Skiing and celebrating Carnival with my children might be more typical pastimes in late February; instead, I chose to return to Tuscany in the off-season to savor the excellence of this blessed region along with the silence and the peacefulness of a pre-Spring pause, off on a jaunt to the seaside alone with my thoughts. I decided to register to the two-day
I must preface by admitting that I am enchanted by all things Il Carnasciale. For me, the winery, its proprietors, collaborators and the wine itself embody what wine should be – meticulously crafted by passionate, dedicated people in respect of nature and the territory, with a constant eye to innovation and extraordinary quality. I could sing many the praises of
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] While burgundy is full of wine celebrations, none of them quite compare to the historical Saint-Vincent Tournante. This festival, whose roots date back to the middle ages, has many traditions. Most importantly and to this day the event marks the occasion to promote the wines of Burgundy, foster solidarity between winemakers and pay tribute to Saint-Vincent, the patron
Last weekend I attended an epic tasting in the Northern Rhone town of Ampuis just 30 minutes south of Lyon, where over 60 wineries and their winemakers gathered to share their wines from Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Cornas, Hermitage, Saint-Péray and Crozes-Hermitage. The event which is appropriately called the Marche aux vins D’Ampuis (“Ampuis Wine Market”), which gives consumers the opportunity to
A few months ago I invited several VinConnect customers to join me on my next set of regional winery visits, which turned out to be Tuscany in November 2013. Three loyal, intrepid VinConnect fans signed up for the task, and so joined me the week before Thanksgiving to tour and taste with VinConnect’s partner wineries, as well as several others
Every third Sunday in November the famed Hospices du Beaune charity event and auction takes place under Les Halles (home to the Saturday market). The famed event brings together wine enthusiasts from across the globe to partake in a weekend full of prestigious tastings, Burgundian festivities and delectable cuisine. From Friday onward the town becomes a-buzz when wineries and wine
I just returned from doing my first set of wine tasting visits in Spain, and I must say, I was very impressed. While I’ve done several trips to Burgundy, the Rhone, the Piedmont and Tuscany, it’s fair to say I didn’t have much of a picture in my mind of what to expect from Spainish “wine country.” Perhaps you don’t
I spent Saturday evening at Antonio Galloni’s La Festa del Barolo, and had such a wonderful, amazing time that I felt I needed to share the experience with you all. Widely regarded as the preeminent reviewer of Italian wine in America today, Antonio Galloni started this event two years ago. He modeled it after Daniel Johnnes’ La Paulee, an epic
On February 6th I was honored to attend a 10-vintage vertical tasting of the singular Il Caberlot wines of Podere Il Carnasciale. As you may know, Il Carnasciale is a Tuscan producer of wines made from a variety unique to them — what is believed to be a hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Proprietor Bettina Rogosky was in San
Vinitaly — the event held each March that (pretty much) everybody in the Italian wine business has visited…at least once. It’s overwhelming, chaotic, impossible to park, and even more impossible to find a clean bathroom, but all in all, worth it. It’s a chance for trade and the common wine lover to visit Italy’s most famous (as well as lesser-known)
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