This blogging life

And so, ladies and germs, was it just a year ago today that I first posted?  "Like a virgin, blogged for the very first time..."

Almost 300 posts later, it seems longer.  Over 800 comments later, it's been quite lively.  Fun.  And a ton of work.

It's been a joyous series of discoveries. Not merely of wine and some delightful, fascinating wine people but of myself and of what works, more or less, in blogland.  I have discovered that my Italian readers (about 50% of the total) seem to like the not-too-serious posts where I kid around and maybe rant a little; they like to join in and rant along. 

The English-speaking ones seem to want just the facts, ma'am.  You know, less of my charming personality and more solid info they can use, like cool restaurants to go to in New York or a neat little $12 wine from Campania.  Our culture is more than ever in the grip of a reductive  utilitarianism.  I do whatever I can to be of use.

That's as analytical or introspective as I'm going to get right now.  In truth, none of those musings is ever very interesting to anyone except the blogger.  What I will do now, however, is to relate some of the most powerful impressions and experiences I've had in this wonderful year of blogging.

First, though, I have to thank Giampiero Nadali for inspiring me to start mondosapore.  His blog is one of the best about wine in any language.  Hats off to you, GP.

Secondly, I appreciate those loyal readers who endure all my stupid rants and most banal of assessments.  I do get a warm feeling when Sitemeter shows certain people logging in from Memphis, Dallas, Randolph NJ, the Bronx, Rome, Torino, Recco, San Martino Buon Albergo, Desenzano and other far-flung places.

Finally...

Interview with my better self

If my Better Self were to interview me about this year of blogging, he might ask me (aka Worse Self) these questions...

BS: You seem to like most of the wines you taste --

WS: Drink.  I drink.  Even at tastings, I drink. At distributors' tastings, though, they never provide enough food.  How the hell can you "taste" adequately without food?  Wine is for food.  Is a food.

BS: [smiles smugly] This must account for the indistinct language in many of your reviews.

WS: Not reviews.  Impressions.  Personal reports.  Postcards from the vinous edge. I'm not qualified to review.  I am not that authoritative.  I am not that self-important -- no, really, I'm not.  I am pointless.  [chuckles at own pun]

BS: [sighs] Yet you come down very hard on the wines you don't like.  Many bloggers don't write about the wines they don't like.  They accentuate the positive. 

WS: It's a blog.  I can say whatever I want.  That's the beauty of it.  You can be rude and no one really cares.  And if they do, I don't.  More to the point, if I pay my hard-earned money for wine that sucks, the world had better know about it.  So others won't waste their money on swill.  And fuck anybody's offended feelings.

BS: Your late-blooming liberation into boorishness aside, tell us about the wines that have "really knocked your socks off" over the past year.  Because even though you don't often get to taste the expensive stuff -- a sad fact you trumpet loudly, deplorably on the blog -- you have been astonished by the beauty and individuality of a number of wines.  Remind us briefly of those.

WS:  [pondering, tips of fingers poking against lips] Those crazy Arbois wines by Jacques Puffeney.  They aren't for everyone, but they have an almost feral individuality.  That dulcet wine from the Loire by, oh God...I wrote about it in March.  The one about cats and dogs.

BS: Chinon les Chiens-Chiens 2003 La Noblaie?

WS: Right.  I mean, what other wine could remind you of Bit-O-Honey candy bars, which in turn remind me of laurel flowers on Rhodes? It was a little bit of heaven.  Not expensive either.

BS: A Proustian moment to be sure.  What other wines -- Italian ones?  Remember, you did decide to specialize, to target...

WS: There are so many!  But two leap out at me.  The high-end Amarone from Accordini, il Fornetto.  And the vin santo from Le Fonti.  Both of which I wrote about in August.  So complex, so delicious, so expertly crafted.  So strongly individual and expressive.  Of their growers' and makers' skill.  Of their terroirs.

BS: [rolls eyes at "terroirs"] What about readily available wines?  Ones that even you can afford to buy and drink on a regular basis. 

WS: This is where it gets hard.  This is where Italy is in its glory.  It's also a problem for Italy and for the American consumer, because there are so many options.  Any number of whites from the South to go with all that seafood and the summer salads.  And just to drink with friends.

BS: Or alone?

WS: [ignores the dig] And a ton of reds, you know, from all over.  The best value ones for me are from the South again, especially Sicily, and from the Northeast. 

BS: What experiences stand out in this year of blogging?  As we know, it hasn't all been drinking and carousing.  

WS: [eyes seem to fix on a point far, far away...after a pause, speaks in an almost dreamlike voice] Sitting in the Giulianis' garden, watching the Valpolicella wake up in the morning as I write blog articles...  Driving up to the Pietrantonis' cantina in Abruzzo and getting that warm welcome, of two absolute strangers...  A beautiful day with Stefano Illuminati tasting, checking out the vineyards, having a lunch drenched in bollicine and Zanna...  Standing in the courtyard of Le Fonti and looking at the classic Tuscan landscape spread all about...  Dinner at Le Esperidi with Giampiero Nadali and Alex...  That crazy night at Adriano Liloni's restaurant... The feasts worthy of Trimalchio at Gusto & Gusto in Naples...  Meeting Egle Armani, who's so beautiful and effervescent...  Dinner by the little harbor at Assos, Turkey...  Cappadocia... Koc, our lovable, somehow sad guide in Istanbul...

BS: That's enough.  Attention spans are short these days.  Tell me, what about the next year in blogging?  What are your plans, your hopes?

WS: To continue to inform and entertain, however minimally. 

BS: Yes...

WS: [blushing] And make a bit of money on it. 

BS: At last the ugly truth. Always a hidden agenda, an ulterior --

WS: The long-term goal is to quit teaching and do something that involves my life-long passions, wine and Italy.  I hope that doesn't come across as either crass or ingenuous. 

BS: [spreads hands, nods and smiles magnanimously] Even at your age a person needs a dream, no doubt.  I must point out, however, that not too many of your dreams have come true.  

WS: Actually -- are you in fact my better self? -- actually, they have, but maybe sometimes delayed --

BS: By decades.

WS: And in a form that I wouldn't have recognized when I first thought of them.  The main thing is --

TOGETHER: Persistence. [They embrace stiffly, fraternally. A sort of truce has tacitly been called.]

WS: And enjoy the hell out of it.

BS: While you can.

Comments

[Giampiero alias Aristide]

Chapeau! and a standing applause to this post.
Cheers!

[Fredric Koeppel]

Yer insane. That's why we love you. Keep it up (all puns intended.)

[Richard]

I think Fred tells it best right there. Seriously tho, I enjoy the blog & look forward to the articles.

PS - I saw a great show on Italy on Discovery channel last night. I tuned in as they were covering the Palio and had great views of the square in Sienna. They moved from there to Venice. Brings back great memories...

[Terry Hughes]

Yes, I'm crazy. Thank you all for noticing.

[Thomas]

My favorite wine blog. Actually, my favorite blog, period.

[Terry Hughes]

Wow. Thomas, that's great.

Thank you!

[lliloniadriano]

hallo full metal jacket!
:-O)
il 24 ottobre seratona alle Esperidi ti penseremo.....

[Terry Hughes]

dite a Susanna ciao dall'ambasciatore, mi raccomando