Corti Brothers Newsletter for Winter 2002    Page 4  

 MATURE RIESLING, ONE OF THE GLORIES OF WINE 

The sublime character produced by the amalgam of well made riesling and time in bottle is one of the glories of wine drinking. Some of the longest lived wines I have ever tasted have been riesling. From time to time, one of these remarkable creatures steps out of the dark recesses of particular cellars and shows why one buys wine and ages it.

Not all riesling transforms itself of course, but those that will come from areas where there is a special microclimate, low production, great acidity and balance in the juice, and a predisposition for ageing. Some rieslings like to be drunk when fresh and fruity; others, when a minimum of 8 to 10 years old. The change is remarkable. If you have never experienced this transformation, you owe it to yourself to taste these rieslings whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Germany's Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area is one such spot where these special conditions allow for wonderful development in riesling, and we have just purchased a small lot of exceptional wine from a noted Mosel grower, the J.J.Prum estate. In certain vintages, some Prum wines are not very showy when young, but when given perfect bottle age in the very cool cellars under the Prum home, they emerge--butterfly like--with pale, young colors, great perfume, and enormous flavor coupled with a lively piquancy and a crispness almost as sharp as cold water.

A personal experience tasting the 1966 vintage (with the then head of the house, Sebastian Prum, father of Manfred Prum, the current owner) brought into relief this penchant for riesling's capacity to age and give pleasure. At the end of the tasting of the new 1966 vintage Prum wines, this was in March of 1967, I was to be the first to taste the here-to-fore untasted and to be released 1959 vintage beeren and trockenbeerenauslesen.

Making scented or aromatic wine vinegars is quite a trick. First, you have to have a wine with a scent and flavor that will be left pretty much intact, or at the very least, will not be overwhelmed by the acetification process. One such wine is fortified muscat wine. In the area of Tarragona, in Spain's Catalunya region, there is a muscat wine produced from what is called there Moscatel Romano (Muscat of Alexandria).

It is very aromatic and usually sold locally as a very young wine with great freshness and varietal character. Using the Schutzenbach system, a vinegar generation system created in 1823, here forced air and wine circulate over a large surface, alcohol in wine can be quickly converted to vinegar. The Muscat base wine has great scent and flavor, which carry over into the vinegar. A small amount of base wine is added to return even more fragrance and flavor to the vinegar.

MOSCATEL VINEGAR has a deep gold color, with the intense scent of ripe muscat grapes and a touch of sweetness derived from the base wine. It has 6 % acetic acid (60 grain strength). It is terrific and an extraordinary find. Its great flavor and character can be used in salads, fruit salads, as a deglazing vinegar for meats, or actually just sipped by itself. (Vinegar to taste in cold water makes a refreshing drink.

Called posca, it is the beverage the Roman army marched on.) Winter salads sparkle with this vinegar. A simple salad of grated carrots is raised to another level with a splash or two; sliced orange and onion salad, with a light fruity oil and this vinegar is delicious. Shipped by the Unio Agraria, from whom we first bought Siurana oil in 1980, MOSCATEL WINE VINEGAR should be in your pantry and cooking repertoire. Once you taste it, let your imagination take over.

 THE BEST PISTACHIOS IN THE WORLD FROM BRONTE, SICILY 

An important nut produced in California is the pistachio. One of Europe's important producers is Sicily, reknown for the highest quality pistachios. This very early cultivated edible nut from the Pistachio vera tree has its natural home in the areas of northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. Pistachios were brought to Italy about 30 B.C. by the Roman governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius, but pistachios in Sicily are due to Arab influence in the 8th century A.D. In Sicilian, the word for pistachio is fastuca (from Arabic, fustuq), and pistachio (Italian, pistacchio) from Persian, pisteh/pesteh.

Its Siculo-Arab origin led to the word "festichino" in Italian, meaning "pale green color." In Sicily, pistachio cultivation is based on the eastern side of the island, centered in the province of Catania, specifically, Bronte.

In fact, Horatio Nelson, the British admiral of the Napoleonic period, was gifted the duchy of Bronte, in 1799, carved from the property of the monastery of Maniace, by Ferdinand IV, king of Naples, as a reward for Nelson's help. Curiously, pistachio cultivation was then not important; the land was mainly pasturage. Until recently, the duchy of Bronte and the lands at Maniace, belonged to Nelson's heirs.

Growing conditions are quite special at Bronte since the soil is lava tuft. Bronte is located on the western slopes of Mount Etna and production technology there is to produce a large crop of pistachio nuts every other year. Pistachio trees there are alternate bearing; the grower we buy from removes the tree flowers in the alternate year to prevent the tree from producing too light a crop in that year which is then too expensive to harvest. Thus the trees are forced to produce in the production years and do not during the off year.

The production years are odd numbered, like 2001. There are 10 female pistachio cultivars in Sicily, but the one grown in Bronte, the Napoletana (also called Bianca), is particularly prized for its deep-green colored meats and exquisite flavor. When California pistachio production began in the 1890s, the cultivar "Bronte" (from the Nelson lands, now practically extinct there) was imported. Current California production is based on Kerman, a cultivar created here.

In 1999, when I first tasted the Bronte pistachios, PISTACCHI DI BRONTE, I was overwhelmed by their astonishing green color and rich flavor. They are once again available and we are offering them to our customers. These are peeled nut meats; they must be kept cool, dark, and used fairly quickly. They can be kept about 4-5 months in a dark spot in the refrigerator.

Used in making ice cream and sweets and sausages or other savory dishes, PISTACCHI DI BRONTE are very special. Just eaten as they are; cooked in rice or a cuscus; used to add flavor and crunch to a salad, or accompanied by port or other sweet wines, they are truly elegant.

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