I can hardly believe how much time has gone by since I’ve written or posted anything. It’s a fast-paced life, and during this time I’ve been blessed with some great trips and wine tastings which I feel need to be shared. Since I can’t write a book about it, I will share some highlights in this post and I hope you get inspired to try new things and visit new places.
I remember when I took my first ‘wine class’ and realized how complicated this study can be. As many of you know it’s not only about the smell and taste of the wine, it’s a complete history lesson about a country — from the Ice Age to modern volcanic activity. Wine always tells a beautiful and enchanting story. To sip it is to live! It’s a time capsule from the Old World to the modern spin in the New World.
I feel very lucky and honored to be Italian-American living in California. Honestly, it just doesn’t get any better — from Napa wines to Montepulciano in Tuscany. I get to taste a lot of wine, being the sommelier of Primo Italia, the restaurant owned and run by my husband and me. I get to express our heritage and love of food, wine, music, and people. Our trip to Italy last summer was a wonderful combination of sharing our culture and family tree with our children. We also ate and drank very well. In Sicily we climbed Mt. Etna and sat on the rocky beaches of Taormina and the white sandy beaches of San Vito lo Capo, drinking Etna Bianco, Insolio, Grillo, Zibbibo and Nero d’avolas to our hearts content. There’s beauty and wonderment in how these wines and their vineyards continue to grow in the comfort of Etna’s ashes — it’s an anomaly of it’s own.
Riding the aliscafo from Salerno and viewing the picture-perfect towns along the way and their many grapevines growing along the cliffs, being blessed with the spritz of the Mediterranean — this memory puts a smile on my face. One marvels at the love and care these vines get as the vintner prunes and protects them. They are hand-harvested — there are no machines that can handle this job. We stopped in Ravello, the home of Marissa Cuomo, a wonderful winemaker producing beautiful whites, reds, and rosé. As we flag down an ombrellone in Positano and order a plate of frutti di mare, we enjoy our glass of Falanghina (the varietal of Campania). My husband and I sit and watch blissfully as our kids splash in the sea. In the distance we hear my favorite Italian summer song, “Partiti Adesso” (enjoy the song as you read …)
Our Italian tans glisten as we ascend all the stairs to shop for sandals and postcard paintings. It is simply my heaven.
Amalfi coast view from the aliscafo
In Tuscany, the scenery gets rustic as we drive through vineyard after vineyard of Chianti and Montepulciano. We stop at Cantina Contucci, where we are hosted by Andrea Contucci, one of the sons of forty generations of wine. He graciously gives us a tour of the castle he lives in. We then drink wine in the cantina next door. It’s hard to believe the history of this place. The walls are decorated with art by the same artists who lined the halls of The Vatican. Then there are the musty pre-War cellars where Andrea himself as a child played hide and seek. The old cobwebs feel creepy to my kids. Large casks line the cement walls and are still in use today. As we walk through, I notice a ‘topper’ which is something I had never seen before in Italy or Napa. This amazing tool, called a Colmatore, comes from the verb “colmare,” which means to fill. Basically this topper has 3 uses, to fill the cask without opening the vat and therefore limiting oxygen exchange, observing the first bubble which indicates if wine needs to be added or take out, and lastly it allows gases to get out during fermentation. Invented by Leornardo Da Vinci, it is still in use today in Montepulciano. The Old World truly believes “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.” This tour is an art and history lesson for all of us. My youngest son, Santino, with his huge eyes, can’t believe he what he has seen; he begins reciting quotations from his favorite book, “Who Was Leornardo Da Vinci”. …
When I got an invitation on Linked In to be the guest Sommelier on a digital series, I wondered, “Is this for real?” I immediately looked into it to see if it was an authentic show — and the exciting answer was YES! Tara Johnson is the creator and executive producer of this new series about female empowerment, “Words, Wine and Women.” The show talks to strong, intelligent, modern women as they engage in raw, honest, and often-humorous conversation. Tara explained that the show features a wine-tasting session with its hosts. The guests are a team of five women tasting wine before they get into the other conversational topics. I loved everything about this program — and even offered our restaurant as the backdrop for Season Two.
