As gift-giving season approaches here is a suggested gift that most will be pleased to receive – olive oil. Of course the only olive oil to give should be imported from Southern Italy. Of the approximately 40 wineries that I have visited over the past six years, almost all make their
Here are some web links that may be of interest to readers who are traveling to Rome and/or Southern Italy: Rome When I am in Rome there are two places that are must visits; L’Angolo Divino, http://www.angolodivino.it, and Il Meridionale, http://www.meridionaletrastevere.com. L’Angolo Divino is an enoteca that has an extensive selection
Cilento is one of my favorite areas in the South. A precise description of Cilento is elusive. For the purposes of this blog, Cilento encompasses the Tyrrhenian Sea coastline south of Salerno to Maratea and the inner boundaries of the Valla di Diano National Park, which is adjacent to the Province of
Each of the three wineries visited on this day are rooted in history. We capped the day with a family dinner at Gaetano’s parents’ home. This was our longest day due in large part to the multi-course feast at Gaetano’s parents’ home, well worth it! La Sibilla La Sibilla is
(Note to readers this blog article and each of the subsequent ones were written upon our return to the USA.) We planned an entire day in the Irpinia wine region, which includes Gaetano’s home town of Montemiletto. We had six places to visit, our busiest day of the trip. Irpinia
The Barone B&B, where we are staying, is a short walk to the Duomo of St. Matthew, a fifteen minute walk to the old city of Salerno, and a thirty minute walk to the adjacent town of Vietri sul Mare. Our itinerary for the day included exploring Salerno and Vietri sul Mare followed by
We left Rionero in Vulture to go to the Amalfi Coast for lunch at Osteria Reale which is located in Tramonti. Luigi Reale, the proprietor, also owns and operates an 11,000 bottle winery adjacent to the Osteria. We have visited Luigi’s winery a couple of times. After Tramonti, we were traveling to
Our itinerary included visits to my grandparents’ home town of Corleto Perticara and the adjacent, award-winning town of Guardia Perticara. If time permitted we planned to go to the Chestnut Festival in Rapolla. We encountered rain, fog, and wind on a narrow, winding road over a mountain. Outside of the town of Laurenzana we reached a
Where else on a given day can you learn how olive oil is made, have four archeologists “crash” a wine tasting and then be invited to the tasting, meet a reknown wine consultant during a visit to a cantina, and meet the person who supplied the wine at Sofia Ford Coppolla’s wedding? Just another
A leisurely day in the South is made even more leisurely when the herding of sheep on the main road connecting the wine-producing towns of Barile and Rionero in Vulture causes us to stop to let them pass. Today we visited three small organic wineries. Two are owned by the winegrowers and the third is owned