I confess I was up early and spent two hours watching the Royal Nuptials. I loved it. It brought me back 30 years to that night in camp when we all got up at 4:00 AM to watch Prince Charles marry Lady Diana. Of course I'm no longer that blushing tween but I do still... Continue Reading →
Time Out For Tribeca – Off The Rez
Sometimes I'm sure it seems from reading my blog that I'm always out at a wine event or tasting/thinking/writing about wine and food. The truth is yes, wine is never very far from my thoughts but my interests are considerably more varied. One of my big interests is the movies, another is basketball and a... Continue Reading →
Milano Mon Amour – San Colombano DOC
All this talk about which areas of Italy have DOCG and DOC denominations can make one's head spin. One province however, has a very limited number of DOCs wines and no DOCG wines to speak of in fact. That province is my former hometown of Milan. Not surprisingly, the area around this big city is... Continue Reading →
Italy Names Three New DOCG & Three New DOC Wines
There is no stopping the Italians these days in terms of the numbers of wines being recognized with a DOCG and DOC designation. On April 21, just in time for the Easter holiday, three new DOCG and DOC wines were confirmed. They are 'Frascati Superiore' , 'Cannellino di Frascati' and Montecucco Sangiovese for the DOCG... Continue Reading →
Patriotism Alive and Well in Italy’s 150th Year
One of the most interesting things I noticed during this visit to Italy was the plethora of Italian flags hanging on people's balconies. Generally speaking, in my experience, Italians are not the most nationalistic of people, except when it comes to the Azzurri - the national soccer team. That being said, this time was different.... Continue Reading →
Biodiversity – A theme at Vinitaly
Although today is Thursday and I promised I would write about Italian indigenous varietals, I want to write about a subject that kept coming up throughout my Italian trip - biodiversity. If in the meantime, before my next indigenous variety post, you want to learn of a new grape variety, check out Dobianchi's post on... Continue Reading →
Salone del Mobile Day 3: Wine & Design Pairings From Friuli, Changes in Milan
Wandering around the Salone del Mobile events last week, you always happen upon interesting items and thought provoking works. Sometimes you also find things you can't live without. For example, last Wednesday my friend found her wedding dress at the Salone which was a kick and of course touching (WEEPY GIRL MOMENT) and we also... Continue Reading →
Passover Wines – Changes Afoot
Today is the first day of Passover. I had my first Seder last night with my parents and my niece. We had a pretty peaceful meal with the requisite brisket, horseradish, eggs, potatoes and other yummy items. Wine as always is an issue. This year my Mother brought a wine from the Veneto, a kosher... Continue Reading →
Salone del Mobile Day 2: Ever More International With A Focus on Sustainability
Every year, the Salone del Mobile gets bigger and more interesting in my opinion. This year it was even more international than in previous years. Brazil held events in a number of locations around Milan. As did Portugal, Denmark, Belgium and other countries. I tried to visit as many showrooms, exhibits and collections as I... Continue Reading →
Salone del Mobile Day 1: My Second Home
I am now in Milan enjoying Spring weather not the Summer temperatures that we had in Verona. This is the week of the Salone del Mobile, a huge design fair. I have always gone to the Fuori Salone and not to the fair itself. The fair has become the biggest design event in the world... Continue Reading →
