GIVEAWAY: The Cats of Ostia Antica OOP HC! Plus Episode 2 Deep Dive
GIVEAWAY: The Cats of Ostia Antica OOP HC! Plus Episode 2 Deep Dive
More info on the six Barolos we blind tasted + Troy Little's CHIAROSCURO and The Cats of Ostia Antica HC, which SOMEone will be getting a copy of ;)
Let’s start with the most important bit of info in this Substack post:
***We are giving away our one and only copy of the OOP hardcover edition of The Cats of Ostia Antica to one lucky viewer/reader.***
The Cats of Ostia Antica HC Giveaway!
That’s right: this book is entirely OOP, though the publisher has since Kickstarted a softcover TPB edition. I now own one of each, so I thought it best to share the love by offering my beloved hardcover edition to someone who really wants to get their grubby mitts on it.
How can you get it?
Between now and Dec 15th, share our substack OR one of our videos on Hive, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Any of our videos or substack posts will do, but you MUST use the hashtag #wineandcomics when you do!
Every calendar day you share (limit: once per day!), you are entered once into our random drawing to win the book. On Dec 16th, we will allow a random number generator to select our winner! So share now, and share daily. That’s it. No other rules. We will ship this to anyone, anywhere in the world, all shipping costs covered.
And even if you don’t win our hardcover copy, the softcover will hopefully be available to the general public in the future.
Troy Little’s Chiaroscuro
As we mentioned in the Ep, publisher IDW released a “Vol. 1” collection of this “Patchwork” storyarc which ran 7 individual issues back in the early aughts. I originally bought those individual issues, and loved them. Dave Sim (of Cerebus fame) gave the book a shout out on his blog, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I found it back in the day.
Interestingly, the IDW collection included an additional three chapters/issues, for a total of 10, which concludes the first storyarc! And in the link above Troy also mentions that there are “two more volumes to complete the story”, which he has every intention of completing! Though he’s taken a lengthy break thanks to starting a family and his animation work being his actual breadwinning.
IDW has also published his original series, Angora Napkin, about “the misadventures of the Canadian cuddle-core punk rock girl band, Angora Napkin”. Napkin also got an animated pilot financed a while back, which you can find on YouTube. So…Troy’s doing okay for himself. But dammit Troy: gets to Vol 2 & 3 of Chiaroscuro already!
The Six Barolos
#6 Cantina Le Ginestre, 2015 Sottocastello di Novello
Retail: $65
This was our dead bottom ranked #6 Barolo of the tasting - the one that made me pull THIS face:
Normally $65 per bottle (though I paid maybe half that thanks to Winespies.com!). It was very harsh on the palate, at least it was after only 1 hour of decanting. I will say this, though: the wine tasted gentler, and more refined on Day 2 as I worked my way through drinking what was left from our tasting. This suggests that we may want to decant wines for longer periods of time before we film our tastings. Easier said than done, but it’s something to consider!
You can see from the Winespies profile below, this bastard was HEAVY on the tannins:
Wine critic extraordinaire James Suckling gave this 95 points with the write-up:
“…dried red plums and red cherries, so don’t miss the hints of cedar and tar. There’s loads of fruit here, but the structure is also bold and eye-catching with round, chunky tannins. Long and flamboyant finish.”
Those flavors mentioned above were a bit more noticeable on Day 2 and 3 of drinking this wine. But Day 1? We just couldn’t get past the harsh tannins. Which is extra-sssspecially interesting as this was one of the oldest Barolos we tasted - 2015 vs. 2016’s and 17’s.
But, really, what the hell do we know? J.Suckles up there thinks it’s manna from heaven.
#5 2017 Rosa dell'Olmo Barolo 2017
Retail: $13.99
The first of the two “bargain” wines, priced at <$15 at Trader Joe’s - though when I look online it’s priced elsewhere at more than twice that! $28 - $35. And it’s just not a good enough wine at those prices. Honestly, it isn’t at $13.99, either.
The “Reverse Wine Snob” had the same take we did on our two bargain Barolos, loving the one we ranked in third place, but not recommending this turkey. And sadly, it did not get much better on Day 2. Or 3. Or…well, it took me a while to finish this one.
#4 Criterion Barolo 2016
Retail: $30
Our “middle of the road” priced Barolo found @ Whole Foods. This was another that improved quite a great deal from the tasting into Day 2 - the “petrol” flavor that so dominated the wine had faded into the background by day 2, 3, etc (hey! I had a LOT of Barolo to drink during those days!)
But ultimately, I think this one wound up in the correct placement - it’s not bad, at least not once the petrol flavor fades. But it also isn’t a particularly great example of the region/style. It might have impressed for the price if it wasn’t for this next great contender…
#3 Corte Rossa Barolo 2017
Retail: $12.99
Coming in at a dollar cheaper than the Rosa dell'Olmo, again from Trader Joe’s, this one is absolutely stellar for the price. It’s nothing life-changing as a standalone wine, but even young it was quite easy and pleasant to drink, and for a Barolo at this price point that is just unheard of.
Naturally, since the filming of this episode the #5 ranked Rosa dell’Olmo has been steadily available at TJ’s, while this Corte Rossa has been MIA ever since. I went back to get a few more, and it was straight-up gone! And hasn’t surfaced since! ARGH! Why does the universe hate me so?
BUT…Trader’s tends to recycle these things seasonally, as the next vintage becomes available. So keep your eyes peeled in the next 4-8 months for the 2018 of this one. If it shows up, pay for that bad boy. Chances are, it’ll be the best budget Barolo you’ll try.
#2 Luigi Pira 'Marenca' Barolo 2016
Retail: $75
Okay here we f***ing go! The first of the truly great Barolos in this tasting, and no surprise it was also the most “baroque” of the baroques, $10 pricier than the Sotto(Abbott and)costello.
There are only two producers who make a wine entirely from grapes sourced from Marenca - GAJA and Pira. The GAJA wine sells for around $500 (!!!). This Pira, thankfully, only retails for under a fifth of that. But man, it’s still got the goods.
It was the first Barolo that was truly easy drinking - even at only 6 years of total age! Quaffable, fruity, tannins already bordering on “fine”. If you can find one of these babies in the wild, I say go for it - it’s worth the price. Especially if you can find it at a discount like we did (again, from WineSpies.com).
We found it joyous, but admittedly a bit on the nondescript/characterless side, at least in comparison with our #1…
#1 Armando Parusso Barolo 2015
Retail: $60
Hysterically (but also symmetrically), our two 2015’s in the tasting ranked both dead bottom and then tippity top. Here, the age made a massive difference, and hey, maybe this is the mark of a truly great Barolo - where it’s already stellar 5-7 years in.
To continue the symmetry, J.Suckles once again weighs in with:
Extremely complex and intense aromas of sliced meat, flowers and ripe fruit, but perfumed at the same time. Full-bodied, very chewy and powerful with a long and flavorful finish. Needs four or five years to soften. Try in 2023.
Okay, J.bird, maybe you do know what you’re talking about (hell, everyone knows what they’re talking about compared to us, but this is OUR show and substack g.dammit!)
Another thing to note about this Barolo, from Antonio Galloni’s Vinous:
Parusso tends to harvest on the late side. He gives fruit 3-4 days of rest prior to being crushed, which, he believes allows the grapes to recover after being harvested while also further ripening the stems. The wines are fermented with 100% whole clusters and see 100% new oak, with the exception of the straight Barolo, which gets around 50% new wood.
God does all this all show in the finished wine: the flavor is complex, but also absolutely divine. It was delicious in that way that is impossible to put into words but we still have to try. 3-4 days “rest” essentially means 3-4 days “drying” (though I doubt that was long enough to actually “raisin” any of the grapes). But partially drying grapes is a technique known as “Appassimento” which is used in Italian “Amarone” wines, as well as Italian Sfursat and Sforzato wines. And whole cluster fermentation (keeping the seeds and stems in with the grapes) often delivers “complex” woodsy, herbal, tannic flavors to an otherwise straightforward product. And 100% new oak (which transfers an intense amount of flavor vs. neutral or old oak)? Jesus H. Christ playing a Wii. No wonder this wine is such a standout.
Parusso may be a maverick by Barolo standards. But I say: fuck tradition, let this Tom Cruise of Barolo show you how it’s done. This wine is revelatory.
Th-th-th-that’s all folks!
Don’t forget to share on social media with the #wineandcomics hashtag, so you can snag yourself of Cats of Ostia Antica HC! And let us know if you have any Q’s about the books or the wine. I have no idea if we can actually answer them, but boy howdy we will try :) See you in Episode 3!
At the time of this writing, I’ve received my softcover copy, but it’s not yet listed on the Tino Press online store or anywhere else. Is this ALSO sold out??? All the more reason to get this HC copy of ours!