When Bacco Smiles–from American English, Italian Chocolate

My wife’s old aunt has an omino (the diminutive of uomo, the Italian word for “man”). Omino.  Little man.  When she wants to cook a rabbit for lunch, she has an omino who sells her the rabbit. She wants fish, she has another omino. She has a repair job to do in the house, she…More

On Wine Tasting and the Limits of Winespeak–from Get Thee to a Bakery

  “You taste wine the same way I do,” the guy pouring says.  “We all have the same equipment: nose, mouth, tongue, palate.      Technically, yes.  And it’s very nice of him to say that.      It’s my last day in Sonoma. I’ve had a head cold all week, so none of my “equipment” has…More

Biberius–rhymes with gregarious

We were eavesdropping last night.  We couldn’t help ourselves. And we were glad we did. We were sitting outside at Biberius in Rimini, our second night in town. Our second night back in Italy. A guy sitting directly behind me was talking about a cook. He had two children, this cook. He was thinking about…More

Yick–wine and cheesse, maybe

A Yahoo headline greets me this morning: “Study says cheese and red wine could boost brain health.” That’s good news.  Two things I like, and I’m all in favor of brain health.  The ten-year study, published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease, involved 1787 people who participated in a Fluid Intelligence Test, “which provides a…More

Drink Up–finding your house wine

And the winner is: 2017 La Focaie, Maremma Toscana.   Every summer I look for a budget red or white, the wine I’m going to open at home, enjoy while cooking lunch and with chocolate after lunch. A couple summers ago it was Cecchi, an Italian red.  Last summer it was budget California chardonnay from Costco.…More

I’d Rather Be Writing–stopping over in Sonoma

Writer in residence? I’ll give it a try. I stayed four nights this week at the Moshin Vineyard in Healdsburg, in Sonoma county. The program, Writing Between the Vines, is directed by Marcy Gordon, from nearby Sebastopol.  Along with Moshin Vineyards, residencies were also offered this year at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards in British Columbia. You…More