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Discovering @AntincaFratta at the Osteria degli Acrobati…
One of my favorite quirks of Piemonte is the Piemontese fondest towards sparkling wine. I believe you can find better Champagne lists in Piemonte than almost anywhere else in the world. And even...
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Lunch with the family @PaoloScavino, talking glassware and Tajarin.
Work is never finished for a farmer, and especially for a wine grower! This is a picture of Enrico Scavino with some of his Italian sales agents and a few local Alba boys who stopped by the winery...
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File this under: “Not your Mamma’s Robiola”
It’s very possible that this Almatea Robiola, made from some very cute goats in the Langhe, is my most favorite cheese. Ever. Raw milk, completely soft and fresh, still dripping milk from its wrapper....
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Best Restaurant in Piemonte? It’s almost in Switzerland…
I think I may have just had the best meal of my life. It happened in a one of the northern-most parts of Italy, truly on the Swiss border, in a town called Domodossola, at La Stella Ristorante. This...
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Postcards from the Valtellina from @AISelections
How do vines grow on this? These baskets have been carried on this man’s back. Down the side of a mountain. Chiavennasca- the local name for the hardy bio-type of Nebbiolo that clings for life on...
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Fresh Pasta Truck? Genius. Cascina Luisin Barbera? Naturally!
With all the (sometimes questionable) food trucks bumping around Los Angeles these days, I saw one concept parked just outside of Barbaresco’s ancient city walls that really resonated with me- a local...
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Come Taste the Magic @winehouseLA #EnzoBrezza
What an amazing couple of days. Enzo Brezza is in town, showcasing his heart-stopping wines. Come by the Wine House tonight and taste for yourself- this is pure Nebbiolo Magic. Enzo, looking happy...
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Rosanna, Rosanna! @omcwines
“All I wanna do in the middle of the evening is hold you tight. Rosanna, Rosanna” Champagne-style Nebbiolo. Are you salivating yet? I tasted Ettore Germano’s “Rosanna” Brut Rose for the first time...
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Food is Love @ClusiBatusi
I know in general, it’s a pizzeria. It’s not fancy-pants Italian food. The location is very casual, and in the middle of a stretch of Japanese noodle houses, boba shops, and soup dumpling places. But...
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Inked in Italy. @eat_ink
“Made in Italy” Photo by: Gerald Weisl @Weimax This photo came to my from my friend Gerald of Burlingame’s Weimax Wine & Spirits. He snapped a pic of this tattoo on a trip to Piemonte at Osteria...
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The Story of Barbaresco and the Feather. @Luisa_Rocca @winehouseLA
My Lucky Day… I climbed the stairs to the tasting area at the Wine House yesterday morning for my appointment with the legendary Lance Montalto (Italian Wine Yoda), and had to do a double-take....
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Everybody wants to be Italian. @LeMetroWine @TheWineDad
Special Delivery: It’s a happy day when this shows up on your front porch! I was really flattered when my friend Aaron Epstein asked me to help him with a project he started a few months ago: Le...
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A Few More Things to Love About Italia…
Allison Amato, Luciano Brussolo (a Real Italian) and me… Italy is a complicated place: quintessential Beautiful Chaos. It’s full of people who are passionate, messy, political, religious, scandalous...
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The DOCG You Didn’t Know Existed… @Montelvini
I picked up this bottle of Prosecco from Venegazzù Montelvini and studied the label carefully. “DOCG Asolo” was written clearly, and yet, Italian Wine Geek that I am, I could not tell you that I had...
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Chiara Boschis: First Lady of Barolo @winestories
Chiara Boschis in her family’s vineyards. Photo by Mauro Fermariello. My favorite Italian wine writer to follow is Mauro Fermariello. His website, Winestories, is a passionate and carefully curated...
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How to Keep a Sailor Warm
Dan Bjugstad of Pizzeria Locale in Boulder CO, with Claudio Morelli I had the profound pleasure of escorting a Marchegiano gentleman, Claudio Morelli, around Colorado a few weeks ago. We were there...
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Finding Mount Etna in Denver, Colorado @theKitchen
Tenuta Fessina’s “LaEneo” at The Kitchen in Denver, Colorado. I remember the first time I tasted these wines. My good friend Giampaolo Gravina sent me over to the Sicilian Pavillion at Vinitaly to...
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Italian White Wines Can Age. #truth
I posted this picture on my Instagram and Twitter feeds last week and got a number of surprising responses. “Was it still good?” and “Does Verdicchio last that long?” and “Where did you find that?...
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Bubbles by Benanti
I had the pleasure of tasting this bottle, Benanti’s Noblesse, a few weeks ago after we found it thanks to Dan Pirelli, at the Wine Hotel in Los Angeles. 100% Carricante grapes, 100% Etna. Who says...
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Kings of the Carso. @winestories
Friends of mine are going to the Carso soon. I am ecstatic for them because, even as this is a place I have not yet seen in person, I feel like I know it already. There will be a stiff breeze from...
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