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Happy New Year Italian wine loving friends! I'm thrilled to start the New Year featuring one of my favorite Italian red native grapes, Aglianico.  Aglianico, pronounced "ah-lee-ah-knee-co", is an Italian native grape found in southern Italy, mostly in the Campania and Basilicata wine regions. It's a dark, almost black colored, grape that buds early...

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As we enter the colder days heading into winter one can only dream of the warm days passed or sitting on an island soaking in the rays. Lets venture to the second largest island in Italy, Sardinia, to explore one of the well-known wineries, Sella & Mosca, and their Cannonau Riserva.  Sardinia is located in the western part of the Mediterranean. It’...

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Brunello hails from the Tuscan town of Montalcino located in the Val d’Orcia, about 20 miles south of Siena.  This area was granted as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2004.  As most of Tuscany is known for it’s splendid landscapes, this area is rich in rolling hills, olive groves and forests.  It’s a rather close proximity to the Tyrrhenian Sea and...

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In the fall of 2019 I had the unique pleasure to be a guest of the Firriato winery on the island of Sicily. Today I’m featuring their Etna Bianco, Le Sabbie dell’Etna, highlighting the main grapes in the blend along with the Etna Bianco DOC wine region.  The Grapes  The Etna Bianco that I’m sharing today is made up of two Sicilian native white grap...

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The Franciacorta sub-region is located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy within the province of Brescia. Franciacorta is one the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious, producers of sparkling wines in Italy. The name stems from the Latin word, franchae curtes, meaning the properties that were free from tax during the Middle Ages. This...

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The Blu Giovello wines have been made and exported to the American market for the last 30 years and have now come out with new labeling, hence why I had this opportunity to try these wines.   The Winery ~ Blu Giovello The first thing that caught my attention of these wines was the blue color of the bottles. It immediately reminded me of the Amalfi...

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In highlighting Ramato wines of Italy this month I was shocked to see that I haven’t discussed these wines on my sight yet.  With the rosè market on the rise it is the perfect time to highlight these wines.  They’re not red, white or rosè wines, but the best of all worlds.  Ramato wines are home to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in the northeaste...

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Orvieto is town set up high on a hillside made of tufo in the landlocked region of Umbria in central Italy.  The wines of the Orvieto DOC span both Umbria and the northern part of the Lazio region.  The vineyards are influenced by nearby Lake Corbara and Lake Bolsena as well as the Paglia and Tevere Rivers.  This area was once covered by an ancient...

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Tenuta Sassoregale, founded in 2002, is located in Civitella Paganico of the Grosseto province in the northern part of the Maremma known as the Alta Maremma.  There are 2 other parts including the southern Maremma, known as Maremma Grossetana, and the Maremma Laziale.  It’s located on the southwestern part of Tuscany close to the Tyrrhenian Sea.  T...

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Whether you may have heard the name Lazio or not, if you’ve been to Italy most likely you visited Rome, which is actually in the central region of Italy called Lazio.  Lazio is a region dominated by white wines by about 70% over reds that are primarily based on the Malvasia and Trebbiano white grapes.  In Lazio you’ll find a couple different types...

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