My Kind of Food

When I started this blog, I was clear that it would be about food and not particularly about wine, beer or spirits. Now however I’m changing my mind a little and this is for two principal reasons.

The first is because of the inspiration I’ve received from a friend of mine in the UK, Peter, who has a series of posts on his Facebook page under the heading, Vino Friday. Reading his posts led me to realise something, and that is the second motivation for what I’m about to launch on this site.

Living in Italy gives access to some first rate and world class wines, on the door step. The great wines of Tuscany (Brunello di Moltalcino) and Piemonte (Barolo) hold their own in the world of classic and noble wines and the best examples of them command very high prices. Other Italian wines from the Sud-Tirol in the far north to Sicily in the South offer great variety in terms of style, price and quality. Even in the realm of sparking wines, the bollicine of Franciacorta, not to be confused with Prosecco because they are made according to the méthode champenoise, can hold their own against many French Champagnes, even if they are from the cisalpine slopes of Lombardy rather than the the vineyards surrounding Rheims. Italy is proud of its wine production and is the second biggest exporter of wine to the UK, after France, BUT the Italians in general are not very open to wines from other parts of the world. Reading Peter’s posts, referred to above, has awakened in me many happy wine memories and I realise that I very much miss the wines of the Loire, South America, Oceania, South Africa and many other regions across the world.

Trying to buy so-called new world wines in Italy, or even French wines is very difficult and often expensive. The Italian wine market is protected, by fair means or foul and one has to work very hard to source a decent bottle.

I enjoy wine but am too lazy to learn the technical stuff however I am going to try to write the occasional piece on this blog to share my experience of drinking the odd bottle of wine. To help with this, I’ve recruited the assistance of Adam Serdiuchenko who will tutor me through the tasting of each wine. Adam is a WSET qualified sommelier and I’m looking forward to him helping me to describe the wines we taste.

As always the preferences and final assessment of what I like or don’t like will be mine – this is a personal blog after all, albeit supplemented with Adam’s professional knowledge.