European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                An ode to italian wines by Frank j. Prial new York times r in of the Mill Burgundy $30 a  1985 Bordeaux $27.50.wherever you look in the United states win that once was something to enhance dinner now costs More than dinner. Even the California growers Are scrambling to match the French. Their top of the line cabernets Are $35, $40 and even $50 a bottle. And it is a Safe bet the australians will not waste too much time catching up with the californians. Did anyone mention Italy no and it s time someone did. Dollar for Dollar no one can match the italians for Good wines at reasonable prices. Of they can get silly at times $50 Barbaressos and $100 Brunel los and even $35 chardonnays but no Law says anyone has to buy them. It is Down in the real world where wines sell for $4 or $5 to $10 and $12, that italian wines really stand out. The californians Are making much ado about the new single grape wines like cabernet Sauvignon and chardonnay that sell for $4 to $9. Not bad wines for the most part particularly those that have been around for awhile. For the same Money there Are excellent Light Chianti classics and Dolcetto d albas fresh Young Bardo Linos Barbera delicate frascati a panoply of Northern italian wines like Nebiolo Shanna and Hemme and a wide variety of simple red wines Vino Rosso that will bring new life to anyone s wine drinking. How do the italians do it lower production costs perhaps along with the fact that they have such vast quantities of wine to sell. But there is also a felicitous combis nation of Sun soil and wine making skill that sets Italy apart. Why do so Many of these Good wines go unnoticed in America mostly because the italian wine scene is so Large and thus so confusing. Italy is often and accurately described As one vast Vineyard. Grapes Are grown and wine is made from the Alps to Sicily. There Are hundreds of different grapes and thousands of wines. There Are almost As Many wineries in the is Gus Schuettler what could be More italian than Chianti wine and a View of the leaning Tower of Pisa. Chianti Region As in All of California. Sicily alone can produce 1.5 billion liners of wine in a Good year. Italian wine names Are not much help. Sangio vese is a grape san Felice a winery san Gimignani a place. Who but a handful of wine writers has time to sort All that out another example Nebiolo is the most important red wine grape of Northern Italy. Barolo perhaps Italy s greatest wine is made entirely of Nebiolo. Around Alba dozens of wineries produce a wine called Nebiolo Nebiolo d Alba to be exact. Not too far away around Novara they Call the same grape Shanna and they use a slice of life in Paris by Nathalie Dupree Cox news service memories of travels for me Are Les associated with Rose windows an museums than with meals in different places the time away from the pressures of my daily life gives me scope to observe and grow. Conversations and observations As people share food together Are precious moments. A meal in Paris with a dear old Friend comes to mind frequently these Days. We were looking Forward to the special Bustle of the cafe s atmosphere and the Chance to observe those different from ourselves both on the Street and at the tables that rubbed up next to each other forcing a certain intimacy Between strangers. In Paris life is conducted Over the Public table As much As the private theater played out Over food. The cafe has its own unique role. Our table was one of a dozen closely placed together hugging the window and providing a View of the passers by. We were seated next to a couple drinking hot chocolate silently. We decided they were More interesting than the crowd milling outside. We were drawn to the couple even As we removed layers of Coats and scarves and settled at our table. The girl was Beautiful with Long hair the color of the chestnuts roasting just outside on the Street some strands As dark As the burned chestnuts some nearly Gold. Nature had not treated the Man seated with her nearly As Well. He was half again her age. He was agitated taut with anger. We ordered our croquet Monsieur a hot Sandwich of layers of Fried French bread Ham and melted cheese and some steamy bitter hot chocolate full of Rich Cream served with cubes of sugar. The couple ordered the same thing typical cafe fare. My Friend and i both had recently ended relationships and took this moment to indulge in our Bitte Nesses. As the croquet Monsieur arrived a Appling of Brown Glaze on the bubbling oozing cheese my Friend spoke. When my husband and i were at the end i would say i Don t care what you do just let me know what time you will be Home so i can plan but no it was his ultimate humiliation toward me to never let me know when he was going to want dinner want to be Home want to play  we sat quietly musing relishing our lunch watching the Street s activities glad to be somewhere where life was not the same. We overheard the voices of the couple quite clearly. It was As if they had been eavesdropping on us their conversation was a reiteration of ours Only with different accents and distorted by a generation. He spoke in English. His voice was nasal harsh ill suited to the cafe s murmured voices. He was cutting into his croquet Monsieur with a vengeance eating rapidly. And he was complaining about her. He was angry that she kept him waiting hours on end while she worked late never letting him know her schedule so he could plan. Our complaint. From him. Jne eyes of the Beautiful Young French woman began to fill with sympathetic tears As his voice became the shrill Call of a wounded animal. She tried to explain again without much enthusiasm. After a final shove of his Fork into his Mouth he snarled it s just a matter of time i know before we re finished. It would take too much Effort for you to move or you would be gone already somewhere where there that name on their bottles. Some regions use Nebiolo for the name of the grape but give the wine the name of the place Gattinara for example and Hemme actually in Hemme the wine is not All Nebiolo two other grapes ves Polina and Monarda Are blended into it. Some wines Are known for the winery nozzle for example or Badia a co Libuono both Chianti classics and some for their shippers Ruffino anti non Ricasoli. And when the wines come from regions unfamiliar to americans it can be difficult to Tell anything about them from the labels. The trick is to pick several categories Shanna Chianti and Dolcetto for example and try them find a couple of wines you Are comfortable with then try a few others. Soon you will be if not an expert at least a confident buyer of italian wines. Distribution of italian wines can be erratic but so Many Are available that substitutions Are not hard to find. Some reasonably priced in the United states italian reds Worth seeking out include among the Chianti classics Antinori s 1986 Santa Christina about $5 castello i Gabbiano 1983, $5.50 Castellmare 1983, $5.75 de Silani Shanna 1985, $4.50, and Travaglini Shanna 1985, $5.50. A 1986 Dolcetto d Alba from Clerico Sells for about $7, a 1986 from Mascarello is about $6.65 and one from Roche a 1985, is about $7. A 1982 Gattinara from Travaglini was $10 and a 1979 Gattinara from Antonio Vallana was a real find at $8.50. Look too for the wines of a relatively new appellation Rosso i Montacino the Community that makes the famous and invariably overpriced brunello. Tenuta ii Poggione is highly recommended and you Don t have to drive a Chrysler to try Lee Iacocca s Villa Nicola. He owns a Home in the Montacino Region. Keep in mind that these Are Only a few of the familiar wines. In the wild Abruzzi Region Mountain wineries turn out four million or five million Gallons of delightful Rosso d Abruzzi every year and some finds its Way to the United states. Mont Pulciano d Abruzzi is another Lovely red from the Region. The Corvo wines of Sicily Are decent but not surprising the Rega Leali wines Are More interesting particularly the Rosso Del Conte which May be the Island s Best red wine. Are no demands. I wish i could break through that lust of yours for your career and Fame to touch you enough to want to be with  he wiped his Mouth roughly with his Napkin As they stood up and angrily threw coins on the table. They strode out to the Street he looking hunted she shrugging him off with the Assurance of a Beautiful Young woman who knows it is easy to find another Lover. Bemused we pulled on our Coats glad to have been reminded of what it Felt like to have that Power of a woman s youth and Beauty but knowing it goes very quickly knowing that one Day she might be sitting with another woman eating a croquet Monsieur thinking of past times and complaining herself about being kept waiting. Croquet Monsieur 4 thick slices White bread preferably French is cup butter softened 2 thin slices smoked Ham 1/2-3/4 cup grated Swiss or gruyere cheese 4 Tablespoons heavy Cream trim the crusts from the bread. Melt half the butter in a frying pan. Add the bread and Fry on one Side. Place the Ham on two slices of the Fried bread. Top with half the cheese mixed with enough Cream to make a paste then cover with the other bread to make two sandwiches. Place on a buttered pan. Dot with pieces of butter and coat tops with the rest of the grated cheese mix. Run under broiler until top sides Are bubbly flecked with Rich Brown. Note some people top this with a cheese sauce rather than the grated cheese after frying the Sandwich in an egg Batter. That s Good too the stars and stripes Page 15