Just had to share this image that Christina Boutari sent me yesterday to post over at the Boutari blog. Look at the rich color of the ripe Assyrtiko, a grape variety that has captivated U.S. wine professionals over the last few years. Harvest is expected to begin early this year in Greece, writes Christina. “It […]
I read the news today o boy: Greece’s “jobless rate for people ages 16 to 24… is 48 percent”; and on Monday “After violent protests left dozens of buildings aflame in Athens, the Greek Parliament voted early on Monday to approve a package of harsh austerity measures demanded by the country’s foreign lenders in exchange […]
Reading about “Prime Minister George Papandreou’s surprise plan to hold a popular vote on the Greek bailout” this morning in The New York Times, I couldn’t stop thinking about the above photo I took on the island of Santorini this summer. The next night, I was in Crete and the Greek parliament was about to […]
Posting in a hurry today but just had to share the above photo of Aidani grapes sent to me by winemaker Ioanna Vamvakouri of the Boutari winery on Santorini. A gun blogger for hire, I continue to curate the Boutari blog (a project dear to my heart) and I am thrilled to post the first […]
Great swimming in the Aegean and fantastic lunch at Notos in Perivolos, on the south shore of Santorini (hence the name Notos, south), with Stavros (Santorini sales manager), Petros (vineyard manager), and Marina (owner) of Boutari. Fascinating conversation ranged from Sophocles to the Venetian rule of Santorini, from the origins of the name Santorini to […]
This is the view from the hotel where we’re staying for the next two days. My Boutari colleagues explained to me that the “Caldera” of Santorini is the mouth of the ancient and still active volcano, which last erupted in 1952. Life could be worse! Btw, over the next 6 days, I’ll be posting as […]
Posting in a hurry today but just had to get this up on the blog. After I posted the other day debunking the myth that Italian Vin Santo and Greek Vinsanto are related in any other way beyond a homonymical coincidence, the chief enologist at Boutari (whose social media project is managed by me), Yannis […]
Tracie P and I tasted a vertical (09 classic Kallisti, 09 classic Santorini, 05 Kallisti reserve, 93 Kallisti reserve, 89 Kallisti reserve) of Boutari Santorini this morning with winemaker Yannis Voyatzis (who made all of the wines himself). The 2005 and 1993 in particular blew me away with their freshness and bright acidity and salty […]
Traveling to Italy after a more than 18-month hiatus was like a trip to the future. Even though you could follow news and trends through social and mainstream media from afar, there were bound to be evolving mores that even the eagle-eyed Italophile would miss. And by mores, I don’t just mean the normative conventions […]
You can take the grape out of Italy but you can’t take Italy out of the grape. The chiasmus flowed through my mind when Eric Van Drunen and Michael Christian poured me the first of their latest releases from the Los Pilares winery in San Diego, California last week. The wonderful Los Pilares skin-contact Falanghina […]
Do Bianchi 