For this first month of January 2021, I am exploring one of Italy's most underrated white wines, Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first Italian wine to receive a DOC denomination in 1966 as most students of Italian wine know. It was then given its DOCG designation in 1993.... Continue Reading →
Versatile Lambrusco for the Holidays
This month, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam is leading a discussion for the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers (#ItalianFWT) about sparkling Italian wines...just in time for the holidays. You can read her invitation, here. I seem to always choose to write about Lambrusco when this group writes about sparkling wine. Partly it's because I think Lambrusco... Continue Reading →
Exploring the Colli Berici in the Veneto
Map of the Veneto When we think of volcanic soils, some areas come immediately to mind, Sicily and some of its islands, Alto Adige, Basilicata, Campania and of course the Veneto. Then we think about Soave but how long does it take before we get to the Colli Berici? A long time generally, even for... Continue Reading →
Tasca d’Amerita, A Longstanding Focus on Sustainability
This month, #ItalianFWT explores sustainability at Italian wineries. Katarina of Grapevine Adventures is our host for the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers with Her invitation post is here. Read her piece on Climate also on the Montemaggio blog here for a more wide-ranging discussion about these issues. Thinking about sustainability in Italy, one of the wineries... Continue Reading →
Italy’s Chiaretto from Lake Garda Makes Waves
Thinking about all of the wonderful Rosato produced today in Italy brought me to think about some wines that are made on Lake Garda using a blend of grapes. The wines are from a denomination called Valtènesi. When someone mentions Chiaretto people usually think Bardolino but I an writing about the Chiaretto from Valtènesi which... Continue Reading →
Vermentino, the perfect coastal white wine from three Italian regions: Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia
Vermentino is one of Italy's great grape varieties. It is the perfect white wine to sip on a beach, have as an aperitivo or pair with wonderful seafood. To me it spells summer, sailing and relaxation. Vermentino can be found in a number of different regions in Italy including all over Liguria, pictured above. It... Continue Reading →
Looking Beyond the Name Super-Tuscans
This month's #ItalianFWT is focusing on Super-Tuscans thanks to Jill Barth of L'Occasion. Here is the preview post where she explains what brought her to want to write about this topic. I'm glad that she decided to shine a light on these wines again because it's something I have been thinking about too. For starters,... Continue Reading →
Exploring Sangiovese di Romagna
Sangiovese is as we know the premier red grape variety of Central Italy. While Tuscany is the region most associated with it, Emilia Romagna is not far behind. I love Emilia Romagna and spent a great year of my life in graduate school there at SAIS in Bologna. Romagna Sangiovese comes from seven towns around... 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 →
Invitation to Explore the Wines of Campania for May’s #ItalianFWT Group
In April 2018, I had the good fortune to attend Campania Stories, an annual wine event showcasing the bounty of Campania. I had been to Campania about five times as a tourist in various parts of the region before that but this was my full immersion into the world of Campanian wines and I have... Continue Reading →