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Continue reading →: Variety is the Spice of Life, but…When is ‘So many’ ‘Too much’? The question was actually posed at the Masters of Wine Symposium in Florence last year, when it came out that Italy had over 440 varietals. If we want to talk DOC, there are over 330 of them, not to mention the 73 DOCG wines. If…
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Continue reading →: Buon Natale, genovese style!Seeing as we are still in the 12 days of Christmas, I am going to extol the virtues of the Genovese Christmas culinary tradition. Recently, on a lovely evening at that Ligurian culinary mecca, Ristorante Manuelina in Recco, we were treated to the delights of the local gastronomy… Could a…
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Continue reading →: Now I’ll Drink to That!!!Happy New Year! Buon Anno! Bonne Année! Whether it’s Prosecco, Franciacorta, Trento, Asti Spumante, Champagne….. Have a BUBBLY 2015!!!!! Best wishes from Italiangrapevine!
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Continue reading →: 2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 38 trips to carry that many people.…
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Continue reading →: No Trifle, that Truffle!On a recent jaunt to Acqui Terme, in lower Piedmont, a man drove up in an old jalopy of a car and showed us this: My friends had never seen such a treasure trove before — truffles, fresh from the earth! I complimented him on his catch, but rightfully, he…
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Continue reading →: Amarone Mon AmourA recent visit to the renowned Masi Vineyard in Valpolicella delighted all five senses! What scenery, what aromas, and of course… what taste! This little neck of the woods is a pleasure to visit. And if you’re visiting the Masi vineyards…. Well, need I say more? And what a treat,…
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Continue reading →: Longing for the Langhe…Autumn is no more alive than in the Langhe region of Piedmont. What with the truffles, the wine, the funghi… You can wind your way along scenic roads, stopping to taste the bounty of the land. The colors are just so… autumn! And the aromas… it’s heady stuff. One weekend…
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Continue reading →: And the Winner is…. Part IIWhen talking about Food&Wine, let’s not forget the FOOD. So, along with all that flowing excellence, the menu could be nothing less. Leave it to Gianfranco Vissani, il Maestro, to come up with the perfect combinations. This man’s name should be a household word. And the MCs are not just…
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Continue reading →: And the Winner is…Bibenda’s Annual Wine Awards took place at the spectacular Cavalieri Hilton in Rome Saturday night. Now that is a Who’s Who in the wine world in Italy! Five hundred elegantly attired winemakers, wine handlers and aficionados were served at 50 tables by 50 sommeliers. The book you see featured above,…
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Continue reading →: Time for a Revolution…Monte Taburno Summer reflection. Those things you do when you feel autumn at your heels… Sitting at an outdoor café in the sleep Riviera town of Chiavari, I find myself before a lovely, crisp glass of Falanghina. We all know Falanghina, of course, but the lure for me was Taburna…
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 