Maker's Table

I recently attended a virtual tasting of two premium Douro table wines by Prats & Symington, a joint project between Port producer Symington Family Estates and the Prats family, former longtime owners of Cos d’Estournel. Bruno Prats, who until 1998 was Cos’s winemaker, and Rupert Symington, Symington’s C.E.O., led the tasting.

Hospitality derives from the Latin hospes, meaning both “host” and “guest.” The root also gives us “hospital,” “hostel,” and “hotel.” We tend to think of hospitality as flowing principally from host to guest, but originally it referred to generous reciprocity between both parties. The Greeks especially embraced a reciprocal view of hospitality.

The Salt is my weekly curated collection of writing and marginalia at the intersection of wine, food, and culture. But first: To honor America’s 250th, I’m offering a 25% discount off annual subscriptions to Maker’s Table. Paid subscriptions give me freedom to research, report, write, illustrate, and publish this independent commentary. If you value what you read here, please consider subscribing now at the discounted rate of $60 for the first year. The sale runs through Friday, July 10.

In graduate school I took a course from a professor who held doctoral degrees in both philosophy and cognitive science. We read broadly about the philosophy of mind, computational theory, connectionism, and embodied cognition. This last theory asserts that our physical being and perceptual systems are essential for generating our higher thoughts. Mentation and sensation, in other words, are not separate processes; the mind makes the body perceive, and the body makes the mind think.

Welcome back to The Salt, my weekly curated collection of writing and marginalia at the intersection of wine, food, and culture. It’s not surprising that the Pope maintains a large estate in the countryside of Lazio, outsize of Rome, where he can kick off his papal regalia and crack open a book not written in Latin.

Gouais blanc is an ancient and historically important grape, but its significance lies in its genetics, not its wines. Grape scientists have determined that Gouais blanc (goo-WAY blanh) gave rise to at least 81 other varieties, leading to its nickname, the Casanova of Grapes. Ripening Gouais blanc in the demonstration plot of Champagne Bollinger, in Aÿ Geneticists believe Gouais originated in the area that’s now northeastern France and southwestern Germany.

Welcome back to Notable, where I write about interesting wines from recent tasting. I have a grab-bag of bottles today, linked not by geography but by deliciousness. There’s the Saint-Joseph Blanc from Cuilleron, Bollinger’s Special Cuvée champagne, an Etna Bianco from Pietradolce, the Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Cos, and three wines—Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and a Pinot-Gamay blend—from a new project called The Set, in the Sta. Rita Hills.

Fining derives from the Latin finire, “to finish.” To fine a wine, the winemaker stirs a fining agent into a vat. This material attaches to microscopic particles in solution, an action called flocculation. This mass then precipitates to the bottom of the tank. Fining removes protein, long-chain tannin, pigment, phenolics, and other soluble materials that could later cloud the wine. Most commercial white wines and many reds are fined one or more times.

The Salt is my weekly curated collection of writing and marginalia at the intersection of food and culture. Today’s roundup is heavy on A.I.—as subject, not method. I also share new data on the state of wine industry both globally and at home, and plug a new ingredient I can’t cook without. Art director Zoë Yasemin reflects on what luxury image-making has become now that no one believes their eyes.

Élevage is a French term deriving from the verb élever, “to raise up,” from Latin elevare, “to lighten.” Our English words elevate and elevator share the same root. The word also implies rearing or husbandry, reflecting the care and effort required to bring wine to maturity. In wine production, élevage is the period of cellar aging after primary alcoholic fermentation but before bottling.