This week’s Wine, Shine & Dine event in Cortona will feature Tuscan winery Castello di Monsanto,considered to be one of the top producers of traditional Chianti Classico Riserva. There will be a free tasting in front of the Molesini Wine Shop in Piazza Repubblica from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  The wines that will be featured are: Fabrizio Bianchi Chardonnay 2011 IGT Toscana Fabrizio Bianchi Rosato 2011 IGT Toscana Chianti Classico 2010 DOCG...

This week’s Wine, Shine & Dine event in Cortona on Thursday, July 25, 2013 featured Friuli/Veneto Winery La Tunella. Cortona was absolutely packed with people, the Cortona Mix Festival is currently going on and there was a group of egyptian dressed people singing on the steps of the town hall. Everyone was desperately trying to beat the 90+ degree weather and the cool wines being poured were a welcome refreshing relief. I even spotted one...

Last week’s Wine, Shine & Dine event in Cortona featured Chianti winery Isole e Olena at Taverna Pane e Vino.  The evening began with a free wine tasting in a very crowded Piazza Repubblica. Marco Molesini helped pour wines and greeted everyone who came by to taste the wines. There was a nice line up of wines, all from the Isole e Olena estate near Castellina in Chianti. Paolo de Marchi is making Chianti but with a different ideal in...

This week’s Wine, Shine & Dine event in Cortona on Thursday, July 25, 2013 will feature Friuli/Veneto Winery La Tunella. These are the wines they will be pouring at the free tasting from 4 -8 p.m. in front of Molesini Wine Shop in Piazza Repubblica: PINOT GRIGIO 2012 DOC FRIULI COLLI ORIENTALI SAUVIGNON 2012 DOC FRIULI COLLI ORIENTALI FRIULANO COL LIVIUS CRU 2011 DOC FRIULI COLLI ORIENTALI RIBOLLA GIALLA COL DE BLISS CRU 2011 FRIULI COLLI...

I was invited by my good friends Leuta to see them bottle their wine using a mobile bottling line. Basically a big semi-truck comes to the winery, unloads the entire back container to the ground which then opens up and the bottling line is contained inside. Owner and winemaker Denis Zeni took me on tour of the line while they were bottling their...