If you’ve picked up or received your June Wine Club Shipment you are well on your way to enjoying an Italian summer. Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio are two of Italy’s most iconic wines and we hope you are loving our take on them. I don’t know about you, but when I have these Italian lovelies in my house, I get the urge to listen to opera – Pagliacci is a favorite. I tend to also dust off and get lost in scrapbooks from my semester studying abroad in Tuscany. Then I make pasta for dinner.
Funny (or is it crazy?) that two wines can set off a storm of all things Italian in my world. Italy is famous for many things: cars, cinema, romance, architecture. But as for me, these are some of my favorite Italian things:
- Wine – Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Super Tuscans, Vernaccia Nera, Nebbiolo, Moscato, Vermentino, the list goes on. Italians know their wines. They know how to make them and they sure know how to drink them.
- Bruschetta – Okay, so the world of Italian food is enough to fill an encyclopedia series, but if I had to pick my hands-down favorite Italian food contribution to the world, it would have to be this versatile, hand-held dish. I could eat it every single day. Who doesn’t love grilled bread doused with olive oil, rubbed with garlic and topped with ingredients only limited by your own imagination?
Classic tomato basil bruschetta. Photo credit - Nutella – The first time I had this dreamy confection I was in Italy and it had not made its way to every super market shelf in America yet. One taste and I wondered why it hadn’t. I don’t buy it much…that would be very dangerous.
- Espresso – coffee perfection. Hot, nutty and strong espresso topped with a touch of crema. The perfect pick-me-up in the morning, afternoon, evening, whatever. A total treat, especially when you add a drop of Amaretto to it.
Photo credit - Vespa – I imagine anyone with an affection for cars wonders why, out of all the slick and fast automobiles Italy has produced, Vespa would be at the top of my list. Simple: they’re adorable. I imagine tying a Ferragamo scarf around my hair, donning a pair of Prada sunglasses and scooting away to my local farmers market where I’d pick up some greens and herbs to put on top of my bruschetta.
Yup, that would be me. Minus Gregory Peck, unfortunately. Photo from Roman Holiday.
How about you? What are some of your favorite Italian things? And tell us how you’re enjoying your June Wine Club shipment!
–Erica Martinez
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