andiamotrips - campania, italy with karen phillips

So, Karen...how was BianchIrpinia? a friend asked a couple of days ago.   BianchIrpinia 2012 , an event held last week, 15-18 November in Aiello del Sabato (Av) organized by i miei amici Diana Cataldo and Massimo Iannaccone of Miriade & Partners SRL .    Wine tastings, dinners, tours centered around Irpinia's white wines. A Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Coda di Volpe, and Falanghina full immersion. Before I answered I thought about when  my BianchiIrpinia began.  Friday, the 16th of November in the lobby of my hotel.  It was there where I met Diana for a quick chat as she handed me my press kit and quickly filled me in on what was going on and what I had missed.   An amazing tasting of Fiano di Avellino 2002 and an entire morning of Greco di Tufo.   I had some catching up to do! I did my best :-) I had 40 or so hours to catch up and my first stop was Cantine del Marzo in nearby Tufo for dinner.  Dinner in cantina, wine tasting with fellow wine writers,

There was a little unexpected excitement as I opened up Chef Marziale's menu last weekend at Le Colonne in Caserta.   What would I find inside? Would it be a dish that I tried when we met for the first time a few years ago ?  Or maybe one that she had presented on a TV program that I had seen the night before?   Rosanna Marziale , chef, cook book author, and Campania's Mozzarella di Bufala World Ambassador .  What should I have expected? Chef Rosanna Marziale I mean, should I have expected a pre lunch specialties such as a sfogliatelle pastry stuffed with vegetables instead of the usual sweet filling? Or to be handed an mp3 player with my first appetizer... biancadolio ?  I pushed play and the storyteller ttook me on a journey, describing the dish...a small bite-sized ball of mozzarella stuffed with toasted cubes of bread (pane cafone).   This gentle voice, complete with background music and the sound of crickets,   invited me to gently roll thi

Luigi Tecce Rimontaggio. ...   The answer given to me by Luigi Tecce to my question " What are you doing up there?' while visiting him last weekend at his winery in Paternopoli in Irpinia.  I was a little disappointed that I missed harvesting his Aglianico grapes with him this year, memories of last year's harvest flashing through my mind.   This year in Irpinia, many wineries harvested 10-14 days earlier than usual.  But that disappointment turned to curiosity as I watched Tecce at work.  He was performing an operation which is crucial during the fermentation/maceration period of his Aglianico must.     Remontage.  Pumping over.   Punching down.    During red wine fermentation, the grape skins are in contact with the must absorbing elements such as tannins and rich color.  As sugar turns to alcohol, carbon dioxide is also produced pushing the grape skins up up up to the top of the stainless steel or wooden vat forming a cap. ( I remember reading about this in