Mandi!

04.06.2012
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“Mandi!” A Friulano greeting that I sincerely enjoy saying, with gusto, every chance I get. It means, literally, hands of god (mani di dio) and so- “May you go in the hands of god.” This week I have been in the caring and generous hands of the people of Friuli, as well as my colleagues [...]

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A Specogna Surprise

04.06.2012
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On trips like these, there will inevitably be times when you walk into a winery or someone’s home and have no idea what to expect. Or you expect the worst. I should know by now not to have any expectations at all, but so it goes. We arrived at Specogna, which none of the group [...]

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Lunch & Lidia

04.05.2012
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“So, Lidia is going to cook us lunch.” “SERIOUSLY?!” “Yes.” Our visit to Bastianich was peppered with many interesting folks, most importantly Ms. Bastianich herself. We were not only able to taste the wines (which I am already fairly familiar with) but her food as well. I was sitting there thinking about the fact that [...]

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Get Your Fogolar On

04.05.2012
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When we sat down for lunch at Ronchi di Cialla the other day, we noticed an interesting contraption near the dining room. Our first fogolar experience! PS- every time you say fogolar!, it must be exclamatory. This would not be our first encounter with a fogolar! We have seen it several times since but had [...]

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Tasting with The Count

04.04.2012
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Here we are tasting in a pretty magnificent room at Conte d’Attimis-Maniago in Buttrio. I think we all felt a little noble for an afternoon. “Our land is a land of white wines.”  -Alberto d’Attimis-Maniago From the 3 short days I’ve been here, I have been blown away by the youthfulness of the older white [...]

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Ronchi di Cialla

04.04.2012
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The first stand-out visit of the trip was at the wonderful Ronchi di Cialla. We arrived and were greeted by none other than the man himself- Paolo Rapuzzi. He, along with his wife Dina, founded the winery and began planting the vineyards in 1970. One of my trip mates, Elaine, transcribed what Paolo told us [...]

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Breaking Bud

04.03.2012
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Spring has sprung a little early over here in Friuli, as seen at Ronchi di Cialla yesterday. The buds are breaking about 20 days earlier than usual. Wild flowers are in bloom, little delicate butterflies are floating around. Lovely, really! And…kinda sad? If you don’t think global warming is really happening, think again. A full [...]

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An Adventure in Cheese

04.03.2012
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We’re here! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (or Instagram!), you know that the whole COF 2012 crew made it safe and sound to the Colli Orientali del Friuli on Sunday. We arrived at our agriturismo in Corno di Rosazzo and hit the ground running. Running in the direction of a plate of [...]

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LAX –> COF

03.30.2012
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I’m getting on an airplane real soon and headed to…Friuli! I’ll be joining the one and only Jeremy Parzen as well as a smashing little group of wine bloggers/writers. Be sure to check back with the official COF 2012 site to get updates on our whereabouts and shenanigans. The last time I was in Friuli [...]

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The Crush: Episode 34

03.28.2012
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Episode 34 coming atcha with the freshest and the illest! It’s an episode of ALL Fresh Press news. We’re talking about yet another Real Housewife jumping on the wine biz bandwagon <sigh>, Egyptians and beer, Starbucks becoming a place you can “relax with a glass of wine”, exactly how you manipulate red wine to become [...]

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