What’s New in Italy in 2020: UNESCO-Preserved Prosecco

This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of Dream of Italy. Find the main What’s New in 2020 article here. 2020 is the perfect time to visit Italy’s Prosecco country and toast to the region’s new UNESCO World Heritage Site status with a bellini or a spritz. Officially added to the World Heritage list in July 2019, the area comprises nine provinces in …

In Search of the Modern Grand Tour of Italy

This article originally appeared in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of Dream of Italy. Updated 2018. Taking “a grand tour” sounds old-fashioned — and it truly is. Although the kind of leisurely, arts-focused weeks or months in Italy that many of us have only seen depicted in films like the 1985 Merchant-Ivory classic A Room with A View might sound romantic …

Visit Da Vinci’s Vineyard in Milan

Updated 2018. You can’t share a glass of wine with Leonardo da Vinci, but thanks to the efforts of some determined researchers, one day you may be able to drink a glass of wine produced from Leonardo da Vinci’s own vines. The artist’s personal vineyard in Milan, just across the street from the famed church of Santa Maria della Grazie …

An Italian Wine Education: Prosecco is NOT Italian Champagne

In the December 2010/January 2011 issue of Dream of Italy, I reviewed Vino Roma’s wine tasting classes in Rome. I had a terrific afternoon with sommelier Hande Leimer and she taught me much I didn’t know about Italian wine, including why I was WRONG (and lots of other folks have been too) to think that Prosecco is the equivalent of …