Blog Feed: my life italian

Anniversary, and Off to Italy!

Published on 2011-01-28 06:22:00

At this time last year, DoBianchi and I headed off to California to get married. Our first year together as husband and wife has been joyful and full of excitement about our future. Now we are embarking on another adventure, to the Veneto and Friul > read more

Galluccio DOC

Published on 2011-01-23 09:27:00

Galluccio is one of those DOCs that doesn't get much attention, and doesn't do much to garner any either. According to this text, there are grumblings of a new DOC for the long-forgotten grape varieties, Pallagrello (nero and bianco) and Casavecchia > read more

Happy Holidays from the Parzens

Published on 2010-12-27 10:18:00

Here's a slide show that my DoBianchi put together with a Christmas song** that he wrote (very creative, this guy :). In this video, there are the highlights of our first year together as a family. What a year it's been! I can say without a doubt, > read more

Falanghina

Published on 2010-11-29 17:15:00

Pronunciation: fa-lahn-GEE-na (That's a hard "G.")This is probably the white wine that was most ubiquitous in my Ischia-Napoli world. It's what came in carafes as the house wines, and it's what could also be found in an average to fancy bottle. A > read more

Falerno del Massico DOC

Published on 2010-11-18 10:00:00

The legend** goes that Bacchus descended one day in disguise upon the slopes of Mount Massico where he met a poor and simple farmer of the surname Falerno. He did not hesitate to offer his unexpected guest the best from his pantry. Moved by the far > read more

Asprinio

Published on 2010-11-15 12:00:00

Just an additional note on the history of the grape...as stated below, it is widely believed to come from the Pinot or Greco family, but some sources conclude otherwise. Some maintain that it comes from a wild native variety domesticated by the Etru > read more

Aversa DOC

Published on 2010-11-13 10:01:00

Aversa is one of the two places in Italy most famous for its Mozzarella di Bufala (Caserta is the other). And don't I know it. I ate my weight in the precious stuff during my time living between Ischia and Naples. There is absolutely nothing that > read more

Irpinia DOC

Published on 2010-11-07 15:00:00

As long as I lived in Campania, I was always intrigued by the areas of Irpinia and Sannio. They are rich with an ancient history of Oscans, Samnites, and Hirpini that I find fascinating. The mountains of Irpinia, set with pine trees and chestnuts a > read more

Aglianico

Published on 2010-11-06 12:00:00

Text below translated from: Del Canuto, Francesco et al., Il vino italiano, vitigni, enografia, e grastronomia regionale, Associazione Italiana Sommeliers (Bertani & C.), Milano, 2010 (2002), fourth edition.Alternative names: Aglianicone, Guanic > read more

Fiano di Avellino DOCG

Published on 2010-11-04 09:59:35

Before I get into the translation, I just want to mention that I don't like Italian tasting notes. I feel a blog post coming on, but I'll save that for later so that you don't accuse me of editorializing when I said that I wouldn't. Because the des > read more

Taurasi DOCG

Published on 2010-11-04 09:13:00

Even though I lived in Campania for nearly four and a half years, I didn't get to drink a ton of Taurasi. It was relatively expensive and I lived a pauper-ish existence. I'm sure that I've had more than even your average Northern Italian, but still > read more