Appassimento. Hard to spell. Easy to drink.

Appassimento. Hard to spell. Easy to drink.

There is no winery in my opinion more emblematic of the Veronese style than Masi Agricola. Still family-owned, Masi is one of the largest wineries in Valpolicella, producing over 12 million bottles a year. 47 of those bottles were opened last week at Firenze, one of...
You’re invited to a very special wine-pairing dinner.

You’re invited to a very special wine-pairing dinner.

Masi Agricola produces not just some of the best Venetian wines, they produce some of the best wines in all of Italy. Their celebrated Amarones traditionally score in the nineties when judged by the critics. I was recently offered the opportunity to purchase cases of...
New Zumo chef shows off his Mexicasian menu.

New Zumo chef shows off his Mexicasian menu.

It was gambling that paid for my dinner last week. At Ghouls For Schools, the Hallowe’en benefit for the charity Feed The Hungry, there was a raffle. And guess whose number they pulled for dinner for two at Zumo? I’d really wanted to return to Zumo. They had made some...
A scientific San Miguel study: Are oysters really an aphrodisiac?

A scientific San Miguel study: Are oysters really an aphrodisiac?

“I placed the shell on the edge of her lips and after a good deal of laughing, she sucked in the oyster, which she held between her lips. I instantly recovered it by placing my lips on hers.” Casanova. The guy who wrote that. You’ve heard of him. Right?...
“Grammie, are we going to Aguamiel this year.”

“Grammie, are we going to Aguamiel this year.”

It took her until her second day here in San Miguel de Allende, but my granddaughter Rayne (and yes, I teasingly call her Lluvia when she’s visiting us in Mexico) finally asked the question. Though Rayne recently traded in her sneakers for stilettos, and gets more of...