Exploring Italian Wine One Grape at a Time
The Chianti Classico Collection 2023 just took place a month ago, and the Chianti Classico consortium was on a roll. It was a well-attended Anteprima (preview tasting) after the reduced events during the last three years due to the pandemic, and the good mood was on top. In an article on the blog of Fattoria … Read more
Vallepicciola is an estate located in the Castelnuovo Berdardenga area not far from Siena, on the rolling hills of Tuscany. When we talk about Castelnuovo Berdardenga, it generally, brings our minds to Chianti Classico as it is the southernmost subzone – UGA – of the Chianti Classico appellation. In mid-January, Vallepicciola invited us to an … Read more
Chianti lies at the heart of the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group’s theme this month, more precisely it’s a Cavalcade of Chianti wines. Using Chianti as a theme, of course, opens up choosing both Chianti DOCG and Chianti Classico DOCG wines, but at the same time, it also creates a bit of confusion for … Read more
Rosé wine – so-called Vino Rosato – is always a type of wine that pairs well with summer. Therefore, the theme this month in the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group is perfect as it focuses on Italian Rosé wines made with native grapes. I like Rosé wines and I am a terroir-nerd, so what … Read more
A man and his vineyards; a man and his horse. Well, with Fabrizio Forconi, the owner of Podere dell’Anselmo, it is a bit of both. Podere dell’Anselmo is a small winery, agritourism, and manège located in the Anselmo locality close to Montespertoli in Chianti. This is only about 25 minutes from Florence, in Tuscany. It … Read more
The Tuccanese grape from Puglia has been on my mind for quite some time, and as you know by now I am a sucker for lesser-known and somewhat obscure grapes and wines. When the topic in the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group was decided to be about Sangiovese Wines Around Italy…I just knew I … Read more
Approaching mid-December and Christmas time, I will take a jump backwards in time to the end of May and the event of Vignaioli di Radda. This was the second year and the second event of the association Vignaioli di Radda. Just as last year, we were a group of wine ‘people’ that were picked up … Read more
My idea for this article was to talk about some random wine tastings I did at the wine event #Backtothewine in Faenza last weekend. But imagine my surprise when I the other day while happily starting to write this article discovered that such a title was already taken for this event. Somebody else has my … Read more
On a September Saturday, I hopped on a local train from Florence to Faenza, generally called the “trenino” because it puffs slowly up the ‘Tosco-Romagnolo’ mountain landscape. I was on my way to the wine event Modigliana, Stella dell’Appennino to learn more about the 10 Sangiovese producers in Modigliana and the special terroir there. Thanks … Read more
Following Sara Carmignola for a couple of years on social media, I only met her in person earlier this summer at the yearly Vignaioli di Radda event at the House of Chianti Classico in Radda. We hit it off straight away and had a lot of fun during the day. Going on the offroading together … Read more