Travel & Tasting Notes From A Couple of Wine Lovers
After spending three delightful days in Umbria, we drove two hours north to Tuscany. While the charms of Tuscany were never a secret, the region rocketed to the top of everyone's Italian bucket list following the 1996 publication of Frances Mayes' uplifting, romantic memoir, "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy." The book remained… Continue reading A [Short] Guide to Brunello di Montalcino: Great Wines, Great Time
Underrated. Unappreciated. Overlooked. That’s Umbria. Always playing catch-up to neighboring Tuscany, with its celebrated Chiantis and Brunellos and swoon-worthy medieval hill towns. Umbria's wine culture “dates back to the Etruscans, from the 8th to 1st centuries BCE,” but Umbria has yet to claim its place in the pantheon of Italy’s picture postcard wine regions. It's… Continue reading Discovering Umbria: Italy’s Hidden Wine Gem
Last month we reported on Uva, the new self-service wine bar in Mashpee, [Cape Cod] which opened after two years of construction and permitting delays. This lively spot is a welcome addition to the less-than-stellar wine offerings in our part of the Cape, and it's giving the traditional cafe and wine bar Trevi a run… Continue reading Taking Flights at Uva Wine Bar
When VinoDuo packs up for our summer on Cape Cod, we load the car with cases of wine from our collection, from Vinho Verde and Italian Rosato for Lisa, to Brunello and Bordeaux for Gary, and well-aged Napa Cabs for us and our Cab-crazy friends. Why schlep all the wine? Because the Cape has a… Continue reading Uva and Trevi: Two Cape Cod Wine Bars For Summer Sipping
We had the great pleasure of re-visiting the Temecula Valley AVA in early 2024, so our 'Best Of' review is colored by our delightful experience in that lesser-known Southern California wine region. But our Top 12 list is also dotted with wines from France, Italy, Spain, and Australia. Some favorites are old friends, like the… Continue reading VinoDuo’s Top 12 Wines of 2024
We've been missing Italy of late. Dreaming about our trip to Puglia in 2019. Gorging on Gary's homemade pizza and lasagna. And discovering new wines from Sardinia, Chianti, and Abruzzo. In October we held a tasting of white, red, and rosé wines from the island of Sardinia. A few weeks ago we grabbed three bottles… Continue reading Italian Wine Finds for Under $40
When wine lovers hear "Abruzzo" they think Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the popular powerhouse red from the Italian region of Abruzzo. When chefs hear "Pecorino," they think of Pecorino Romano, the cheese perfectly suited to grating over home-style Italian meals. But after a recent wine tasting, when VinoDuo hears "Pecorino d'Abruzzo" we'll now think, "Oh, that zingy… Continue reading Why Pecorino d’Abruzzo Deserves Your Attention
Since Thursday is the new Friday for evening social events we said "Yes!" to an invitation to taste some rare and exquisite wines at the Washington Square Tavern in Brookline, MA. The restaurant owner is a wine genius, with a great shop of his own, so we knew the wines would be worth tasting, even… Continue reading Champagne Taste on a Big Champagne Budget…like $400 Big
Everyone's Re-visiting Temecula! In February 2024, VinoDuo returned to Temecula, a small-ish wine region south of LA that we first visited in the early 2000s. We found a lively, expanding wine culture whose growers, grapes, and production stand in marked contrast to the mega regions of Napa and Sonoma. Amid the familiar Cabs and Sauvignon… Continue reading Top Temecula Wineries: Insights from VinoDuo and Wine Enthusiast
When friends from California came calling this summer, we made them feel right at home with a casual tasting of 2020 and 2021 releases of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We paired two lesser-known producers with a couple of Napa superstars but when those four didn't completely delight, we hastily added a 2019 also drawn from… Continue reading Pine Ridge Napa Cab ’19 Smokes the Competition in Five-Wine Tasting
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