A few weeks ago, while planning my holiday posts for the Loco Diner, I decided to write a story about The Unwinder, a drink made of a dry, Italian red wine, poured over ice and mixed with 7up. This drink has been part of my family for as long as I can remember and, from what I understand, as long as my dad can remember as well.

My grandfather, an Italian man who resembled Uncle Junior from The Sopranos, would make the drink using wine that was usually homemade by someone in the family and stored in jugs in the basement. For this reason, my dad still insists that the wine used for this drink pours from a “jug.”

It is worth noting that I planned this story before my invitation to become a member of the WTTV family and hadn’t given much thought to it until I sat down to write. All at once, I realized that WineTimeTV.net is a popular stop for the wine enthusiast and for this reason, this story almost didn’t happen. Could I really pitch an $8 jug of Italian red mixed with 7up to wine aficionados and keep my dignity?

It was a real “why am I here?” moment and I decided to take a break and think about it for a while.

While talking to a friend, a fellow Italian, about my dilemma, the Italian Spritzer came up in conversation. I was speechless when I found out that my friend’s “Italian Spritzer” was jug wine mixed with 7up. I had never heard of another family who drank this concoction.

I immediately emailed a few of my friends who grew up with similar Italian backgrounds asking them if they heard of this drink. Many of them had. So far, I have traced our Unwinder from Philadelphia neighborhoods to Camden and Runnemede in New Jersey, to Brooklyn and Long Island in New York all the way to the Abruzzo region of Italy.
The stories are all strikingly similar. Here is a sampling of the responses:

“My dad grew up in Camden in the 30′s and 40s…It was red wine, the type they sell in the liquor store with the screw cap.”

“It was common in South Philly. Usually an extremely dry red, often homemade.”

“I remember my grandmother in New Jersey making this drink.”

“My cousins and I all drank 7up and wine. We didn’t have any name for it other than wine and 7up. It was something like ‘vino e 7up.’ We always used homemade wine…All of my family is from the Abruzzo region of Italy. I think my cousins in Italy may have drunk it there too. In other words, I don’t think it originated with the Italian-Americans here.”

For those of you who are now dying to mix one up, here’s how:

The Unwinder
Fill a tall glass with ice.
Fill the glass half way with a dry Italian jug wine
Top off with 7up
Stir with a spoon.

With this connection to friends and family, I have a new found appreciation of my family’s most noted drink and for the culture in which I grew up. I also realize why I am listed with the sommelier and the adventure writer. I am the voice from the neighborhood, maybe quieter or more traditional, but still here with something to say.

In a few weeks, I’ll walk into my parent’s house for our traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner and my dad will say, “Hey, Buddy, do you want an Unwinder?” The answer, of course, will be yes and I can’t wait.

From my neighborhood to yours, happy holidays.

New Site

I could have titled this article “Dirty Laundry” or “Out With The Old…” Let me explain;

I started Wine Time TV back in late July 2009 on the wake of the then infamous Murphy-Goode Winery “Lifestyle Correspondent, A Really Goode Job” campaign, where I was publicly acknowledged as a Top 10 candidate (from over 1,000 applicants) and promised a Goode job by none other than Billionaire Entrepreneur himself, Jess

Jackson, Murphy-Goode winemaker David Ready Jr. and a slew of Jackson Family Wines VP’s of Marketing and What-Nots at the time. It was my intention to use this entertaining platform as one of several innovative tools I had up my sleeve to further promote Jess’ wonderful wares, like Murphy-Goode wine, for example.

Since then however, Jess and Jackson Family Wines have reneged on their promises, thus leaving this Wine Aficionado in training high and dry. Since receiving that awful news only a few weeks ago, you might imagine that someone transplanting themselves from Germany to California has likely already made travel plans and tied up local loose ends (flat, jobs, etc.) preparing for a new life in a new town/country. That someone, me, was basically screwed.

New Wine Time TV Experience

For a while there, it was difficult to NOT let Jackson Family Wines despicable and dishonest business practices corrode my new found lust for Wine, Wine Culture and Wine Edu-tainment and I certainly thought about calling it a day, related to my many online wine-oriented activities. It takes energy, commitment and passion to keep social networks alive and kicking, as many of you certainly know from your own exploits. I for one, have a very loud voice and strong presence in a variety of online niches (search Kamary Phillips google or yahoo) and have decided to continue growing Wine Time TV.net within the Winosphere, despite my unfortunate setbacks courtesy of Jackson Family Wines. (Wow, imagine if I was getting paid and dedicated everyday/all day to this!?) Thankfully there are thousands of wineries in the United States and I look forward to finding a new personal favorite and also creating mutually beneficial relationships with those knowing the value of social media and understanding the true meaning of partnership and promises.

New Writers

Helping with the new Wine Time TV experience are a handful of talented writers who’ll be contributing interesting and entertaining articles related to Wine, Food and the culture surrounding both. I’m happy to announce a few of them today as promised. Please give a warm Wine Time TV welcome to Jodi Fritch, Elizabeth White, and Rachel (just Rachel, like Cher!) Expect to see regular articles from these brilliant folks as well as several other talents being announced in the next days. Welcome aboard!

Thanks for reading,
Kamary