Wine maker

We had a wine maker dinner last evening. It's always nice having the Italians in house. It supports the idea of what we do. It reaffirms that we are doing it well. What we do Is the food and wine of Piemonte. With the food there is some room for interpretation and ingredient substitution, but it is always done conscientiously with regard to Northern Italian cuisine. The wines are beautiful, austere, drinkable, acidic, recognizable, and terribly food friendly. There is something to be said about a point of reference. When you bring these two things together, things that evolved together, one can start to see the vast difference in the way we as Americans eat and how th erest of the world eats. These food cultures growing and developing regionally for thousands of years, integrating products, developing styles and approaches, adapting to outside influences, are a tremendous source of inspiration. It is real, it is not the product of someones supposed 'artistry' or 'creativity'. It is yielded by craftsmanship, and devotion. That is not to say that some practitioners of traditional cuisines are not artistic or creative, those qualities are needed to drive cuisine forward, to continue to evolve the cuisine; however they work within a frame of reference. They understand the historical perspective of the cuisine and have proven technical skills developed within that cuisine. As do the winemakers. The wines of Piemonte have changed over the past 50 years; however this change has come through the refining of processes, not compromising the wine. The wines are still traditional, although the mechanics is not.