S.W. and Rich Hermansen
Guest Writers
wine@lbknews.com
Italy anchors the “slow food” movement. Meals continue to be gatherings of family and 
friends: Buon cibo. Buon vino. Buon amici (Good food, Good wine, Good friends). By tradition, a dinner during midday or evening becomes an event, not to be rushed.
The amazing range of enhanced wines and liqueurs that Italians drink before and after food and table wine gives us insights into Italian culinary traditions. The classic lead into dinner in, say, a Tuscan ristorante seating between 20:00 and 22:00 (8-10PM) may begin an hour or two earlier at a nearby enoteca (wine bar). An enoteca serves different drinks that help whet an appetite. These aperitivos (apéritifs in French) tend to be less potent than the American cocktail and more a prelude to multiple courses with fine wines and digestivos (digestifs in French) to help diners cope with the aftermath of a surfeit of culinary delights. Usually light in alcohol, a Spritz of liqueur and sparkling water, for instance, will enliven tastes for pasta courses.
Although Italians have created and continue to consume many variants of Apéritifs, such as fortified herbal wines (Compari, Aperol, Vermouth), other countries have their own favorite apéritifs: French Pastis, Spanish Fino and Amontillado Sherry, and Portuguese White and Tawny Porto. Pastis, a substitute for the formerly most popular apéritif in France but then banned Absinthe, has a licorice taste and a milky appearance when mixed with water. It has survived in France as a standard apéritif. The Spanish Sherry and Portuguese Ports have a following in Great Britain and Northern Europe.
Stronger spirits in Northern Europe and the Americas do not as a rule serve as apéritifs. If anything, they dull the appetite and make us more accepting of heavy and tasteless foods.
The Digestifs offer a wide range of possibilities as well, The sweet Digestifs match up to sweet desserts. An aged Sauternes, an Ice Wine, a Vin Sante, Brandy, Grappa, a late harvest red, or another intensely sweet wine enhances the flavors of fruit tortes or cremes. A dessert disgestif may also serve as a dessert by itself, or complement a cheese plate.
S. W. Hermansen has used his expertise in econometrics, data science and epidemiology to help develop research databases for the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and Health Resources and Services. He has visited premier vineyards and taste wines from major appellations in California, Oregon, New York State, and internationally from Tuscany and the Piedmont in Italy, the Ribera del Duero in Spain, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Australia, and the Otego Valley in New Zealand. Currently he splits time between residences in Chevy Chase, Maryland and St. Armand’s Circle in Florida.
Rich Hermansen selected has first wine list for a restaurant shortly after graduating from college with a degree in Mathematics. He has extensive service and management experience in the food and wine industry. Family and friends rate him as their favorite chef, bartender, and wine steward. He lives in Severna Park, Maryland nd St. Armand’s Circle in Florida.
