Dear Feastlings,
The Italian culture is a rich one, full of art and architecture, music, politics, food and wine. Also, comic books. When I lived there thirty-two years ago, one of more amusing and dopey ways to learn the language was through fumetti. Fumetti, or little smokes, refers to what we see as talk bubbles in comic strips, and what Italians see as little clouds of smoke that hold the characters’ speech. The Italians love their comics, and newsstands everywhere in Italy, at least thirty years ago, had them by the score, hanging from every available space. Some were international- Asterix and Obelisk (a French one,) Topolino (that’s Mickey Mouse,) and a host of others, but Zagor?
Zagor was hilarious. He was a something between a spirit and a human in the Old West, and to the Italian ear, Zagor (short for Za-gor-te-nay) sounds like a Native American name, evidently. Even though he’s a white guy. Long story. And really not the point. But this is Zagor,
https://www.fumetto-online.it/ew/ew_albi/images/L’ESPRESSO/ZAGOR-COLL-ST-COL-01-042.jpg
and here’s his story:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagor
What was great about Zagor was his numerous exclamations. Per tutti i meiei baffi!’ he’d say, or “per mille misonti!” (more or less, “by all my whiskers!” and “for a thousand buffaloes!” And of course, the classic fumetto exclamation, the one even Topolino says, “Perbacco!” (“by Bacchus!”) Which brings us to today’s wine tasting. Bacchus, many of you are well aware, is the God of wine, and it’s wine tasting day today. The wines all hail from Tuscany, where thirty-two years ago I cemented my affection for all things- or most thing- Italian, and they’re all Sangiovese, the Chianti grape. The etymology of Sangiovese isn’t, as I’d guessed, born of Saint Giove, but rather sangue and Giove. Blood and Jupiter. (When you say “by Jove,” as I’m sure you often do, you’re talking about Jupiter, i.e. Zeus.) Anyhow, it all got me thinking about Zagor, and Italy, and doggone if I’m not feeling a little wistful for it now. my cure for that wistfulness? Today’s wine tasting:
And even if you don’t happen to miss Italy, I still wholeheartedly recommend today’s tasting. You still have time, so my suggestion, is to come grab your samples, pop them in the fridge and pull them out around 1:45. Yes, it’s okay if they still have a little bit of a chill on them, and based on my experience outdoors this morning, I’d say they’ll warm up even quicker than you’d like them to. Then log in here:
Doug Levy is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Sangiovese
Time: May 15, 2021 02:00 PM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81289205307?pwd=YlY3ZGdBSGMrMGt2bjltN2UyejZQUT09
Meeting ID: 812 8920 5307
Passcode: 723080
One tap mobile
And chat with me and Kevin, Luke, Marco, Brett and Paul about the wines and learn a little something about the many moods of Sangiovese. Sounds half biblical, with Luke, Mark, Paul and wine. it ought to be fun. You can pick up some snacks if you’d like, as well
https://www.eatatfeast.com/dining/menus/lunch-dinner/
and we’ll see you on the screen.
Meanwhile, we’ve got one more night of getting our sea legs again and then we’re opening the doors to those who’d like to eat here. I half look forward to it, though half not, as I’ve already gotten a tiny bit of backlash over continuing to ask guests to wear a mask while they’re mobile. But that’s a whole different email about the joys of small business ownership in the era we live in.
Not one to stuff my emotions, however, I’ll undoubtedly be sending you an earful, or I guess an eyeful, sooner than later.
Fear of infection may be rapidly dwindling, but many of us will be bobbing in the ripples of the pandemic for a long, long time. For a thousand buffaloes!
Doug