Curiosities From My Cellar
In 1994 I was invited to the Annual Blessing of the Grapes at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville. Robert and his sons Tim and Michael escorted their guests into the To Kalon Vineyard next to the winery, where we drank some of the previous vintage of Fumé Blanc,...
Turin: The Vermouth Capital of the World
Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavored with various roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs and spices. The most usual herbs are yarrow, chamomile, hyssop, marjoram, sage, and thyme; the spices: cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, juniper, ginger,...
Grenache Grenade
Normally not a fan of rosé, I was pleasantly surprised by the power of this Grenache rosé whose terracotta tint hints at its deeper flavor. Winemaker Jeff Emery of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard feels that “Rhone varieties pushed into cooler California growing regions...
Simple Pleasures
Five of us recently spent an overnight at a friend’s apartment on the top of Russian Hill in San Francisco. In the morning we trekked down the Broadway steps to China Town and North Beach, where we foraged for appetizers at Molinari’s delicatessen. We came away with...
Limoncello: Italy’s most popular Digestivo
In almost all family-run trattorias in Rome and in southern Italy, when the restaurateur presents the bill at the end of the meal, he or she offers the guests a choice of digestivi. These are after dinner drinks meant to help digestion. Many, like grappa from...
Tasting Catalunya
In that moment, savoring, reveling, and taking in the accompanying menu and literature, we spied an upcoming club trip to Catalonia, Spain in June 2022. We were offered Albariño and Tempranillo, then, without pause, we joined Club Marimar and signed up for an adventure in Spain!
Aging Gracefully
When I visit my cellar in this time of pandemic, I look fondly on all of those old wines that I’d like to consume before my untimely demise. There’s not a lot to do outside of the home during a pandemic, which has been a boon to the alcoholic beverage...
Anteprime Sagrantino e Amarone
ANTEPRIMAS AND ALPINI A SHORT PREFACE I took the train from Verona to Umbria to attend Anteprima [preview of] Sagrantino. People in the train wore masks over their noses and mouths and the air was infused with the fierce lemony-sweet scent of handwash. Hushed voices...
Patricia Guy’s Diary, October 2019
October 18 Amarone tasting at Valentina Cubi’s Valentina picked us up from the bus stop in Valpolicella and whisked us to her winery, where some thirty wine aficionados gathered for a vertical tasting of her Amarone “Morar”: 1997, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012. Valentina,...
Patricia Guy’s Diary, Sept 2019
Verona, where I have made my home for over twenty years, is seventy-five miles from Venice, one hundred miles from Milan and light years from El Dorado, Kansas, where I grew up reading Black Arrow, Nancy Drew, and The Three Musketeers. I would climb right down inside...