It’s been four years now, but I can still taste that first swig from an ice-cold bottle of Furlani wine. Despite a slight breeze on my back porch that muggy Washington, DC evening, the mosquitoes were relentless as usual. While frantically scratching at our ankles, my wife and I shuffled back through the screen door into the kitchen and put the floor fan directly on top of … [Read more...] about Cantina Furlani: Genuine Hospitality And Wild Charisma in Trentino
Giampiero Bea of Paolo Bea: The Sprudge Wine Interview
It was a sweltering hot and humid August morning somewhere south of Perugia in the Umbrian hills, and I was still one of only two people seeking shade in front of the tiny local train station. The iconic Italian espresso bar and ticket booths that are always open were all closed during the almost three-week-long national holiday break. I had checked the bus schedules and … [Read more...] about Giampiero Bea of Paolo Bea: The Sprudge Wine Interview
Mythopia: High In The Swiss Alps With Winemaker Hans-Peter Schmidt
Hans-Peter Schmidt gazed across the Rhône valley in the Canton of Valais, garnished with vines as far as the eye could see, from the forest break at the highest perch of his carbon positive vineyard and experimental farm: Mythopia. With one hand filled with blackcurrants just picked moments before, he waved the palm of his free hand over his vast oasis in the Swiss Valais to … [Read more...] about Mythopia: High In The Swiss Alps With Winemaker Hans-Peter Schmidt
In Emilia Romagna, Reviving The New Old Lambrusco
Lambrusco: is there a more maligned, less understood wine on the drinking market today? Many of the American stereotypes about Lambrusco were spawned from its rapid industrialization in the 1970s. Traditional Lambrusco is typically dry, tannic, and crisp, but it just never vibrated the average soda-stained papillae prior to Banfi Vintners' introduction of the Riunite Amabile … [Read more...] about In Emilia Romagna, Reviving The New Old Lambrusco
Wine In Venice: The Sprudge Guide
David Andreatta makes his wine slightly south of Bassano del Grappa, in the castle town of Cittadella. But the self-proclaimed Venetian vineyard anarchist, “Il Ceo,” who has a reputation for ripping out old vines from his five Breganze DOC vineyards to replace them with harder to manage autoctono (indigenous) grape varieties like Vespaiolo and Groppella, is here to guide us … [Read more...] about Wine In Venice: The Sprudge Guide