Inez Ribustello's Wine Blog

So, I haven’t written lately which I really don’t like.  The more time between blogs, the more pressure I put on myself to make sure I write something super meaningful.

Lately, I’ve been tasting a ton of wine, but I haven’t been contemplating and studying as I should.  The punishment:  I don’t have anything to write about or explain to the loyal readers who support my journalistic habit.

In fact, recently, my eldest cousin asked me to call him because he had a great idea for a blog.  Of course, three weeks after receiving his email, I check his facebook page to find the number where I can call him to get some ideas.

Interestingly enough, when I visit Jay’s page, two photographs on his wall catch my eye. Both are photographs capturing the sunrise in the morning.

Amazingly beautiful and incredibly moving, I feel compelled to write.

Stephen and I bought a house in Tarboro almost exactly two years ago.  We bought a business in Tarboro almost exactly nine years ago.  Both are our life homes.  We live in our house with expectations of staying there forever.  We work at On the Square in hopes of being there until we are unable to work any longer.

When I wake up in the morning, the sun is on my right.  It peaks through the clouds, and without any hesitation, I say to myself, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

That sunrise and that verse wake me up each morning.  It may wake me up to get my kids dressed and ready for school or it may get me up to make sure we are all ready for a day at the fair or a weekend of camping.  Whatever our goals are, the sunrise out my window gives me a sense of hope and excitement.

My friends, wine is another type of sunrise.  It is a beverage made from grapes (and sometimes other fruit) that wakes up the senses.  Whether it be white, red, rose or sparkling, wine is a reason to rejoice.

When I come home at night and think about the day that has almost ended, I drink a glass of wine.

And then I drink another.  And sometimes, another after that.

My children and I read.  My husband and I cook and eat and savor.  My dog comes inside and smells the trashcan.

The day may not have been great.   In fact, the day may have been downright horrible.

However, the day was still a day.  And at the end of the day, we came home to a place that was safe and enjoyed some delicious nectar.

It makes me remember the sunrise that started my morning and the delicious glass of wine I enjoyed before I see the next one.

For that, I am grateful.  Grateful for sun that warms the grapes to make the juice we can drink as the sun sets.

{ 2 comments }

In January of 2000, I moved to Los Angeles to somehow find myself and my love of wine.  Of course, hindsight being 20/20, I should have gone north to Napa or San Francisco where grapes and fine dining were more prevalent, but I chose not to listen to my father and go to Hollywood instead.

Santa Monica, to be exact.  A beautiful city on the Pacific Ocean, my number one priority once I got off the plane was to find a job.

I put on a suit my Nana had given me for Christmas and took a stroll down 3rd Street Promenade with a resume that listed my degree from Chapel Hill and three previous jobs:  Golden Corral Waitress, Hector’s Down Under Bartender and Assistant Cellar Master at Windows on the World.

My first stop was Remi, an upscale Italian restaurant with a gorgeous dining room designed by Adam Tihany.  I asked the hostess could I apply for a job, and she kindly told me they weren’t hiring.  As I was telling her to call me if anything opened up, a gentleman sitting in the private dining area walked out and introduced himself as Brian Everingham, the restaurant manager.  He asked me to come back the following day for an interview.  Score!

My second stop was 3rd Street Deli, a massive restaurant with a casual dining area, a counter to buy to-go items and a super cool wine bar.  I asked to speak to the wine manager and a young guy with a midwestern accent came over to meet me.  He told me the wine bar was open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, and they did need a wine-tender, but only on Sunday nights.  I happily told him I was available, and he asked me to come train on Thursday-Saturday in hopes of being by myself on Sunday evening.

And there you have it ladies and gentleman, I worked these two jobs every week for six months until moving back to Manhattan to take the job as Beverage Manager at Windows on the World.

Many would say those six months were a waste for my career, that I could have stayed at Windows as an Assistant Cellarmaster and saved money on two cross country moves, in turn, moving up the career ladder much faster. 

But I don’t see it that way.

In those six short months, I made some dear friends, a few with whom I have just recently reconnected on facebook.  I also learned more about hospitality through my hostess position at Remi.  Another bonus was that my knowledge about wines of California and the Pacific Northwest grew greatly as most of my wonderful customers preferred to drink these over the wines of France or Italy. It was in Santa Monica that I tasted one of my favorite Pinot Noirs from Oregon.

I’ll never forget the label that got my attention first.  It looked like a red postage stamp stuck to a dark glass bottle, and the words on it were Benton Lane Pinot Noir.  The wine comes from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and this Pinot took me to a newer place.  It had all of these flavors beyond the bing cherries, cola and soy.  The wine tasted different.  It had this lightness that seemed very fresh and rosy.  The wine was really beautiful, and I remember researching it to find it had the reputation of being the “healthiest wine in the world” due to the high percentage of resveratrol found in these particular grapes.  I guess you could say this wine made an impact on me that I will never forget.

In fact, when Stephen & I opened On the Square in October of 2002, it was the first wine I ordered to have in our store.  And, today, almost 9 years later, it is one of the 3 wines we have continued to carry.  Of course, it has risen in price, but not to the point where it isn’t worth it.

Benton Lane Pinot Noir is still super pretty, and it still has rosy flavors of cooler fruit.  I guess you can say it’s like one of pretty, nice girls in high school who was still pretty and nice at the 10-year high school reunion. 

As I drink this wine on a stormy Saturday night, I think about all of the change that has occurred in my life since the year 2000.  I have moved and I have left friends behind.  I have stayed and I have been left behind.  I have replaced wines that didn’t fit our wine store’s personality, and I have held on to some that should have been replaced a long time ago.

In this game called life, change is inevitable.  We cannot do anything about it no matter how hard we may try.

However, it’s very comforting when some things stay the same.  In my case, it’s the Benton Lane Pinot Noir.  Same label, same flavors, same feeling I get when I drink it and when I sell it. 

Cheers to some things staying the exact same.

{ 3 comments }

Last night, On the Square hosted its final Summer of Riesling Wine Dinner with Dan Melia from Mosel Wine Merchants.

I know summer ended on the 20th of September, but Stephen and I forgot so we let it end last night on the 28th.  Of course, if you live in Tarboro or anywhere else in eastern North Carolina, you know very well that it still feels a heck of a lot like summer.

Dan Melia travelled from New York with an insane amount of insanely delicious wines, and our guests were educated and entertained for a solid two and half hours on the perfect trifecta of steep slopes, cool climate and slate-driven soil in relationship to Riesling.  Dan could not have been any more hospitable, genuine or charming, and everything he spoke about was relayed with passion and excitement.

Of course, the best part for me was at the end of the night when he sat down at the bar with our staff and tasted through the line-up of wines, educating us as a reward for working hard and serving our guests.

When midnight fell, I began to turn into a pumpkin so I said I was going home to indulge in homemade cheesecake that one of my favorite friends had made me.  Dan was staying with us so he said he would hit the road as well.

And this, my friends, is where craziness comes into the picture, a happenstance that can only happen when all the stars are in perfect alignment.

As we sat down at my kitchen table for one last conversation, I asked Dan where he worked in New York before Mosel Wine Merchants. 

“Prune,” he responded.

For those of you who have never eaten at Gabrielle Hamilton’s lower east side restaurant, it is one of my all-time favorite brunches ever, and I am not alone in saying that.

But when Dan said Prune, I had this flashback to four years ago, when the night time girls of On the Square and I travelled to New York to celebrate a high school graduation of one of our longtime employees.

The plan for our group was to eat at Prune for Sunday brunch, the moment our cab came into the city from picking us up at Laguardia.  I called because the restaurant doesn’t take reservations, and I spoke to a gentleman about us coming in with luggage and of course, to see if they could make an exception this one time and reserve us a table.

I will never forget how awesome this guy was on the phone.  He told me he would put our luggage downstairs and hold it for us, and while he could not bend the rule on the reservations, he would work with us to make sure we would be seated as soon as possible. 

I remember hanging up and thinking “What a great guy, he was so kind and accommodating and, wow, I need to be more like that when I answer the phone.”

And, of course, when we arrived at Prune that Sunday morning, six Carolina girls and a whole lotta luggage, the same gentleman who had been so accommodating on the phone, became even more accommodating in person. 

He hauled all of our luggage downstairs to store while we ate the brunch of a lifetime, Bloody Marys and shots of Pabst Ribbon included. 

We had the best time, and it all started with this amazing guy who clearly loves the hospitality industry.

Soooooooooo, to make a long story even longer, it will come to you as no surprise that while Dan is talking to me about being at Prune, I realized I knew his voice and his face long before tonight’s wine dinner.

I asked him did  he remember six girls coming to eat there one Sunday morning four years ago, and all of a sudden, everything came into place.

“Inez!” he exclaimed.

“Dan!” I yelled.

The irony of that entire meeting reunited in Tarboro with our group getting to serve and pamper him as he did for us four years ago.

Again, it can only happen when a perfect trifecta occurs:  great wine, great food and great company.

For those who would like to see the menu we served, see below:

Reception

Harker’s Island Oysters, Chicken Liver Mousse on Sweet Potato Chips, Tempura Shrimp, Pork & Apple Crostini

Peter Lauer Sekt, Saar NV

Lobster & Marscapone Ravioli

Butternut Squash Cream

Stein St. Aldegunder Himmelreich Kabinett-Feinherb, Mosel 2010

Immich-Batterieberg Escheburg, Mosel 2009

Waldorf Salad

Crispy Prosciutto Chip

Clemens Busch Marienburg Fahrlay, Mosel 2008

Blackfin Tuna Au Poivre

Snow Peas, Whipped Potatoes

Peter Lauer Saar Riesling Barrel X, Saar 2010

Sliced Duck Breast

Autumn Vegetable Ragout, Cranberry Syrup

Gunther Steinmetz Kestener Paulinsberg Spatlese, Mosel 1990

Peach Sundae

Peach Coulis, Caramel Sauce

Dr. Loosen Eiswein, Mosel 2008

{ 6 comments }

In our small wine shop in eastern North Carolina, I write shelftalkers for our displayed wines.  Many times I try to give a few taste and aroma descriptors along with at least one food pairing.  It is a great exercise for me as it forces me to describe wines in writing so that I don’t forget them.  It also allows customers to browse in our shop without having to ask questions if they don’t feel like it.

Today, during lunch service, a couple was strolling through our wine room, and they asked Frances could they speak with the wine buyer. 

Frances retrieved me from the kitchen where I was extremely busy inhaling french fries, and I made my way into the office to answer some questions about wine–my most favorite job in the world.

The couple was looking at the shelftalker describing the Domaine Seguinot-Bordet Chablis 2009, and I had written the following:

“An expression of Chardonnay that can only be described as pure, Chablis is one of my most favorite growing regions.  Tart green apple, oyster shells and minerality that doesn’t stop, this wine is perfect with Chicken Scallopine or a fresh Arugula Salad with Lemon Viniagrette.”

The couple had read the shelftalker, and they wanted to ask me a question about the flavors I had described.

The man looked at the bottle, and then he looked at me.  He asked, “Do they add green apples and oyster shells to the wine to make it taste that way?”

My most favorite explanation of wine was allowed to be expressed this afternoon as I excitedly responded with the following:

“Grapes are the only fruit in the world with the magical ability to taste and smell like other things once they are made into wine.”

“If you make wine from peaches, it smells like peaches; if you make wine from pineapple, it smells like pineapple; but grapes, vinifera grapes, that is (think Merlot, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay….), are the only fruit in the world to have the incredible ability to smell like dark plums, green apple, lime zest, smoke, buttered toast, the list goes on and on and on and on.”

In case anyone reading has ever wondered that question, and I hope you have so you’ll continue to read, grapes are magical.  They are crazy magical, and wine produced from grapes take on nuances and flavors you couldn’t imagine in a million years they would be able to have.

The next time you taste a wine, think about all of the many flavors you sniff out in the glass and eventually taste.  It’s pretty amazing grapes have that type of complexity, that type of ability, that type of magic. 

It is yet another reason to drink the juice, to get a little magic in your veins. 

Cheers to the magic of the vino!

{ 3 comments }

I didn’t really believe a 10-year anniversary would mean much to me.

However, as I should know already, most of the time I am completely confused and utterly dumbfounded by what affects me and what doesn’t.

September 11th, 2001 happened 10 years ago, making me 35 years old.

In great thanks to my cousin Penn Holderness and incredible teachers at Tarboro High School, Matt and April Smith, I have found some time to mourn and express some great sadness that needed to be expelled.

Brilliant and loving teachers at Tarboro High School, Matt & April invited me to speak about 9/11 (as it is so often referred) during 4th period today.  It is extremely difficult to talk about because I never want my words to be anything but humble and reverent.

These were my words:

My name is Inie Ribustello, and I graduated from Tarboro High in 1994.  I moved to New York four years later.

After culinary school, I found a job on the top floor of One World Trade Center.  It was the job of a lifetime, and my plan was to stay there forever.

When I was 25, my world changed in every way, shape and form.

I lost my job, I lost any sense of security I had ever felt and I lost 85 friends who I had seen everyday for the past three years.

Imagine this:  you go to school on Monday and you see all of your teachers, your fellow students, the principal and the custodian and coaches, everyone you come into contact with on a day-to-day basis.

Let’s say that the next day you stay at home because you don’t feel well, or maybe you skip school with a friend or maybe you’re on vacation with your family.  For whatever reason, you just don’t come to school.

While you’re not there, something terrible occurs.  Actually, the unthinkable happens, and everyone who came to school that day is either killed or unable to be found.

That is the cruel reality of September 11th, 2001.

My work, my friends, my life was on the 106th floor of One World Trade Center.

While I was in Tarboro for my sister’s wedding, I saw it all crumble on national television, never to be seen, touched or heard again.

Did I ever believe in one million years that my life would be affected by terrorists?

Never.

But it was.  It was affected and then re-affected and ten years later, it continues to affect everything about me.

I will never ever forget what happened, and because of 9/11, I have an entirely new definition of what forever really means.

My cousin Penn gave me the opportunity to speak about the events that encompassed that horrible morning, and for that, I am forever grateful.  He conducts a beautiful interview in the following:

Remembrance

When I think about September 11th, 2001, I don’t cry as many tears as I used to.

Instead, I am more saddened by the day-to-day events occurring right now in our present world.  My emotions run deeper than they once did 10 years ago, and my heart hurts a little more than the last time I rode up the elevator to the 107th floor.

Tears may not come as quickly when that tragic day is mentioned, but they do fall more freely for good-byes that weren’t supposed to be just now.

{ 16 comments }

What’s going on in my world right now? 

Well, for one thing, I am counting the days until Terra Vita, an awesome event highlighting sustainable foods, beers, wines and coffees taking place in Chapel Hill for the second year in a row.  The host/coordinator is Colleen Minton, a charismatic and beautiful redhead whose spirit is infectious.  She has used her many talents to procure chefs and farmers from all over our awesome state to come together for a great day of food, fun and drink.  It was my favorite event of 2010, and that is why I anxiously await the weekend of September 24th where good times will roll all over again.

For more information, check out www.terravitaevent.com.  I’m not sure if any tickets are left, but if there are, don’t miss out on a super good time supporting our local farmers and chefs.

This year, in addition to the walk-around tasting, there will be a sustainable classroom where tremendous speakers will talk about wine, food, farm & garden or sustainable agriculture.  I am particularly excited about hearing Max Kast, Wine Director & Sommelier at the Fearrington House.  He is going to talk about American wines made using biodynamic practices and the great beers made in North Carolina.  Can I get a woop woop?  

I often hear people tell me they are looking for cool things to do.  My answer for the month of September:  If you want to have one of the coolest experiences in NC, come to Terra Vita.  Stephen and I will be there ready to eat, drink and serve.

{ 0 comments }