Venice in Context Venice holds a place in the heart of Italophiles the world over. Yet few of its millions of visitors take time to appreciate Venice in context. To really understand it, you need to see Venice within the context of the Veneto region and its neighbouring provinces of Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, Verona and […]
Verona Province Home to one of Italy’s most iconic red wines – Valpolicella – and one of its most popular whites – Soave, the province of Verona in Veneto borders Lake Garda (and Lombardy) in the west and German-influenced Trentino-Alto Adige in the northeast. Join me on a small-group food & wine tour to Veneto […]
Italian Red Varietals in Australia Forget cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and even pinot noir for just a moment. As fine as they are, there’s a whole world of grape varieties out there to explore, and many of the most accessible in Australia hail from Italy. Let’s look at some Australian Italian red wines. Join me on […]
Italian White Varietals in Australia While the exact varietals weren’t documented, the grape vines that arrived in Australia with the First Fleet were most likely French, including the likes of pinot noir, chenin blanc and semillon. Join me on a Food & Wine Adventure soon! And for the two centuries that followed, French grapes dominated […]
Amalfi Food & Wine Tour Amalfi is the place I most look forward to visiting in southern Italy. Not just the pretty town itself but the villages around it, especially high up above the coast in places like Scala, Ravello and Tramonti. The scenery is spectacular and the food and wine delicious. But what really […]
Matera Food Tour I spent a week roving all over this World Heritage-listed city in 2009, discovering the local Lucanian cuisine on my personal Matera food tour. Matera was still off the tourist trail back then, though it’s been doubling as Jerusalem in films since the early ‘60s. Explore Matera with me on a small-group […]
Basilicata Food & Wine Tour When I first visited southern Italy as a backpacker in the ‘80s, I stayed in small towns along the coast. Nondescript places with few tourists, just locals going about their daily lives. I still love to experience Italy this way, though – with its ever-increasing popularity – it’s a lot […]
Rome Food Tour Wherever I travel I aim to get inside the food, wine and culture of a place, to discover what makes it unique. The Eternal City, as Rome has long been called, is no different. My personal Rome food tour is all about being secretly ‘off the beaten track’ while walking through the […]
Best Wine Bars in Rome No food and wine tour of Italy is complete without the daily aperitivo hour. While I enjoy a spritz or sbagliato in many places, in The Eternal City I find myself drawn to some of the best wine bars in Rome for this ritual. Join me for aperitivo at some […]
Classic Roman Pasta Dishes Romans love their pasta and have four or five favourite sauces that have become the classic Roman pasta dishes. Enjoy these classic Roman pasta dishes on my small-group Southern Italian food & wine tour starting in Rome! Despite the locals never considering themselves “southern”, Rome is far enough south that Roman […]
