My top wine of 2022 is this gorgeous amber wine from Azienda Agricola Aurete

2020 Thero
* Reale Bianca (autochthonous) 70% *Trebbiano 30%
1000 bottles made #UnicornWine. 45 days of maceration. Destemmed. Made in terracotta vessels

I opened this months ago and still think about it, that's why it is my # 1 of the year.

I visited the boys and their Esperia vineyards in 2020, and tasted their line up of wines from the terracotta amphorae and even then knew this wine would be a show stopper. They are the caretakers of a vineyard planted in 1847! I wrote about it here:

https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/wwc21-cariano-lazio

It smells like a ritual. Lots of apricot, yellow plum, peach, citrus, golden apple, candle wax, walnuts, cedar, incense. It's summery and warm. Even though it's only 11.5% abv, the wine feels very full on the palate. The acidity is perfect. Long finish of wild flower honey.

#WinesOfLazio #winelover #naturalWine #AmberWine #Wine #wineWriter #sommelier

Christmas wines

1. La Torretta 2021 Bolle di Grotta 100% trebbiano pet nat made in #qvevri Lazio
2. Andrea Occhipinti 2021 Sottobianco 100% Procanico Lazio
3. Azienda Agricola Casale 2012 100% Trebbiano made in chestnut barrels Tuscany
4. Azienda Agricola Milana 2020 Cesanese del Piglio 100% Cesanese Lazio
5. Charlie and Echo 2015 Sangiovese San Diego Country
6. Barale Barbera d'Alba 2019 100% Barbera Piedmont

#naturalWine #wineLover #AmberWine #Holidays #WinesOfLazio #WineWriter

Cooking from The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che is joy. The flavors and recipes and details in this book are phenomenal and I am certainly going to stock up on pantry items while in California before I return to Italy because this is the food I need.

Clockwise from top left corner:

1. Braised tofu skins in chili bean sauce
2. Stir fried Gai Lan with vegetarian oyster sauce
3. Dry Pot Cauliflower
4. Fish-fragrant eggplant

Paired with a natural amber version of a Frascati by Cantina Ribela'

#whatVegansEat #ChineseFood #TheVeganChineseKitchen #yum #cooking #foodLover #foodie #cookbooks #naturalWine #wineLover #AmberWine #WinesOfLazio

Wines this weekend. Two of my favorite pet nats in Italy. 2021 Nina by Terracanta is a trebbiano fermented and aged in qvevri as is the Bolle di Grotta by La Torretta (the most beautiful winery I gave ever visited)

Of course as I love Lazio and Georgia equally so these are close to my heart.

Trebbiano has such a bad reputation as boring ornjust for blending but grown in the right hands, it's a wonderful expression of local terroir. Nina is closer to the sea while Bolle is made on one of the best volcanic terroirs of Italy. Both made from biodynamic grapes.

#wine #petnat #WinesOfLazio #winelover #naturalwine #volcanicWine #LazioIsMe #qvevri

One of my favorite local wines. A refreshing amber made with autocthonus Malvasia Puntinata. I also made a vegan shepherd's pie but it was not photogenic. #winelover #WinesOfLazio #naturalWine