Once upon a time, in 2009, I started to write a column for an online website called Alta Cucina. I wrote about Italian indigenous grape varieties because I was amazed at how many there are and their link to individual terroirs and the stories behind them. Fast forward 11 years and I am on the... Continue Reading →
Explore Campania, May 2nd #ItalianFWT
This weekend the #ItalianFWT blogging group is traveling to Campania. It's going to be a lovely virtual trip. Campania, as I wrote in my invitation post here, is an incredible wine region with a wealth of native grapes to choose from, both whites and reds. There is so much to learn and explore about the... Continue Reading →
Campania Stories 2018: Falanghina from Campi Flegrei
During the Campania Stories 2018 event this past April, we tried a number of wines made with Falanghina from the Campi Flegrei DOC. Since that time, I have written a number of posts about Falanghina, discovered that there are really two Falanghina varieties - Falanghina Flegrei and Falanghina Beneventano - and much more about this... Continue Reading →
Campania Stories 2018: Campi Flegrei
The area known as the Campi Flegrei (meaning Phlegraean Fields) is one of Italy's most beautiful DOCs, including the islands in the Bay of Naples like Capri, Procida and Ischia. Campi Flegrei are on many people's minds today because they are the site of a very active volcano. Wines have been made in this area... Continue Reading →
Campania Stories 2018: Falanghina del Sannio
During Campania Stories, the 2018 edition and my first, we tasted through hundreds of wines. I decided to taste blind so I wouldn't be influenced by the people I knew well and my impressions of them. Luckily I took good notes on my trip and today am sharing my notes on the Falanghina del Sannio... Continue Reading →
Wine Wednesday: Villa Matilde Cecubo Roccamonfina IGP
I wrote this post some years ago but I thought I would repost it because they make wines from Roccamonfina IGP, the third area in the Alto Casertano that I wanted to mention. The Roccamonfina is an extinct Volcano. The area has been an IGT since 1995. The wines are made from Aglianico, Piedirosso, and... Continue Reading →
Day 2: Campania Stories 2018, Naples
This week I have been in Naples for #Campaniastories. It’s been a very interesting and intense experience in this thrilling region, Campania. One thing I appreciate a lot about this trip is that they have varied the events - tasting with professional sommeliers, visits to wineries in various parts of the region, and cultural experiences... Continue Reading →
Day 1: Campania Stories 2018
I am in Naples for the next few days discovering wines and food products from Campania as well as some of their amazing cultural and artistic sites. We got to visit the Reggia di Caserta, the local version of Versailles built in the 1700s for the Bourbon royal family of Naples.. I am hard pressed... Continue Reading →
“Aglianico from Irpinia” – March #Italian FWT
Here goes, this is the second time writing this post which I finished this am at 6:00 promptly posted and somehow got overwritten. In any event, what I said originally was that when Jeff of Food Wine Click proposed this topic, I was thrilled. I love Aglianico and it was a great time to... Continue Reading →
Looking Forward to Lunch With Ilaria Petito of DonnaChiara
I am looking forward to an exciting lunch today with Ilaria Petito and her wines from Donnachiara. Today's tasting is a vertical of Fiano, a grape that I love. Ilaria is a very exciting part of the Campania wine scene. She's truly lovely as are her wines. This fun photo is from VinoVip in 2013... Continue Reading →