Welcome to our February newsletter! We have some great information for you on sparkling wines, just in time for your Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or Carnevale celebration!

Gina is doing another pop up wine dinner in Louisville KY at Louvino restaurant on March 7 and 8. There’s a link below to the Open Table site where you can sign up. Based on Southern Italian wines and dishes, the menu features mozzarella from Campania, handmade cavatelli and rapini from Puglia, swordfish from Sicily and lemon cake from Calabria. We’re dreaming of sunny southern Italy and hope that if you’re in Louisville, you’ll find time to join us next month!

We still have just a couple of spots on our spring and fall tours: One double room is available in Piedmont June 13-20 and one double room is available in both the Tuscany tours October 7-14 and 14-21.

People ask us what the best time of year to go to Italy is and we say “Anytime except July and August!” We love Piedmont and the Veneto in the spring when the trees are green and lush, the roses and poppies are in full bloom, and there aren’t too many other travelers. Tuscany is amazing in October with large fires burning, new olive oil being pressed and yummy grilled meats and big wines warming us up. We hope you’ll join us, if not this year then check out our dates for next year! Tour dates

Gina and Mary

Gina will be the guest chef at Louvino, preparing a 4 course dinner featuring delicious foods and wines from the Southern regions of Italy. Click here to find the menu and grab your seats!

We’ve spent some time recently studying up on sparkling wines of Northern Italy. This month we presented wines of the Veneto to the Dallas chapter of Women for Wine Sense and last month we put together a new wine route for Piedmont. Both regions have a long history of producing sparkling wines, so let’s delve into the ways of making those bubbles that we love to drink for celebrations and toasts!

There are two ways to make sparkling wines: the French champagne method and the autoclave method. Both wines start with predominately white grapes, both wines are first fermented in large tanks, and both undergo a second fermentation to form the bubbles. The method used in the 2^nd fermentation to form a sparkling wine is where they diverge.

Champagne was invented in France in the late 17^th Century. For champagne, the second fermentation is done in the bottle and is time consuming and labor intensive. The still wine is put in a bottle with additional yeast and is left to ferment in the cellar. The bottles must be rotated (called “riddling”) and turned every few days, gradually put in an upside-down position. The yeast and sediment settle in the neck of the bottle and must be removed before being corked and made ready for sale. The process is fascinating. We get a deeper understanding of the technique when we visit the wineries.

Northern Italian winemakers studied the champagne method in France in the early 1800’s and have been making metodo classico for over 200 years. With the invention of the autoclave in 1895, by Italian Martinotti, a new way to make sparkling wines was invented that was less labor intensive and less time consuming. In this method, called by many names including tank method and autoclave method, the still wine is put into a large, pressurized tank which produces CO2 and causes the wine to ferment a second time and become sparkling. Less expensive to produce and quicker to get product to market, these wines quickly became popular and made drinking sparkling wines more affordable.

In the 1920’s, a Frenchman named Charmat, perfected the autoclave for industrial use and that’s when sparkling wines really took off! This method is used to make Asti Spumante, Prosecco and Lambrusco, among other wines throughout the world. The tank method allows the wine to hold onto fruity, floral notes, while the champagne method will have toasted and yeasty notes from long contact with the lees in the bottle.

The generic term for sparkling wines in Italy is spumante. The label will say metodo classico if the champagne method was used. Franciacorta in the Lombardy region has become famous for these wines over the past 40 years and is readily found in American wine stores.

Our friend's Susan apartment in Florence has some availability this year. It is a wonderful, quiet 1 bedroom/1 bathroom that sleeps 4 comfortably and well located to see all the sites. Contact Mary to book! Here's the link: