Our food foraging skills out in the wild may be part of our DNA as hunter-gatherers but the skill is lost. Beatrice Calia, a chef turned author, educator and consultant on wild plants took it upon herself to learn one new plant every day so to be able to live her life and livelihood centered on plants around her home in the hills of Bologna. What inspired Beatrice to become a wild food expert? What is there to know? Find out in this article.

What’s behind the phenomenon of the Spritz cocktail? How did the Spritz come about, why is it so popular, and how do you make it? It’s a recipe with 2 key ingredients and from there, it’s fair game to improvise, either using different ingredients or different proportions of the same ingredients. Because, you see, the way you have your Spritz is a very personal taste preference, like asking someone how you take your coffee. For those of you making cocktails at home, we have a recipe Spritz Aperol, for you to get started to become a Spritz Master.

What is sugo? It’s become a trending culinary topic in the US as of late. Get on board with this authentic sugo recipe from an Italian restaurant in the heart of the Langhe, Italy that is a local favorite eating spot in Italy’s mecca of culinary delights, plus it is Nonna approved and tested. Get the full recipe inside and have a bottle of barbera d alba to fully recreate an authentic Langhe experience at home.

Straight from the winding canals of Venice, Italy, is a cod recipe easy to pull together even last minute. A creamy spread, put this baccala mantecato on toast to make cicchetti, or bite-sized appetizer ready to pair with Italian wine. Get this authentic trattoria recipe inside. And, Veneto native, winemaker Sandro de Bruno’s favorite food pairing for a wine tasting would be this baccalà with an Italian sparkling wine from the Veneto area, like his classic method Durello.

How are YOU celebrating the Holidays? Whether pairing foods like potato latke or Grandma’s favorite Christmas cookie, this guide to pairing wine and food will help you choose a great Holiday wine for your table no matter what you celebrate. Inside you will find suggestions for not only full bodied red wines, or age worthy white wines, but also sparkling wines from Italy and sweet dessert wines. Pick out great tasting Christmas wines, wines to pair with Hannukah’s fried feasts and New Years Sparklers.

You want to give wine for gift, and you want it to be special, either something they don’t have already, or something that will surprise, and impress them, yet something that they will also like the taste of. That seems like a tall order for what seems like a simple task, especially with the myriad of wine selections out there.

We’ve made it easier for you to gift for wine lovers with our first wine gift guide, that we are introducing just in time for the holiday gifting season.

For the wine lover on your list, be it a friend, colleague, customer, family member, or significant other, use our wine and olive oil gift guide to find a wine in line with their wine taste preferences, whether it’s bold red wines, old world wine, natural wine, orange wines, rose wines, champagne style wines, pet nat wines, even EVOO, use our list to find the best wine for gift giving and build your own wine gift baskets.

Do you love wine but then struggle finding the ‘right words’ to describe it? Or are you on your way to becoming a wine expert and need a de-brief on terminology for wine tasting?

What does complex mean? Or what is a primary aroma? What is a smooth wine?

We are on a mission to teach you how to fish… for wine!

Here is a wine glossary of terms you can use during your next wine tasting or wine pairing to work your way to becoming a wine pro. Then put these descriptive wine words into practice by buying the wines which fit each definition. Then have wine tasting home party with your wine loving friends. Sooner rather than later you will master wine speak!

Get started by learning the wine description words inside.

We may have discussed sweet wine pairing in the past… but never with a recipe for crostata like this before! A classic Italian pie that every Nonna has in her arsenal, the crostata is versatile enough that it can pair with both the sweet white Moscato d’Asti and the sweet red Brachetto d’Acqui. How? Well come inside to find out! Read the full article and get the authentic recipe from an Italian chef inside.

This is not a pot roast recipe from your grandma… but a beef roast recipe with a piedmontese cuisine flair. Explore the bold red Nizza barbera wine and enjoy it with this traditional Monferrato roast recipe. It has a Piemontese touch with a hazelnut gravy and a wine pairing that will wow at your next dinner, and warm you up as the days get colder heading into fall.

When one thinks of ‘Italian Food’… normally pasta is the first thing that comes to mind. Let’s explore some pasta dishes from the piedmontese cuisine of the Asti Monferrato (like mushroom pasta), and get the wine pairing to match (spoiler, a great barbera wine goes a long way).

Keep reading on to get our exclusive recipe for a mushroom sauce with fresh lasagnette from a Vero Chef living in Piedmont, Italy.

Explore the Monferrato on a journey through pots, pans, and plates. The Piedmontese cuisine based food culture of the Monferrato and Asti is as varied as the wines of Nizza Monferrato winery Ivaldi.

Try this traditional chicken salad recipe from a local chef in the Monferrato in Northern Italy, and discover this delicious wine pairing (hint is with a champagne style wine from the area). The combination of this recipe and wine is a great idea for your next lunch, brunch or party you’re planning!

If these trees could talk, they would tell you about the Febo family in Abruzzo farming their land as early as the 1500s.. Olives were the mainstay of their farming family, from the Febo family’s olive tree grove whose trees date back to 500 years ago. For centuries, they lived on a ‘cucina povera’ or poorman’s cuisine of which their treasured olive oil was a fundamental part of it. Find out what we learned about olive oil production on a small, artisanal scale from Davide Febo, winemaker of Febo’s natural wines, and their organic extra virgin olive oil they bottled from their family’s private stash just for us.

Film fans may have seen (before he went Searching for Italy) Stanley Tucci unveiling a sumptuous masterpiece called Timpano in the 90s film, The Big Night. We know we sure wanted a piece watching that climatic scene!

So we went searching, and found the history of the dish is actually found in an Abruzzese dish called Timballo. We got the recipe from a real Abruzzese, Gaia, who shared her family recipe for Timballo di Teramo with us! And surprise, it is not at all as difficult as we thought to pull together, very simple in fact!

So, pour yourself a glass of natural abruzzese wine, and read on about how to create your own Timballo at home.

Discover with us another Abruzzese traditional recipe, Scrippelle ‘Mbusse, or thin Abruzzese crepes served in homemade broth. A classic from the winemaking Abruzzese family’s kitchen, the Febos, and around the countryside in Abruzzo, Italy, this simple dish is easy to whip up for a quick and satisfying weeknight dinner. Get the recipe inside!

We’ve explored the landscape of Abruzzo, Italy… We’ve talked with a family winery about winemaking in Abruzzo… Now it’s time to discover the foods and dishes of Abruzzo! A flavorful, yet simple, cuisine, the Abruzzese culinary traditions are centered around the heart of their livelihoods: farming, sheep herding and fishing. Discover with us some of these traditions, and get the Febo family recipe for Pallotte Cacio e Uova or Meatless Meatballs, easy to make and pairs great with Febo’s natural wines.

There’s nothing like a really good olive oil. We came across some while visiting Antonella Manuli, the owner of La Maliosa who crafts not only natural wines but also award winning organic extra virgin olive oils. Find out in this article what we discovered on our recent visit to La Maliosa farm in Maremma, Tuscany. And start enjoying the delicious and healthy ways to use amazing extra virgin olive oils, like those of La Maliosa, for your own meals and entertainment with family and friends.

Grab a buta of nebbiolo vin, some sugar and eggs, and whip up some sambaiun for a quick dessert… or perhaps if you are feeling a little bit of goi for a galuperia! Wait… what?! This is kitchen talk in Piedmont, Italy what the locals speak in the local dialect in the Langhe.

In this article, get behind the scenes in a real trattoria’s kitchen, learning Italian and, better yet, Italian language food. Practice with this authentic Italian trattoria recipe for Zabaglione, an easy, creamy custard from the area.

Tender beef filet is one of the most prized cuts of meat, giving depth of flavor, tenderness and juiciness like few other cuts. It seems only fair then, to pair it with a King of Italian wine: Barolo. This recipe for Filetto al Barolo comes from one of the most favorite trattoria’s in the Langhe, Piedmont, Italy, and it pairs wonderfully with the Barolos of Aldo Clerico.

What to find the secrets to making a really good Risotto? Better yet, how about an authentic a recipe from a chef who works at one of the most favorite trattoria’s in the Langhe, Piedmont, Italy? It’s a fragrant purple risotto, made from Barolo winemaker, Aldo Clerico’s, red wines.

Confused about wine terminology, like natural wine, biodynamic wine, native yeast, col fondo, orange wine? While some terms are well defined, others can have alot of gray areas, so you’re not alone! When we seek out small, farm-to-glass wineries, we do vet them out based upon certain criteria. We put together this list of wine lingo that we use and are happy to share with you.