As you all know, I was in Italy this past fall. Traveling, drinking wine, traveling, drinking more wine. Eating. The usual. A few weeks during my epic journey I was lucky enough to be joined by one of my best friends, Christina. We are two drama school pals that have both ended up in this crazy world of wine. She is (too) far away in London so whenever I travel to Europe, we always try to meet up. And wine drinking is always involved, of course. Add to that a Flip video camera- and I think you can see where this is going. I made this little “outtakes” video back in September and think it’s about time it made its BHMF debut. We had originally hoped to make a kind of homage to 3 Sheets… the female Zane Lampreys! When watching the footage all the “unplanned” and blooper clips were WAY more interesting than anything else we recorded. Lesson learned: nobody wants to hear you talk about wine. Seeing you get drunk- that’s the ticket.
Yesterday was a long day. But a great day. It was spent on a scooter, for the most part, as I desperately tried to find my way through the Amalfi Coast, Salerno, Avellino and Tufo. But the treacherous ride and the almost constant sense of feeling lost was worth it. And I would do it all again in a second.
I was lucky enough to have one of my very best friends Christina join me on this first leg of the journey. She also works in the business di vino (but lives way too far away from me in London.) We had 3 very different tastings in 3 different towns. We began the day with a visit to see Rosanna Petrozziello of I Favati in a little place called Cesinali.
We arrived to the cellar and tasting room and were greeted by Rosanna. Her husband is one of the Favati brothers still running the family business. They have the vineyard and she says the cellar, “it is mine.”
We started off our tasting at I Favatiwith a fantastic fiano spumante. It is yet to be released in the US, so it was a special treat. And I am freakishly obsessed with unique sparkling wines so, yes, I was excited. The grape in this wine is fiano, which is native to the region. Rosanna named this wine Cabri which is the combination of her 2 sons names. She was also kind enough to open their 2007 Fiano di Avellino white label riserva. This was a wonderful way to try two very different expressions of the grape.
This was just the beginning…more to come soon. Until then, saluti!
Make some limoncello! Or just drink it. Or do both!
Let’s take a moment for a Brunello flashback…the Amalfi Coast. 2001. On a beach near Sorrento under the midday sun. I approached a small shack on the rocky shore in search of refreshments. The woman in front of me was being poured a pale yellow beverage over ice. It was cold. I wanted it. During slow sips and the development of an afternoon buzz, I learned this was the Amalfi Coast’s prized limoncello; a lemon infused pure grain alcohol with sugar.
I was recently given a bottle by an Italian wine rep who had picked it up in the coastal town of Ravello. Ahhh- I could almost feel the ocean breezes. It’s sweet, rich and viscous but its ice cold temperature makes it refreshing. A great summer digestif if you ask me. If you can’t get your hands on an authentic bottle of this yummy stuff, you can make your own! Check out Italy Logue’s step by step recipe.
