From Russia With Love...

Ok...think I received my first ever proposition for sex from a Russian businessman last week.

I have had a number of interesting exchanges/experiences over the past 6 months in Italy...but this definitely rates at the top of the list.

I was at Matley's (a local bar outside the walls of Soave) with Laura, a close girlfriend of Chiara and I.

I was approached by this Russian man dressed in a suit...He kept repeating the same line over and over again in Russian but noone in the bar could understand a word he was saying. Hand gestures were then utilized, which unfortunately did not help very much.

Having realized the hand gestures weren't working, he then started to pull out a good amount of euros from his wallet (to the utter shock of basically everyone in the bar, who of course had all been watching this exchange with complete amusement). It was pretty obvious based on the amount of cash he pulled out that my Russian was not just offering to pay for drinks.

Now, I am not a smoker but have been known to take a drag or two off of someone else's cigarette after a few drinks.

It was at this point that I decided a drag or two would not do and that I needed at least one whole cigarette all to myself...so Laura and I exited the bar.

We re-entered the bar briefly to pay for our drinks. It appeared that my new Russian friend wanted to escort us home, but Fabio (the bartender) put his foot down...and let's just say that the Russian may not have understood Italian, but he understood Fabio completely and remained inside the bar.

Of course upon arriving at home I attempted to find the Russian translation for "What is your hourly rate?," "How much for the entire night?" and "How do you feel about bondage?" online.

Anyone by any chance familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet?

- Zucca

The Coffele Dinner at Enoteca Drago...

The annual Coffele dinner during Vinitaly at Enoteca Drago in Soave was...well. Perfect.

A truly wonderful evening with great food, splendid company and of course, lots of Coffele wine.

The attendees included a number of Coffele wine distributors, clients, friends of the family, 2 Masters of Wine, Giovanna and Giuseppe Coffele (Chiara and Alberto's parents), the founder of a new wine search engine and journalists in the industry...The amount of wine knowledge at Enoteca Drago this particular Saturday night was overwhelming and just a bit intimidating for someone who considers themselves still quite the novice when it comes to wine.

The night started off with a buffet of freshly sliced prosciutto, oysters, mussels and clams served on the patio at Enoteca Drago...and a tasting of older vintages of some of the Coffele wines, such as Alzari and their Soave Classico.

We then moved inside and were treated first to a plate of risotto with asparagus served with Ca' Visco...and then came one of my favorite dishes at Enoteca Drago...Filetto di Manzo, which you cook at the table with something like a hibachi grill. Buonissima!!

So simple, but so tasty. The meat arrives at the table perfectly sliced and ready to be placed on the grill for as short/long a period as you would like. Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper after the meat has been cooked and your tastebuds are in for a treat. This dish was served with Nuj, one of 2 red wines that the Coffele estate produces (75% merlot and the remaining 25% being a combination of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc).

Dessert was next...served with the sweet nectar the Coffele family calls "Le Sponde," their Recioto di Soave.

It was then time for some amaros (Italian herbal liqueurs, drank mainly after-dinner as a digestif to settle the stomach a bit) and some limoncello and grappa. My preferred amaro is Montenegro...but there are a number of others, such as Jagermeister (who knew) and Braulio.

Finally at around 1:30am...it was off to Cavo, a bar located in San Bonifacio and the 2nd locale where my bartender preferito works.

The crew did dwindle a bit in size after dinner.

The long-haulers included myself, Chiara, Pete and Franz, Doug Cook (friend of Chiara's from California and founder of the new wine search engine called Able Grape - www.ablegrape.com), Danny Boucher (don't know quite how to describe Danny...thinking a password protected separate section may be required) and Filippo Pistone (Chiara's distributor from NY and the man wearing my scarf in the group photo).

I lost my scarf in a guessing game of what combination of flavors/ingredients were in a particular drink...The correct answer was liquirizia (a fairly dense, licorice flavored liquor). Doh!!!

- Zucca

How do you compete...

not only with 2 girls in skin tight unitards (gold as opposed to silver this year) with uncanningly natural-seeming golden wigs, but in addition...a topless chick with gold body paint?

And I must admit, Chiara and I looked pretty damn cute in our new Custo Barcelona dresses.

Yes. Astoria, the stand always directly right in front of the Coffele stand at Vinitaly, outdid themselves and busted out with some new tricks this year. The topless girl posing and lounging around the stand on the last day of Vinitaly being one of them.

Have a feeling most people will not remember what Astoria actually produces...but, will not be able to forget the golden girls. Heck, it took me until day #3 to realize they produced prosecco.

Chiara already has some ideas for pushing the envelope next year at the Coffele stand for Vinitaly...one involving she and I and a bathtub filled with her fabulous Recioto di Soave, "Le Sponde" (a beautiful dessert wine produced with 100% garganega grapes).

I think we should keep it simple and have the theme for the 2009 Coffele stand be "Tutti nudi."

Don't think a translation is required. Hopefully.

- Zucca

Vinitaly. Oh boy...

The craziness starts tomorrow. Day #1 of Vinitaly.

Felt a little preparatory post was required.

The pictures above are from 2007...my 1st Vinitaly experience at the Coffele stand, and what an experience it was.

Here is a brief list of facts for those not familiar with the event:

1. Vinitaly is the largest wine show in the world

2. The 2008 show will include 4,300 exhibitors coming from more than 30 countries...and 150,000 visitors are expected (with 30% coming from more than 100 foreign countries)

3. The show is always held in Verona around the end of March/beginning of April and lasts for 5 days

4. It is the only show focused on the needs of all operators in the industy such as producers, importers, distributors, caterers, technicians, journalists and opinion leaders

5. Themeline for Vinitaly is "Another love story in Verona." Doesn't get more cheesy...I mean, romantic than that.

And last but not least...
6. It is the event that causes wine producers all over the world to go really quite mad in preparation. And in the case of Chiara and I, to go on a well...let's face it, a frivolous shopping spree thus expanding our wardrobes by unnecessary leaps and bounds.

Definitely more posts on Vinitaly to follow over the course of the next few days.

And yes, Robin Berben, Franz and Pete will be in attendance (btw, Franz is the guy with the enormous wine bottle on his nose and Pete is to his right in the photo above). And yes, those two girls with Alberto in the photo above are wearing silver wigs and full-body silver unitards. Ah...gotta love unitards.

Giddy Up!!!

- Zucca