food and Italian wine

Some Thoughts on Pairing Wines with Hot or Spicy Foods - Any wine enthusiast will tell you that pairing wine with hot or spicy foods can be a tricky proposition. However, by following some basic rules of thumb for choice of wines you can ensure that you and your guests will enjoy both the wines as well as every bite of that spicy Indian curry or those cumin-pepper ribs...read full article

An Italian Dinner With a Classic Pairing of Italian Wine and Food - Italian wines typically are very food-friendly wines. But matching any wine with a specific dish can be a tricky proposition. This article describes six Italian wines distributed by Rapp Wine and Company recently featured in an Italian six-course wine and food dinner jointly hosted by Paul’s Wine and Spirits and Tartufo Restaurant in Washington, DC. It was a terrific matching of Italian wines and food...read full article

Oldies but Goodies: The Pleasures of Aged Wines - One of the real pleasures of collecting wines is storing age-worthy wines in the cellar for future enjoyment. The additional ageing permits the wine’s aromas and flavors to evolve and become more complex and intriguing and, hence, more enjoyable than in their youth. And when old wines are paired with the right foods they can significantly enhance the enjoyment of the dining experience. Here are three Italian wines that have stood the test of time...read full article

Wine-Friendly Italian Restaurants in Washington D.C. Close to the National Gallery of Art and the National Mall - Here are ten wine-friendly Italian restaurants in Washington, DC any one of which is worth a visit after touring the National Gallery of Art or other museums on the Mall. All are relatively convenient to the NGA and can be reached by a short taxi ride or, in some cases, a quick hop on D.C.'s Metro subway system...read full article

Review of the Piero di Cosimo Exhibit Now at the National Gallery of Art - The largest retrospective ever of art by the Italian Renaissance master Piero di Cosimo is at the National Galllery of Art in Washington, DC now through May 3rd, 2015. The exhibition provides a comprehensive perspective of the artist’s oeuvre, from the sacred to the secular, from landscapes to portraits and from the beautiful and serene to, well, the bewildering and bizarre and is one of the most anticipated exhibitions of 2015...read full article

Fine Italian Restaurants To Visit in New York After Touring the Frick's Piero della Francesca Exhibit - The first U.S. exhibit of paintings by the early Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca is at the Frick Collection in New York now through May 19, 2013. This is a rare opportunity to view some of the work of one of the earliest and greatest Italian Renaissance painters.

Since viewers will likely need some post-gallery sustenance, this article reviews some closeby wine bars and wine-friendly Italian restaurants worth a visit after touring the Frick’s Piero della Francesca exhibit...read full article

My Favorite Piedmont Restaurants Worth a Visit When Touring the Wine Roads of Northern Italy - Traditionally, where you find good wine in Italy you also find good food and restaurants. The Piedmont region is no exception to this rule. Its array of world-class wines is matched by the quality of its food and restaurants - it’s a foodies’ paradise. Listed are ten of my favorite, must-visit restaurants in the Piedmont...read full article

Studies Show Moderate Drinking During Pregnancy is not Harmful - While heavy drinking during pregnancy has been shown to be harmful, this is not the case for light or moderate drinking. Expectant mothers can take comfort from several scientific studies that find no evidence of harm from having a couple of glasses of wine a day during pregnancy...read full article

Sgroppino - A Refreshing Venetian Treat - I was first served this drink after dinner with my wife, Julie, and a few friends at a small, family-run restaurant on Campo San Margherita in Venice last year. Dinner was delightful and as we began to tuck into our desserts, the waiter - who I believe was the owner - without any prompting, simply announced that he was going to serve us one of Venice’s most famous digestivi...read the article»

Pietro's Own Merlot - Sorriso Ristorante in Cleveland Park has long been one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the D.C. metro area. It serves genuine northern Italy dishes as well as some Roman favorites. Since they are made with the best ingredients, I can always count on the food being fresh, good and relatively inexpensive. I also like the attentive but unfussy service.

Sorriso’s also has something else going for it – Pietro’s own wine from his family’s vineyard in the Lison-Pramaggiore DOC in northeastern Italy. The vineyard isn’t large – less than an acre – but is planted with 35-40 year old Merlot vines...read full article

A Selection of Pizza-friendly Italian Wines - Finding a wine that goes well with pizza can be an intimidating challenge. What makes the choice of a wine so daunting is that there is no such thing as a “typical” pizza. Pizzas, like people, come with all sorts of personalities and styles. Pizzas may have thin or thick crusts and range from...read full article

The Scoop on the Best Gelato in the D. C. Metro Area: An Interview with Stefano Polles of Sorriso Ristorante - As I write this the temperature is in the low 80’s and there’s a gentle breeze on an almost cloudless day. It is the kind of day that poets love to rhapsodize about and the forecast is for more sun in the weeks ahead. Spring has finally arrived and when spring arrives my attention turns to thoughts of gelato. Yes, gelato! While Italian wine is my main passion, my infatuation with gelato is a close second. Ever since my first trip to Italyread full article

Interview with Franco Oghittu, Chef and Co-owner of La Barrique Food and Wine in Cagliari, Sardinia - I recently had a chance to spend some time with Francesco (Franco) Oghittu, chef and along with his wife Michela, owner of La Barrique Food and Wine, a restaurant and wine bar in Cagliari, Sardinia that specializes in traditional and innovative Sardinian cuisine. Their restaurant has received favorable reviews in Gambero Rosso’s 2009 Viaggiare Bene and the 2009 guide 365 Migliori Ristoranti Italiani. Franco also knows something about wines, having been certified by the Associazione Italiana Sommelier (AIS) as an official taster and sommelier ...read full article

Food and Wine Pairings - It probably is no exaggeration to say that grapes and wine are “hard-coded” into Italian culture. Grapes are grown in virtually every part of Italy and Italy produces and exports a lot of wine. Wine is a popular drink and many Italians serve it at both lunch and dinner...read full article

Copyright 2008-2023, Richard Marcis. All rights reserved. www.winewordswisdom.com