I have always enjoyed the month of June, filled with occasions to celebrate and people to salute with a celebratory toast. If May is the start of Summer, June is when it really gets into full swing. I used to love the month of May but for me, it is now a distant month because it is the month when my Dad passed away last year so it will always be a hard one in which I miss him even more intensely. That said, it was a month where I tasted a lot of great Italian wine and that always helps.

I went to a couple of wonderful events – a lunch with the esteemed Tony Didio and friends at Nonna Dora to taste wines from Paolo e Noemi D’Amico’s winery iin Umbria with homemade pastas by none other than Nonna Dora. An incredible lineup of wines that really sung, particularly the one made in Amphora. I will write a separate post about this amazing winery later this week.

I also got to attend the amazing tasting of Sicilia DOC wines where I focused on Grillo and Cataratto for whites and Frappato and Nerello for reds although I also got to try a great Perricone/Pignatello. I loved the Di Giovanna Grillo grown at a high altitude called Vurria. I will also write about that experience later this week.

So much wine and I am thankful for the invites, the friends I encountered, and the beautiful wines I got to taste. I am also thankful for the wines I drank from current and former clients and friends- Tenuta Roveglia’s Lugana, Fattoria Nicodemi’s Trebbiano d”abruzzo, Cantina di Bolzano’s Kerner and Sauvignon, Pasini San Giovanni’s Il Valtenesi Groppello. What a long strange month May was. All of these wines would be a great way to salute a graduate, celebrate a birthday or an anniversary. Goodbye May. Hello June.