Il Nostro Inviato recently returned from a trip to Milan and he did not disappoint little Ciambellina.
Like Babbo Natale, he brought back all of her favorite things!
Looking at the photo, you can see I've hit the jackpot of Italian culinary, periodical and grooming treasures.
Left to right, among the items you see are tarallini (a dry, olive-oil based snack that comes from Puglia); La Settimana Enigmistica, the most awesome puzzles magazine I have ever seen (and so widely available in Italy -- on the newsstand, bought by everyone); lots of wine; two types of coffee (Segafredo, which is a large national brand and Chicco D'Oro, which I have never had); foot cream from L'Erbolario Lodi; and Vie Del Gusto magazine.
Seriously folks, these are my favorite things.
I want to draw your attention to something that may strike Americans as unusual.
It's vino sfuso. It's bulk wine that has not been bottled ... and it comes in a little box! Apparently Il Nostro Inviato sampled so much of it while he was "shopping" that he felt compelled to bring some home.
Vino sfuso has not undergone many of the standardizing processes such as bottling and pasteurization that ensure quality and are hence part of Italy's wine certification system (DOC and DOCG, for example). That means it's an adventure (and a cheap one at that).
The wine shop in Milan where he bought the vino sfuso -- La Vineria -- is on Via Casale in the Navigli section of Milan, which is a cool, gentrifying area of the city that's centered around an old canal.
The wine shop, which vigorously defends bulk wine and calls pasteurization and other standard wine processes unsafe, has received attention from lots of magazines in Italy. You can visit the shop's Web site here http://www.la-vineria.it
And here's something else he bought there:
A bottle of 2007 Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda. We first drank Oltrepò Pavese when we visited Milan back in 2004. It's just a wee bit fizzy and a whole lotta wonderful.
I will wrap up this post here. Time to enjoy all of my wonderful regali!
Wait, so boxed wine? I trust that it's good...better than Franzia, I would hope. At least it keeps longer than an opened bottle, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah it's in a box but essentially it is "raw" wine. So actually we need to drink it soon. It's not really like the regular wine in a box. That's just for people who are too lazy to deal with bottles, IMHO. This is in a box because it's just been harvested and because there are people who believe this type of wine needs to be enjoyed without the modern bottling/pasteurization processes.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a totally new thing to me! I've never had it.
Se qualche volta vuoi che ti mandi la Settimana Enigmistica o qualche altra cosa, sono disponibile.
ReplyDeleteLucy
Ciao Lucy!
ReplyDeleteSei troppo brava! Grazie. Me lo ricordero' per il futuro.