La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

18/07/2023

If you’re looking a refreshing summer wine, look no further than verdicchio. It comes from the Marche, a region that flanks the Adriatic Sea. Living on a hundred miles of coastline, you can’t help but make wines that go with seafood. Verdicchio has been grown in that region since at least the 15...

16/07/2023

Climate change is threatening Barbera, which historically thrived in Piedmont. Now, winemakers are seeking out both short and long-term fixes.

30/03/2022

It's spring, so it's time for rosé. Here's my feature story on Italian rosé producers banding together for strength in numbers:

Italian rosé producers band together for strength in numbers

31/12/2021

Looking for a last-minute sparkler for tonight? Look no further!

Though the lesser known of the Prosecco DOCGs, Asolo Prosecco has great elegance and complexity to offer.

27/12/2021

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of ruchè or grignolino. If you haven’t, read my 3rd and final blog from my press trip to Piedmont.
https://bit.ly/ruche-grignolino
(If the photo links seem broken on Chrome, try viewing it on Firefox.)

Two obscure native grapes take center stage at Hic et Nunc and Prediomagno wineries.

25/12/2021

Merry Christmas Eve, Brooklyn style!

Tonight I went with my AMC hiking group to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Little did I know what a scene it would be. Packed sidewalks, crowded streets with cars, all gawking at the, ahem, exuberant Christmas light decorations.

Old-fashioned Xmas string lights, blinking lights, laser lights. Tons of inflatable cartoon characters. Sound systems with Christmas tunes blaring. Anamtronic Santas. Video-projected Santas.

And ice cream trucks at every corner, most doing good business with their hot chocolate. God bless Santa Claus.

23/12/2021

"Nizza, the Ageworthy Barbera: Piedmont’s latest appellation is barbera at its finest."
Read my latest feature for Tastes of Italia magazine: bit.ly/nizza_docg

16/11/2021

The beauty of Piedmont’s Monferrato region is vastly underrated. En route to the Vinchio Vaglio cooperative winery, when we were rounding an especially scenic bend — and with the rain having finally eased off — someone shouted for our bus driver to stop so we could all pile out to take photos. This is that moment and that view. Pretty, right?
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08/07/2021

This is a fascinating read...

From studying vineyards buried under the ash of Mount Vesuvius to submerging grapes in the sea, these winemakers offer time travel through taste.

20/06/2021

UPDATE to my recent Chianti Classico blog:

In their June 2021 meeting, the consortium voted overwhelmingly to approve Additional Geographic References. For now, that’s only in the Gran Selezione category, but they say the rest will follow in the “near future.”

They also voted to change the grape requirements for Gran Selezione Chianti Classicos. Henceforth, the 80% sangiovese minimum will be increased to 90%. The balance of red grapes will be only local, native varieties. That means international varieties like merlot and cabernet will be prohibited. No hint as to whether that will be eventually be applied across all tiers of Chianti Classico. Read more here.

30/05/2021

Girl power, and a team of hungry microbes, clean up Michaelangelo’s Medici Chapel in Florence.

Last fall, with the Medici Chapel in Florence operating on reduced hours because of Covid-19, scientists and restorers completed a secret experiment: They unleashed grime-eating bacteria on the artist’s masterpiece marbles.

10/05/2021

My latest blog post on Living La Dolce Vita: “Perfect for summer: Sardinian wines from Sella & Mosca”: This venerable winery has wines suited for everything from grilled seafood to barbecue.

This venerable Sardinian winery has wines suited for everything from grilled seafood to barbecue.

04/05/2021

Looking forward to tomorrow's tasting of Collio white wines, presented by . Looks like a great line-up!

29/04/2021

Fantastic virtual tasting of &Mosca wines today. It reminded me of what drew me to Sardinia in the first place: namely, the winery's torbato and cannonau. Thanks, ! Thanks, Bethany!

15/04/2021

Hey, all you Marcella Hazen fans. There’s a documentary in the works about this ground-breaking cookbook author.

A 10-minute sample reel is here: https://vimeo.com/370291658/9728c5fbea

It shows just how transformative Marcella was. She moved to the U.S. in the 1950s and found a bleak food culture. Grocery stores had just one brand of olive oil, and it wasn’t extra virgin. You can thank Marcella for introducing Americans to risotto, to sun-dried tomatoes, and to authentic Italian cooking in her The Classic Italian Cookbook, which was a runaway success.

The documentary is directed by an old friend of mine, Peter Miller, an Emmy- and Peabody-award winning filmmaker of Willow Pond Films. He’s raising money now. So if you’d like to chip in and hasten the documentary’s completion, you can read more and contribute here: https://www.documentary.org/project/marcella

MARCELLA will be a feature-length documentary about the extraordinary woman who changed how Americans cook and experience Italian food.

04/04/2021

The latest blog post from Living La Dolce Vita:

"Meet the Maremma, Tuscany’s coast: A tasting of the newish DOC Maremma Toscana introduces easy, charming wines."

A tasting of the newish DOC Maremma Toscana introduces easy, charming wines.

14/03/2021

My latest blog, on tasting of wines from three forward-thinking but traditionalist wineries, with Piero Mastroberardino, Andrea Lonardi, and Fabrizio Marinconz.

A tasting of wines from three forward-thinking but traditionalist wineries, with Piero Mastroberardino, Andrea Lonardi, and Fabrizio Marinconz

21/02/2021

Pizza in Naples!! Need I say more?

For hundreds of years, artisans in the southern Italian city have been cooking up the ultimate fast food