I tried mulled wine in Austria for the first time, where it was ladled into paper cups and I wrapped my hands around it to warm my fingers while browsing the Christmas market. I was still in high school, so drinking wine on cobbled streets lined with snow was that much more delicious. Plus, as I’ve learned from mulling wine at home, by the time … Continue reading Wine365 | Recipe for Mulled Wine with Port
Grape cloning might sound like something from a sci-fi movie or, at the very least, a GMO experiment you don’t want to touch with the tendril of a ten-foot grapevine…but you probably poured its contents from your wine bottle the other night.
Continue reading “Wine365 | Custom-Fit Cabernet Clones at Sequoia Grove”
May only the best grapes win. Winemakers will often say that “the wine is made in the vineyard,” meaning the attentive, daily care they give the vines and grapes directly determines the quality of the wine. You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear, in other words. By the time all those painstakingly grown and cared-for grapes are brought in to be destemmed, crushed, fermented, and made into wine months or years from the date of harvest, you can bet the winemaker will not skip the sorting table.
Continue reading “Wine365 | What Happens at the Sorting Table?”
Moscato. For many people, this word brings up an image of sweet, bubbly wine that they’d rather say, “pass” to. But they’d be missing out on a wonderfully fresh, easy-pairing wine that’s a delight to drink if so.
Continue reading “Wine365 | Five Things You Didn’t Know about Moscato d’Asti”
If you had to choose one last dessert, the last you’d ever eat, what would it be? Continue reading “foodstorie/s | Last Desserts”
All cities have been described, at one point, as “full of surprises.” After all, cities are inherently guaranteed to be diverse, made of different neighborhoods, hidden streets, and pockets of culture. But not many cities hide unexpected surprises with the same pedigree as Milan. Continue reading “A hidden surprise to visit in Milan”
At the University of Gastronomic Sciences, some of my favorite classes were tasting classes. Not just because this meant eating chocolate for breakfast or drinking wine all afternoon, but because the lessons taught us what good quality means. Continue reading “Runaway cheese and tasting classes”
On October 1, it was the world’s second annual International Coffee Day. I’ve written about coffee previously on my blog (The differences between American coffee & Italian caffè, and the fun Blogger Exchange), but those don’t get into the intricacies of ordering a caffè at the bar, or the etiquette and “rules” of paying for one. And when you come to Italy, a caffè should be the first … Continue reading The Grand Wine Tour | Cheat sheet to Italian coffee culture
I have this thing for bitterness. I love bitter foods, I take my coffee black and my caffé without sugar (macchiato, please), and Italian after-dinner spirits, amari (bitters), are my thing. So it’s no surprise I love the Italians’ “national” soda, chinotto. Continue reading “The Grand Wine Tour | The cult of Chinotto, Italy’s national soda”
When Rachel Rushing of Full of Italy proposed a blogger exchange, I was immediately game. Continue reading “Blogger exchange: Grosmi caffè for Maratelli rice”
Filo Rosso 