Wines

One of the most sincere and genuine wine lovers I have ever met is my father-in-law. His knowledge of wine is profound and his passion contagious. He comes completely alive when talking about wine, his voice gets louder, and his eyes sparkle with enthusiasm. Not only does he know the wines in detail, but he has made time to visit local wine producers, and talk to them about wine and life. Eventually, he would come to know most of the producers in the region by their name, but would also meet the entire family, and listen to their life stories. He would visit the vineyards, learn about the specific grapes, and the different methods used for producing wine.

His interest was formalized quite few years ago, when he completed the course for sommelier, i.e. a someone who is professionally trained and knowledgeable about wine back in 2004.

For many years he was in charge of selecting wines in a very well renowned wine bar in Cividale del Friuli, a beautiful UNESCO city in Friuli Venezia Giulia, the most eastern region in Italy bordering with Slovenia and Austria. This is a land where he was born, and has lived for all his life. This region is blessed with family run vineyards and excellent wines that are increasingly becoming popular .

Almost every lunch or dinner we have together he would select a wine that would elevate each dish lovingly prepared by my mother-in-law, who is a fantastic cook.

One day, during a casual conversation about my blog, my husband thought that it might be a lovely idea to offer to the readers of the blog a particular type of wine that might compliment well the dish that I am sharing on the blog.

And here we are. If you are not sure what wine to get from your local shop, or would simply enjoy exploring new wines, then this section of the blog is for you.

The wines that have been selected and suggested in this blog, to accompany certain recipes and further elevate the dishes, are mainly produced by a small family run vineyards and wine producers from 3 Italian regions, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (the most eastern region bordering with Slovenia and Austria), Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Slovenia (wines from the region called Goriska Brda and the coastal region in Slovenian Istra).

In this blog I have introduced a Wine Suggestion section at the end of selected recipes that provides you with a direct link to the wine suggested through the UK distributor (www.tannico.co.uk) and to the specific wine producer.