Exploring Italian Wine One Grape at a Time
Already a couple of years ago, at the yearly Anteprima (sneak peek) of the Consorzio Vino Chianti in Tuscany, I tasted the wines of Daniele Rosti at Campochiarenti. And from the beginning, I really liked and enjoyed tasting his Chianti Colli Senesi wines. We were also following each other on Twitter. Then a year ago … Read more
On Tuesday, October 11th 2016, my guests on the Wines Of Italy Livestream were Federica and Gianluca Cabrini from Tenuta Belvedere in Montecalvo Versiggia, in the province of Pavia, Lombardy. This winery is situated in the Oltrepò Pavese wine district in Lombardy. They produce a sparkling wine, m’Ami Spumante Extra Brut, made with pinot noir and produced using the metodo classico, i.e., the Champagne … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by my friend Patrizia Cantini to an event organized by Aset Toscana (Associazione EnogastroAgroAlimentare Toscana). There were two points on the agenda for the evening: to hand over the Kyle Phillips 2016 award and to award a selection of the, according to Aset, eight best schiacciate in … Read more
The visit to the winery Cote di Franze close to Cirò Marina in Calabria was a long time coming, as I contacted them already last year when I was in Calabria. However, last year we did not manage to arrange a visit. Then at Vinitaly this year, together with Nadia, I passed by the Calabria pavilion … Read more
After a month-long summer break, I returned with the Wines Of Italy LiveStream on September 6th with Suzanne Hoffman as a guest. Suzanne (her website and blog is Winefamilies) has just published the book Labor of Love: Wine Family Women of Piemonte which is just as the name hints a wonderful story about wineries in Piemonte … Read more
On a summer day at the end of June, Nadia, my partner in wine, came to pick me up in the morning to go to Montefollonico and Montepulciano. We had decided we would tour a couple of wineries in the area, and one of them was Tenuta Valdipiatta just outside Montepulciano. In an earlier article … Read more
My first encounter with Cantine Lucà was at Vinitaly earlier this year. While passing by and saying hello to Sergio Arcuri, together with my friend Nadia we asked him what other producers in the Calabria pavilion that he could recommend. One of those he said we must try, was the Greco di Bianco Passito DOC … Read more
A summer evening in mid-July, I was invited to a wine and olive oil tasting dinner at Villa Cora in Florence by the San Gervasio winery and the olive oil producer Eleonora di Toledo. It was a lovely evening where we could get to know the wine and olive oil producers better in the sofas … Read more
’Twas the…end of April, and together with my friend Paola Dentifrigi, we were out touring a couple of wineries in Tuscany. We had an appointment with Fattoria di Fibbiano in the afternoon like between 3 and 6 pm. We were slightly late for the appointment but thought that was not a problem. Then Giuseppe Cantoni from … Read more
… and now, fair Italy! Thou art the garden of the world (…) From Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto IV By Lord Byron So I know I always return to the poets of the Romanticism and Nationalist period in 19th century Europe, but, after all, that is the period I studied in my historical research. Have patience … Read more