they have been able to address consumers’ desires as their purchasing habits have become more conservative.”

LoCascio started the company in 1980, focusing on Italian wines, and it still represents some of Italy’s best names, from Barolo’s Roberto Voerzio to Tua Rita in Tuscany, Allegrini in Valpolicella and Mastroberardino in Campania. It’s expanded to import from other countries and distributes wines, including many American labels, in several states in the Northeast. In 2008, Winebow bought the Peter Click Wine Group, best known for brands like Fat Bastard.

LoCascio and Moramarco sound aggressive about their plans despite the current economy. “Jon has terrific and relevant experience with California and domestic wines in general,” said LoCascio. “It’s conceivable that this may be an area of further expansion—both on the distribution and on the national side.”

Added Moramarco, “I believe there are still many opportunities to expand the appellations represented and to truly become the fine wine resource for wines from around the globe.”

Universal Translator

Wine-tasting groups. Proper wineglasses. Wines that deserve discussion. Argentina is starting to develop a culture of fine-wine appreciation

Matt Kramer
Posted: March 2, 2010

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—“At the bank where I work, we have an informal wine-tasting group that meets every few weeks. Why don’t you join us?” This invitation came, very nearly out of the blue, from a guy I met in a local wine shop.

Like so many educated porteños, as the natives of Buenos Aires call themselves (it’s a port city, hence the name), he spoke beautiful English. When I asked him about it, he explained that he had been educated, starting at a young age, in a local English language–oriented school.

In Buenos Aires, seemingly every educated person under the age of 40—and many much older than that—knows English. This is a blessing for which I am daily grateful. I can discuss wine reasonably well in French and Italian, but a Spanish-language wine tasting is way out of my linguistic league.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” laughed my newfound friend. “Everyone at the tasting speaks English. Our problem,” he added, “is that we really don’t speak ‘wine.’ We just like to drink it. But we don’t know much about what we’re tasting.” Hearing that, I relaxed. I do—ahem—speak “wine.”

A week later, we met in a handsomely decorated “cellar room” of a local boutique hotel. Our group of seven men and three women sat on tall stools around a long, narrow table. My host explained that he brought the wines from his slowly expanding personal cellar and that his colleagues at the bank—all of whom were in their early 30s—brought, well, themselves. Upon hearing this described, everyone laughed about this highly agreeable arrangement.

The wineglasses on the table were, I might note, well-designed and suitably large. This is not a persnickety matter, if only because Argentine red wines are themselves large-scale and show best in good-size glasses. At nearly every decent restaurant I’ve visited, the wineglasses are large and properly shaped. You get much better wineglasses here in Buenos Aires, in even a modest restaurant, than you do in, say, Paris.

What happened next was all too familiar: Everyone around the table tasted the wine and pronounced whether they liked it or not. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this. But wine discussion can extend much further, if you’re so inclined. And if the wines deserve it.

These wines did. The first three served were single-vineyard bottlings from Bodega Alta Vista, a large winery in Mendoza created by the French family that once owned Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house. Originally it was among the seven French-Argentine wineries collectively called Clos de Los Siete. But Alta Vista broke away and set off on its own.

Single-vineyard wines such as Alta Vista’s are slowly driving Mendoza-area wines—the vast majority of which are blended from far-flung vineyards in the area to create large, commercial quantities—toward a greater site-consciousness. Distinctions of place are privately known among the local producers, but it’s only in the past decade at most that any sort of label proclamation of site has been offered to consumers.

Anyway, we had three Alta Vista single-vineyard Malbecs to taste, all from the 2003 vintage: Temis Vineyard, Serenade Vineyard and Alizarine Vineyard. The first is from the Valle de Uco; the latter two are from Luján de Cuyo. These two zones are each broad-scale (think Napa Valley and Sonoma County). So, not surprisingly, smaller districts are very slowly emerging. More localized district names, such as Agrelo, Maipú or Barrancas, among many others, will likely not be seen with any frequency for at least another decade, I’d guess.

Were there differences among the three wines? You bet. Where the wine from Temis Vineyard, in the Valle de Uco, was rich, round and generally a pleasing mouthful, the two Luján de Cuyo Malbecs (Serenade Vineyard and Alizarine Vineyard) were you-can’t-miss-it different. Both displayed an unmistakable mineral note, along with sharper-etched flavor delineation that may have itself derived from a higher apparent acidity. All three wines displayed a noticeable oakiness that was more than I personally care for, but which was neither bullying nor intrusive.

When I asked the group if they perceived differences among the three wines, the conversation suddenly lagged. Language is part of the problem, but it’s not a matter of what you speak, but of what you think.

“I don’t have the words for it,” said one taster. “Not in Spanish, either,” he added. This was echoed around the table. “I only know what I like,” said another. That opinion resounded among the others, with everyone nodding vigorously in agreement.

With that, I’m afraid that I once again failed the diplomacy part of the Foreign Service Officer examination. It’s not enough, I said, to be satisfied with I like it/I don’t like it. That’s too simplistic for tasting, as opposed to drinking. Then I went in for the kill: These wines are too good for that. All of us are subject to national pride, and assuredly the Argentineans are no exception.

Precisely because wine in Argentina—much more so than in neighboring Chile, by the way—has for so long been such an item of daily consumption, at correspondingly cheap prices, a certain insouciance set in. This same phenomenon once plagued Italy and its wine culture. Not coincidentally, the majority of Argentineans are of Italian origin.

In 1970, Argentina’s wine consumption was a whacking 92 liters (24 gallons) per capita, making it the world’s fourth-highest wine-consuming country after Italy (114 liters per capita), France (109 liters) and Portugal (102 liters). Since then, wine consumption has declined considerably, just as in other traditional wine-drinking nations. The latest figures, from 2008, show Argentine wine consumption at about 27 liters per capita. Chile, in comparison, consumes 17 liters per capita. (The United States consumed 9 liters per capita in 2008.) [Source: Impact Databank]

Most wine drinkers everywhere—and certainly in the United States—tend to approach wine from the “I like it/I don’t like it” platform. But for a wine-producing nation to propel itself beyond mere commodity wine, a native culture of what can only be called “wine appreciation” must emerge.

This may sound high-falutin’, but it is nevertheless both true and essential. France taught the world about fine wine precisely because it developed and cultivated just such a mentality. Granted, it wasn’t necessarily part of everyone’s life but, over time, a mentality of “wine appreciation” became part of everyone’s French patrimony. (Ironically, France appears to be losing some of this in recent years as its wine culture has come under aggressive attack from health-oriented government agencies and advocacy groups.)

Now we’re witnessing Australia revamp its wine culture to a more sophisticated “wine appreciation” as it transitions from its traditional commodity blended-wine orientation to a more site-specific mentality that can coexist—and be celebrated—alongside the larger-scale production that has dominated the Aussie notion of wine “goodness.”

Seeing just such a fine-wine reality unfold here in Argentina—an embryonic mentality nurtured by the sincere interest of Argentineans such as those at that tasting—is an exceptionally gratifying pleasure. Today, for effectively the first time in Argentina’s long wine history, you can crack open a bottle of Argentine wine (the better ones, anyway) and get far more than mere pleasure. Wine at its best is a message in a bottle—and we can all speak the language.

George Clooney presenting at a previous Academy Awards ceremony

By now, it’s that time you’ve been waiting for, almost. Just before the best picture is announced comes best director, seeing two heralded superstars among the five nominated. Quentin Tarantino, who gave us Inglourious Basterds, among other push-the-envelope films, can be compared to nothing less than an innovative, smart wine. Go with a unique blend and cult label crafted by a contemporary visionary, such as Dave Phinney of Orin Swift, who took his obsession with Zinfandel and crafted it into a successful business. Similarly, James Cameron likes to go above and beyond with his films, including Terminator, Titanic and this year’s nominated Avatar. But he’s a Canada native, and our neighbors to the north are producing quality wines. To celebrate Cameron’s imagination, go with an ice wine or other late-harvest sweet wine from Canada, something that other Oscar party probably isn’t pouring. Plus, by the time the show gets around to naming the best director, it will be the dessert course.

Offers both style and structure, with lively aromas of black raspberry, cracked pepper and mocha that lead to plush, layered flavors of wild berry, fresh sage and licorice. Ripe tannins sneak in on the finish. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Charbono and Grenache. Drink now through 2014. 39,000 cases made.—T.F.

See more recently rated Zinfandels and Zinfandel blends.

Light-weight, though still packs in the sweetness, along with apple skin, apricot, marmalade and a hint of onion. Balanced, with a lingering finish. Drink now through 2018. 8,000 cases imported.—B.S.

See more Canadian dessert wines.

Now that you’ve got your ideas, put the Champagne on ice and the cake in the oven. Here are three party dishes, and you can access more at the Recipe Search.

Recipes

Minted Chèvre Wrapped in Smoked Salmon

• 1½ tablespoons finely chopped mint leaves

• 5 ounces herb-coated goat cheese, at room temperature

• Fresh pepper

• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 12 ounces smoked salmon, sliced thin

1. In a small bowl, mix the mint with the goat cheese, pepper and lemon juice. The blend should be thick and creamy.

2. Tear off a length of plastic wrap. Arrange the salmon slices over the plastic to cover an area 3 to 3½ inches wide, overlapping them slightly to make a seamless surface of a single layer of salmon. Repeat with any remaining slices on an additional piece of plastic until the salmon is used up. Spread the cheese mixture along the salmon, leaving ½ inch on each side. Lift the edge of the wrap to roll the salmon and the filling into a long cylinder. Keep this refrigerated and wrapped with plastic until shortly before serving time to keep it from drying out.

3. Remove the plastic, then cut the salmon roll into 24 pieces and arrange them on a platter. Spear each with a toothpick to make it easier to eat. Serves 12.

Truffled Popcorn

• 6 ounces truffle butter (available at specialty food shops) OR 5½ ounces butter plus 2 tablespoons white truffle oil (available at specialty food shops)

• 5 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

• 1½ cups popcorn kernels

• Kosher salt to taste

1. In a small saucepan, gently melt the truffle butter or butter over low heat and keep warm. If using truffle oil, whisk into butter until well-combined.

2. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid, combine the vegetable or canola oil and the popcorn over medium heat and cover. Cook until the kernels begin to pop and continue cooking, shaking the pot frequently, until most of the kernels have popped and the pops become a few seconds apart. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Pour the warm truffle butter over and toss with salt to taste. Serves about 12 as an appetizer.

Warm Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup butter

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

• 4 eggs

• 4 egg yolks

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup flour

• Pinch of salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a mixing bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together over a pot of simmering water or in a microwave oven. Set them aside.

2. In another bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks with an electric mixer on medium speed until they become very thick in texture and light in color. Mix a large dollop of the beaten eggs into the warm butter and chocolate until very smooth, then fold this mixture gently into the eggs. After a few folds, sprinkle the sugar, flour, salt and vanilla extract over the mixture and continue folding it together gently but thoroughly.

3. Transfer this mixture to buttered individual cake molds or a muffin tin with large muffin forms. Bake at 350° F for 7 to 8 minutes. The cakes should be firm on the exterior but still soft in the middle. Let the cakes cool before unmolding.

4. To serve, carefully unmold the cakes onto a microwave-safe plate. Reheat them in a microwave oven for 15 to 20 seconds, just to warm them through. Transfer to dessert plates and serve them with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Serves 8.