This fall, author and wine expert Dick Rosano and Chef Stephen Sands will lead a small group of food and wine adventurerers on a tour through the Piemonte region of Italy.  Want to join them?  Here are the highlights of the 10-day boondoggle:

• Numerous degustazioni wine sampler lunches and cantina visits with local hosts under Dick’s stewardship.
• Cooking demonstrations, and exhibitions of local traditions and techniques under the wing of Stephen
• Daily hotel breakfasts ‐plus gourmet lunches & dinners as per the itinerary
• Participation in the Alba Truffle Festival with interesting medieval crafts
• Multilingual travel escort
• 3– and 4– star hotels, carefully selected for authenticity and charm
• See this brochure for full details and itinerary

About The Hosts:

Dick Rosano has been writing about wine, food, and travel for many years. His columns have appeared in The Washington Post, Wine News, Wine Enthusiast, Country Inns Magazine, Chile Pepper, and many other nationally distributed publications. His weekly wine-food pairing column first ran in The Washington Post and Wine Enthusiast online and now appears in The Tasting Panel magazine. Dick’s book, Wine Heritage, traces the influence of Italians in the American wine industry over the last century. A new novel, A Death in Tuscany, is due out this summer. Having traveled Italy, US, and South American wine growing regions extensively, Dick has lectured on the subject at the Smithsonian Institution, Johns Hopkins University, and at many conferences throughout the United States. In addition, Dick currently teaches wine and wine-food pairing classes at L’Academie de Cuisine, and at Culinaria.

Culinaria Cooking School Founder & CEO Stephen Sands learned to love the art of cooking from his Italian nonna (grandmother), and began his culinary career in 1989 with Francois Dionot, the founder of L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda. Stephen was instrumental in developing curricula and original recipes for participatory classes and for guest chefs. In 2004, Stephen formed Capital Food Partners, LLC, a cooking school and catering company, along with his business partner Pete Snaith. Retired from a notable engineering career, Stephen now directs Culinaria.
 

  To accomplish this, Spencer started with his by-the-glass program.  “It’s a bit easier to convince a guest to try something new if they don’t have to invest in an entire bottle.  The key to using “off” varietals was to get the servers behind the change.  If they are familiar and excited about the new offering, it is fun and easier to sell.  For example, I found a Timorasso made by a small producer in Piemonte named Walter Massa.  It’s a full-bodied white that offers honey-suckle, citrus, nuttiness and tannins.  A great alternative to Chardonnay.”

Spencer has a level 2 certification from the Court of  Master Sommeliers, and the abundance of Spencer’s wine education was gained while travelling through wine regions around the world.  He has explored the vineyards of 70 countries, including Macedonia, Maldova and Montenegro.  “They had wines that blew my mind,” he said.  His quest continues at end of this month with a 3-week trip to Sicily to work the vineyards.  Chef Celestino Drago is from Sicily and the trip might help Spencer better understand his perspective.  “I’m heading to a real back-woodsy winery called Christo di Campobello.  The volcanic soils of Mt. Etna create some incredible and unique wines that should not be ignored.  I found a Nerello Mascalese from Sicily’s Antichi Vinai for our list which has a flavor profile and body similar to that of Pinot Noir.  It’s delicious.”  Spencer noted.

I asked Spencer about how he likes living in in LA and his favorite hang-outs, “It’s great here; the people are really friendly.  People always complain about the traffic but I find it really easy to get where I want to go.”  “Bar Covell is a great spot, especially for wine.  They have 120 wines by the glass there.  Perch on South Hill Street is a really great spot.  And after tasting wine all day the last thing I want is another glass, so I’ll stop by Rivera; they have great cocktails and beer selection.”

If she likes sweet wine, consider an Italian Moscato d’Asti, which is produced in Italy’s Piedmont region near the town of Asti. Piedmont basically translates into “at the foot of the mountain,” which is appropriate for this northwestern region containing many mountains and hills. It is also home to Italy’s heavy hitters, like Barolo and Barbaresco.

Among the great producers is Luca Currado Vietti, who has taken the traditions of his family winery into the 21st Century, while also employing modern techniques. James Suckling of the Wine Spectator notes: “Vietti makes some of the cleanest, most terroir-driven wines in Piedmont, with a rare subtlety and elegance. Yet there is also a traditional undertone to the wines, giving them a personal style that wines from other modern young winemakers in the region often lack.”

Try his Cascinetta Vietti, Moscato d’Asti. Like all Moscato d’Asti wines, this is a lightly sweet, low-alcohol wine that is described as being “fizzante,” which means it is lightly fizzy. The Cascinetta is particularly lovely, imparting flavors of peaches and rich honey. Total Wine also sells an even more affordable—just $11.99—yet quite good, Moscato d’Asti called Villa Lanata that is worth buying.

Your local wine shop probably has some other great options for Moscoto for mom. The low alcohol content of these wines–around just 5 percent–makes them a great option for Moms who don’t want too much liquor. In fact, it’s so low that she might want to drink the whole bottle herself!

Another fantastic option is a ruby port-styled wine, which is a perfect match with any chocolates you might also include along with the wine, particularly dark chocolate.

A real special find is the Miller Teodoro Port, Sage Canyon Vineyard, Napa Valley. On the label the first L in Miller is written backward. It was produced by winemaker and former professional chef Gary Miller of Miller Wine Works, using grapes native to Portugal but grown in Napa. Its suggested retail price is $22 for a half bottle, which is very good for this quality.

Europeans would complain that this is not a “Port” wine since it was not made in the Douro Valley of Portugal. Yet it is made the same way, which means a grape spirit is added to the wine before fermentation completes. The high alcohol level kills yeast that would otherwise convert all the sugar to alcohol. Thus, the wine retains sugar and has a relatively high alcohol level, making it lusciously sweet and complex.

Miller’s winemaker notes describe his Teodoro Port as “dark purple, garnet in color, and brimming with notes of sweet black cherries, brown sugar and spice, all finished with a hint of luscious milk chocolate.”

Weekly Wine Pick staff recently enjoyed this wine with a chocolaty desert and we found it outstanding. It has one drawback: it may be very hard to find. Miller only made 77 cases! We located a bottle in a small boutique wine shop in Old Town Alexandria called The Winery, which is located on South Washington Street. If that’s convenient to you, consider stopping in to see if they have any more bottles. If not, you surely will find lots of interesting wines in this shop. It’s small in size, but large in quality.

For an unfortified version of a sweet red wine with less alcohol, a fantastic option is Cline Cellar’s Late Harvest Mourvèdre, a silver-medal winner at the 2008 Los Angeles Wine and Spirits Competition. Cline Cellars only produce this wine during the best quality vintages, which means it’s unlikely you will a bad vintage. Their literature describes it as “luxuriously sweet” with flavors of “coffee, chocolate and berries.”

This wine is rich and savory—almost like eating eating chocolate cake with layers of very ripe cherries. Like port, it would work well with chocolates for mom. With a larger distribution, you may find this wine at a local wine shop. Unwind in Alexandria on King Street recently had some on the shelf.

There are so many other options for sweet wines for mom. Ask your local wine retailer about Moscoto and other ruby port wines that they might stock.

If mom is dry wine drinker, browse some of our other posts with dozens of selections from our sommeliers. You might consider getting her Women of the Vine Tempranillo, which the Weekly Wine Pick reviewed earlier. It is available at Whole Foods in Alexandria, as well as a number of shops on the East Coast. Check for more locations on Wine-Searcher.

Henry is most passionate about the wines of Italy, and he excels in making his guests feel comfortable and confident with Italy’s often intimidating wine regions. When asked what he likes to drink, Henry spoke highly of the Barbera varietal. Because of its versatility and high acidity, Barbera is similar to Pinot Noir in its food-friendliness.

The Luciano Sandrone Barbera d’Alba, from the Piemonte region, in particular represents a good value. Sandrone well known for making exceptional Barolos that command triple-digit prices, but there Barbera is widely available throughout the U.S. for less than $30 a bottle.