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Cappella Restaurant, Needham, MA The tasting featured a wonderful flight of wines The menu was again spectacular and worked very well with the wines. We kicked things off with one of the best values in French sparklers – the Louis Bouillot Perle d’Aurore Grande Reserve, Brut, Cremant de Bourgogne The First course Wood Grilled Shrimp… Read More

At Vino Italiano with Giovanni Bertani With the pandemic shutdown a fading memory, Vino Italiano in Waltham has begun hosting winemaker dinners again, and I, for one, am absolutely thrilled. The shop, located at 669 Main St. is a bastion of Italian wines, showcasing a well-curated selection in an authentically rustic space that suggests the… Read More

In truth, wine. Another great read from the Academie Du Vin Library. A brief collection of articles all about wine. I found the chapter on Wine as Art the most interesting. The Oxford dictionary defines the term “art,” as: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such… Read More

Cà La Bionda is located in Marano di Valpolicella, the heart of classic Valpolicella. The winery was founded in 1902 by Pietro Castellani  (namesake of the current owner), and is currently run by fourth generation brothers Alessandro, as winemaker and Nicola, as viticulturist. The winery owns 29 hectares (or approximately 72 acres) of land, mainly cultivated with vineyards,… Read More

Tasting Recap We had a small, intimate gathering for our 1998 CDP Revisited Event, wherein we methodically tasted through twelve lovely wines. The accompanying cheeses were incredible. Camembert Camembert, in many people’s minds, is a synonym for “French cheese.” In fact, Camembert is an AOC (or name-protected) cow’s milk cheese from the Normandy region in… Read More

I’ve blogged about Filey Bay before – Single Malt Whisky from Yorkshire in England. Filey bay is actually the first single malt whisky “made in, and of, Yorkshire.” Meaning that the spirit is truly a “cradle-to-grave” product. Their first spirit was drawn off into cask in 2016, released in 2019. The whisky was met with… Read More