Tag Archives: Wine

What’s America?

In genere non mi piace rimbalzare post di blog altrui, anche so moolto più autorevoli, su queste spiagge (tanto per rimanere in tema di vacanze). Questa notiziola però merita assai!
Siccome il problema dell’etichettatura del vino è molto sentito anche negli Stati Uniti, il Center for Science in the Public Interest (mica pizza e fichi!!) ha proposto una nuova etichetta che contenga tutte le informazioni nutrizionali dei vini rossi, bianchi e da dessert, evidentemente affinché il problema endemico dell’obesità che affligge il paese più ricco del mondo possa essere combattuto più efficacemente, ed il bevitore consapevole possa essere anche informato delle pericolose sostanze contenute nella sua amata bottiglia.
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Summer travelling in Italy

For the last two weeks we have been traveling through Sardinia and central Italy. Our trip began with an overnight stop at the Relais San Damiàn, in the countryside behind Imperia, a very beautiful small agriturismo (farm hotel) with ample spacious rooms and a small pool nestled in an olive grove. The stop was needed because we had planned a dinner in Imperia, with friends from the alt.food.wine newsgroup: Nils from Sweden, Dale from New York, Luk and Fil from Liguria, and consorts.

Agrodolce

Imperia is one of those places that one would normally skip as a tourist, yet it is interesting and in many ways charming. Imperia was an invention of a certain past leader of Italy, the one with the large chin that made the trains run on time but set Italy on the wrong path; the city is actually the artificial fusion of the very large fishing ports of Oneglia and San Maurizio. Agrodolce is situated in Oneglia right on the quays, in a curious mélange of residential palaces and industry, so it is normal, while sitting at a table under the arcades, to get the occasional whiff of olive oil, fish and pasta from the nearby plants. The chef of Agrodolce is Andrea Sarri, and with his wife Alessandra he runs what I consider to be one of the best fish restaurants. Photos of some of the dishes are interspersed throughout this article.

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Europe launches wine reform by proposing a new Council Regulation

Last week week the European Union released the full text of the “Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the common organisation of the market in wine and amending certain Regulations”, this had been announced a few days earlier on the website of the European Commission’s Agriculture and Rural Development section.

This new Common Market Organisation (CMO) for wine will lead to the repeal of current CMO as stated in Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999

The main stated objectives are:
– increase competitiveness;
– strengthen the reputation of EU quality wines;
– recover old markets and win new ones;
– set clear, simple rules;
– preserve the best traditions of EU wine production,
– reinforce the social fabric of many rural areas,
– ensure that all production respects the environment.

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A Night in Slovenia

On Tuesday evening the 8th of march, my friend Tomaz Srsen came to fetch me at Ljubljana airport, this was the beginning of a very tasty evening. Back in the ‘80s Tomaz used to be the bassist of Slovenia’s top rock group, today he is a wine and food critic but still looks like a bassist… he also write a guide of Slovenia’s top 110 restaurants; 110 in a country of 2 million people? It strikes me that this is the equivalent of citing the 3000 best restaurants in France. This evening we are going to one of the best, the Gostilna pri Danilu at Škofja Loka, a few kilometres outside Ljubljana.

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