Category: Dolce Vita
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Campania Felix Part I: Sunny Sannio
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When the Romans ruled the world, the region of Naples – Campania – was the breadbasket for the Empire. No mistake then that Pliny the Elder (who actually died in the eruption of Vesuvius at nearby Pompeii!) called it Campania Felix, or the happy countryside. The fertility of this land and its bounty are readily…
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Moonstruck in Luni: The New Cantine Bosoni
Maybe I’ve been inspired by the recent Blue Moon, but while the summer here in Italy seems to be ending, and quite abruptly at that, I’d like to flashback to a beautiful start to the summer, with the inauguration of the new winery at Cantine Lvnae. This party was long-awaited, delayed by the Covid moment.…
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A Midsummer Night’s Tasting
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I know it’s August and we’re supposed to be on vacation, but I just can’t keep myself out of the vineyards! When I decided, pretty spur of the moment, to escape to a Mediterranean island with crystal clear blue waters, snorkel and mask in hand, I packed the essentials: 4 summer dresses, 3 bikinis, 2…
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Talk About Girl Power!
Italian Grapevine concluded Vinitaly 2022 with a bang: Our post, Girl Power Forever! by contributing editor Francesca Giuliano, won a prize for best communication of the day in the Young to Young tastings. This annual feature at Vinitaly, created in 2015 by Il Golosario’s Paolo Massobrio and Marco Gatti, showcases young producers and their wines,…
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Villa Le Corti and the Tuscan Prince
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I had seen the villa with its symmetrical towers for years. Stately, it dominated its crest and serenely looked out over the valleys of San Casciano Val di Pesa. But when I finally met the owners, spoke with them, walked the grounds of the villa and visited its cellars, I was deeply touched by the…
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People Who Need People
Last Saturday I had the great good fortune to attend Wine Spectator’s pull-out-the-stops event, Opera Wine 2021 live and in person in Verona. This was one of the first live tasting events since the pandemic, and it brought together – as is tradition – producers, buyers, journalists from around the world to taste the top…
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Buon Appetito! Support the Restaurants!
On this Valentine’s Day, I would like to say ‘I love you’ to all the restaurateurs out there. These are the people who have prepared our special Valentine’s Day dinners over the years (and on all those other special occasions we’ve shared with friends and loved ones in restaurants). They are people who have cuddled…
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Red, Red Wine
While the holiday season was quieter this year than in recent memory, it has taken a while to post this Highlights of 2020 Red Wines, a companion piece to the December post that talked about whites. If you read to the end here, you’ll know why. The Top Ten red wines I drank in 2020…
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May Your Days Be Merry and Bright…
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And may all your Christmases … and wines… be white! Italian Grapevine is going to dedicate two posts to a review of the year’s highlights – the best of the reds and the whites we’ve sampled this year. Granted, it was a tough year: practically no wine fairs, no travel, no restaurants. For heaven’s sake,…
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Over the Moon at Lvnae
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Good thing I live so close to the Winery of the Year 2020 in these no-travel Covid times! Lucky me, I got to visit Cantine Lvnae twice, in late summer and early fall. We are talking southern Liguria, getting close to the Tuscan border. Can I say what a pleasure it is to visit this…
Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine 