“Welcome to Bisol,” says Roberto Cremonese, energetic export manager at Bisol, a large quality Prosecco DOCG producer in Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. Evidence exists of the Bisol family in the historic heart of the production area of Prosecco, the area called “Chartice” in the very prestigious Cartizze hills – can be found as early as the sixteenth [...]

Wearing a lizard green shirt,  Giovanni Frozza greets me at his family”s winery in Valdobbiadene. Youngish and fit, he explains the details of the winery which has been in this location for 80 years and a few kilometers since 1890. Standing in the distance as we talk and taste at a sunny picnic table is [...]

Recently back from a trip to Alto Adige, Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth. lead a tasting and seminar of the wines of Italy’s most northern region. It was an interesting seminar … the focus was on the multitude of varieties grown and unique microclimates within the region. I was in Trentino a few months back … [...]

“Don’t pick it up!” exclaims Kevin Zraly, acclaimed wine educator and best-selling author to the dozens of journalists sitting in the room, as servers poured the first glass of wine – the Podere Brizio 2008.  “Don’t even look at it! Pretend it’s not there. We all taste together, that’s the rule,” he says. Most sophisticated [...]

  … so here I am in my seat as a judge for the 2oth Anniversary of #VeronaFiere’s International Wine Competition representing the USA with the American flag on my little desk to prove it. Today is Day 3 and by now I am a bit more accustomed to the drama surrounding this wine judging, [...]

So what is this picture of a jacuzzi doing in an online magazine about wine? It is a snap from my favorite hotel in Italy, Il Boscareto, a luxury oriented spa hotel so enticing even the most ardent wine lover might choose to stay inside and have a massage or gourmet meal than hunt for [...]

  “Ah, the second week in September … when fashion week and the busy wine season meet head to head!” With dozens of tastings, lunches, and dinners these opening weeks in September, it is a busy month indeed. On the positive side, visitors are treated to gorgeous weather and relaxed Manhattan-folk just back from summer [...]

  Recently I was invited to a fabulous artisanal Neopolitan pizza dinner at La Pizza Fresca in Manhattan featuring a treasure chest of top Barolo from the very best producers, all from the 2004, 2005, and 2006 vintage. Producers Giorgio Ballarin, Andrea Giordana and Aurelo Settio attended the tasting of 23 wines (representing the 23 [...]

… fabulous experience today tasting the wines of Sartori di Verona at SD26, a fine Italian restaurant in Manhattan, where these excellent wines were paired with five courses. What made the tasting lunch so special was the passion of owner Andrea Sartori, who came across as a very traditionally-minded Italian of the classic world. In [...]

“Label, anyone?” One of the most interesting benefits of the Tuscan wine fair was the ability to see all the different labels. While many producers had traditional labels, the producer above decided to kick it up a notch with a “Millennial friendly” label showing an image that appears to resemble a skeleton. Millennials in America [...]

“What a fabulous fair!” Imagine entering a fantastic space (an ancient train station, from what I understand) rebuilt with the latest technology, and filled with some of the best wine producers in Tuscany.   This was the 2012 Buy Wine event, which allowed the trade to meet producers small and large, and taste some of [...]

  “They’re sacrificing their lives for grapes!” I remark  to a friend, after an amazing visit to Plan dell’ Orino in Montalcino, Italy with owners/winemakers Jan Hendrick Erback and Caroline Pobitzer, who gave us a tour and tasting at their modest winery. It is literally an old farmhouse that they bought after spending many months [...]

  Just imagine excavating a space for a winery and finding rocks so large and fascinating you are compelled to change plans and create a “glass cellar” so that visitors (and workers too, of course) can look out from the underground space and see the incredible collection of large rocks that form the basis of [...]

“This looks like the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco” I exclaim, coming upon the incredible structure that rises from out of nowhere in the Maremma wilderness. This state-of-the-Art winery was designed twelve years ago by Mario Botta (who incidently also designed the SF museum) and is a curious balance of new and old. [...]

“My great-grandmother was famous for being a harsh negotiator,” Gaia Gaja tells me, telling a cute story about her great-grandmother and her marketplace shopping habits, which explains the name of the winery which means “endless negotiations” in Italian. Apparently, buying the land from a merchant family took many years and hence the name. Gaia is [...]

  Isn’t this art incredibly gorgeous? Who would have thought that it is located in a Tuscan winery, not a museum! It is part of a program created by Tenuta dell’Ornellaia in 2009 designed to celebrate the “marriage” between art and wine … one that celebrates the character of each new vintage of Ornellaia. The [...]

Felidia is the fabulous venue for our Wine Media Lunches — it is owned by PBS star Lidia Bastianich — – and you can imagine the pleasure in being invited to join Felidia’s Executive Chef Fortunato Nicotra, along with Michelin-star Sicilian chef Patricia Di Benedetto and Azienda Agricola d’Alessandro for a Sicilian Food and Wine [...]

  Do you like sulfates in your wines? No one does … Last night at Eataly (the new Italian food specialty megastore in Manhattan) I discovered  Domodimonti,  a boutique winery located on the picturesque countryside of Montefiore dell’Aso, in Le Marche Region, Italy. In addition to Domodimonti we tasted other specialty items from Marche, as [...]

“Welcome!” exclaims affable Emanuele Rabotti, his exuberant and expressive face lighting up at the appearance of long lost (very lost!) visitors. Perhaps the first thing you should know is that Emanuele i(beyond being a very nice and fun guy) is that he is the owner and winemaker behind Monte Rossa winery, one of the oldest [...]

  Very excited to visit Brescia, Italy for the wine blogger’s conference! I have been reading a lot about Bellavista and hope to visit the winery. While i have not had every Franciacorta wine, the ones I have enjoyed from this DOCG appelation have been the equal of Champagne in terms of finesse and elegance. [...]