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Continue reading →: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!The second grueling day of Wine&Siena found yours truly participating in a tasting – here called Wine Master Classes – of 8 Chianti Classicos, starting bright and early at 11 a.m. in the stunning Palazzo Sansedoni located right on Piazza del Campo. Is every room in Tuscany A Room With…
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Continue reading →: Wine&Siena: Small is BeautifulThis weekend in Tuscany, the 2nd annual Wine&Siena was held in this charming medieval jewel of a hilltop city that is still contained by its ancient walls. Organized by the same people who put together Merano Wine Festival, it was an opportunity to taste the bounty of the land that…
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Continue reading →: Bring on the Bubbly!‘Tis the season to be jolly, and no matter what your mood, the bubbly will improve it! So since this is the ITALIAN Grapevine, make sure the bubbly that graces your New Year’s table is something from the Bel Paese: Spumante – that’s the Italian word for bubbly, but don’t…
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Continue reading →: The Culture of Wine Part III: Montefalco and BenozzoBenozzo Gozzoli has always been one of my favorite Quattrocento painters. How could you not love a guy with a name like that? Or a face like this? Benozzo was a busy guy: besides frescoing one of the great masterpieces of the Quattrocento for the Medici family in Florence, an…
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Continue reading →: This First Lady is No Prima Donna!No, I am not talking politics! I am talking about Donatella Cinelli Colombini, one of Italy’s premier Brunello di Montalcino winemakers. This week we visited Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda and Casato Prime Donne, Donatella’s two estates that have been in the family since the 1500s. This is big red…
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Continue reading →: Harvest Time in Milan… What Luxury!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…
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Continue reading →: When you Wear a Coat in Summer… The Palio of Siena and the Double Victory of the Lupa!Something rare and wonderful happened in Siena the other day: the Contrada della Lupa (the neighborhood of the she-wolf) won the Palio. Only, what’s better than winning the Palio? Winning the Palio twice in one summer! That is called cappotto, or winter coat. And it is highly unusual. But bring…
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Continue reading →: A Midsummer Night’s Wild DreamCollisioni – that’s what this mega-festival in the tiny hamlet of Barolo is called. And collide you do! With people, with ideas, with tastes, with energy. Talk about bringing things together. I’d heard about Collisioni for years. I’d viewed their over-stuffed programs with skepticism: how could they lure Elton John,…
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Continue reading →: The Prince of ChefsWhen they invite you to a party in Portofino, you go. When they invite you to a party honoring Gualtiero Marchesi, you go. When they invite you to a party in Portofino honoring Gualtiero Marchesi, you can’t believe your good luck. The famous ‘cook’ (as he prefers to be called!),…
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Continue reading →: Great Italian Wine You Can Bank On!For those of you who don’t know it, the University of Gastronomical Sciences in Pollenzo was the world’s first university entirely dedicated to the science of Food & Wine, promoting a new, ecologically sustainable, quality-based standard that also focuses on what is right and just for producers. Founded on an…
Suzanne Branciforte
has one foot firmly planted on either continent
is New York born and Harvard educated
is Italian and American and Italian-American
has resided on the Italian Riviera for the past 15 years
has a Masters degree and a Ph.D. from UCLA
is a writer, translator and interpreter
interpreted for the President of the Bundesbank and Nobel Prize winning economists and authors
is the author of the international best-selling textbook Parliamo italiano!
has lived extensively in California, France and Italy
knows that good wine doesn’t grow in ugly places
is convinced that living is your greatest work of art
Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine 