Today is my last full day in Rome, so it seemed appropriate to share a few notes on the wines of Paolo e Noemia d'Amico, whose vineyards lie just 90 minutes north of The Eternal City. The duo's range includes five whites and four reds sourced from their property edged by extinct volcanos. The vineyard soils are tufa, as are the cellars. Paolo and Noemia, engaging in their second career together - this time in winemaking, began planting their vines here in 1985.
Read MoreReligion is omni-present in Georgia, and the qvevri is The Vatican of winemaking vessels. It is revered and celebrated.
Read MoreI recently read a Geographic Expeditions newsletter that began with an excerpt from a Jonathan Keats piece titled “Why Wikipedia is as Important as the Pyramids” in Wired magazine. In it, Keats campaigns for Wikipedia to become the first digital World Heritage Site. His article debates the relevance of some of UNESCO’s 936 World Heritage Sites and outlines how UNESCO has grappled with the concept of intangible cultural heritage (for example, music versus monuments, mines or water systems). This brought to mind the bid by Burgundy’s Côte d’Or to classify its “climats”, or vineyards, among UNESCO’s hand-picked honorees. From my viewpoint, Burgundy’s climats cover both the intangible and the tangible angles of cultural heritage.
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