B y my purely unscientific reckoning I’ve participated in over 400 “winemaker” dinners over time. For the most part these have been pleasu...

C ars, women, beaches. Italy is downright sexy. Whether you are 26 or 62, the sensuality of living the Italian life is invigorating. And t...

L-R my Mom, sisters Josephine and Amelia and brother Felice. Mom and Josephine are living. T exas in the beginning of the 20th century w...

O ne of the conundrums for Italian wine is that with all of the varieties of grapes and styles of wines, there are essentially four wines ...

The Tree of Hope I n New York this week, meetings, end of year wrap-ups, annual trip. While the days are filled with meetings and tastin...

I t hasn’t been a year since Francis became Pope, but already signs abound for a new direction in Italy. After 25 years under the allure ...

S ince Italy aligned their wine regulations with the European Community in 2012 , the unbridled enthusiasm to rush wine towards the vaunte...

“There is a crack between the two worlds.” – Don Juan Matus I n time, the perception of things as they are and as they seem are two sid...

D uring the last two weeks I’ve had more than one occasion to dig into my wine closet and pull out some gems. Barolo, Brunello, Champagne,...

Hint: Eat lots of fruit T he wine and food industry can take its toll. Days of tastings followed by lunches, dinners and more tastings. ...

D ec 28, 2005, eight years ago , I started On The Wine Trail Italy. There weren't a lot of wine bloggers back then. Hell, electricity ...

I ’ m very worried. The world is getting flatter. And with that folks, in every corner are finding out about wine. And they are collecting...

R ecently I spent a day with some of the brightest mystery writers in America . Long a fan of the Judge Dee series and the Inspector Mont...

From the "What's old is new again" dept H olidays are the perfect time to bring out the wines you’ve been saving for a spe...

H ow is it classic wine regions like Bordeaux, Napa, the Mosel, are relatively easy to follow but Tuscany’s Chianti zone is still baffling...