Mila Vuolo Aglianico
When I purchased this bottle of Mila Vuolo’s Aglianico from Campania, Italy, I had no idea that I’d be introduced to a passionate woman winemaker working organically and biodynamically. All I knew was it was Aglianico and I like Aglianico and it’s hard to find Aglianico and it was under $20. Continue reading
Donnachiara’s falangina paired with shrimp bisque and aglianico paired with seared blue fin tuna.
As I near my 1000 post on this blog, I’ve been reflecting on some of the factors that shaped it and participating in Wine Studio’s educational programs on Tuesday nights at 6pm since 2014 is one of them. Through Tina Morey, I had access to wines I wouldn’t have been able to taste otherwise, and via the educational format with experts and others chiming in on twitter as we taste through wines, I learned a lot. Recently, Tina ended the WineStudio season with a special event hosted by Susannah Gold with Donnachiara’s Ilaria Petitto. For Wine Predator Post #999, here’s my write up from the conversation and my thoughts about the wines and pairings.
At Donnachiara they say they tend their vines as carefully as window boxes “even though the locations can be distinctly challenging. This process makes for superior vines, grapes, and ultimately wines.”
Donnachiara is located in Campania, which is famous for the beautiful landscape of the Amalfi coast, the volcanic fields of fire and as the home to 10 of the 55 UNESCO sites in Italy; Mount Vesuvius is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The presence of Mount Vesuvius is everywhere, but as Ilaria Petito says in a ZOOM call with members of #WineStudio, “Vesuvius is sleeping; better for us! Thanks to Vesuvious, the soil is volcanic.”
Last week, I enjoyed watching the sun set, twilight fall, and the glow of the moon in Tuscany, Italy. In front of the house with views of vineyards and the farm of Antonella Manulli, I chatted about sustainability and the Metodo Corino with co-innovators Antonella and Lorenzo Corino and their importer Sheila Donahue of Verovino.
This is one of the oldest places in the world for wine grape cultivation, going back 4,000 years.
As we talked, we all sat outside with our dogs, enjoying the fresh air. Continue reading
Usually a highlight of the Wine Media Conference is tasting wine at various educational sessions, while visiting wineries, during wine pairing meals, and of course, at the ever popular and often ridiculed speed tastings. Over the years, I enjoyed all of this and more, including getting to know and spending time with my wine writing colleagues.
I missed going in 2019 as I was in France competing in the World Wine Tasting Championship, and in 2018 I had a paid poetry performance, so I was really looking forward to going to Eugene for the 2020 edition.
But this year, due to COVID, my colleagues and I could only chat along the sidelines of the sessions, instead of between sessions, and the tasting opportunities were limited to what was in our own cellars– and, if we were lucky, and already signed up for the now postponed 2020 conference, we had the opportunity to join one of four at home tastings. Continue reading
Spring and easter is all about regeneration: green pops out everywhere, Jesus comes back from the dead, rabbits deliver eggs. Some say the word Easter comes from Ēostre, a Germanic goddess who had festivals held in her honor during the month Ēosturmōnaþ, the equivalent of April by pagan Anglo-Saxons which was followed by the Christian Paschal month which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.
April is also Earth Month, and the perfect time to celebrate regenerative agriculture. But with the current corona virus crisis, all Earth Month gatherings are off.
And so are wine events. Fortunately,
/model Crisis Bunny MB Hanrahan. Photo: Dina Pielaet.
Let’s Do Brunch! So said Sue and I in suggesting this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend prompt. We had no idea that this is actually #BrunchWeek for food bloggers who are also writing about Brunch this week!
But how many bloggers are writing about BRUNCH and WINE? Well, I’ll bet quite a few because for many a defining feature and interest in brunch is that they probably invented brunch so we could have wine with breakfast!
And for many, wine at brunch means BUBBLES! And while this was indeed true for many of us participating in Wine Pairing Weekend (scroll down and you’ll see!), Sue and I fell in love with a special Brunch Negroni! Continue reading
got bubbles?
What do these bottles have in common? Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 