This week's Women in Wine Fridays is about Matilde Poggi from Le Fraghe. I met Matilde at the Slow Wine tasting back in February. I was really impressed with her wines and wanted to find out more about her. These are her answers to some questions that I emailed her about her winery and her... Continue Reading →
Wine Wednesday: 10 Tips for Visiting Vinitaly
Vinitaly is the Italian wine fair that everyone either loves or hates but goes to nonetheless save other issues such as time of year, coincidence with other holidays and the like. I am on my 17th Vinitaly and I can say I love to go. It's crazy, chaotic and crowded but I love the buzz... Continue Reading →
Italian Indigenous Varieties: Malvasia di Schierano Nero from Piedmont
This week's indigenous grape variety is called Malvasia di Schierano Nero. This aromatic grape comes from Piedmont and produces either frizzante or spumante red or rose style sweet wines. The grapes are occasionally dried and made into a passito style wine as well. The wines are said to be of low alcohol and to pair... Continue Reading →
Spanish Sundays: 2012 Numanthia Termes From Toro DO
Spain is rarely discussed on this blog but it is never too far from my heart. I have a couple of Spanish DOs that I work with and I often drink Spanish wines. I studied Spanish for seven years after returning home from Italy but alas alak, have spent precious little time in that country... Continue Reading →
Pomp & Circumstance – Sometimes It’s Appealing
Just reposting this because it is the only post I have written that includes English wine. Like everyone else, today I am thinking about London, the Uk and the statement keep calm and carry on. Westminister is in my heart since I was a small child as my Dad is a huge Churchill fan. I am saddened and alarm but their resilience is legendary and I have no doubt yesterday’s attack will be met with the same resolve Britain has always shown.
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 have some of that. Also, after going to a funeral service yesterday for a dear friend’s father, it was nice to watch something light and fairytale like early today, especially when so much of the news is so dire.
I, like everyone else who pens a wine blog, is likely thinking of British sparklers to celebrate the occasion. I’ve only had ones from Nyetimber, which were delicious but quite pricey. I did find an entire website dedicated to English wine producers. Years ago this would have been unthinkable. While the growth of their…
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Wine Wednesday: Si Mon Père Savait(Cotes du Roussillon)
This week's wine Wednesday is about a wine from Bernard Magrez, Si Mon Père Savait. Made from a blend of 69% Syrah, 17% Carignan, and 14% Grenache, it screams Southern France and particularly Roussillon. Infact, it is from the Côtes du Roussillon. The vines are grown on schist soils. The grapes are vinified separately in... Continue Reading →
Italian Indigenous Varieties: Malvasia di Sardegna Bianco
Today's indigenous variety is Malvasia di Sardegna Bianca. This Malvasia can be found in two DOCs, Malvasia di Bosa and Malvasia di Cagliari. Both of these areas are in the province of Cagliari in Western Sardinia. They were each awarded their DOC designation in 1972. There are various versions of Malvasia di Bosa, some sparkling,... Continue Reading →
Happy St. Patrick’s Day With Porterhouse Red Ale
Happy St. Patrick's day. In the nine years that I have been posting on this blog, I think I have written about beer twice or maybe three times. It’s not that I don’t like beer it is just that I gravitate to other beverages on a continual basis. Sometimes though, after a big tasting or... Continue Reading →
Wines from the Valtellina: Nino Negri Sfursat 5 Stelle 2011
Thinking of my friend in Valtellina today as he celebrates his birthday. It’s so cold here in NY that I continue to think I should be skiing at least and drinking great mountain wines from places like Valtellina. I just tried a Sfursat from Mamete Prevostini at Tre Bicchieri and it was fantastic! Infact the acidity, in my view, due to the elevation of the vineyards, enables these concentrated wines to be imbibed with slightly lighter food than what an Amarone requires. Worth learning to pronounce, try wines from the Valtellina, Sfursat and others, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Last week’s Italian extravaganza of wines included some wines from the Valtellina in Lombardy, particularly this one from Nino Negri. I got about 10 text messages from a friend who lives in the Valtellina last week asking me if I had seen that Eric Asimov had finally taken note of Valtellina. Yes I had read the article. Funny that even in Sondrio, what the New York Times writes about, is what they have their minds on. That said, I actually had first visited the Valtellina with the person who texted me over 15 years ago. His family has a house there and we went to visit and tasted wines along the way. I loved the wines from Sandro Fay I remember and a few others. One of the famous names forever from that region though is Nino Negri. Last week I just had the pleasure of tasting his Sfursat…
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Wine Wednesday: Petite Arvine from Ottin (Valle d’Aosta)
This week’s blizzard has really made me miss ife on the slopes, all of it. I always remember the panini with speck and asiago cheese that I would eat when skiing in Italy and the desire to drink Vin Brule but the knowledge that too much of it would make me a worse skier. Hopefully,... Continue Reading →