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.”
Celebrating 75 years of winemaking, Cariñena’s Cooperativa Vinícola San Valero, formerly known as Grupo Bodegas San Valero, recently launched of a new corporate structure with new proprietary brands that maintain the passion and spirit of the founding winemakers of 1944. Continue reading →
In March here on Wine Predator for Women’s History Month, we feature women in wine we adore: women winemakers, women winery owners, and other important women in wine. Continue reading →
Taco Tuesday! Rose Day! Judgment of Lodi! #WineStudio!
What do these have in common?
Rose Day is the second Saturday of June; in 2017, that is Sat. June 10.
Last weekend I was on a press trip to Lodi CA where I bought a case of wine, including four bottles of ROSE!
Lodi Wine Commission recently did a blind tasting that compared Lodi wines with those from other parts of the world to see how they measured up; read Nancy Brazil’s report on it here.
We bought a whole tuna in May so that we could make tuna tacos for Taco Tuesday to pair with rose.
#WineStudio this month features rose, and on June 6, we had three samples from Paul Mas.
#WinePW has a grillables theme that got us going on the grill.
So for this month’s Taco Tuesday post, we celebrated rose day early with a comparison of two rose wines from France with two rose wines from Lodi a las the Judgement of Paris aka the Judgement of Lodi and paired them with grilled ahi tuna with grilled fruit. Read on for the results!
Fall is harvest, and that means bountiful, hearty foods and flavors. As the temperatures drop, people are drawn to warm flavors that make you feel good inside. Hearty Italian wines pair wonderfully well with these hearty foods and flavors.
But you don’t need to do a full on complicated meal (like we did here) to take advantage of the plentiful fall foods like squash and tomatoes.
For this month’s “fall” theme for the Italian Food Wine Travel prompt, we decided to take an easy uncomplicated route because our schedule was just too hectic to do anything more! On a recent weeknight, Sue dropped by Trader Joe’s for raviolis and she made a sauce (recipe below) which we paired three wines from August’s #WineStudio that I was too sick to taste (plus a Prosecco!)
Castello di Magione 2013 Monterone Grechetto Colli del Trasimeno DOC
Castello di Magione 2014 Sangiovese Umbria IGT
Castello di Magione 2008 Morcinaia Colli del Trasimeno DOC
If you’re a regular reader of Wine Predator, you know that as often as possible I partake in an online educational program called #WineStudio where each month we have a different focus. Often participants receive wine samples which we taste and discuss together along with the winemaker and others involved with the wine. You can often find the wines and join in on Twitter from 6-7pm PST. Continue reading →
When Que Syrah Sue and I heard that July 25 is National Wine and Cheese Day, we immediately thought of Italian food!
What goes better with a cheesy pizza or lasagna than a nice red wine like a Chianti or Nero d’Avola? Or a Grillo or Grechetto with a green salad spiced up with cheese? And what about dessert? Tiramisu and cannoli with a Muscato, anyone? And we can’t forget Prosecco!
As we talked and Sue, who is half Italian, developed the menu for an Italian wine dinner focused on cheese, we then decided to go vegetarian. Who needs meat when you’re having this much cheese?
Our Italian cheeses for National Wine and Cheese Day Mon. July 25, 2016:
creamy Toscana with black pepper, formaggio lagorai, Italian truffle cheese, pecorino Romano, fresh mozzarella, parmigiana regianno, mozzarella ricotta, marcapone
Our Italian wines for National Wine and Cheese Day Mon. July 25, 2016:
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 