Mano a Vino Montclair (Free subscription) | 07/10/2008
... called Villa Donoratico 2005 from the Tenuta Argentiera estate which is situated on the coast of Tuscany between Livorno and Grosseto, about 100km south-west of Florence. This wine has all the qualities of a good Bordeaux with an essence of Italian that gives it a very interesting style. The Argentiera estate is on lands that have history going back to the Medici family of Florence who gave...
Good Wine Under $20 (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
In the eastern shadows of the better-known region of Tuscany there is a land of slanting sunlight, protected by hills and mountains, called Umbria. (photo of the Chiesa di Sant'Angelo by seier+seier+seier ) There you will find Assisi, where the troubadour-warrior-theologian St. Francis had his miraculous vision which led him to found the Franciscan order. Here too is Perugia, home to the Renaissance...
Catholic Fire (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
Saint John Leonardi (1541-1609) was born in Tuscany and, after studying to become a pharmacist, left this profession and was ordained to the priesthood in 1572. He devoted himself to teaching catechism to children; in addition, he gathered laymen to work with him in hospitals and prisons, and in 1574 he founded the Order of Clerics Regular of the Mother of God. He later founded in Rome a society...
Berry Bros. & Rudd Fine Wine Blog (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
Recently back from a ten day buying trip to Piedmont, briefly to Tuscany and a first visit to Umbria. More precisely I spent two days in and around the village of Serralunga d’Alba, the third largest Barolo commune at 311ha (behind La Morra & Monforte d’Alba), ex 1786ha for all Barolo. As with Burgundy I find [...]
Forest Murmurs (Free subscription) | 08/10/2008
So I spent a week in Tuscany in the company of Frs Zielinski and Donaghue. We used to be parish priests of neighbouring parishes in Gateshead and would have Sunday lunch together occasionally. Now we are more scattered but still meet up now and again for lunch and generally have good conversations. To put us in rather crude pigeon-holes I would say Fr Z is a conservative, Fr D a liberal and...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 08/10/2008
Brad Blum has a talent for unusual ideas. After he became the vice chairman of Darden Restaurants, which runs the Olive Garden chain, he decided to take coals to Newcastle and open an Olive Garden in Tuscany.
Forest Murmurs (Free subscription) | 07/10/2008
At last I have found time to get back to writing up this blog. I have been away and busy in between. However it all started on September 24th. Many thanks for the birthday greetings. It was the day I was due to fly off on holiday with Frs Zielinski and Donaghue for a week in Tuscany. This holiday had been planned in August 2007. I don`t normally operate like this but when Frs Z and D asked me...
Lucullian delights - an Italian experience (Free subscription) | 07/10/2008
After making the Paper Chef entry, I have now ended up with a lot of beetroots to use. Cooked beetroots because when I needed to buy one, the season seems to be over here in north Tuscany and I couldn't find a single one in its natural state and I therefore had to buy a bunch already cooked ones au naturelle. Nothing wrong with that apart from me having a natural inclination against buying
jamie goode's wine blog (Free subscription) | 06/10/2008
After a trip to Chianti country, I'm in a mood for Italian reds, and here's a good one. It's not from Tuscany, but the Veneto. It's delicious and quite elegant. Guerrieri Rizzardi 'Pojega' Ripasso 2006 Valpolicella DOC Classico Superiore, Italy A single-vineyard wine made primarily from Corvina and Corvinone grape varieties, then aged in oak. It... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my...
