Exploring Italian Wine One Grape at a Time
“She walks in Beauty, like the night” from She Walks in Beauty, by George Gordon, Lord Byron Even though it is still somewhere between winter and spring, and on the hills surrounding Livorno last weekend it was fairly rainy and grey, it is still a place that “walks in beauty”. Livorno is known as one … Read more
As you have probably understood by now, February is the month when you can get all the sneak peeks of the Tuscan wines being launched during the year. Together with my friend and fellow sommelier Nadia Padrin, we have so far covered the sneak peeks of Nobile di Montepulciano (covered by Nadia), Tuscany Taste, (the … Read more
This month is the period of the so-called Anteprime, i.e. the wine events organized by the different wine consortiums here in Tuscany, Italy, in order to taste the new vintages being presented for the present year. It is a great opportunity both for buyers, sommelier, journalists and people in general to taste the wines the … Read more
Exploring the Treasures of Umbria: Grechetto, Sagrantino & Olive Oil “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever” (from Endymion, by John Keats) Now you might wonder why I begin this article with a quote by Keats when you probably think I should start directly to talk about wine. Well, it is all connected. Beauty, … Read more
At #WinesOfItaly Blab on Tuesday, January 12th, my guest was Valeria Losi from Azienda Agricola Losi in Castelnuovo Berardenga close to Siena. Valeria told us that her role in the family winery is to act as a sort of brand ambassador. Thus, she travels a lot over the world to promote the winery. She continued … Read more
At the #WinesOfItaly Blab before Christmas, Costanza Yael Aviv Castelnuovo-Tedesco, owner of the wine bar Uva Nera in Florence, was a guest. She talked about her wine bar and presented two wines and the producers behind them. The producers are Panizzi, well known for their Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and Vallone di Cecione, producing a Chianti Classico … Read more
Last week Lorenzo, the president of Fisar Firenze asked me if I wanted to come along with another two fellow sommeliers to visit the winery Val delle Corti in Radda in Chianti. Of course, I said yes, even though I then realized I knew next to nothing about the winery…yet. So I asked Lorenzo, who … Read more
Last night we had our first #WinesOfItaly Blab, and apart from a couple of smaller glitches it went quite well for being the first time I hosted a blab on my own. I am very happy about and grateful to the people who joined the discussion yesterday, and I hope you will all come back … Read more
This article has been on the agenda for a while, but other things kept coming in between all the time. In mid-August, I was asked by Luigi Cappellini to come and give extra support in speaking English with some American and other international guests who were visiting Castello di Verrazzano for a couple of days. … Read more
A couple of days ago I was invited to attend the press conference of the Associazione Viticoltori Montefioralle, which is an association of wine producers in the area around the village Montefioralle (a district of Greve in Chianti) in Tuscany, that has recently been founded. All the producers are members of the Consorzio del Chianti … Read more