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Continue reading →: Masterpieces of Taste‘Tis the season… to be running from wine exhibit to anteprima to wine fair. Whether you are a producer or a taster, February kicks off the new vintages and it’s hard to keep up! A new addition to the Calendar is Wine and Siena: Masterpieces of Taste (the subtitle is…
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Continue reading →: Southern Hospitality: Women Winemakers in South AfricaItalian Grapevine likes to head to warmer climes when the frost falls in Italy… So here we are to report on two fabulous encounters with South African women winemakers whom we were lucky enough to visit. Don’t you love how women and wine and travel all go together? I met…
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Continue reading →: On the Road Again…Italian Grapevine has been on the road, as far away as South Africa, and the good news is: Italian wine is alive and well and living in Johannesburg! During the recent festivities for the week of Italian Cuisine in the World, held worldwide November 18 -24, 2019, I happened to…
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Continue reading →: A Wine AdventureSo, have you ever dreamed of leaving the rat race behind, buying a vineyard and creating your own wine surrounded by gorgeous nature? Maybe creating a restaurant that features homegrown vegetables and local cheeses, keeping things rigorously organic? That is just what the Stefano Matturro and Gabriella Grassi did. Careers…
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Continue reading →: EUR at the Center of Italian WineThe last weekend of October, Rome was a hotbed of activity for the maximum in Italian wine. On Saturday, October 26, the Italian Association of Sommeliers (AIS – Associazione Italiana Sommelier) presented its guide, Vitae, at the prestigious Nuvola Convention Center designed by famed Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas. The Maximum…
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Continue reading →: The Da Vinci Code for WineMilano Wine Week recently gave me the excuse to flit through Via Montenapoleone dressed to the nines and sip vintages while taking in the view of fancy pants fashion-conscious wine lovers. From the Duomo (left) to Via Montenapoleone, it’s all a catwalk! A lot was going on during this Wine…
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Continue reading →: A Brunello For All SeasonsOne of Italy’s big B wines (Brunello, Barolo, Barbaresco, maybe even Bolgheri) that command universal respect, Brunello di Montalcino is perhaps the most exquisite expression of that versatile grape Sangiovese. Of course in this area of Tuscany, the grape itself is called Brunello, whereas in nearby Montepulciano, it goes by…
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Continue reading →: Wine, Women and SummerOver the past few weeks, I’ve been sipping and tasting with the lovely Italian Women of Wine in Liguria. Le Donne del Vino in Italy numbers over 800 members, with winemakers, restaurateurs, sommeliers, journalists, wine shop owners, etc. Two restaurants hosted special events to feature the wines of Emilia-Romagna paired…
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Continue reading →: Much Ado About SomethingNestled 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…
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Continue reading →: Three Cheers for Cirò!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…
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 