Home > Articles > Unfiltered > Unfiltered

Unfiltered

Even Michael Vick's wine bar isn't looking so good, Italian police become sommeliers, Sir Alex Ferguson is stingy with a wine gift, vote for a steamy chef and America's iconic wine brands

Posted: Wednesday, August 22, 2007

• With all the controversy surrounding soon-to-be-former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is expected to appear in federal court next week to plead guilty to charges of running an interstate dog-fighting ring, one question has yet to be addressed: What will happen to his wine bar? Yes, it turns out that Vick is a minority partner in a suburban Atlanta wine bar and restaurant, and apparently it's in trouble, too. Unfiltered tracked down a person previously involved with the establishment, who said: "Compared to the other owners, he was a saint." The source claimed that the owners were several thousand dollars behind on rent, and added that the other owners used Vick for good publicity to open the restaurant, despite the fact that the food tasted like it was "from a nursing home. They hired an executive chef without tasting his food. Have you ever heard of that?" The source went on to say that Vick's initial investment was small and that he will not be paying in more. Sorry Michael, guess you can't expect to receive a file hidden in a bottle of Pétrus.

• They say wherever you go in Italy, up to 30 separate police organizations could be keeping their eyes on you. These include divisions of the state police, regional police, municipal police, highway patrols, park rangers and fiscal police. But recently, the antifraud squad of the military police (the Carabinieri) added another branch to the all-encompassing tree by sending 25 of its members to a sommelier school in Rome in an effort to strengthen the force's response to fraud in the wine industry. They'll have plenty of work to do: According to the Italian Sommelier Association, recent cases include the discovery of nearly 2.5 million liters of ordinary, anonymous table wine on the market, labeled as Pinot Grigio, Prosecco and Pinot Nero. And according to local TV reports, the antifraud squad recently announced that it had unearthed a 25,000-liter scam involving bottles of fake Barolo 1997 Riserva, perfectly labeled and corked, floating around the German and Scandinavian markets for around $110 a bottle. Roberto Voerzio, one of Barolo's top producers, is happy that the police are homing in on such fraudulent dealings. "Good for them!" he said. "This sort of thing has been going on for years. Consumers who understand a bit about wine will probably not be taken in by these sort of bottlings," he added, "but those who aren't, will. So it's a good thing that the police who are on the case know what they are dealing with." Unfiltered wonders if something similar would work in the U.S., but trading doughnuts for Dolcetto might be asking too much.

Ferguson (left) wouldn't share the wine since Eriksson wouldn't share the players.

• Former England national soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has been enjoying a remarkable start to his latest job as skipper of the English Premier League's formerly not-so-formidable Manchester City. Man City is sitting atop the league and is undefeated thus far, including a victory last weekend over defending league champions and crosstown rivals Manchester United. Before the match, Eriksson told London's The Sun that he had purchased an $825 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to present to Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after their Sunday match. Ferguson, a notorious wine snob and infamous for holding grudges, reacted to the news that he would be receiving the pricey gift with his typical grace, saying-despite the customary shared glass of wine between managers after soccer games-"I will not be sharing it with him. I will take it home instead." (Ferguson is apparently still rankled that Eriksson, in the lead up to the 2006 World Cup, requested that some of Ferguson's United players participate in friendly international games for the English national team.) No word as to what the bottle was, but Unfiltered suspects that, after hearing Sir Alex's kind words, Eriksson stashed the bottle in the backseat of his car and parked it in the sun until Sunday's game. We imagine beating the defending champs on their own pitch probably took a bit of sting out of the snub as well.

• Glad, the company that makes all sorts of handy plastic items for kitchen use, has sponsored a kind of beauty pageant to elect America's Steamiest Chef. Represented by white-chef-coat-wearing, bobble-headed versions of themselves on the contest Web site, chefs Govind Armstrong of Table 8 in Miami and Los Angeles, cookbook author and television personality Dave Lieberman, G. Garvin of G. Garvin restaurant in LA, Aarón Sánchez of Centrico and Paladar restaurants in New York, and former Top Chef contestant and would-be New York restaurateur Sam Talbot each make the case for why he's "the steamiest." Sanchez waxes poetic about himself ("I am a sensualist and interpret the world through my senses, and I think my cooking is an extension of my soul and creative being") while Armstrong slings some steaming mud ("Those other steamy chefs-they're BAKED, BOILED, DEEP FRIED and RE-FRIED!"). The silliness of it all is justified by the fact that Glad will donate at least $5,000 to each of five charities chosen by the chefs, with another $25,000 going to charity represented by the chef voted "the steamiest." Unfiltered would like to suggest a follow-up "Greasiest Chef" contest, sponsored by a cooking-oil company.

Very similar to the Constitution.

• Nothing screams "American" like driving your Chevy to Starbucks to buy a coffee with your AmEx card before going home and popping open a bottle of Gallo and grilling some Omaha Steaks on your Weber--that is, according to Icons of the American Marketplace: Consumer Brand Excellence, compiled by American Benchmark Press. The reference book, which made its debut on retail shelves last month for $100, highlights these among 250 of the best-known American brands. Along with the brands dubbed as America's most beloved, three wineries received nods: Iron Horse, E. & J. Gallo and Manischewitz. Selections were "more about the marketing than about what's in the bottle," said Lindley Boegehold, editorial director for American Benchmark Press. The list was complied with the help of an independent advisory board that included marketing executives and academics. Sparkling wine producer Iron Horse earned the respect of the panel for successfully competing in the marketplace among French Champagne counterparts, but also for being served at the White House in four consecutive administrations. Plans are to republish the book with an updated list every two years, so if your favorite wine didn't make the cut this time, either get it served at the White House or ask that they start making it from Concord grapes.

Back to top

Currently on Wine Spectator Online:

• Wine Talk: K.D. Lang
  This Canadian chanteuse indulges her love of wine and food through world travel
• Tasting Highlights: California Rhône
  Nine exceptional new Syrahs and Grenaches from Santa Barbara and Paso Robles
• Unfiltered: Napa's Copia Shuts Its Doors, for Now at Least
  Plus: Drinking wine to feed hungry children and an Elvis sighting in Paso Robles
• Health Research Looks to Grapes
  Scientists hope to unlock the potential of compounds found in grapes and wine
• Wine Shipping Restrictions in Massachusetts Ruled Unconstitutional
  Both in- and out-of-state wineries may now ship directly to Massachusetts residents; volume caps struck down