A couple of weeks ago, I was hanging out in coastal Maine, visiting a a good friend who I met the first week of our freshman year at Sarah Lawrence College and has been a pen pal—with REAL letters!—ever since. (Heart eyes emoji.) On my last night, we stopped in at Maine & Loire, a curated natural wine shop in Portland which celebrates, as the owners put it, “alive and soulful” wines. This month, I really wanted to feature a red wine that would be delicious chilled, so Peter Hale, one half of the husband-and-wife team, directed me to this juicy, adult-fruit-punch kind of Sicilian wine that would be perfect on its own (as my friend and I tried it), or paired with chicken on the grill and vegetable salads. Your call!
Read more6 Wine-Infused Summer Event Series in Sonoma
As if you needed any more reasons to visit Sonoma, the summer comes along and gives you another thousand by way of festivals, concerts, markets, dinners, races, and, of course, wine events! While checking the Sonoma County Events Calendar for your specific dates is always worthwhile, here are eight summer event series in Sonoma hosted by wineries that I absolutely love.
Read moreWine of the Month | The Gallery of Wine presents...
Greetings from Savannah, Georgia, y’all! I’m here for a couple of weeks visiting dear, recently-transplanted friends from the Bay Area. At their recommendation, I made a stop at their local wine shop and was blown away by the brilliant concept behind it and the selection of wines on display. It was a no-brainer that June’s wine-of-the-month had to come from Le Chai - Galerie du Vin.
To highlight proprietor Christian Depken’s eclectic taste in wine, we opted for this unique, crisp white wine hailing from southern France that works just as well on Savannah porches on a balmy summer’s eve:
Read more4 Effortless Summer Dishes from Southern Italy
Southern Italy is a joy to visit year round, but there’s something about the late spring and summer when the rich, less-populated lands of the South burst forth with an abundance of fruits and vegetables so full of flavor that little else is needed to make them into a perfect summer meal. Thanks to this, there are wonderfully simple recipes that, with a visit to your local farmer’s market, you will be able to effortlessly whip up in no time.
Having just returned to the States after an extensive period in Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, these are the refreshing dishes my palate misses the most:
Read moreWine of the Month | An Artist's Barolo
Winemaker Massimo Martinelli’s abstract artwork
Earlier this month, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Massimo Martinelli along with his muse and life partner, Angioletta De Giorgis, at their estate—a happy mix between home, winery, vineyard, art studio, and a small boutique hotel they run called Antica Meridiana Relais Art. A dynamic duo if ever there was one! Massimo, the longtime winemaker at Renato Ratti and even president of the Barolo Consorzio for a period, retired some years ago, but has continued to make small quantities of Dolcetto on the side. In 2012…
Read moreTop 3 Winery Lunches in Mendoza
What wine tourists to Mendoza are most in awe of are the lavish lunches that many wineries offer. In recent years, more and more restós, as they are called, have been popping up, making it difficult for visitors to choose. Below, I have shared with you my three favorite winery lunches—each with a different style and one for each wine appellation: Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and Uco Valley.
Read moreWine of the Month | Magma in Your Glass
For Earth Day this year, I headed back to my old stomping ground, Swirl on Castro, to lead a wine tasting on earth-friendly rosés with, of course, an Italian twist. The line-up was a trio of wines coming from powerhouse winemakers: Mathilde Poggi’s Bardolino Chiaretto 2017 (Le Fraghe, Veneto, Italy), Sam Bilbro’s The Flower Rosé 2018 (Idlewild, Mendocino, CA) and Chiara Vigo’s Vigorosa Etna Rosato 2017 (Fattorie Romeo del Castello, Sicily, Italy). Each one was applauded and appreciated by the crowd, but the rosé that won the vote at the end of the tasting was:
Read more6 Things You Must Do in Rome (That Aren't the Usual Suspects)
Rome is undoubtedly a city full of impressive sights. And, I love gazing into the Pantheon’s oculus, ambling down the maps corridor in the Vatican and circumnavigating the Colosseum with the best of them, but I have a few favorites that I wanted to share with you that are my go-tos when in Rome…
Read moreWine of the Month | Wonder Women of Wine
With March being Women’s Herstory Month and today being International Women’s Day, what better way of celebrating is there than with a collection of wine made by women winemakers and/or coming from women-run wineries? Yes, this month. It’s not just one wine, but a whole tote bag full of them!
Read moreWine of the Month | You'll Cry It's So Good
Lacrima means “teardrop” in Italian and refers to both the shape of the grape and the fact that it has a thin skin and therefore breaks easily, releasing drops of juice. Others, like Ian d’Agata, will tell you it is because drinking Lacrima will produce tears of joy. I will second that! While doing my sommelier course in Italy, this is one of the wines that blew me away—its aromatic quality was like nothing I had experienced before.
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