Jason introduced Frappato in a posting last week, but I want to expand on the story (it’s a good one!)…
I visited Sicily ten years ago, and was the fortunate guest of a winemaking family on the Western side of the island, in a former tuna fishing town called Trapani. The warmth and passion of these [...]
Filed under: Italy | Leave a Comment »
We’ve lost one of the greats. Sergio Zenato passed away July 11th after a long battle with leukemia (age 73).
I spent a fantastic afternoon at a luncheon with him, on the banks of Lago di Garda, in May of 2003. Wild white hair, hands flying in every direction, and not a lick of English coming [...]
Filed under: Italy | Tagged: Amarone, Ripassa, Valpolicella, Veneto, Zenato | 1 Comment »
In the constant quest to find the ultimate summertime red, Annette has out done herself and brought in a fantastic Frappato. More on the specific producer and the story of how she found the wine later. For now, let’s concentrate on this grape, and even more importantly Sicily as a place.
Sicily, like any traditional European [...]
Filed under: Italy | Tagged: food and wine pairings, Frappato, Sicily | Leave a Comment »
Want to out geek the wine geeks in the room? Start tossing around your ability to sense the umami in a wine. Introduced to me first by Terry Theise, who describes it as “the taste of yourself tasting”, umami has a legitimate role in the world of wine tasting, and definitely in the [...]
Filed under: General wine information, Ideas - Restaurants | Tagged: food and wine pairings, savory, Umami | Leave a Comment »
Paris brasseries and bistros pour thousands of glasses of Sancerre each year along with their “plateau de fruits de mers”. After all, what could be better with briny fresh oysters, cockles, crab claws, snails and shrimps? No doubt, this is why for the millions of tourists who have endured the brisk service of a [...]
Filed under: France, New arrivals, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
I just came across this article from Reuters about trying to exchange American dollars in Amsterdam. Keep this in mind if you are traveling to Europe at all this summer … there is a huge amount of uncertainty regarding the American currency and the days of easy dollar to euro in-person exchanges may be gone.
What [...]
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It’s always impressive to hear somebody who works a particular spot of land, on a day to day basis – year round for decades, talk about farming practices. These are people who know their property in a very intimate way, and can convey the benefits they see from their work.
Stephen Henschke needs no introduction. [...]
Filed under: Australia, Organic/Biodynamic/Sustainable | Leave a Comment »
(photo by Flickr user barron)
Happy Fourth of July to everybody! And in the quest for the ultimate summertime fare, keep in mind the wonderful combination of ribs (beef, short, pork, baby back, St. Louis style, Texas style, doesn’t matter!) and red wine, especially Zinfandel. Particularly good this year are the 2005 Seghesio Old Vine, [...]
Filed under: California, General wine information | Leave a Comment »
