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wine – GT Food & Travel
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GT Food & Travel

Tag: wine

  • Wine Tasting Basics

    Wine Tasting Basics

    Have you ever attended a professional wine tasting? Not all tastings are the same but often the wine color is noted, the wine swirled, noses sniff into the glass and tasters proclaim “strawberries, raspberries, roses ” all before they taste the wine. Puzzled onlookers may wonder what’s in that glass?

    I can’t help but think of my 80-year-old cousin Rocco. He drinks sweet red jug wine. He’s one of the most happy-go-lucky people I know. He sat across from me at a wine tasting in Sicily bewildered and confused, as I observed the color of the wine and proceeded to swirl, sniff, taste and spit (not ingested) my wine. Neither the color of the wine nor the nose entered into his wine appreciation equation.Planetawineglasses

    I don’t use wine vocabulary like nose, tannin and acidity to confound or confuse readers although my editor at theAmerican may not believe me. Wine knowledge and terminology do not equal wine pleasure. There are no rights or wrongs in wine appreciation. It’s subjective.

    Enough said. This month I am happy to share 3 steps to wine tasting on theAmerican. Now grab a glass of your favorite sparkling, red or white wine, bring a clear nose and open mind. Enjoy!

  • Meet Anna of Vino Di Anna on Mt. Etna

    Meet Anna of Vino Di Anna on Mt. Etna

    Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Anna Martens at her vineyard on the slopes of Mt. Etna, Sicily. Anna hails from Adelaide, Australia where she grew up surrounded by vineyards. At Adelaide University, she earned a post-grad degree in viticulture and oenology, while working for the Petaluma Winery. In 2001, she packed her bags to harvest in Argentina before landing in Tuscany, Italy. She never looked back.

    DSC_0159In 2005, she first set her feet on Mt. Etna. She fell in love with the terraced vineyards, breathtaking Etna, and the indigenous grape varieties of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante. In 2008, she bought two parcels of fruit on Etna and she produced 600 bottles of Vino Di Anna using only indigenous yeasts, no sulfites – wine made naturally. The rest is history. Last week, I had the chance to chat with Anna about her journey and Vino Di Anna. Continue reading “The Martens mission” for excerpts from our talk.VinodiAnnaVineyards

  • Les Vignerons on Natural Wines

    Les Vignerons on Natural Wines

    Happy New Year! 2016 is off to a great start especially since Les Vignerons is moving from the off-the-beaten-path area of Tor Pignattara to Trastevere which is a mere 15 minute tram ride from my home. Les Vignerons is my favorite wine and craft beer shop in Rome. While there is no shortage of wine shops and markets in Rome, for a natural wine drinker like me, there is no substitute for Les Vignerons. I’ve been fortunate to get to know owners Antonio Marino and Marisa Gabbianelli over the past few years as they have evolved along with their knowledge of natural wines and craft beer.

    Antonio_Marisa_LesVignerons

    Clients often ask me why I break out into song and dance when talking about natural wine? We’re used to hearing “we are what we eat”. I’d say “we are what we eat and we are what we drink”. Natural wines – not necessarily organic which I’ll leave for another post – in its simplest definition is a wine made with minimal intervention and no artificial additives, it’s nothing new. It’s the way wine has been made for thousands of years. I had the chance to chat with Antonio and Marisa about the definition of natural wines over coffee as well as their philosophy, their individual paths and craft beer. Continue reading “The naturalists” for excerpts from our talk.

    Les Vignerons (opening in February 2016)
    Via Goffredo Mameli 61 in Trastevere
    Opening hours: Monday from 16:00-21:30; Tuesday-Saturday from 10:30 – 21:30

     

  • Wines of Campania

    Wines of Campania

    IMG_5909Last month I had a blast learning more about the wines of Campania and writing Part I for The American|InItalia in ‘Campania Awakens, I’. It all started thanks to a gorgeous group of clients. They insist on delving into the wines of a different region each time they visit Italy. We’ve visited Basilicata and Puglia in the past. This year Campania was on deck as they we’re heading to the Amalfi Coast. Our pre-trip ritual includes  a relaxing meal in Rome where we discuss the region, vineyards and wines we’re about to sample and we put our pairings to the test. As a frequent visitor to Naples and the Amalfi Coast, I usually drink natural wines and highly-rated DOCG wines – crisp whites such as Fiano d’Avellino and bold reds like Aglianico del Taburno. IMG_0704 (1)In our pre-trip dinner, I knew it would be futile to attempt to jam in all the region’s wine zones in a single chat. There are too many diverse areas to cover. Instead, in Part I, we focused our travels on Campania’s less-mentioned coastal areas, Capri, Vesuvius, Paestum and Cilento. These areas are most often remembered for the sea, archaeological sites and mozzarella di bufala cheese but each has a highly specific wine history to discover.IMG_1297In Part II, we headed inland to the southern end of the Apennine Mountain range and the unique territory of Irpina where temperatures get quite chilly. It’s not surprising given that vineyards sit up to 1900 feet above sea level. These elevations combined with temperatures that fluctuate greatly throughout the year can be quite trying. How does this affect the glass of Fiano that we’re about to taste? To find out continue reading ‘Campania awakens, II‘.

  • Puglia Wine Discovery

    Puglia Wine Discovery

    I’d been meaning to visit Puglia for years. Its raw beauty, fabulous beaches, crystalline sea and uncomplicated food like burrata cheese, orecchiette pasta with turnip tops and grilled fish make it a destination for beach, food and wine lovers alike. Reading that half of Italy’s olive oil is produced in Puglia and that Puglia produces more wine than any other Italian region didn’t quite prepare me for what I’d see on our three-day August family escape. As we drove across the Pugliese border my eyes were drawn to the whitewashed flat-roofed houses, the sea and seemingly endless olive groves littered with gnarly thick trunked trees and curved grapevines. Greece came to mind.On this trip, my brother-in-law and I — he’s a sommelier — decided to shake things up a tiny bit by seeking out and trying some more obscure Pugliese wines. Part of the joy of wine is discovering new ones, and for wine-lovers learning means tasting. A tasting in a relaxed setting among friends and family can be a memorable occasion. Setting aside Negroamaro and Primitivo, for a list of four local wines (two whites and two reds) well worth discovering take a look at my “Southern Gems“.Puglia_grisola

     

     

     

  • Meet Sandro Dibella on Etna

    Meet Sandro Dibella on Etna

    As a co-fouder of  Casa Mia, I’m very excited to share our series of interviews called “Our Italians”. We love meeting  local food artisans, experts and producers as we travel around Italy for work and pleasure and we want to share our passion with you. I’m happy to spend time in Sicily visiting old friends and making new ones like Sandro and Lucia, owners of Cave Ox Osteria and Pizzeria on Etna. They are a passionate couple committed to sharing the best in Italian food and wine and to making visitors feel at home.

    Thanks to their hospitality and warmth, when I walk into Cave Ox, I hear the opening theme to 1980’s television sitcom Cheers… “Where everybody knows your name”…I hope you’ll take the time to meet Sandro and his little Cave Ox here …enjoy. DSC_0428

  • The King of Lazio Red Wine – Cesanese

    The King of Lazio Red Wine – Cesanese

    When I share a meal with family and friends, I often ask them which Italian wine they like best. Many will mention a red from Tuscany, most likely a “super Tuscan,” a 1980s term for Tuscan red blend that uses wine grapes not indigenous to Italy, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.cesaneseWhen I suggest a wine from Lazio dazed and confused faces abound, never mind the eyebrow raising glares when I utter the red wine grape Cesanese. Lazio does have some identity problems. It’s a somewhat indistinct central region that has long been overshadowed by more renowned neighbors Campania, Tuscany and Umbria. Even visitors to Rome don’t always know that Lazio is the region that Rome calls home. Rome’s importance as the capital make it feel like an oasis in the desert, a landlocked island enclosed by the Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA), the ring road/highway that encircles Rome. Just a short ride beyond the motorway lie rolling hills speckled with olive groves, orchards and vineyards and land of the antique grape variety Cesanese. ciolli

    Continue reading about Cesanese and Lazio vineyards here.

     

     


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