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Terroir Tours - August 2023

Terroir Tours - August 2023

August 14, 2023

The Holy City

Charleston, SC - May 2023

It’s Memorial Day weekend and we’re walking south on King St. Folks were out enjoying the weather and the low country vibe.

At Queen St, we turned left, Ben Silver shines on the opposite corner. Another left and we’re headed down a small cobblestone alleyway. I could hear plates and bowls clanging together but I couldn’t identify the source of the familiar commotion.

I approached the host stand and introduced myself.

“Good afternoon, I don’t have a reservation but we’ve just arrived and came straight here, it’s a tradition. May I bring my wife into the bar for a bowl of she crab soup?”

“Of course.”

We walked through the courtyard, took a right and snagged two seats at the bar long wooden bar.

“One bowl of she crab soup and two local IPA's, please?”

As we waited for the soup, I struck up a conversation with a local. He had worked at 82 Queen many years ago. He asked the bartender about the owner, whom he shared was merely the chef back then. Bartender replies, “he still comes in, but his sons own the place now.”

They chatted more as I admired the oils on the walls and old brick floors beneath our feet.

Although she had never been here before, Lauren knew the dish and I explained how I found this place and why it was special.

The bowl arrived, we clinked spoons and dug in. The soup was rich and creamy, definitely started with a blonde roux. The shredded crab was fresh, sweet and provided a wonderful contrast in texture. It was delicious!

We sip our beers and took a few pics, and I can imagine all the excitement that this restaurant has fostered for so many years.

When we arrived, there were only a handful here, twenty minutes later, it was packed.

The soup was still hot and we approached the bottom of the bowl. We’re now going in hard on possible ingredients. We identified the usual suspects, but there’s something… else. Fish stock, sherry wine?

I looked up to my new friend, the chef, and I had to ask, “what’s the secret to she crab soup?”

Without hesitation, he looked up from his bourbon like he knew I was going to ask.

“Crab roe. Can’t make she crab with no he crab!”

The tradition continues!

Cheers, y’all!!

The Tear Jerker

Barolo, Italy - October 2018

So, we’re on our honeymoon in Italy. Specifically, in the small village Castiglione Falletto which is one of the five main communes of Barolo. Not only is this region the geographic and ancestral home of nebbiolo, but also, the elusive white truffle.

Through our connections, we’ve scheduled a tour of a local winery. Immediately, we had a strong connection with the leader of the tour, who happened to be the owner of the winery. There were other folks in our tour group, too. A small group of Aussie women, all winemakers and wine writers… I’m in heaven.

We explore the property, the grounds are a patchwork of rolling hills and terraced vines.

We intentionally scheduled our visit during this time of year, white truffle season. The white truffle is the crown jewel of Italian culinary royalty and can not be cultivated. Hunters forage in the forest with specially trained dogs, in secret locations to find the extremely rare delicacy. Once the dog has found the scent, the hunter will carefully dig and extract the expensive mushroom.

For the next 5-6 weeks, area restaurants prepare and offer their menu, in addition there’s a white truffle menu which features dishes that are only available during white truffle season. Dishes which highlight and showcase the truffle.

Earlier at the winery, a young guy that was working as an apprentice was chatting me up before the tour. I told him I’d never tried white truffles. He told me the key to enjoying them was to shave them very thinly over simple food like toast with butter or fried eggs. Never into a sauce or over a busy plate of otherwise powerful favors. You want the truffle to be the protagonist.

We settled into the rustic restaurant and were seated in an area that had been prepared for our group of 10. We all laughed and told stories about travel and the wine business. The Aussies were headed to Priorat to do more “research” next.

The winery owners, Elaina and Lucca, graciously hosted our group and brought an incredible selection of wine from their personal cellar. All single vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco.

Now there are a variety of small bites on the table and menus are being presented. I reach for the white truffle menu. I tried to read the options, of course it’s all in italian. And there it was, uova al tartufo bianco. I placed my order and rejoined the conversation.

The service team was now opening and presenting the wines. I’ll never forget how humble Lucca was as he tasted his own wine. “It’s ok,” he said.

Our dishes began to arrive, two at a time, like Italian works of art, we photographed our plates before going in.

It’s difficult to describe the flavor to someone who’s never had it. Folks use words like intense, primal, earthy, savory, erotic, etherial.

I was surrounded. Beside me, my wife. To the other side, Lucca, then Elena. Across from me a potpourri of international wine influencers.

An old friend once told me that nebbiolo is the last grape you fall in love with. The grape is extremely tannic and extremely high acid which means the resulting wines can be unapproachable in their youth. However, with proper age, food from the area and great company, the wines can be some of the most stunning and memorable on earth. Big bouquet of dried red flowers on the nose. It tastes of cherry, licorice, leather, and chocolate. Barolo is one of those wines that surprises you when you taste it. It looks pale in the glass but it is a punch in the tongue.

The combination of the people, the food, the wine, an experience we cherish because we had a good vibe and were genuinely interested in connecting with our new friends…. I don’t know what happened. I was eating my food and drinking my wine, and I started crying. I don’t know what was going on but I had to excuse myself and go to the bathroom to try and get it together.

I’m in the bathroom, it’s one of these deals where everyone uses the same stalls. There’s a door, of course, and we all use the same sink. I didn’t realize that one of the Aussies was also in the luu. I came out of the stall after I felt like I was back under control. We smiled and she grabbed me and shook me a bit, “Come on mate! Get back out here!” she said and gave me a hug.

After dessert and espresso, we exchanged emails, hugged one more time and waved goodbye to our new friends.

I’m headed back to Restaurante La Torre this fall to lead the 2023 Majesty of Italy Tour and we’ll all be having the dish affectionately known as The Tear Jerker!

From the Archives

Aperitivo

27 August, 2020

On Tuesday, March 17th, we officially suspended normal business. Folks were spooked and things were getting slower at Rioja every evening for the past two weeks. I could sense the shitstorm coming, not that I could do anything but hunker down. I also suggested to Lauren that we take home all the open bottles so I could at least continue my ‘research’. With over forty wines on btg, I had adequate material to evaluate and I knew it would provide a numbing buffer to cushion the impending blow.

Soon, we realized that suspension would be more like expulsion.

Fortunately, thankfully, our online sales and the wine club have helped us weather said tempête de merde.

What do we do now? What have y’all been doing?

Somehow, even though I can't ‘go to work’, I feel more exhausted after quarantine work days than others. I’ve been working in the evenings for as long as I can remember and my natural rhythm has been totally interrupted - a good night's sleep is a thing of the past. Too much screen time and too many spreadsheets, not for me.

I needed a new routine, a few new goals, little stuff to look forward to. Our garden is strong this year. I’ve also ‘leaned in’ to my creative side and started to write regularly.

I try to get some form of exercise everyday and I can’t stop listening to the music from my formative years (Guns n Roses, Method Man).

Most of all, I look forward to cooking and eating. There is no question it’s one of life's greatest pleasures. For my brain, it does what I imagine leisurely reading a book or casually assembling a puzzle does for others. When I get home from the Rioja curbside (4-6pm Tuesday-Saturday), my favorite quarantine activity is the Italian tradition of aperitivo (Thanks, R)! That bit of time between the end of work and the beginning of dinner, when you can chill out and reflect, relax and unwind. It’s not like a happy hour. For me it’s more pensive, it’s zen and it is incomplete without a drink and a snack. Nothing fancy - a few slices of charcuterie with mustard and bread; a half-dozen boquerones with olives and (lately, gluten-free) crackers.

You’re invited to start a new tradition, join me tonight. Grab a wedge of fontina, open that cold bottle of Arneis, turn up some nostalgic tunes and remember this, COVID-19 is temporary, but Wu-Tang is FOREVER!

Saluti!

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Majesty of Italy