This week I have had the good fortune to spend some time with Giovanni Ponchia, the young and talented winemaker from the Soave Consortium. I also was lucky enough to try a new Soave that I didn't know from Cantina di Monteforte. It was light, refreshing and very easy to drink as an apertif and... Continue Reading →
Expo2015 Day 6, Streets of Milan, Italian Indigenous Grapes
Today is day 6 of Expo2015 and it is a celebration of biodiversity. Today's street is Via Brera which is home to the Accademia di Brera, one of the world's great museums as well as the Orto Botanico or botanical gardens. It is also home to other art galleries and the famed Bar Jamaica, a... Continue Reading →
Italian Indigenous Varieties: Grechetto
This week's grape hails is Grechetto which grows in Umbria but also in Lazio and Tuscany. The green heart of Italy, Umbria is the home of the Grechetto Bianco grape also called Grechetto di Orvieto. Grechetto produces a lovely white wine with notes of pear and almonds as well as hints of white flowers. It... Continue Reading →
Italian Indigenous Varieties: Barsaglina, Becuet Nero and Bellone
Who ever heard of Barsaglina or Becuet Nero? I certainly hadn't until I started doing my Italian indigenous grape dictionary posts. Barsaglina sounds like a candy, the kind that you might find on the counter in a pretty tin, but instead it is a grape variety from Tuscany which hails from the town of Massa... Continue Reading →
Indigenous Italian Grape Varieties: Alionza and Ancellotta
Italy has a never ending supply of indigenous grape varieties. Some have world renown such as Aglianico, Sangiovese, and Nebbiolo while most are little know outside of their own region. This is the case with the next two varietals, Alionza and Ancellotta Both Alionza and Ancellotta hail from Emilia Romagna, a region in the center... Continue Reading →
Indigenous Italian Grape Varieties: Abbuoto, Abrusco and Abrustine
I have begun writing a series on Italian grape varieties for Altacucina Society's website. While I say in my introduction to the series that surely I will miss a few, I have decided to integrate the ones I missed on this blog. For Altacucina Society, I started with Aglianico although then I swiftly discovered at... Continue Reading →