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Whether you're a passionate enthusiast of wine, peat smoked whiskey, knock-you-over homemade brandy, or soothing limoncello, quench your thirst on this page filled to the brim with our favorites.  We recommend a taxi after a few pages.

Italian Wine Blurbs
 

Umbria: The vineyards in Umbria are among the most picturesque in all of Italy. And, only a few kilometers away from the medieval town of Orvieto are the hills overlooking Lake Corbara. along the Tiber river, right above the road from Orvieto to Todi. This area, known as the "classic" zone, is the oldest and most well known wine-producing land in the Orvieto province.
 

An aristocratic house, that dates back to Roman era, probably controlled the surrounding hills, which are now covered with vineyards and olive groves. Archaeological research has shown that grapevine and olive grove cultivation in the Classica area dates back thousands of years to the Etruscan era. Along the Tiber, the ruins of an ancient Roman harbor are proof of the fact that these products were shipped to Rome itself.
 

In the medieval period, many fortified castles with watchtowers were built to protect the borders of Orvieto and Todi. Castello di Monticello was one of these fortresses: approximately one hundred people inhabited the grounds and were charged with tending to the surrounding lands, which were dedicated to grapevine, olive, and cereal cultivation.

Tuscany: Central Tuscany is home, between the peninsula’s lofty Apennine ridge and the Tyrrhenian Sea, an almost endless succession of gentle hills, each unique and distinctive.
Right on the border of Chianti, southeast of Siena, where the Ombrone’s valley begins and an ancient road marks the administrative and geological shift. On one side stretch the rocky, calcareous soils (called alberese) of Chianti, on the other the sandy-silt earth of the Crete Senesi.
 

Here the eye can range far across the hills to the imposing bulk of Monte Amiata on the horizon, or towards Montalcino, and to the sea beyond, its presence signalled in scent and sea-glare even here. Before the eye that ranges unencumbered in all directions, a metaphysical landscape takes shape. A wondrous unfolding of hills, none blocking its neighbour, all offering spacious spectra of colour, yellow to indigo, in luminous waves rolling to a horizon majestically profiled with an ancient volcano, Monte Amiata, beloved of the Etruscans, that enigmatic race that first offered the vine and the olive to the early civilization of the Italic peninsula. This is the beauty and majesty of Tuscany!

Piedmont: Grapevines may crisscross the whole Italian peninsula, but many Italians-even proud natives of other wine-producing regions-consider Piedmontese wines to be among the country's best. Piedmont, in Italian, means at the foot of the mountain. It was originally inhabited by Celtic tribes, which were later absorbed by the Romans. When Hannibal destroyed the Celtic capital, Taurasia, the Romans rebuilt it in the same location giving its streets the grid pattern that that still characterize Turin today.

The main grape grown here is the distinguished Nebbiolo, which is the base for the famed Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara among others. Its name derives from the word nebbia, or fog, because of a velvety, whitish coating over its berries in addition to the fact that it grows in an area where, at ripening time in September, heavy morning fog is a given and the humidity that it provides gives the grapes an ideal habitat.
 

Burgundy:

There is no better place to discover the complexity and nuances of "terroir" than in Burgundy, one of France's most prestigious wine regions. As you explore the Côte d'Or, home to illustrious Grand Cru's like Romanée Conti, Chambertin and Montrachet, you'll learn about the subtle play between land, sun and vine that brings noble and diverse expression to the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape varieties. Burgundy is also one of the most beautiful and historically important regions in France, and you'll experience its rich heritage between extensive tastings at the region's best Grand Cru, 1er Cru and Village producers.

Starting in Dijon, a beaufiful city with sites, history, and gateway to vine country, you will make your way across the vineyards of the most famous vignobles. As great wine requires great cooking, you will have many gastronomical experiences in the restaurants along the way, passing some of the most famous names in Burgundy wine such as Clos Vougeot and Gevrey Chambertin! Viva la France!!!!!!
 

Mark Lasky

Mark Lasky’s passion has always been food and wine. As a boy growing up in New Jersey, his Sicilian mother along with his grandparents, taught him all about family traditions with respect to cuisine and culture. From cooking with his grandmother on Sundays to making homemade wine in the basement with his grandfather, Mark certainly has captured the European lifestyle. Even today, he and his wife Rebecca and their 8-year-old daughter Amanda, practice and embrace this tradition. With 15+ years in the wine industry and currently store manager at West Palm Wines in Tampa, Florida, Mark is also a member of the Guild of Sommeliers and is a wine educator at The Tampa Wine Institute in Ybor City. This is why he affectionately known as “the wino”. You can visit him at www.westpalmwines.com  for more info on the wine store and wine school.
 

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