Welcome to the first taste palace

Finally found one after two months in this country

Ill hit you with the pomengranates right off the bat… boom

Apricots, japanese medlar, peaches, pears, plums… apples down there

Vegetable garden, sangiovese vineyard, olive trees

They make their own wine, they make their own oil. They grow all their own vegetables

Cabbage, carrots, onions, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers…herbs, basil, salvia, thyme, rosemary

Pretty much got it all nailed

Thats Antonio, he’s the son that owns the place

We’re right aside of Siena, everbody knows Siena, I’ll show it to ya real quick

There’s Siena… haha… this is it… there’s Siena

But again, so we’ve got wine, we’ve got olive oil, we’ve got every fruit you can imagine, even pomegranate. Vegetables, herbs.

The only thing missing is what? Energy, right? Solar

Generate all this produce to sell back to the grid, generate energy to sell back to the grid. Bring people here… tourism. And not some pretentious bullshit where they come here and say… it’s spiritual… you’re gonna feel it, and feel god, and all that.

Come here and just eat the food, just eat it. See the energy and see the money they make… because it’s alot.

That’s it… this is, this is it.

You start bringing these places, creating these praces, growing these places all over the world, and you’ve got a taste economy. You’ve got a transcendence from materialism back to a connection to nature becuase it makes people feel better, it makes them have more fun, it makes them more money, it makes the world healthier.

And it’s land too, so there’s all this space to generate energy from that thing (sun). So weird how this camera makes the center black. Anyways, there’s a lot of energy coming from that down into all this stuff (vines).

That’s it. The taste palace

Welcome… to taste

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I’d like to introduce Richard Manning, the newest grapethinker to our bunch. Rich, Jake, and I have known each other for about a year now. We hooked up over a common interest in the semantic web, AI, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and a love for bad ass music. We’ve been talking about technology’s application to help optimize our world, mainly in industries where Rich as worked… he’s built neural networks and intelligent agent applications in insurance, banking, and utilities. We’re also really interested in optimizing logistics and inventory management for retailers. Rich worked for Sun Microsystems for a good part of his career and now has his own knowledge engineering consultancy called Siorcgorm. His contributions help us expand our reach as a technology company and we’re absolutely stoked to have him a part of our team!

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Wow, what an excellent conference! A game changer. I have to thank my friends over at Village Green Energy for hooking me up with a free pass. I’ve been so passionate about this movement as long as I can remember… ever since 6th grade when I messed around with electromagenetic fields and plants. Early education for me was all about ecology and environment, and that followed with rigorous economics in college, which I didn’t quite understand about myself until now. Having not gone into banking with my degree and now seeing the state of the economy I was like shit… but David Suzuki put it so clearly… it’s (eco)nomics. I can’t believe I never recognized that. I automatically associated economics with the greedy, short-sighted mentality of Wall Street that focuses solely on the bottom line and exploiting the market for cash and egoic status. Yet you realize the bottom line is not the statement of cash flows or the balance sheet… it’s the fuckin planet. Ecology + Economics = Sustainability. This conference was absolutely buzzing! People were feeling alive and connecting and touching each other like I’ve never seen in my life. We all knew the green revolution is ready and about to change the world in a big way.

The keynotes were superb with Al Gore, Jerrry Brown, and David Suzuki really leaving a moving impact on me. Nobody was afraid to go deep. Sure there was plenty of talk about clean tech innovations or green building or policy changes.. but more so people were incredibly open about spiritual and conciousness based changes that are going to take place around the world to solve this crisis. Sarah Susanka even brought the crowd to tears with her moving presentation. It’s so much bigger than green or solar or oil… it’s about enlightening the human race that we are one and we share the same spirit with each other and with the world as a whole. I found it to be quite the religious experience to be at this conference. A few others being recently when I went into the wild of Alaska for a few weeks and when I saw the Dalai Lama speak in Bethlehem, Pa.

Aside from the heavy stuff, there were tons of innovative companies doing everything from cutting edge solar installs, to green acrhitecture consulting, to new age battery storage, smart grid stuff, efficiency software, New Resource Bank (which is exploding with business during this banking crisis… lol gotta love it!) and sooo much more. You had builders, utility reps, entrepreneurs, mad scientists, engineers, and everyone was so open and loving and connecting. I was blown away… it took me 3 full days to digest it all.

There were also brilliant seminars and panels, the best one for me being the State of Investing in Clean Tech, where partners from KPCB, Foundation, Sigma, and DFJ (all the big Menlo Park firms) talked about what companies they’re investing in and what technology is working… and yet something was different. These are VCs and of course money is there first concern, but with this clean green movement we are finally going to enter into a phase of social… or better yet eco-capitalism… where we benefit the environment and the social welfare of all while making a shitload of money and creating a shitload of jobs. This is an unprecendented opportunity in economic human history. Create a concentrically cyclical supply chain and pass the prosperity around the world. I was inspired by the VCs stories of how they’re going green in their own lives and their deep personal commitment.

A few themes from the conference to leave you with:

1) Nature to the grid baby – energy, health, architecture

2) Ecology + Economics = Sustainability (Eco-Capitalism)

3) Sky power will fuel the earth

4) The only thing special about humans is our foresight… our ability to see and shape the future. So lets use it.

5) A new connected conciousness is emerging that will limit the individual ego that has evolved and scorched our earth with fragmented, disjointed, greedy agendas. The only chance at eternal life is if we live together as one.

6) Be the change you want to see in the world!

In my humble opinion, these are unprecedented and magical times in the history of our race and our planet. There’s no better place to be then right here, and right now.

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Seeing as the United States is playing against South African on the 30th of September, in the white wine department I will have to concede a handful of points the America for this fine Estate.

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Foodist Colony despite the great name has really got something going with their ‘build your own restaurant guide’ function. My god mother has shelves of binder files with holiday ideas, recipes and restaurant reviews all clipped from magazines and put into folders for later use. Just clicking on my Bookmarks, I have over 220 bookmarked sites, and with so much more information I seldom have time to go back, and by the time I do, I can’t remember why I had bookmarked it in the first place. This kind of personalizable wiki which allows readers to share reviews as well as build up a list of places they’ve been to and places they still want to go has huge potential to catch on to everything from novels (creating a virtual book club) to wines, recipes and restaurants. It’d be like an online experience journal, and ultimately recipes, restaurant recommendations, lent books and wine are the currency of any great social circle, where there’s free trade of all. I would never be as disciplined as my god mother as to cut out and catalog physical articles, but with the ability to do it online I think we’ll all start. We want to make this our newest feature at Tastevine so people looking to organize and keep track of their recipes can do so. 

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In today’s post I would like to take a moment to think about the people who set time aside to tell a good story, because this month many of us will sit with our fingers crossed as we wait in anticipation to see the results of the 2007 James Beard Foundation Awards – the ultimate industry award lending much deserved and prestigious recognition to the people who give of their lives to make other people’s leisure time more enjoyable.

The remarkable thing about the blogosphere surrounding wine and food is that most of it is done for the love of it. It is an industry of passion and a labour of love without so much labour and a lot of love. The categories of awards have grown over the years, and it’s great to see that Dr. Vino is in the running for much deserved accolades. The categories range from best graphic design in restaurants, to best bar service and in recent times there are best webcasts or integrated nominees to sites like http://www.ciaprochef.com/, http://www.spatulatta.com/, http://www.leitesculinaria.com/ or Edward Deitch’s ever resourceful and practical columns.

At Grape Thinking we spend a lot of time learning from the multitude of talented and passionate wine and food bloggers out there. Of course the Wine Blog Awards have come and gone, and the nominees for James Beard are out, but we’d very much like to take time over the next two weeks to acknowledge the writers who we think deserve more recognition, and we’ll be featuring some of our friends as guest writers and exposing our readers to a wider array of grapethinking.

Cheers.

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The award that I found most interesting was “Not Your Grandmother’s Food of the Month Club.” The nominees were cool food club delivery services that ship a variety of tasty treats direct to their members’ doorsteps. The Z-club from Zingerman’s won because it delivers a wide variety of foods and creates a sense of adventure for its members. Self-described as a premier food club that a hungry, adventurous food-eating nation has fallen in love with, the Z-club provides a random assortment of exciting new foods from fine olive oils, cheeses, and meats to exotic sweets such as Calabrian candied orange peels covered in chocolate and Australian sweet dried figs. Looks like they’re only missing one thing.

The other big nominee was The Grateful Palate, which most of us know for its imports. It was up for its Bacon of the Month club, which is a little odd given its quality wines. I don’t know though, do bacon and wine match well? The other foods that they offer, however, look absolutely delicious. Check out this Fork & Bottle review of a Grateful Palate Breakfast Combo.

A smart company, with an already established brand like Grateful Palate should feel really confident about their position right now. As the logistics become well-oiled (I like that phrase), consumers are going to tap into the opportunity to have food and wine shipped direct to their doorstep, especially if it is exciting new stuff from different places. Even more, what if we could pair this service with recommended packs personalized to each member and based on their unique tastes? And what if we could send them recommended recipes, ingredients, and wine for that night? Could be fun.

Also, guys, your Grateful Palate imports page is practically non-existent (right) and the only place I can find your wines online is The Jug Shop. What’s going on? You’ve got a great reputation and have awesome wines. Share them with us.

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One of California’s legends, Ernest Gallo, passed away on Tuesday. E & J Gallo Winery, founded shortly after prohibition brought American wine to the world and brought wine to all of America. The renowned Gallo sales-training, which I’ve heard referred to as ‘wine boot camp’ created a generation of Americans in the know and passionate about wine and was undoubtedly the catalyst which ignited the wine industry in the US.

Two out of every three bottles of wine sold in the USA are Californian and one out of every four carries the Gallo label. There is very little that we should take for granted regarding Ernest Gallo’s legacy, Gallo were the first wines to suggest food pairings on the bottle, which is now an industry standard. With the United States as the largest consumer in the world, and many countries having the US as their number one export destination, we can be sure that vineyards, winemakers and wine lovers around the world will take pause from their days to be thankful that such a man ever walked the earth.

For those wishing to express their gratitude and leave their condolences, an online Legacy Book has been created in his honour.

Ernest Gallo, Grape Thinking salutes you.

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Even the symbol of the continent of Africa has become somewhat reified in today’s media and is right up there in the realm of Cher and Mickey Mouse. Despite what all the cynics may say about celebrity involvement, I think that it is our duty to suspend our scepticism, lest we deter such influential people from bestowing their support on an entire continent in need. I think that passing proceeds along from products that Westerners buy every day is an excellent way of allowing people to contribute without requiring them to make too great a change from their lifestyle. In the words or the Red campaign

‘You make choices every day, from the clothes you wear to the music you play. Now making a choice means making a difference.’

So many young people feel frustrated at not being able to help the world, and I think that charities have the responsibility to make contribution easier than actually having to go out and join the Peace Corps.

Here are a few great ways to make a difference:
Run a marathon and get sponsorship from your friends. Many major marathons from the New York to the London Marathon and many in between allocate a certain number of spaces to people running for charity. Over here in London there are certain charities that have established partnerships with sky-diving companies, and if one is able to raise a certain amount of money through donations, the charity issues a credit to go sky-diving.

Once again, to quote Bono, what we call ‘charity’ doesn’t even fit the bill, because in most cases we’re ‘talking about justice.’ Quite simply it is not just that certain people should struggle to survive whilst others live in the lap of luxury. The key to this justice is not putting some small change in a rusty tin at the local bodega, but actual conscientious support. The charity I find to be the most inspiring is www.one.org, and I think that the more people who stand as one to make poverty history the better.

There is no doubt that with the proliferation of the Internet and the advent of the $100 laptop, with programs like Elance, Ebay, PayPal, Skype and so many others, as soon as Africa comes online we’re going to see a revolution. Quite recently I discovered a charity called ‘Infinite Family.’ This Charity enables families that live in surplus within the United States to interact with and provide support to orphans in South Africa using VOIP and e-mail. If one ponders the potential of programs like Skype in charity, then one sees the limitless potential for people in socially advantageous situations to reach out to people in disadvantaged communities. As the power of the internet grows, so to does our power as privileged people increase and enable us to make a huge difference to the lives of the people who most need it.

I urge you all to go check out www.InfiniteFamily.org and explore the possibility of becoming a Net Family. This weekend is their fundraiser, which has been sponsored by Madiba Restaurant, De Beers, Tall Horse Wines and Graham Beck. The event is set to be a great upscale occasion with African cuisine, musicians from the Paul Simon band and African wine all set in the fantastic locale of an upper west side loft. To add some sparkle to the evening, they will be selling Graham Beck Brut at $100 a glass, and in the bottom of one of the glasses one lucky participant will find a diamond from De Beers.

I feel lucky that we live in a world where people are willing to come up with such initiatives, and if we consider that this event is partly sponsored by Tall Horse and Graham Beck we can see yet another way that wine is changing the world.

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Wine is profoundly important in a way most of us can’t imagine. Reasons being: wine inhabits the same realm as literature and art. Literature and art are the only two things that separate man from beast. Literature and art save mankind from destruction and brutality, think that whenever a fascist regime comes to power first they outlaw the writers and the poets, and from there all other personal liberties crumble. The artist and the writer are the people who set us free and by implication, wine, being in the same realm as art and literature, is also an agent of freedom. Think of it this way, Budweiser and Miller represent corporate hegemony, whilst wine represents the individual and old-fashioned craftsmanship. One has to ask whether they would prefer a world that was ruled by mass markets and homogenized products; or whether they prefer an old-fashioned, time-honoured ritual that provides unique flavours free to be sought after and consumed by the individual that is so inclined.

Think about it, literature and art (and wine) are the only aspects existing in mankind that don’t exist in beasts. We have entrepreneurial animals; brave dogs (Lassie); birds and ants who weave and construct architecturally brilliant homes; elephants and monkeys that consume fruit that has become alcoholic and become aggressive; murderous monkeys; affectionate dolphins and the list of anthropomorphic attributes goes on and on. You name it, love, loyalty, humour, sadness, murder, happiness, bravery, persistence… pick a quality, any quality, and trust me, if you watch the Discovery Channel long enough you’re going to see some aspect of it in animals, everything except literature and art.

Art and literature are the only two things that raise man above beast. If we are to survive as humans we’re going to need every inch of humanity we can find, because if one thing is certain there is an entire industry out there promoting anti-humanity. Beer companies, FHM magazine, Hustler and Jenna Jameson, Oil companies, the CIA, fast food chains, MTV, Lockhead Martin, pick any array of multi-billion dollar organizations and chances are they are not advocating the furtherment and benefit of mankind. Most all big businesses provide a service that is generally detrimental to the world at large. Wine is not big business… yet. In many respects the winelands of France, Italy and Spain are some of the last culturally pure and non-malicious organizations in the world whose soul purpose is to provide a sophisticated level of pleasure and enjoyment to the consumer. The only way this industry can survive is with the support and understanding of people in their mid twenties, who need to understand the wealth of benefits that wine can provide them, and more importantly, what may happen if they don’t start becoming discerning consumers.

As young intelligent people it is our duty to make informed consumer decisions. There are two types of company, one that would sell and market cigarettes with a smile (an item that is proven to kill you); and the people who would take time to inform and promote a product with anti-oxidant healing power. We need to start actively supporting the people who support us because there are people in this world that would have you believe that the death penalty is correct; that two people of the same sex that are in love do not have the right to commit; that it is justified for more Iraqi children under 5 at the hands of the American nation than the amount of people over 30 who died in an attack conducted by an independent group; that children in Africa should not receive anti-retroviral, and I’m going to stop there because the list goes on. These people I talk of are not wine drinkers, they know nothing of literature and have no understanding of art or philosophy. They are just glorified animals posing as humans who seek the destruction of our species.

Susan Orlean, in ‘The Orchid Thief’ relates a process whereby if a person focuses on and becomes obsessed with and truly understands one small part of life, it becomes possible that many other confusing components fall into place. What I intent to show in this blog is that wine is just such a component.

The entire world of wine is a microcosm whose intricacies mimic and go on to effect the world at large. In wine there are aspects of globalization, environmental issues, political debates, personal taste, family feuds, bad guys, heroes, villains, capitalist pigs, irreverent artists and every other kind of thing one can imagine. Moreover, I firmly believe that if any young person can learn to enjoy wine, they will learn to enjoy one of life, culture and society’s greatest pleasures, and I am willing to bet that they will understand life and the world we live in better with a fuller appreciation.

Wine has been a part of my life in so many ways and I’m so excited to express how it can help our world. If there is one beverage that could sustain a lifelong and interesting dialogue, it is definitely wine. I’ll be making weekly posts and coming back to answer questions some of you may be confused as to what wine has to do with people dying in Iraq; or how it can save the world, and I have my own answers to all these questions. This blog is intended to be a discussion, and online cocktail party that brings a diverse set of opinions to the floor with wine as the unifier. Thanks for reading! cheers.

- Ruarri

Read more: The Beginning

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