APRIL 2016

VOLCANIC SOIL

04012016 The winemakers of Campania, in Italy's southwestern "shin", pride themselves on producing wines from ancient varieties, such as Greco, Fiano, Falanghina and Aglianico. Technology in most wineries is modern, but the wines are overwhelmingly the result of tradition. What's the Big Deal About Campania? | Wine-Searcher
04022016 A hoard of priceless ancient Greek and Roman scrolls dating back thousands of years could be lost forever unless the library housing them is fully excavated, experts warn. The texts, which is believed to be underneath the Roman town of Herculaneum in Italy, were buried almost 2,000 years ago after being covered in ash and rock from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Academics urge Italian authorities to excavate a library buried by Vesuvius they believe is packed with priceless historic texts | DailyMail
04032016 The last wine we tasted was a 2008 Taurasi Riserva DOCG. The Taurasi Riserva was a deep garnet in color with an interesting nose of tobacco and spice and a fabulous long and very smooth taste. The Lonardo family makes some of the best Aglianico wine that I have had the pleasure of tasting. Cantine Lonardo – Technology with Tradition | WineLoversPage.com
04042016 Dock your kayak on the Bay of Naples’s shores and drive an hour northeast to the city of Benevento. This is your jumping off point to explore surrounding wine regions like Irpinia, located to the city’s east. The area — mountainous, remote, and cool in climate — offers a marked contrast to the sunny, tourist-populated coastline you have left behind. Irpinia and its neighbor to the northwest, the appellation of Sannio, are home to local grapes including aglianico, fiano, greco, and falanghina. Falanghina is an Italian vacation in your glass | Boston Globe
04052016 The Ravello Festival, also known as the "Italian Wagner Festival" is a famous annual summer festival of music and the arts held in the town of Ravello on the Amalfi coast. The new season will kick off on Friday 18th March. It will continue with 29 weeks of concerts, until the 31st October, a sequence of musical events, featuring musicians with undeniable skills. Ravello is getting ready for its famous Festival | We The Italians
04062016 For more than three decades, uncommonly erudite American-born writer Gore Vidal famously owned a gravity-defying villa in the resort town of Ravello along Italy’s postcard perfect Amalfi Coast. The whitewashed residence, theatrically cleaved to a craggy and precipitous cliff 1,000 feet above the Tyrrhenian Sea, has come up for sale, we first learned from kindly informant I. Talon Toorist, with an asking price of just over $21.1 million. For Sale: Gore Vidal’s Italian Cliffhanger  | Variety
04072016 Marisa Cuomo Ravello Bianco. It's a Falanghina and Biancolella blend [and] it's great. It's from a little bit of a lower elevation, it's approachable and a bit more plump. It has stone fruit and underripe passion fruit; white peach comes through. Sommelier Talk: Daniel McCullough of Napa's Oenotri | Wine Spectator
04082016 These were the bodies I had seen earlier as a macabre and gruesome display. As I walked among Pompeii's ghosts, I watched Vesuvius, wondering at the panic the people must have felt as ash and rock rained down on them. Although vast, the volcano seemed some distance away. Vesuvius casts a long shadow | Otago Daily Times
04092016 Be aware that Vesuvius is a volcano that should be taken seriously. It has been the location of some of Europe’s most notable volcanic eruptions and is currently the only active volcano in that region. Some consider Vesuvius to be Europe’s time bomb while millions of people happily live in the Naples’ metro area without any fears. Explore Vesuvius National Park: Europe's active volcano site | examiner.com
04102016 M.t Vesuvius is famous for the destruction that is wreaked upon the unsuspecting Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. But the while the active volcano which made these places famous still casts a long shadow over them, the trek to the top of the smoking crater is an unforgettable experience to say the least. Trekking to the summit of Mt. Vesuvius! The only live volcano on mainland Europe! | The Roaming Renegades.com
04112016 Yellow flower, Mediterranean herb, cut grass, crisp green apple, juicy citrus and intense mineral are some of the sensations offered by this structured and savory white. It boasts great depth and is impeccably balanced with vibrant acidity. Enjoy through 2021. Villa Raiano 2013 Alimata (Fiano di Avellino) | Wine Enthusiast
04122016 The next morning we set off on the short trip to neighbouring island Ischia. It’s a lot larger and more mountainous than Procida with a lovely coastline of colourful villages and the dramatic Aragonese Castle perched on a volcanic rock. We spent a leisurely lunch break anchored off a beach sunbathing and swimming in the sea. Sailing the Amalfi Coast with Intersailclub | Never Ending Voyage
04132016 Flat out - Saw the first swimmers today, but these young ladies were too busy getting brown... Ischia in spring | Peter Bardwell
04142016 The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Province of Salerno in Southern Italy. The Amalfi Coast - 5 must see places | Dolce & Gabbana
04152016 Sweet and girlish—but with an unruly rock-'n'-roll history, too—plaids are a winning move for model Gigi Hadid's sojourn to Naples with her real-life boyfriend, pop heartthrob Zayn Malik. Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik’s Wanton Weekend in Naples | Vogue
04162016 In case you hadn't already had your #relationshipgoals summed up in a single moment, Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid recently jetted off to Naples with Mario Testino to capture their love on the streets (and in the incredible fashion) of Italy for Vogue. Now we're finally getting a glimpse behind the scenes with this exclusive clip. This Behind-the-Scenes Video of Zayn and Gigi's Naples Shoot Is As Dreamy As They Are | Teen Vogue
04172016 The next course was ‘Scialatiello’ which the menu described as being made with ‘fave Avellinesi, cipollotto nocerino, pecorino Carmasciano, fiche secchi cilentani’ or spaghetti with local broad beans, a certain spring onion (with its own DOP), sheep’s cheese and dried white figs from Cilento. Having a good time in Avellino | The Gannet
04182016 The young  chef Eduardo Estatico prepares croquettes with the very tasty copper-coloured onions from Montoro. They can be enjoyed with a glass of Dorè sparkling wine obtained from Caprettone grapes which the young wine maker Benny Sorrentino makes in her winery. Onion croquettes | lucianopignataro.com
04192016 Another white that I tried was Catalo' produced with autochthonous grape catalanesca grapes. Some ageing in wood. Vineyard Hopping, Boscotrecase (Na), Az. Agricola Sorrentino | andiamotrips
04202016 This zone of Sannio is particularly favourable for high quality viticulture due to the soils which are mainly clayey-calcareous, the exposure, due to the altitude between 200 and 600 meters above sea level, due to the mild winters and the warm and dry summers, due to the wide day-night temperature range and due to the even rainfall between October and March. Cantina del Taburno: the winery of the sleeping lady | Marc de Grazia Selections
04212016 But since we are now on the subject of Cantina del Taburno, I will say, if pressed, that this particular falanghina has a pleasantly dry and lemony finish. I am also reminded for some reason of tinned fruit with condensed milk. My nanny used to force me to eat tinned fruit with condensed milk – a desert of which I was never over fond, and of which I am surprised to be reminded today – particularly having parted with around 15 bucks for the bottle. New York, 20 August 2015 | Half an Orange
04222016 Our first few hours in Sorrento were spent washing off the grime from our travels, and hunting in search of a perfect cocktail with a view. Highlights of the Amalfi Coast: Sorrento & Positano | Charlotte Actually
04232016 The Lupanar, meaning “wolf den” in Latin, is Pompeii’s most famous brothel. This site contains the famous erotica scenes painted on the walls, which is the source of much of what we know about ancient Roman sexuality.  The Lupanar also has small rooms with built-in beds where the magic would take place. These were once covered with mattresses of straw or composite materials (which still does not sound very comfortable). Highlights from Pompeii | La Historienne
04242016 Le Ali di Mercurio is a learning strategy for the wine artisans. The main feature of this Academy is to be on-the-job, thanks to tutorial and frequent operations in wine cellar. Le Ali di Mercurio Academy | La Repubblica
04252016 Tenuta Cavalier Pepe is located in the Campania region of southern Italy. The grape vines extend into three small towns: Sant’Angelo all'Esca, Taurasi, and Luogosano. Hazel trees and olive trees also grow on the large estate. Many of its wines earned high-point ratings on WineSpectator.com. Our Signature Wines | Creative Beverages
04262016 Capri, an island in Italy’s Gulf of Naples. the island of capri in italy /august 8, 2015 | EarthXplorer media inc.
04272016 Black licorice, sandalwood and wild herb aromas from the cork. Dried flower, woodsy nose of medium+ intensity with some herbal and dried red fruit aromas. On the medium-to-full bodied palate it has herbal, cassis, and black cherry flavours with a hint of leather. Terredora Aglianico 2010 (Italy) | Vintages Wine Picks & Reviews
04282016 Pisciotta is the kind of small, southern Italian coastal town that you have a picture of in your head, but often struggle to match in the real world. The old town sits on a hill just back from its seaside frazione or offshoot, Marina di Pisciotta. It's a place of narrow lanes sandwiched between pastel-painted houses, ancient stepped alleyways leading to hidden chapels, small piazzas with their inevitable external fauna of old men in hats playing cards or simply watching the world go by. 21 places in Italy you never thought to visit (but really should) | The Telegraph
04292016 What makes Campania special as wine country is a whole package of ecological and environmental blessings – a mild-to-warm climate, the benign influence of the Mediterranean, ranges of hills and mountains that provide a multitude of microclimates and altitudes and exposures for vineyards, and a myriad of soils that mix-and-match decayed volcanic deposits with more recent volcanic ash and tufa, marine sediments from when large parts of the region lay at the bottom of the sea, moraines from ancient glaciers and deposits from modern landslides and river floodings. Campania Stories 4: Old Volcanos and the Eternal Sea | Tom's Wine Line
04302016 Go inland to Santa Lucia in the province of Benevento for the wines of La Guardiense. This winery is a large cooperative of farmers that grow indigenous grapes of the area, particularly Falanghina grapes. The aromas were that of strawberries, pineapples, nuts and the first time that I tasted this wine tomatoes and a hint of floral herbs was obvious. I’m Back, With the Great Whites of Campania Italy | Food Wine Cook