Olive Oil Tasting @ Di Palo's

Di Palo's was suggested to me by Maryna who shares with me an appreciation for old world markets selling gourmet fare in old world neighborhoods. A few weeks ago I did visit but could hardly get past a peek as Dipalo's was almost bursting with customers! I returned again much wiser for a leisurely visit on a Tuesday afternoon and was pleased to find the place quite quiet. While shopping for olive oil, one of the owners of Di Palo's offered a tasting of select olive oils from Italy chosen specifically for their shop by his elder brother Lou. Di Palo's is one of the oldest purveyors of fine Italian foods located in little Italy on Grand Street and is run by the fourth and fifth generation of Savino Dipalo who arrived in New York in 1903 from his small mountain village of Montemelone in Basilicata, Italy.

Just as with fine wine, environment plays a role in the taste of olive oil, a staple for the Mediterranean diet. Whether produced in coastal Liguria or the Tuscan hills, olive oils can be found with drastically different flavors and aromas which depend on the olives’ varietal and the climate in which they are cultivated and harvested. Sweet, grassy, buttery, herbaceous, and peppery, high-quality olive oils offer a complex mixture of flavors, aromas, and textures.

Recently Di Palo's opened their first wine shop dedicated exclusively to Italian wines next to their gourmet store. Both are separated by a glass wall which offers tantalising glimpses of the latteria next door with it's rounds of cheese and hams hanging from the ceiling and from this store you can spy the red chandeliers and neatly arranged wine bottles of the wine store.

200 Grand Street
New York, NY

Savio Soares Selections

I was put in touch with the Savio Soares Portfolio by my friend Dan Parseliti (and for you Harry Potter fans, no he is not a Parseltongue)! Parseltongue: the language of snakes; to a human who cannot speak it, it sounds like hissing without taking a breath.

Getting back to Savio's Wines, a portfolio tasting was held yesterday at the Wined Up wine bar in New York and it turned out to be one of the best tastings I have been to this year. A small intimate affair with some of the best 'tongues' and 'noses' in the business, Savio's portfolio is yet small, focusing mostly on Germany, Austria and wines from the South West of France. An 'old world' style is the best way to describe this portfolio, high in acid, great aromatic and tannic structures with the least amount of cellar manipulation as is possible. These distinctive wine from traditionally rich wineries relate to the terroir that they come from resulting in small productions that reflects their place of origin.

Wined Up
913 Broadway, 2nd fl. (bet. 20th & 21st Sts.)
Manhattan, NY 10003

Tel: 212 673 6333

Maslow 6

Maslow 6 is an engaging, fun community of wine lovers, enthusiasts, and collectors. Members are provided with an immersive environment, covering the many facets of wine collecting and enjoyment. It also provides a forum for people to engage with one another, to share stories and notes about wines you love (or don't!) and to make new discoveries. The classes and seminars are as social as they are educational.

I attended one of their Wine Seminars conducted by David Lynch, an American writer and wine expert. He has worked as a senior editor for Wine & Spirits magazine and has authored wine-related articles for numerous periodicals and websites and along with Joseph Bastianich (an associate of Mario Batali), spent time in Italy researching and writing Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy, a book published in 2002.

This evening the seminar was about the Nebbiolo grape, grown exclusively in the North Western corner of Italy. The wines were put together by Molly Bettencourt and David Lynch and were examples of some of the finest Nebbiolo's that I have tasted in one evening.

1. Caves de Donnas 2005, Valle d' Aosta
2. Antonio Castelle 2004, Gattinara
3. Luigi Ferrando 2004, Carema
4, Rainaldo 'Sasella' 2004, Lombardia
5. Malvira 2004, Roero
6. Ada Nada 2004, Barbaresco
7. Luigi Pira 2004, Barolo

Boqueria- Soho

Boqueria is a market place in Barcelona which is surrounded by restaurants and bars. Inspired by the market fresh food, Yann de Rochefort and Chef Partner Seamus Mullen opened Boqueria to present the cuisine of Spain in the form of tapas, media raciones and raciones. According to legend the tapas tradition began when the King of Castile Alfonso X ordered that taverns were not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages unless sold with a serving of food. Tapas or 'lid' in English were small plates that covered glasses of beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages and helped in not getting the drinker drunk too quickly!

Boqueria has two locations, one is in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, NY and the other location is in Soho. Both are similarly designed- a bar section with tall tables and then further inside is the dining room equipped with an open kitchen, some communal tables and regular seating. The food is delicious, you must try the the charcuterie plate with Jamon Serrano and a cheese called La Serena, made from Merino sheep milk in La Serena, Spain. The pure sheep milk is curdled using a coagulant found in the pistils of artichoke (Cynara cardunculus). This ingredient lends a light bitterness to the otherwise slightly salty tasting cheese. It is aged for at least sixty days. Along with this plate try a slightly effervescent Rose from Txacoli, Spain, perfect for a summer afternoon or evening.

Boqueria Soho
171 Spring Street
New York, NY

Tel: 212 343 4255

open: every day noon to midnight
tapa: $ 6.00 plus
Raciones: $ 28.00 plus