You didn’t know there was a vendemmia in Milan, did you? Let me tell you, this is one hell of a harvest festival in a city that rarely sleeps!
It is such a hard life writing about Italian food, wine and culture… Last night I made my way through the throngs of people enjoying the crisp fall temperatures and Italy’s great cru all along the most elegant high fashion shopping street in the world, Via Montenapoleone in Milan!
Milano mob scene...
Now how clever is that? Milano, fashion capital, capitalizing on Italy’s premier spot in the wine-making universe, and bringing all that is the tops together! This is one appointment to put in your 2017 agenda now!
Somehow they were paired, two by two, designer and winery, and the elegance was tangible – or taste-able!
Our evening started out with the charity wine auction held at Christie’s, the committee of Italy’s Grand Cru (Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia), organized to benefit Dynamo Camp, part of the SeriousFun Children’s Network founded by Paul Newman. Good cause, great wines. What more do you want?
Then it was the challenge – of balancing on those heels, tasting some interesting wines, and ogling the fabulous boutiques that all stayed open after hours.
Tasting is serious business when you are surrounded by the jewels of Van Cleef & Arpels. What can I say? The diamonds were so bright, they appear merely as light in these photos. And the wines, from Domini Castellare di Castellina, were just as dazzling. My favorite was the white, a Viognier-Chardonnay blend (I am so partial to Viognier!) called Tirsat. This is a new wine, just out, and from their Sicilian estates.
The wines were poured… and poured… and poured.
The nice thing about wine is, it’s all about beauty. Sensory overload last night, not knowing where to look next, what to taste next, who to speak to next. Here I am with Alessandra Fedi, Certified Sommelier, Official Wine Taster, wine educator and sometimes a judge at international wine competitions.
That’s one happy girl, surrounded by Hermès bags and sipping her Tasca d’Almerita Sicilian white…
Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine 