Recipe - Ragu Napletano Naples

 

CHEFVALERIO LaROSA

RAGU NAPOLETANO

CHEF VALERIO LaROSA

NAPOLI 

SUNDAY SAUCE

aka RAGU

NAPOLETANO

And MORE ...

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The Sinatra Cookbook Recipes

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                   FRANK at JILLY'S

The FRANK SINATRA COOKBOOK

GRANDMA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

The CLOSTEST THING to a TRUE FRANK SINATRA COOKBOOK

The Sinatra Family Cookbook? Well, not exactly, just the closest thing to it.  There was actually a book called The Celebrity Cookbook, and it was so incredibly awful that it's criminal. How can anyone who was collaborating with Frank Sinatra, on a so-called cookbook produce utter garbage. You don't even know who wrote the book. There's no listing of an author, just that it's Barbara Sinatra and Friends. Was she the author. No doubt there was a book editor who put the thing together. Whoever the people are that had the incredible opportunity to work on a cookbook with Frank Sinatra and do such a God-Awful job of it, those people should be arrested and thrown in jail. The book is absolutely horrible. You have the great subject of Frank Sinatra, and the food he liked to eat, it there are no stories or elaborations of Sinatra Family Meals, dining out, nor any history or facts at all. Not even a single sentence. This is without a doubt one of the greatest crimes in cookbook, and publishing history of all time. It's so horrible, it's almost unbelievable, but it actually happened. Barbara Sinatra and the people who helped her, produced one of the worst pieces of crap ever to be published, in the form of The Frank Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook. What a crime.

Well, sad to say, t there is not much written on Franks Sinatra eating habits, dishes his father Marty made, and his mother Dolly. Though it is said that Marty Sinatra was the better cook, and cooked most of the family meals, which would have been Sicilian, and dishes from Marty (Saverio Martino) who was born in Lercara Friddi Sicily,  before his family immigrated to New York in 1903 ...

Those people, Barbara Sinatra and Friends had a chance to write something great, but failed miserably.  They had a chance to talk to Frank, get all the stories of Frank Sinatra, the foods he loved, what his father and mother cooked, as well as dining adventures in New York, Chicago, 

Los Angeles,  Italy, all around American and the World. The did not even write one paragraph, not even one sentence on anything. Again it's an absolute crime that the people behind this book were ever given the go ahead.

Anyway, since those people failed so terribly, the closest thing we can find, other than a few tidbits in magazine articles here and there, the best thing we could find, as far as a cookbook and Frank Sinatra, food and Italian and Sicilian Recipes, is a book by Daniel Bellino Zwicke, called Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook - Recipes From My Sicilian Grandmother. The authors maternal grandparents, his grandfather Philipo Bellino and his nonna Giuseppina Salemi Bellino of Lercara Friddi, Sicily, the same town that both Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Sinatra's father 

Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra was born. Martino (Marty) learned how to cook the Sicilian dishes of Lecara Friddi from his mother and a couple of his aunts. Marty was quite the cook, and cooked most of the Sinatra Family meals that young Frank and Dolly Sinatra ate. Dishes like : Eggplant Caponata, Ziti al Forno (with Meatballs), Timballo d' Agneletti, Zuppa di Lenticchie, and various pasta, soup, Chicken, Meat and Fish recipes. We found the recipes from these dishes, the same that Marty Sinatra cooked for his wife and son Francis Albert, in Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook.

So there you go. If you want to know a bit about Frank Sinatra, and the Sicilian Food that he like to eat, get Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook, what we like to call The Sinatra Family Cookbook. It's the best you can do. So get a copy, book some recipes, put on some Sinatra albums, sit down at the table, and "Eat Like Frank."

The SINATRA CELEBRITY COOKBOOK

BARBARA SINATRA & FRIENDS

"IT'S a CRIME THIS BOOK Was EVER PUBLISHED"

Sorry to say, but This BOOK is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE !!!

With a CAPITAL "T"

So UNWORTHY of The LATE GREAT FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA

"BASTA" !!!

ABOUT FRANK

                Frank Sinatra, both the greatest singer and greatest entertainer of the 20th Century. No question. Sinatra was a legendary icon whose star still shines bright. He was a musical icon, celebrity, international personality, and to millions of Italian-Americans he was our own, a paisan. 

Frank was an Italian-American whose ancestry is from Genoa on his mother's side of the family and Sicilian on his father's side. And being Italian, Frank loved the food he grew up with, Dolly made a mean Marinara Sauce as well as Meatballs and the all-time Italian-American favorite Sunday Sauce (aka Gravy). Frank loved the food of his childhood; the Spaghetti & Meatballs, Stuffed Artichokes, Pasta Fazool, Frittata, Eggplant Parmigiana and all the usual suspects of the Italian-American table. 

It's a well known fact that Frank's favorite restaurant was Patsy's on 56th Street in New York ... When Frank went to Patsy's his favorite dishes were Calms Posillipo and Veal Milanese with a nice plate of Spaghetti Pomodoro in-between, and maybe a slice of Cheesecake to finish if Frank was in the mood.

 

FRANK and AVA

"MANGIA BENE"

    

FRANK'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT

Patsy's 56th Street, NEW YORK, NY

   

Learn How to Make FRANK'S VEAL MILANESE

VEAL MILANESE and CLAMS POSILLIPO .. Two of FRANK'S Favorites

CLAMS POSILLIPO

"One of FRANK'S FAVORITES" !

SICILIAN FOOD RECIPES

FROM LERCARA FRIDDI

The SAME TOWN as The SINATRA FAMILY

SICILY

GRANDMA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

The CLOSEST THING to a SINATRA  COOKBOOK

With RECIPES FROM SINATRA'S HOME TOWN in SICILY

SOUPS - PASTA _ EGGPLANT - ARTICHOKES & MORE

All of FRANK SINATRA'S FAVORITE ITALIAN FOODS

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GINO'S on Lexington Avenue was a Sinatra favorite ..

A waiter and the famed Zebra Wallpaper of Gino's ..

GINO'S "SECRTE SAUCE" SALSA SEGRETO - 

RECIPE in SEGRETO ITALIANO COOKBOOK

Learn How to Make SUNDAY SAUCE alla SINATRA

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Bellino Party alla Bolognese Pasta

PASTA with RAGU BOLOGNESE

RECIPE

Continued From (Click Here) So you go out and get some Provolone or other cheese if you’re going to serve a mixed antipasto before the Bolognese. Get some good Sweet Sopresseta, a jar of good quality Roast Red Peppers, and the best Italian Olives you can get, and your mixed antipasto is all set. Tell each guest to bring a nice bottle of Italian Wine, unless you prefer to buy the wine yourself, it’s all up to you. And there is nothing wrong with your guests each bringing a bottle. When they do so you end up getting a nice variety of different wines for everyone to taste, making your party not just a Party alla Bolognese but a pleasant little wine tasting as well. Nice, no? Yes, this works out quite well, and it makes the party a little more interesting, tasting the different wines. Tell your friends to bring Chianti, Barbera, Montepulciano di Abruzzo, or Lambrusco which is from Emilia Romagna and is the perfect wine if you’re having either Prosciutto & Melon or a Mixed Antipasto with some nice Salumi and Cheese to start. You’ve got to have some nice background music for your party. The best music would be a mix of first and foremost Frank Sinatra, with Dean Martin, a little Tony Bennett, and some Louis Prima to boot. Hip Hop and Heavy Metal are strictly forbidden and an absolute no-no, you don’t want to ruin your party with bad music, do you? Dessert and coffee are always great. They are not an absolute must, but I do highly recommend you serve coffee and dessert. Again, you may want to have one or two of your friends pick up some dessert. Italian desserts like: Ricotta Cheesecake, Italian Pastries and or Cookies, or Gelato are all great, but not absolutely necessary that the dessert be Italian. Maybe one of your friends makes a great Pineapple Upside Down Cake, a Red Velvet Cake or something like that is great. What’s important is you have a dessert, it’s just another little facet of your dinner party, your Party alla Bolognese. And don’t forget the Bolognese is the centerpiece and as they say in France The Piece de Resistance! .

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The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKBOOK

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PARTY alla BOLOGNESE CHECKLIST

1. Get your ingredients for the Bolognese; the ground meat you choose. Tomatoes, wine, pasta, milk, butter, Olive Oil, and dry Porcini Mushrooms if you decide to use them.

2.   Get your ingredients for your Antipasto course. 3.   Buy at least two bottles of good Italian Wine, even if you have your guest bring wine, you’ll still want to get at least two bottles of your own. 4.    Have plenty of spring or filtered water. Buy gallons of Spring Water (at least 2 gallons or more). 5.    Buy one or two loaves of good Italian Bread. 6.    Make the Bolognese! It’s great to make the night before the party. Just to let you know, it doesn’t hurt that the Bolognese is made the night before, it’s actually better. 7.    Make sure you have some great music; Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and or some nice mellow R&B music. 8.  Before your guest arrive, get your antipasto or salad ready to go when you need it. Keep it simple. If you choose one of the antipasto items from the antipasto section in this book, you can’t go wrong, they’re all real simple and don’t require any cooking, other than if you choose the Shrimp Cocktail, which is super simple and takes just a few minutes and can be done ahead of time, a few hours before or the day before your party. 9.    A few minutes before you will be serving the antipasto, put your pot of Bolognese on the stove and turn the heat onto the lowest flame possible to heat up the Bolognese Sauce. If after the Bolognese is simmering for twenty minutes, it looks like it is getting dried out, you can add some water. 10.   Put a large pot of water on to cook the pasta. Put a lot of salt in the pasta cooking water.

11. Serve the antipasto course to your guest and make sure you have some nice Sinatra tunes playing. Enjoy the antipasto with your guest.

12.   Turn the water for the pasta on to a high flame. After you have eaten your antipasto with your guest wait about 15 minutes or more before you serve the Pasta alla Bolognese. 13.   Rigatoni, Cavatappi, Fusilli, or some sort of short pasta are the best type of pasta to serve with your Ragu Bolognese at Party alla Bolognese party, as it’s easy to serve and to eat short maccheroni as opposed to long pasta like Spaghetti or Tagiatelle for your guest. Got that? Serve a short pasta. 14.    After everyone has eaten their antipasto and are enjoying their wine, throw the pasta in the water to cook. The pasta will take about 12 minutes to cook. You want to have about 20 minutes in-between the antipasto and Bolognese course, so throw the pasta in the boiling water 10 minutes after everyone has finished eating the antipasto. 15.   Follow the directions for cooking the pasta that is on the pasta package. Once the pasta is finished cooking, drain the pasta in a colander, reserving about a ¼ cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Add the pasta back to the pot that it cooked in. Add some of the Bolognese with a couple knobs of butter to the pot and mix the pasta and Bolognese Sauce together. Have a plate ready for each guest and plate each one with an equal portion of the Pasta Bolognese. Serve to your guest and make sure to pass around grated cheese. OK So How Do you make The BOLOGNESE you want to know? The RECIPE is in The COOKBOOK,  The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKBOOK, where else?

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Mario Carbone Makes Sunday Sauce - Recipe

 

MARIO CARBONE & MOM

At MARIO'S MOTHER'S HOUSE

SUNDAY DINNER of SUNDAY SAUCE

MARIO CARBONE MAKES SUNDAY SAUCE

At His MOTHER'S HOUSE

SUNDAY SAUCE RECIPES

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

MEATBALLS - SUNDAY SAUCE

And MORE !!!

MARIO with MAMMA & NONNO

An ITALIAN AMERICAN FAMILY in NEW YORK

SUNDAY SAUCE alla CARBONE

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Roscioli New York Rome NYC

 

ROSCIOLI of ROME

MacDougal Street

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY

ROSCOLI Comes to NEW YORK

"When we talk about Italian Cuisine, it's all about Grandmothers (Nonna)."

..... Alessandro Pepe - ROSCIOLI NY ....

Minute 1:50 on Video

ROSCIOLI  NEW YORK

Well, it's finally happening. After trying to get in for the past 5 months, 

I'm going to ROSCIOLI tonight. Having dinner with a couple friends.

Roscioli, a famous Salumeria / Italian Food Emporium of Rome Italy, has come to New York. 

The Roscioli family have come to New York. They have partnered with Alessandro Pepe and

Ariel Arce to open an outpost of their famous Salumeria / Trattoria in New York.

Yes, me and some friends have wanted to go for almost 5 months now. Well, if I really tried, I could have gotten in sooner, but I wasn't pushing it. Been quite busy in those 5 months, and was eager to go through all the Riga Ramo to get it in. My buddy Rob called me last week and said he got us a table for February 1st. "Cool" It was going to be just the two of us, but a good friend asked if she could come too, so Rob called to see if we could add another, and Alessandro said it was OK, so there we go, me, Rob, and Alyssa make up our group. Rob is a wine salesman in New York, and is selling Alessandro wine at Roscioli, so we were able to get a table. We would have went sooner, but something came up, and Alessandro had to fly bakc to Italy for a couple months. We were waiting for him to come back, and then we'd go. And now the time has come, and me , Alyssa, and Rob are quite excited. We're going tonight.

To Be CONTINUED !!!

We'll eat at Roscioli tonight. I will finish writing this piece tomorrow or the next day. Naturally I have to go and eat, and drink, and experience the vibe, and gather the experience and info, before I can write about it. So, "Caio for now. See you all tomorrow."

Roscioli was a "Major Disappointment." !!! Not Good at all. The food was totally sub-par. We ordered 7 dishes. and not one of them was tasty at all, including 2 Roman dishes that should have been Homeruns, but were total Strikeouts !!! So sad. These two Roman dishes where the Rigatoni Amatricana and Cacio Pepe. The so-called Amatriciana Sauce was a "Total Zero" in execution. Bland and without taste. Same goes for Cacio Pepe, really bad. I myself, am not that great at making Cacio Pepe, it's a hard dish to master. However, I make one of the Best Amatriciana Sauce's you will ever taste in your life. My Amatriciana is amazing, and "Blows the one at Roscioli Out of the Water" !!! No contest, mine is great, there's is Horrible. "No Brag, just Fact" 

The good points at Rosciolo - New York, where the ambiance was pretty good, they played Great Music and the Wine was good, as was the service. Good servers, but the front door people, not so good. But the Biggest Crime at Rosciolo is the Food, which is Not Good at All. So if you've had a hard time getting a table. don't fret. If you're looking for Superior Food than the food at Roscioli's there are two Italian Restaurants within two blocks that serve much Better Food than Roscioli's. Better food by far at Bar Pitti on 6th Avenue, one block from Roscioli's, and you'll also get much tastier food at Monte's Trattoria up the block from Roscioli, at 97 Macdougal Street, at Monte's Trattoria. If you're looking for tasty pasta, which Roscioli "is supposed to have?" Not ! Get the Aganolotti, Fettuccine Bolognese, Tortoloni Monte's, Spaghetti Vongole, or Manicotti at Monte's, and you can't go wrong.

At Bar Pitti, get one of the "Daily Specials" like: Braised Oxtails, Calves Liver, or Bolito di Manzo. 

Again, I'm totally surprised how off-the-mark the food was at Roscioli. A Major Disappointment.

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Kevin Zraly on Brunello

KEVIN ZRALY

"I WANT THAT JACKET KEVIN" !!! 

I've been involved with Italian Wine for more than 30 years now. I love Italian Wine, Venice, and Wine Bars so much that I created the first Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in America. I named it Bar Cichetti. As a result of opening Bar Cichetti in Greenwich Village, New York, I got more deeply into Italian Wine, and got to know many of Italy's top wine producers. Once I opened Bar Cichetti, every Italian Wine person coming to New York wanted to meet me, and see Bar Cichetti. The first people I met, were the Conti Caponi of Villa Calcinaia, who produced beautiful Chinati, and Olive Oil in Greve, in Chianti. I actually met the Noble Florentines, Nicola and Sebastiano Caponi, and had lunch with them at their beautiful estate in Greve. We actually had to meet upo with the two brothers at their family Palazzo in Florence, next to the Ponte Vecchio, and then we drove to Greve, to Villa Calcinaia. They showed us around the cellars and the vineyards and then we sat down to an incredible lunch with Nicola & Sebastiano Caponi in the beautiful old dining room in the castle. It was amazing to say the least.

After our amazing visit with the two Counts, we drove down to the next town, Panzano to meet up with Giovanni Manetti of Fontodi, one of Tuscany's top Super Tuscan and Chianti producers. It was an amazing day, and the most wonderful introduction to Italian Wines, at the estates, with the said owners. A day I shall never forget. 

Well, I've gotta off the track a bit. As usual. But to make a point. The point being that because of the position I created, becoming one of New York's top Italian Wine Guys, as they say, I was invited to many exclusive wine events, such as Luncheons, Dinners, seminars, and special tastings.

Some of the most notable occasions I found myself in, were : the previously mentioned luncheon with the two Caponi brothers at Villa Calcinaia, a luncheon at Barolo Restaurant in NY with Antonella Boccino of Contratto, a special Dinner at Becco with Sebastiano Rosa of Sassicaia fame, lunch with Pio Boffa of Pio Cesare, a vertical tasting of 5 vintages of Tiganello with the Marchese Piero Antinori at Bottega del Vino in New York, an incrediable Dinner with Jacapo Biondi Sante of Biondi Sante, at Spark's Steak House in New York, gorging on Baked Clams and Steak, while downing some of the World's Best Brunello, Super Tuscan, and Moscadello wine. The list goes on and on, and is far to long to write about here.

So again, I've gone to many memorable Italian Wine Events over the years. I have touched on a few, and another I wrote about a few years back. It was a Brunello Seminar Tasting conducted by the Great Kevin Zraly (Wine Educator) at the 2013 Brunello Tasting, at Gotham Hall in New York City. I had heard about Kevin, but never met him before. We tasted some great Brunello that day, and along with the great Brunello's we tasted, the other star of the show, was Mr. Kevin Zraly himself. He has his own wonderful style of talking about wine, and the way he conducts his seminars is Entertaining, Educational, and Mind Blowing. I absolutley loved the show.

I came across a little piece that I wrote the next day, and thought I'd repost it. It follows below. Please read it.

Thanks,

Daniel

January 12, 2024

Villa Calcinaia

Greve in Chianti

ZRALY on BRUNELLO

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke, written - January 2013, New York City

The Great Kevin Zraly held a Brunello Seminar at The New York Brunello Tasting 2013 ...And for the few lucky enough to attend, it was quite a great event. Great, yes great, and Mr. Keven Zraly in my book is quite great when it comes to knowledge of wine, his Love and approach to it, drinking, tasting for his own pleasure and knowledge as well as the Drinking, Tasting, and Education Kevin imparts on those in his classes, readers and owners of his famed Windows On The World Wine Course (Book), and anyone as I've Just said "Lucky Enough to Attend One of Mr. Zraly's Wine Seminars," in this case for one of Italy's and The World's most esteemed wines and one of Kevin's 3 Favorite Wines (Kevin's words) Brunello di Montalcino.

   "Don't Touch It! Don't touch it !!!" shouts Kevin Zraly, near the beginning of his seminar. He know there are always people on every level of experience at any one of the many wine seminars he has conducted over the years, including the most experienced and at least one or maybe several people who have never ever been to a Seminar Wine Tasting like this in their lives. This maybe their first one, "Don't Touch Don't touch!!!" It's quite funny and a bit shocking the way Kevin does these as he sets the tone for his style of wine seminar, which is "No Muss No Fuss No BS," and as Mr. Zraly says no English Poetry, in an effort to say there will be none of that overdone pontification, just straight normal talk, and talk even a beginner could grasp about wine, and with Kevin his approach will make you love the object and the subject of "Wine" even more. That's what a great wine educator does. There are not many better than Kevin Zraly, "if any?"
   

Yes, the seminar was quite wonderful. If being at the most important Brunello Tasting of the year wasn't enough, and being the first in the World to taste the 2008 Vintage and 07 Riservas, in a beautiful setting like Gotham Hall, in The Greatest City in The World, and as the Head of The Brunello Consorzio stated this glorious day, "New York Is The Greatest and Most Important Market in The World For The Producers of Brunello di Montalcino." Yes Sir "It Is." Yes those at The New York Brunello Tasting were among-st the first in the World to taste these fine wines, and Mr.s Zraly made that point, as well as stating how wonderful the Wines were, that we were very fortunate to be drinking them, and that Brunello was along with Bordeaux, one of his 3 Favorite wines in the World to drink. Myself and Michael Colameco (Who is The fine host of "Real Food" one of TV's Best Cooking Shows on PBS) sitting next to me at the seminar, we both surmised the third  of Kevin's 3 Favorite Wines of The World had to be Burgundy. This we need to find out.

    "Smell it 3 times. Cover the glass with your hand. Sniff! Toast the person sitting next to you and drink. Think about it for 1 minute at 15 second intervals. Do you still taste it? What do you taste?" Well, we tasted 8 very fine offerings of this fabulous wine, Brunello di Montalcino. The wines were all wonderful, and being at Benvenuto Brunello in such a gorgeous setting as Gotham Hall and being led in a Tasting of Great Brunello by one of the World's Greatest Authorities on Wine, this was a combination that was unbeatable. Being in the Italian Wine and Restaurant Business for more than 25 and writing for another 8, I can tell your that I've been to many a incredible wine event, like: a Vertical Wine tasting and Luncheon with the Marchese Piero Antinori, Dinner at Spark's Steak-House with Jacopo Biondi Santi and his wines, as well as lunches and dinners on many great wine estates in Italy. The kind of events people would kill to be able to attend, I've been to many, and this Brunello Seminar tasting with kevin Zraly shall be filed in my head with some of those other great wine moments. It was most enjoyable, and I'm so glad I made it (almost din't go).

   So Bravo Brunello! And Bravo Kevin for your passion, love of the wine, and the way you lead others, in your very Zraly Direction.




Daniel Bellino Zwicke


BRUNELLO SEMINAR with KEVEN ZRALY .. January 31, 2013 .... Afternoon Seminar

WINES: BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO

1.   Palazzo - 2008
2.   Fanti -2008
3.   Tenute Sivio Nardi - 2008
4.   Donatella Cinelli Colombini - 2008
5.   Uccelliera - 2008
6.   Palazzo - Riserva 2004
7.   Col D'Orcia 2001
8.   IL Poggione Riserva 1999

An overall assessment and thoughts on the 8 Brunello's we tasted. First off, they were all very good to wonderful to remarkable. A great line-up including some excellent producers and very fine vintages of recent years. It seemed an overall consensus that pretty much everyone (Writers, Restaurant People, Wine Professionals, and Hobbyists) in the room liked each and every wine we drank, all wonderful wines, and with Kevin "Cheer-Leading" us with his love of wine and Brunello, I believe everyone enjoyed these wines even more than if they had tasted all 8 in another manner than this great tasting-seminar.

   As all wines were wonderful, I must admit that there were 3 wines that we all got a bit more excited and super-charged over. These wines were; the Brunello Uccelliera 2008, the Brunello Col D'Orcia 2001, and the Brunello IL Poggione 1999 ... Without going into any, as Kevin Zraly would say "English Poetry" these 3 wines were just wonderful. The kind of wines you light up over and just saying "Wow," is enough to say that they had everything you want in a great Brunello or any great wine, great aroma, Wonderful Taste combined with "Perfect Balance," and simply greatness.

   Again, a great tasting, overall Benvenuto Brunello, lots of great wines, wonderful people, and a fine Seminar-Tasting of Brunello conducted by Mr. Kevin Zraly. Again, Bravo!

It's BRUNELLO TIME in NEW YORK

Brunello Time in New York! Hey I think i just coined a new phrase for our great city New York.   Yes I know it can never catch on like the poetic "Autumn in New York" ... Autumn in New York, the phrase started as a song in 1937, a song that became quite famous and sung by many musical greats like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitgerald to name just two. The phrase has been made into a movie, and tough it has been a hugely successful song, it's greatest popularity and famed comes as a "Saying" and Slogan of The Great City of New York, "Autumn in New York." Brunello Time in New York. No it will never be as famed as the Autumn of New York, but if you're as big as an Italian Wine Geek and Lover like me, this phrase Brunello Time in New York will sound quite wonderful to you. 

    Yes, yesterday, January 31, 2013 was Brunello Time in New York with for all us Italian Wine Guys (Girls too), one of our biggest and most cherished days of the year, The New York Italian Wine Year anyway. It is the Brunello Tasting, as we New York Wine Guys call it. The official named used by The Consorzio Del Vino Brunello Di Montalcino, the governing body of the famed Italian Wine Brunello, these are the people who organize this great show and tasting of the release of the latest vintage of Brunello, the tasting officially known as Benvenuto Brunello.

  As I said, this tasting (event) is one of the most dear of the year to me. That is along with the 

Tri Bicchieri Tasting, the biggest of the year. The Brunello Tasting is quite dear to me, as Sangiovese is my favorite of all grapes, as are the great wines made of it, especially Chianti and Brunello, my favorites, along with Morellino de Scansano, Vino Nobile, and some Super Tuscans that are based on this noble grape Sangiovese. And speaking of Sngiovese and Brunello, the wine Brunello is made of 100% Sangiovese, and of Snagiovese Grosso, also known as Brunello. And Brunello can only be made in Montalcino, and no-where else in the World, and it must be made to the exacting standards of The Consorzio del Brunello Di Montalcino, of whose President was on hand for the event.

    The event "The Brunello Tasting" consist of 52 of the more than 200 producers of Brunello. The main reason for this Brunello Tasting is the "Release of The Newest Vintage of Brunello di Montalcino," in this case The 2013 Brunello Tasting is for the Release of The 2008 Brunello's and The 2007 Brunello Riservas. These are the two main wines of the tasting, but other wines are shown and offered, along with Moscadello the famed Dessert Wine of Montalcino based on Moscato. All producers will have on hand their Rosso di Montalcino made with the same grapes (100% Sangiovese Grosso "Brunello") as the Brunello. The Rosso's are not aged as long, and the grape yeild is slighly higher. The 2010 Rosso di Montalcino where on hand, and one of the nice things about drinking these Rossos is that you can get an advanced glimpse of what the 2010 Brunello's will be like when they are released in 2016.

     Well, some Big Guns of Italian Wine were out at the Brunello Tasting. Big Guns from Italy along with some Big New York Italian Wine Guys like; Renzo Raspiacolli (Wine Director Barolo), Phillipo Debarladino, and Charles Scicolone, one of America's Greatest Authorities of Italian Wine "If Not Thee # 1 Top Guy." And speaking of Big Guns, as far as Italian Wine goes, The Biggest Gun of Them All, "The Marchese Piero Antinori" was on hand at this, one, along with The Count Cinzano of Col d'Orcia and other Italian Wine luminaries.

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

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Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Lunch with The CONTI CAPONI

VILLA CALCINAIA

GREVE in CHIANTI

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Tre Bicchierei New York 2024

 

New York

February23, 2024

"Got My Tickets" !!! 

It's that time of year again. Time for Tre Bicchieri. What's Tre Bicchieri you want to know? Well, as a metaphor, I myself call it "The Oscars of Italian Wine" in New York. That's what it's like for me. As The Oscars in Hollywood is to a professional movie actor, the greatest most glorious, and Biggest Day of The Year, that is what Tre Bicchieri is to me, an Italian Wine Geek, it is the biggest, most important day of the year. 

Tre Bicchieri is an Italian Wine Tasting of what are considered the Best Italian Wines of the year as are deemed by Gambero Rosso, Italy's most influential Italian Food & Wine Magazine, and the people of Slow Foods. Gambero Rosso awards what they considered the top echelon, best Italian Wines are awarded 3 Glasses (Tre Bicchieri), and considered Italy's best wines for that year. Then there are the Tre Bicchieri Wine Events / Tastings held at a few cities around the World to showcase the wines. Some cities that are lucky enough to have these Tre Bicchieri Tastings, are : New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Torino.

 

I myself love this event most, not just for being able drink so many great Italian Wines, but even more to see all my friends from Italy who own wine estates from all Italy. They are at the event and I get to visit with them, taste the latest vintages of their current wines. We -chat, and if I have an up-coming trip to Italy, We might make plans for when I'll visit the, with all their wine estate, perhaps once again, or for the first time, if I haven't been to their winery before. 

It's great being there. All that great Italian Wine, but even more so, all the great Italian Wine people. People like my good friend Antonio Rallo of Donnafugata in Marsala, Sicily, Francesca Planet of Planet Wines also in  Sicily, my pal Luigi Cappellini who makes my favorite Chianti, at his beautiful wine estate Castello Verrazzano in Greve, or his nieghbor the Conti Capponi whose wine estate  Villa Calcinaia is also in Greve, and whose Chianti I love so very much as well. And speaking  Chianti, there's my freind Mr. Giovanni Manetti who not only makes great Chianti and the Super Tuscan Wine Flacianella, but is had of the Chianti Consorzio as well, not to mention that his family makes beautiful terracotta pieces in the factory in Tuscany as well. Yes there will be a lot of wonderful people there, and I hope that I'll see my old buddy Gianpaolo Venica, who along with his father Gianni make some of Italy's greatest white wines in their estate - Venica, in Friuli, Italy. : their Ronco d' Mele Sauvignon Blanc. It's killer."

Along with all my Italian fiends from Italy, I will be able to catch up with my New York Italian Wine Friends, like my old pal Pietro Cavallo, and my pals Angelo R, and Vince V, not to mention all the others.

Yes it's going be a Great Day, drinking great Italian Wine, socializing, and what not. That's Tre Biccheri, a day I long forward til all year long.

Basta !

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

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