MARIANI’S
Virtual
Gourmet
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IN THIS ISSUE VILLERS-SUR-MER By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER CHAZZ PALMINTERI WHITE PLAINS By John Mariani CAPONE'S GOLD CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR WHY ARE BORDEAUX AND BURGUNDY SLIPPING AMONG THE WORLD'S TOP WINES? By John Mariani ❖❖❖ On this week's episode of my WVOX
Radio Show "Almost Golden," on Wed.
September 15 I'll be hosting, with Jerryl
Bell, Part 2 of the great Civil Rights
Movement songs of the 1950s-60s,
including Nine Simone (right), Mahalia
Jackson, Billie Holiday, and others. at
11AM EDT. Go to: WVOX.com.
The episode will also be archived at: almostgolden.
❖❖❖ VILLERS-SUR-MER By John Mariani
It is hardly worth repeating that Paris
is not France, just as New York
is not America and London not England. And it is
not really true that the soul
of those countries is to be found in any random
small town. But if you wish to
experience something of the spirit of a
particular region in France, like
Normandy, a village like Villers-sur-Mer on the
English Channel can be
rewarding, because very little changes in such a
place. It looks very much the
way Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte painted
the village in 1880, with two
seaside buildings (left)
that are still standing. ❖❖❖ NEW YORK
CORNER
CHAZZ
PALMINTERI 264
Main Street
Chazz
Palminteri with partners Russ,
Jeff and Jack Sinanaj
It may not be entirely true that
every Irishmen wants to own a bar, but
a great number of Italian entertainers
have wanted to get into the restaurant
business, as have Frank Sinatra, Dean
Martin, Robert DeNiro, Lou Costello, Francis
Ford Coppola, Madonna, Paul
Sorvino, Liberace, Sonny Bono and Lady Gaga to
name a few. So, when approached
by veteran restaurateurs Jack, Jeff and Ross
Sinanaj (of Empire Steakhouse
and
Ben & Jack’s), actor/writer Chazz
Palminteri was only too happy to lend his
name and investment to an East Side Manhattan
Italian restaurant, later
re-located to the Theater District. This
summer, again with the Sinanajes, he
debuted Chazz Palminteri Restaurant in the New
York suburb city of White
Plains. Since Chazz lives in nearby Bedford,
he’s usually at the restaurant a
couple of times a week.
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CAPONE’S
GOLD
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
When
Katie an
David returned from lunch, Gaudet was already
seated at the library desk with
several books that looked like ships’ logs.
© John Mariani, 2015 ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
ARE BORDEAUX AND BURGUNDY LOSING THEIR CACHET AMONG THE WORLD'S TOP WINES? By John Mariani Back in
1855 a group of Bordeaux
merchants at an Exhibition in Paris decided to
make some sense of the myriad
estate vineyards by classifying them according to
which wines consistently sold
for the highest prices within the industry. That
classification, which ranked
wines from premier crus (first growths) to
Cinquième crus (fifth growths, are still the
benchmark today.
Sixty-two among 2,000 vineyards were listed, and,
with only a few shufflings of
rankings and the addition of Chateau
Mouton-Rothschild to the premier crus
later on, the top wines have remained the same,
still bringing top dollar in
the market, along with several great Burdgundies,
like those from the
Romanée-Conti estates.
Why do you think this shift away from
French (Bordeaux / Burgundy)
wines is taking place? Does Covid have anything
to do with it? There are probably two
reasons for this shift. The first is that the
definition of “fine wine” is now
broader than it once was. It is no longer limited to
just Bordeaux or just
French wines, and as a result this has considerably
opened up the world of fine
wine, especially when other regions can match the
French in terms of quality. Are some French wines pricing
themselves out of the market? I don’t think this is
necessarily the case. As our Power 100 rankings
show, wines from France still
dominate and continue to make up the majority of the
most powerful brands in
the fine wine market. When looking at the components
of
the Liv-ex 1000 index, the Bordeaux 500 index,
which reflects the price
movement of 500 leading wines from the region, is up
5.05% year-to-date and
7.7% over a one-year period. The Burgundy 150,
Champagne 50 and Rhône 100 have
also seen impressive gains over the same periods
too. Prices for French wines are
still rising, but wines from other regions are also
rising and faster too. What are the criteria for inclusion? In order to qualify for the
ranking, a wine must have traded on Liv-ex between 1
July 2020 and 30 June 2021
in either a 75cl or 150cl bottle format. Standard
in Bond, Standard En
Primeur and Duty Paid trades were all
considered, except for Burgundy,
Champagne, Australia and the USA , where special
trades were also
permitted. Five or more vintages of the wine must
have traded during this
period and the wine must have traded 15 or more
times. What longer term trend do you see
emerging from this report? This year’s classification
really cements the secondary market trends we have
highlighted on numerous
occasions over the past year. The first is
Bordeaux’s
declining share of secondary market trade, which is
mirrored in the composition
of the classification over time. In 2019, Bordeaux
accounted for 37% of the
classification, this year it makes up just 28.6%.
The diversification of the
market is another, as more wines from each country
traded. For example, in 2019
U.S. wines only appeared in the top two tiers, but
this year they’re spread
across four. The same can be said for Bordeaux,
Tuscany, Piedmont and the
Rhône, which had wines across all five tiers.
Burgundy was found across four
and Portugal and Australia across three. No doubt as
prices for well-known
regions and brands continue to rise, buyers will
continue to explore
up-and-coming regions in search of greater value.
This trend is likely to
continue. ❖❖❖ So...What
Exactly Do They Serve?
Veggie Thumper is the name of a restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. ❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's books below may be ordered from amazon.com. The Hound in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books) is a novella, and for anyone who loves dogs, Christmas, romance, inspiration, even the supernatural, I hope you'll find this to be a treasured favorite. The story concerns how, after a New England teacher, his wife and their two daughters adopt a stray puppy found in their barn in northern Maine, their lives seem full of promise. But when tragedy strikes, their wonderful dog Lazarus and the spirit of Christmas are the only things that may bring his master back from the edge of despair. WATCH THE VIDEO! “What a huge surprise turn this story took! I was completely stunned! I truly enjoyed this book and its message.” – Actress Ali MacGraw “He had me at Page One. The amount of heart, human insight, soul searching, and deft literary strength that John Mariani pours into this airtight novella is vertigo-inducing. Perhaps ‘wow’ would be the best comment.” – James Dalessandro, author of Bohemian Heart and 1906. “John Mariani’s Hound in Heaven starts with a well-painted portrayal of an American family, along with the requisite dog. A surprise event flips the action of the novel and captures us for a voyage leading to a hopeful and heart-warming message. A page turning, one sitting read, it’s the perfect antidote for the winter and promotion of holiday celebration.” – Ann Pearlman, author of The Christmas Cookie Club and A Gift for my Sister. “John Mariani’s concise, achingly beautiful novella pulls a literary rabbit out of a hat – a mash-up of the cosmic and the intimate, the tragic and the heart-warming – a Christmas tale for all ages, and all faiths. Read it to your children, read it to yourself… but read it. Early and often. Highly recommended.” – Jay Bonansinga, New York Times bestselling author of Pinkerton’s War, The Sinking of The Eastland, and The Walking Dead: The Road To Woodbury. “Amazing things happen when you open your heart to an animal. The Hound in Heaven delivers a powerful story of healing that is forged in the spiritual relationship between a man and his best friend. The book brings a message of hope that can enrich our images of family, love, and loss.” – Dr. Barbara Royal, author of The Royal Treatment. ❖❖❖
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FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
that the Virtual
Gourmet is linked to four excellent
travel sites: Everett Potter's Travel Report: I consider this the best and
savviest blog of its kind on the web. Potter is a
columnist for USA
Weekend, Diversion, Laptop and Luxury Spa Finder,
a contributing editor for Ski and a frequent contributor
to National
Geographic Traveler, ForbesTraveler.com
and Elle Decor.
"I’ve designed this site is for people who take
their travel seriously," says Potter. "For
travelers who want to learn about special places
but don’t necessarily want to pay through the nose for
the privilege of staying there. Because at the end
of the day, it’s not so much about five-star
places as five-star experiences."
Eating Las
Vegas JOHN CURTAS has been covering
the Las Vegas food and restaurant scene
since 1995. He is the co-author of EATING LAS
VEGAS – The 50 Essential Restaurants (as
well as the author of the Eating Las
Vegas web site: www.eatinglasvegas.
He can also be seen every Friday morning as
the “resident foodie” for Wake Up With the
Wagners on KSNV TV (NBC) Channel 3 in
Las Vegas.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Publisher: John Mariani. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher
Mariani, Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Gerry Dawes, Geoff Kalish.
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