The magic of Florence is legendary. The city, with its red-tiled roofs fills the wide valley of the river Arno, straddled by the ponte vecchio, literally paved with gold shops. The enormous cupola of the duomo, also red-tiled, has given Florence one of the most recognized skylines in the world, to rival, Paris, London, New York, but …
In 1439, a council of the Greek and Roman churches was called at Florence. According to legend, during the meeting, the Bishop of Florence proudly served his local communion wine to one of the Greek bishops who proclaimed, ‘What lovely wine! It’s xantho! (yellow)’. The Florentines, mishearing the greek adjective as santo (holy), took this as a …
Five-hundred and fifty odd years since the first Renaissance, Italy is in the grip of another. This time, the rebirth is in the wine industry where, particularly here in Tuscany, producers are rediscovering old grapes and old techniques to produce some truly amazing bottles. Couple this movement with a younger generation of passionate and …
In the last two weeks I was really fortunate to have been invited to visit some vineyards by my friends at Ottimi Vini, an incredible wine shop in Sansepolcro. This week we were in the Montalcino region, famous for it’s stately wine Brunello. Made, like most Tuscan red wine, from Sangiovese grapes, Brunello is blessed …
L’Osteria di Porta al Cassero, Montalcino: review Read More »
