andiamotrips - campania, italy with karen phillips

After a couple of hours on the beach,  it was time.  Time to freshen up and head into the dining room of Taverna del Capitano .  Light jazz was the perfect background music as I browsed through the wine list that Mariella Caputo handed to me. A wine list with a reputation.  A c antina full of wines from all over Italy as well as the world.  But my eyes headed straight for the Campania section. The whites obviously since I was about to have lunch at one of the hottest seaside locations in Campania. I love to pair territory, and on the coast that can be a challenge.  But I found a familiar wine....a familiar face...a wine that I wanted to share my afternoon with.   One wine... Per Eva 2011 Bianca Costa Amalfi .DOC... Within minutes of my request, Per Eva arrived at my table.  As Mariella Caputo opened the bottle it was hard not to think of this winery in Tramonti.  One that I had visited several times over the  past few years.  From parties to celebrate the new vintage to vari

If it hadn't been for Gabriele Ferraro , the Maitre D' at Le Axidie , I may have never discovered Sireo Bianco 2011.  During lunch one Sunday morning in Vico Equense, Ferraro poured me a glass of white wine, a blend of falanghina and fiano, and pointed towards the hills high above the restaurant.  The wine came from Vico Equense and was  produced by Abbazia di Crapolla , a small winery that I knew nothing about. Curiosity killed the cat-satisfaction brought him back .  During the following week, that glass of wine styed in the back of my mind.  An excellent pairing for the desire to learn more about a winery that perched above the hills of the Sorrento Peninsula.  Vineyards that I wanted, no, almost needed to visit and see for myself. So I did... I met up with wine maker and agronomist Arturo Erbaggio at a piazza in Vico.  Erbaggio highly recommended we leave my car in a local garage and go together in his.  I soon found out why.  As we left the semi-crowded centro storico

Positano.  One of the hottest tourist spots on the Amalfi Coasts.  If you visit in the summer, you're sure to find visitors from all over the globe who want to spend anywhere from a few hours to a few days on this indescribable piece of coastline. One late August afternoon I decided to join those vacationers for a stroll through the side streets that lead down to the small pebbly beach.  After a  little window shopping and a gelato alla fragola , I headed to my destination for the evening. - Hotel Palazzo Murat or more specifically, Al Palazzo , the hotel's restaurant.  There I was met by head sommelier and Maitre D' Arturo Terminiello .  Over a glass of pink French champagne (Bruno Paillard), Terminiello shared with me a few stories and lessons learned from his 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry.  I, as usual, was curious about the wine list, the wine cellar of a 4 star hotel with clients from all over the world.  Would there be wines from all over as