New World Rosé meets French sensibilities

It would seem that if you want to make a French winemaker mad, just mess with his wine…or wine regulations.

The European Union was all set to relax rules on how Rosé wines can be made there, allowing mixtures of red and white wine to create pink instead of the more time-consuming/costly and traditional saignée method where red wine grapes keep their skins on for a bit of a several-hour soak.  The French – as well as angry Italians and Spaniards – lobbied against this “New World” Rosé process and apparently swayed the EU.  Just last month, the EU dropped the issue, never even allowing it to come to a vote. Read more

Benvenuto! Stories from Small Vineyards in Italy

My recent trip to Italy was largely restricted to Roma, which is located in the region of Lazio. The professor shepherding my small group of students suggested we taste mostly Lazio wines, preaching that the difference between a tourist and a traveler is an interest in what their immediate surroundings offer. Tourists would insist on only trying wines from the regions their guide book declared to be the best, while true travelers would immerse themselves in the wines from Lazio, suppressing the urge to drink strictly those from Toscana and Piemonte. Tourist is a detestable name anywhere, and so to avoid being labeled one I stuck with Lazio. They tasted fantastic to my young palate, but nothing like the portfolio Small Vineyards presented yesterday. Read more

A Weekend Away From Hinsdale: San Francisco

Just one look at any of those street, and you couldn’t be anywhere else – it’s so beautiful, and there’s that location, and the sense of the free spirit. Who couldn’t become ravenous in such a place?

- Julia Child, Chef Read more

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