Rosso di Altesino IGT 2008

I grew up drinking  rustic Chianti in a straw bottle with my father. Traditional Chianti contained a percentage of white grapes, which was mandated by law. I believe the reason was simple, there were all these white grapes growing everywhere and no-one knew what to do with them. To help the local farmers, the government [...]

Changing Our Wine Philosophy

When times change, you have to change with it. If you don’t, you get passed over as competition forges ahead of you. The recession has led to many people losing their jobs, or even worse, their business. Customer’s dining habits have changed. Many consumers are cutting back on the number of times they dine out [...]

Italian Rose Is The Perfect Choice For Summer

When you stroll through any Piazza in Italy during the summer, there is a common choice among outside diners. Bottles of Rose’ or Blush are prevalent on many of the tables. The French are noted for their love of Rose’ , this has been passed on to Italians, with many of the more reputable producers [...]

Planeta Rosso

It seems as though I’ve spent the last month blogging about wines from the south of Italy. The truth is, there are so many nice wines that are reasonably priced and pair perfectly with our food. Planeta is one of the two powerhouses in Sicily, they have property dating back to the sixteen hundreds and [...]

A Hidden Gem in Basilicata

Mario’s sons working the booth at Vin Italy

Helen Gallo of Winebow and my daughter Vanessa

Nestled at the base of Mount Vulture is a dynamic winery called Bisceglia. It was founded in 2001 by Mario Bisceglia, and designed by Japanese architect, Hikaru Mori along with Italian architect Domenico Santomauro. This state of the art winery and [...]

Tasca d’Almerita

One of my favorite wineries in Sicily is the Regaleali Estate. This estate is located in the central part of Sicily up in the mountainous region.

Vin Italy 2010

4,300 wineries, over 100,000 wines. Where do I begin?

Varano’s New EVOO

When I travel to Italy, my main focus is food and wine, I love to discover a new wine for Varano’s, one that is available in the United States and that fits into our format. I love driving through wine country and seeing all the vineyards, planted in perfect rows. The scenic vistas that vineyards [...]