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Learn About Wine from America's Wine Expert
As society claws back from the terrible pandemic, I predict a huge turn to Champagne and Champagne alternatives as a way to show relief, gratefulness, and joy. How can you prepare for this #BubbleTime2021?
Join me TONIGHT 7pm ET for a special free virtual tasting, “Bubbly Stunt Doubles,” hosted tonight by Wine.com’s Gwendolyn Osborn and featuring me and three top producers of Champagne alternatives: Matteo Lunelli, Ferrari Brut (Italy); Hugh Davies, Schramsberg (California); and Jennifer Doyle, Jansz (Tasmania).
Register here.
For more virtual wine tastings, visit here.
White truffles: punishingly expensive, its season lasts a precious few month, and some say it smells like sex.
But what is the real deal with this magical mushroom from the forests of Alba, Italy. Now that it is the heart of truffle season, I paid a visit to North America’s largest distributor of truffles, Urbani Truffles. There I met with Urbani Truffles’ Vittorio Giordano and asked him to spill all sorts of insider secrets revealed in this new video.
I asked Vittorio to try to describe the classic aromas of the white truffle, although such characteristics can vary with the truffle. You will learn how to tell good truffle from bad, the most delicious food pairings, the best wine matches, and why wines like Barolo are especially good with white truffles, beyond just their geography affinity. Finally, I asked Vittorio to approximate the retail value of the big, beautiful truffles in front of us – and his answer just might shock you.
In other truffle news, you can find a report on the 2020 white truffle season here.
And watch this light hearted “remix” music video I created about the joy of white truffles here. It uses footage of truffle adventures I have had in years past.
Truffles 2020: is it a season to buy?
I just talked to Urbani Truffles’ Vittorio Giordano about the 2020 truffle season. Good news: the pandemic has kept prices from skyrocketing in what would have been an especially expensive season for white truffles. View the video report here.
To save your sanity, get yourself a bottle of Barolo (or Barbera d’Alba) and some thin pasta, butter, and a white truffle from Alba.
For some groovy, truffle-y escapism, check out this “Truffle Remix” music video I made a few years ago after a trip to Alba.