Exploring Italian Wine One Grape at a Time
June will be the month to discover more about wine in Umbria and Lazio in the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group. Central Italy has for long been in the shadows of other more hyped-up regions when it comes to viticulture and winemaking. However, in recent years a lot has been happening to change the … Read more
Ciliegiolo is a grape variety with magic greatness native to Maremma in southern Tuscany and central Italy but it is cultivated in several Italian regions. Ian D’Agatha defines it as “…one of the country’s greatest but most underappreciated grape varieties.” This is because it produces vertical wines with “pure aromas and flavors.” It is indeed … Read more
Thanksgiving and wine go together as the occasion to open up and try new or familiar labels with friends and family. But for those who only celebrate Thanksgiving occasionally with American friends, what is Thanksgiving really about? In brief, the Thanksgiving weekend is coming up next week in the US and in many locations in … Read more
June and summer are here and so also a desire for sipping on white wines such as a Trebbiano Spoletino from Umbria. This month, the wine theme in the Italian Food, Wine, and Travel group is: Exploring Italy’s Native White Grapes. There are many undervalued and hidden treasures in Italy when it comes to indigenous … Read more
We are now in early September and summer is turning into harvest time, but it seems like only yesterday that I was at the Anteprima Sagrantino in Montefalco. During this short period since early June, some changes have happened also within the Consortium of Montefalco Sagrantino. In June, at the preview event, Filippo Antonelli was … Read more
Sagrantino…not Georgia…is on my mind today So, let’s get back to talk about Montefalco in Umbria and more precisely the Anteprima Sagrantino days that I attended back in February. It was an event sponsored by the Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco. They made it possible to learn so much more about the Montefalco area and Sagrantino … Read more
Easter is all around us. It has been some very busy months lately with a lot of traveling for wine and my article writing has been suffering. I apologize for that. I have so much to tell you, and I cannot wait to get a bit of calm to sit down and write about it. … Read more
A weekend spent in Montefalco touring wineries and tasting Sagrantino must be almost the best of all worlds, right? This article has been in writing for a week almost. I have been quite busy with tastings for more than a week with the Anteprime Toscane and not the Anteprima Montefalco. So, every time I wanted … Read more
Umbria is a region that is a bit tucked away between Tuscany, Marche, and Lazio and often it has gotten less attention and recognition than it deserves when it comes to wine production. Umbria is not only the land of Sagrantino but also of white grapes such as Grechetto in the form of Grechetto Colli … 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