The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 235

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5 1997 ID SllcitfiamiHerali) LIFETIME LOVE: Julio Iglesias selects a bottle from his to a 1972 dinner in Paris attended by members of extensive wine collection He traces his passion for fine wine winemaking Rothschild family AN IGLESIAS SAMPLER IF YOU GO Herald I By FRED TASKER Herald Staff Writer Alone in the wee hours in hotel or dressing room spent from a late-night Las Vegas appearance crooner of love songs Julio Iglesias might be seen to close his eyes tilt back his head and become lost in dreamy reverie about not so fast there wine The man is a serious collector as passionate about wine perhaps as about women and song The smallest of his three wine troves is a 10000-bottle air-conditioned room in his $3-milIion-plus mansion in Indian Creek He also has a South Florida warehouse and a natural cave deep in the earth in Spain A glass a day had at least a glass of wine every day for three decades he says the past 30 years every single night of my life a good He explains: is a masterpiece from the earth a need for humans to communicate with things that are strong and deep and Now to share his passion with his fans he will come to a six-course dinner at Ristorante La Bussola in Coral Gables today to unveil his new line of wines Julio Iglesias International Wine Selections All are wines by European producers that Iglesias has personally selected in his extensive wine travels started drinking wine in the house of my Iglesias says I went to France in 1967 or 1968 and got really involved Like a Taste of heaven He dates his true baptism to 1972 at a dinner in Paris with film director Roman Polanski attended by members of winemaking Rothschild family was the first time I had tasted the Lafite I said have never tasted so beautiful a I will never forget it as long as I He started serious collecting particularly the Bordeaux and Burgundy of France and the Pesquera and Vega Sicilia of the Ribera del Duero region of Spain most beautiful thing in life is to buy he says has given me the privilege the money I PLEASE SEE WINE 88 attraction tion Thank Gloria and Emilio Estefan who first taught the world to conga and now plan to teach it to distinguish between vaca frita and ropa vieja Thursday the Estefans and their Disney partners mark the grand opening of their already up-and-run-ning Bongos Cuban Cafe an 1 8 million monument to Cubania in the capital of Americana talking two floors and 500 seats with mosaic images of Cuban flags Cuban stamps and "Visit posters nd a painting of La Caridad del Cobre under a bar boasting bongo-shaped bar stools The speakers blare out Cuban music everything from Celia Cruz to Beny More to the house specialties: Gloria Estefan Jon Secada and Albita The whole thing is housed in a glistening white Disneyesque casona with stained-glass arches over shutter-framed windows and paddle fans lining second-floor balconies This is the dream version of the house so many in South Florida left behind Bongos Cuban Cafe complete with souvenir shop selling T-shirts baseball caps and cigars is part of the new Downtown Disney West Side a shopping and dining extravaganza in PLEASE SEE BONGOS 88 Shania Twain Country star disappoints on new album Shania Twain Come on Over Mercury Shania Twain whose The Woman in Me (1995) was the best-selling country album ever released by a woman returns today with one of the most stupid follow-ups ever released by anyone bad news because Twain is in prime position to help lead march toward intelligent songwriting after its descent into formula Sure nothing wrong with a couple of novelty songs in repertoire but an entire worth? What was Twain thinking when writing such insipid drivel as realized I forgot my purse With all this stress I must confess This could be worse than from the Any Man of Mine rewrite Honey Home Twain about as as South Beach figures lyrics like dam gone and done are all she needs to use to convey country in Love Gets Me Every Time a song that is in essence a pop ditty Even Billy Ray Cyrus considered the epitome of the country himbo followed Achy Breaky Heart with smarter songs Twain squanders her role on 16 sound-alike cuts none nearly so catchy or inventive as the better stuff on The Woman in Me Instead husband lazy production forced attempts at cleverness Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) If You Wanna Touch Her Ask! Whatever You Do! and the grade-school songwriting of Man! I Feel Like a Woman! with synthesizers mimicking attacking ducks Most dumbfounding: Black Eyes Blue Tears discussing domestic violence with a perky pop beat Come on Overt Decline the invitation HOWARD COHEN Herald Staff Writer Connie Chung hired by ABC Associated Press Two years after being dumped by CBS following her ill-fated anchor pairing with Dan Rather Connie Chung will return to TV news this time on ABC Chung will report on newsmagazines like Pri-meTime Live and also work as a substitute news anchor Her hiring by ABC was set in motion after her plans for a syndicated talk show with her husband Maury Povich Povich decided his own show Chung and Rather were co-hosts of the CBS Evening News from 1993-95 She lashed out at CBS following her May 1995 firing saying she was being made to take the fall for low ratings and received support from many women in network news CBS has since remained in third place in the evening news ratings Far singer Julio Iglesias the introduction to fine wine was true love at first sip A sampling of Julio Iglesias Selection wines: 1995 Moreau-Fontaine Pinot NoirBurgundy (Cotes de Nuits France): Spicy cinnamon and tart-cherry aromas and flavors very smooth ripe tannins Iglesias recommends serving it with grilled meats game soft cheeses 1994 Artadi-Rioja Alavesa Viftas de Gain (Spain): Aromas of oak and sage flavors of tar caramel and black cherries rich complex and powerful Iglesias recommends serving it with cheeses and red meats 1995 Moreau-Fontaine Chardonnay Burgundy (France): Full rich and spicy very smooth honeyed flavors and long finish Iglesias recommends serving it with shellfish fish escargots or goat cheese a Cuban world at Julio Iglesias unveils his wines from 6 to today at Ristorante La Bus-sola 264 Giralda Ave Coral Gables at a $65 dinner open to the public The dinner pairs his Julio Iglesias International Wine Selections with courses from jumbo lump crab cake to filet mignon with gorgonzola sauce Reservations are required Call (305) 445-8783 latest Orlando PHELAN EBENHACK For The By LYDIA MARTIN Herald Staff Writer The mojito arrives at your table frozen a Slurpee version of the mint-and-rum Cuban classic that would make any old-fashioned straw-hat guajiro reel Just as you prepare to order the masitas de puerco with maduros a guy sporting a slope of slippery hair and a Technicolor teal suit bounds onto the stage and starts belting out a throwback ditty: ACUMBA-CUM-BA UMBA UMBA NCHER A BONGO-BONGO-BONGO-BON-GOCERO! Any second now perhaps between the masitas and the guava shells with cream cheese you half expect a dizzy redhead named Lucy to bust into the act But this Desi Amaz aka Adrian Israel a Miami-by-way-of-Mariel actor who used to do a mean Walter Mercado in a Little Havana teatrico carries on uninterrupted: yes they call me Cuban Pete the king of the Latin beat The crowd joins him in a rousing No not stuck in some Twilight Zone version of I Love Lucy at Disney World and this is Cuba as over-the-top tourist attrac- KING OF THE LATIN BEAT: Desi Arnaz look-alike Adrian Israel performs at Bongos Cuban Cafe at Disney World Gloria and Emilio Estefan are partners in the venture.