by Mary Beth Vierra | Feb 5, 2022 | Featured, Wine Education, Wine Regions
Crackle, crunch, boom— are the sounds invoked by the name given to a rare, nearly lost red grape from the Friulian hills in far northeastern Italy. Meet Schioppettino [ski’OH–pet–TEE–noh], the elegant, perfumed, floral yet pepper-savory red...
by Mary Beth Vierra | May 14, 2022 | Featured, Viticulture, Wine Education, Wine Regions
Not far from the soaring Alps of northern Italy lies a placid lake in a dream-like setting. At this northerly latitude we expect brisk days and a Continental climate. Instead, we find a pocket of Mediterranean-like climate, where grapevines grow amidst lemon...
by Mary Beth Vierra | Dec 12, 2021 | Featured, Wine Education, Wine Regions
Maybe decade ago, we began hearing a quiet, fizzy buzz about a sparkling wine style born of an ancient production method. You may have heard of it referred to by a few names — pét-nat, méthode ancestrale, Col Fondo, and Sui Lieviti, to list a few. That quiet...
by Mary Beth Vierra | Nov 20, 2021 | Featured, Wine Education, Wine Regions, Food & Wine
Walking the covered porticoes and lively piazzas of Italy at aperitivo hour, you’ll witness the exuberant beauty of Italian Prosecco pulled from chilled ice buckets filling glass after glass at every bar and café. Nothing captures the Italian lifestyle like an...
by Mary Beth Vierra | Mar 1, 2021 | Wine Education, Wine Regions, Wine Reviews
Passionate winemaking from Vittoria Sicily – A salute on International Women’s Day Meet Arianna and sip her SP-68 Rosso, made from a co-fermentation of indigenous red grapes grown bio-dynamically on the road bearing this same name – SP 68. Meet Arianna 📌...
by Mary Beth Vierra | Feb 21, 2021 | Viticulture, Wine Education, Wine Regions
….In the Vineyard that is! Golden waves of billowing mustard among the vines of Dry Creek Valley. Beyond beauty, mustard performs magic for the soil and the vine every spring. Like any cover crop, it protects against erosion, invites water...