Recently I was thrilled to meet one of my Facebook wine friends in real life: Carmen Russo. We both attended Kirk and Nicole Stinson’s 4th of July party and met, don’t you know, over wine.  I had brought a couple of “picnic” wines, a French Rose and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, while Carmen brought wine from her favorite Italian region, Montepulciano. She had quite a bit to say about the benefits of Italian over American wines so I’ve turned our meeting into an interview for Beacon readers: 

Carmen, please tell us first about your own background and wine interests: 

Growing up in Germany. and spending all my childhood summers in Italy, I learned very early on the secrets of winemaking because my dad’s parents owned some vineyards – as is custom in the southern part of Italy. On my German side, my grandfather is very passionate about wine, and we used to visit local vineyards at harvest times that are close to my hometown in the south of Germany. 

Why do you say that Italian wines are better than American wines for those that suffer from headaches? 

The winemaking laws in Europe are very strict in regards to altering the process and adding chemicals to it, like preservatives and sugar. The laws have been in place since the 13^th century and are almost the same today. So what causes the headaches are mainly the added sulfates and/or sugar. Since the laws aren’t as strict in the U.S., there are a lot of ways to add chemicals to the wine than in the old country. 

I know you like Italian wines better than American in general, why should readers learn more…what are they missing?  

Well, there are good wines out here too, it depends strongly on the year. The big difference between Cali wines and European wines lies in the combination between soil, quality of the grapes, temperature and water. Also important are the additives. For example in Germany the wine grows best on volcanic soil, certain temperatures in the summer and a very cold winter. I noticed Cali wines are very acidy in comparison to Italian wines. 

Where do you like to go for wine in Santa Clarita? 

La Chene would be a good place, and anywhere they serve international wines. 

Highlights from the SCV Wine Calendar 

Local Tips: There are plenty of Happy Hours every night – see the SCV Wine Calendar on my blog. 

Find Eve at these two excellent Wine Tastings outside of Santa Clarita: 

Wally’s 7th Annual Central Coast wine and food tasting in Westwood this Sunday August 1 for almost 150 wines, silent auction, and signature dishes from renowned restaurants like Spago, CUT and Cache.   

And learn all about the Rhone Rangers next Sunday 8/8 at Pier 39 West in Santa Monica with 35 different wineries, artisan cheeses and tapas. 

Yours, in wine and out,

Eve Bushman- commentary

Eve Bushman is a local writer that specializes in writing about wine. You can find great articles by Eve on her blog at http://www.evewine101.blogspot.com or email her at ebushman@earthlink.net. Her commentaries represent her own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization she may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon. Eve also writes at http://scvelitemagazine.com and you can follow Eve’s Wine 101 on Facebook and Twitter!