Ok, guys, I just made the PERFECT summer adult treat!! Winesicles!!! OOOH so excited!! And this recipe is a riff on one of my absolutely favorite Italian desserts – peaches in red wine.  We grew up with our Italian relatives tossing peaches in their red wine whenever peaches were in season…no need for any fancy dessert with our clan. Just bring peaches. There was always wine around.  I remember our grandfather sitting under his pergola on a summer’s eve – slicing fresh peaches with his pocket knife, letting them slowly slide from the knife to his wine glass while we sat mesmerized watching.

Continue reading Beat the Summer Heat in Style! Roasted Peach Winesicles :-) at Our Italian Table.

Our friend Rory Harrington (@captainwine) put on another of his wonderful wine tasting events at Sotto (the one Italian restaurant in Los Angeles that Joe always wants to go back to) last Wednesday, this time focusing on the wines of Calabria! Perfect as we wrap up our time with the food and wine of this wonderful region of Italy, the “toe of the boot.”

Rory featured a lovely rosato and six wonderful reds, topped off by a Ripe del Falco Cirò Riserva from 1997.

Continue reading Calabria at Sotto at Our Italian Table.

Our introduction to the wines of Calabria is epitomized by our welcome at La Puzelle, a wonderful agriturismo near the small hill town of Santa Severino in central Calabria. We arrived at lunchtime on a hot day, after a drive of several hours. Leaving our luggage in the car, we wandered through the gate looking for an office where we could register and orient ourselves. Instead, we encountered proprietor Salvatore Vona, who waved us immediately into the dining room, where lunch was being served.

Continue reading Calabria: Le Puzelle Pitcher at Our Italian Table.

Lambrusco, the sparkling red wine from Emilia-Romagna, deserves better than the reputation Aldo Cella saddled it with here in the States. It really can be a remarkable apertif: an interesting alternative to champagne or prosecco, with its deep red color, effervescence, and fruity, full-bodied character.

But let’s face it, focusing on the region of Emilia-Romagna, as our blog is doing at the moment, is much easier for the chefs than for me. The wines of Emilia-Romagna well-known in the USA comprise a remarkably short list!

Continue reading Effervescent Emilian (Yes, Lambrusco!) at Our Italian Table.

As we wrap up our focus on Sicily, we have saved the best Sicilian wines for last. As we have seen, Sicilian wine is not so difficult to come by in the United States, but both for pure pleasure of drinking, and for sentimental reasons, these two wines are at the top of Joe’s and my list of favorite Sicilian reds.

2006 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna DOC Rosso was a recommendation from The Wine House  in West Los Angeles (just east of the 405 on Cotner north of Pico) for the rehearsal dinner of our 2008 wedding.

Continue reading Two Sicilian Summits at Our Italian Table.

When I think of bubbly wines I think of northern climates — Champagne, the Veneto — so the last place I expect to find a terrific sparkling rosé is Sicily. And yet, Jeremy Parzen — the creative wine curator at our favorite local Italian restaurant, Sotto — has found one that dazzles with flavor and delights with its unexpected provenance. Murgo Brut Rosé is the name, but alas, I cannot say where you might be able to find this lovely, lively, refreshing, complex, crisp rosé except on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, at our beloved Sotto.

Continue reading Sicilian Surprise! at Our Italian Table.

Sicily is a wine-and-food planet; Planeta is a name to remember for easy-to-find Sicilian offerings at your local wine merchant. Planeta is a big producer from Sicily that imports broadly here (unlike so many of the Italian wines we crave that never make it to our shores); they offer wines from $10 to expensive, but this one — right in the middle of the range — is a great choice when you want a food-friendly Sicilian wine.

Continue reading Planet Sicily at Our Italian Table.

First things first: how did I manage to spell incorrectly the greatest of Sicilian varietals in my first Sicilian post? I wish I could blame it on the wine, but I hadn’t had any when I started spelling Nero d’Avola with an “i.” Many apologies, but I’m sure my credibility has been shattered in many minds. I will work to restore it.

Meantime, let’s check in on the assortment I picked up in my recent quest for easily accessible Sicilian wines.

Continue reading Nero d’WHAT? Judgment Day at Our Italian Table.

Trying to find wines from Friuli-Venezia Giulia at most wine stores in the states can be a hopelessly frustrating task. Not so Sicily! So, as we turn our regional focus to that wonderful warm island in the south, I thought I would see what I could find around town in terms of Sicilian wine. Did I strike out? That remains to be seen — we will be sampling and reporting over the course of time — but I DID find some wines to buy.

Continue reading Accessible Sicilia at Our Italian Table.

Only two bottles of the wine we brought back from Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 2010 were left in the wine fridge. I thought they were both the varietal Friulano, and I wanted to write about the controversy that led a few years ago to the change in the name of this wine from Tocai Friulano to simply Friulano. (More on this in a minute.) I also wanted to enjoy this crisp, dry white with the fish Joe was grilling.

Continue reading Verduzzo Friulano: Sweet Surpise at Our Italian Table.