Nestled into the hills of Chianti is a magical place called Vignamaggio. The name has nothing to do with the month of May (Maggio in Italian), but is rather a direct reference to its prominence as a vineyard (vigna) that is the best (maggiore). Lucky me that I got to visit it on a balmy…
Calabria is off the beaten path, which may be why I don’t know it as well as I should. But the wines have long intrigued me… so that and the sirens’ call of the Ionian Sea made me venture there late this spring. Is it any wonder that Ulysses was lured here? After all, Scylla…
On a recent trip to taste Aglianico del Vulture, I discovered the birthplace of Horace, that fun-loving Latin poet who coined the phrase Carpe diem! Or Seize the day! My suggestion: take his advice and hurry up and visit the region of Basilicata. The lovely piazza dedicated to the monumental poet, Horace, in his birthplace,…
Italian Grapevine took a vacation, to explore other grape-growing, wine-making terroirs, this time going quite a distance... all the way to the New World! My trek to the Maipo Valley, so near to Santiago, to visit the Undurraga winery, one of Chile's most important wine estates, was nothing short of idyllic. And such a welcome!…
As a lover of good wine, I am – quite obviously – also a lover of great food. So in my meanderings around Italy, this year I decided to start making a point of visiting Michelin starred restaurants, especially those of young, up-and-coming chefs. The ones with the stars in their eyes. First stop: Umami,…
Sicily is a feast for the senses… Stimulation abounds, as you are surrounded by beauty, both natural and man-made. On a recent visit to Scicli – which is pronounced chic + ly – I got to know a little corner of the Mediterranean’s biggest island that had inexplicably avoided my probing eye. This end-of-summer moment…
On my odyssey through the world of Italian wine this summer, I was able to visit producers whose wines had intrigued me, but whose terroir I had not yet been able to visit. And the great thing about visiting wineries is you see where the wine grows: you breathe the same air, feel the sun…
This Halloween, I’m reflecting on the moon and its incredible influence on us, and on agriculture. In 2018, we’ve even experienced some supermoons. Our grandfathers knew how to plant according to the moon’s cycles, and maybe we should be paying closer attention to what it’s doing to us, too. For years, I would pass through…
It is always nice when a nice new wine event appears in the panorama of opportunities to taste. Last weekend in Milan, on May 12 and 13, Best Wine Stars kicked off with a splendid tasting in the Museo Diocesano of Milan, which provided the perfect spring background for tasting in the cloister area. As…
In Italian they say 'finire in bellezza' and that is exactly what we did, ending up the season of new release tastings in front of Benozzo Gozzoli's magnificent frescoes in Montefalco. Such beauty! It's taken me over a week to recover! Just adore St. Francis driving the demons out of Arezzo! Benozzo was busy, between…
Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine 