As you Soak in the Renaissance of Florence make sure have plenty of time for Italian Treasure Hunting and Tasting Tuscan’s Finest!

* Italian Treasure Hunting

There’s plenty of shopping to be done in Florence no matter what your treasure of choice may be.

• Leather: The place to go is San Lorenzo Market and make sure you bring your best bartering skills. Surrounds San Lorenzo Church.
• Jewelry: My favorite treasure! For every day unique pieces and great gifts, visit Fiori del Tempo (Via del Corso, 2 blocks off Piazza della Repubblica). This TINY shop has fabulous hand made creations and reasonable prices. For the really special treasure, visit S. Vaggi at the end of the Ponte Vecchio (Ponte Vecchio 2/6R). After literally shopping every store the bridge, this was where we picked out my engagement ring!
• Toys: Bartolucci Wooden Toy Store (Via Condotaa, 12/R) is like Gepetto’s workshop.
• Handmade Paper: Stationery shops can be found on every street. Pick up lovely paper, a journal or photo album. Always great gifts!
• Menswear: We bought amazing jackets at Roberto Biagini (Via Roma between Piazza della Repubblica and the Duomo) and Boggi (Via della Vigna Nuova 27/R).
• Apothecary: Officinia di Santa Maria Novella (16 Via della Scala) is a 300 year old pharmacy near Santa Maria Novella and just a cool place to visit.
• Italian labels: Ferragamo’s flagship store and museum. Gucci. Emilio Pucci, Furla, my favorite purses and bags. In Florence you’ll find them all.

* Taste Tuscan’s Finest
There are so many restaurants to chose from but here are some of my favorites.

• Ristorante Acqua al Due (Via della Vigna Vecchia 40R, 55 284 170): This is our favorite restaurant in Florence. Casual and fun with incredible food! Order the Assagio menu … it’s the tasting menu and make sure to eat light the rest of day. Yes they have one in San Diego and now Washington, DC but this is NO chain! Make reservations as they only do two seatings per night. Assagio dinner for 2 with wine €90. Say hello to owner Giani for me!
• Il Latini (Via dei Palchetti 6R, 55 210 916, closed Mon): Tuscan rustic cooking. Fun upbeat atmosphere. Great for groups. Make reservations!
• Trattoria Cammillo (Borgo San Jacopo, 57/R, 55-212-427): Incredible homemade pastas and desserts, we had a lunch here after we got engaged. Three course lunch for two with wine €86.
  
• Caffe Pitti (Piazza Pitti 9, 55 239 9863): Just across from Pitti Palace, we had a yummy pasta lunch outside one afternoon.
• Trattoria Pallottino (Via Isola delle Stinche 1R, 55-289-573): Simple delicious food. We stumbled upon this place on Valentine’s Day and couldn’t believe the yumminess!
• Ristorante Paoli (Via de’ Tavolini 12R, 55-216-215): Opened in 1824, very old world Italian, dine under vaulted ceilings on classic Italian dishes. Just off Piazza della Signoria. Three course dinner for two with wine €90.
• Cantinetta Antinori (Piazza Antinori 3, 55 292 234): Great place for a glass of wine from Italy’s great wine family, Antinori. The 26 generation wine family opened this wine bar in a 15th-century palazzo 30 years ago.
• Caffe Gilli: This lovely outdoor caffe, opened in the 1850s, is a perfect spot (a little pricey) for people watching over a gelato and apertif on the Piazza della Repubblica.
• Coronas Cafe (Via dei Tavolini 18-20/R): A must for a pastry and espresso in the morning or stuffed sandwich quick lunch.

Where to lay your head during your stay?

• Hotel degli Orafi: My favorite hotel with rooms overlooking the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio. Fabulous rooftop bar to enjoy views over a drink day or night!
• Hotel California: On the second floor of a historic building 150 metres from the Duomo and 100 metres from Galleria dell’Accademia. We stayed here once and had a nice experience. Ask for the double room with views of the Duomo.
• Hotel Pendini: Their website says they’re “an antique hotel in the hearth of Florence.” I’ve stayed here a couple of times for a one night stay. It’s definitely an older hotel with small bathrooms but price and location off of Piazza della Repubblica are great!

Visit the gallery for lots of great photos from my visits.

Enjoy your visit to this incredible Italian gem!

Florence is truly a feast for the senses. Every where you walk, every where you look, everything you taste is a masterpiece! This is the ‘cradle of the Renaissance where the Italian language was formalized.’

Julius Caesar founded Florentina in 59 BC. In the 14^th century, the Medici family began its reign of power making it the strongest financial center of Europe. Never monarchs, the Medici family did produce four Popes of the Catholic Church and we have them to thank for the fabulous city of art and architecture we enjoy today.

Florence feels like a small town. When you stay in the Centro Storico, all the gems are at your doorstep. There’s nothing better than taking your time walking the streets, no matter the season, enjoying every ounce of what surrounds you. It took me four visits before I even went in The Uffizi!

A long weekend is the perfect amount of time for the MUST GO’s. I’ve visited Florence five times and never grow tired of a weekend here, whether a solo trip of shopping and writing or a romantic weekend.

* Soak in the Renaissance

• The Duomo: This breathtaking group of structures stands with the Duomo and Campanile towering over the city. Started in 1296, it wasn’t complete until 1436 with Brunelleschi’s masterpiece of a dome (he won a 1420 design competition to build it as nobody could figure out how to build a dome so large). It’s worth the climb to the top on a sunny day for 360˚ views around Florence.
• Galleria dell’Accademia: Here stands Michelangelo’s GREAT David.  Make sure you reserve tickets to avoid long lines.
• The Uffizi: THE place to see Renaissance art from Giotto to Botticelli (Birth of Venus), Leonardo da Vince (The Annunciation) to Michelangelo (Holy Family). Originally the Uffizi, or offices, of the ruling Medici family, it has over 1700 works on display. Get tickets in advance to avoid hours of waiting and try to go on a weekday when its not as crowded inside.
• Piazza della Signoria: Often called Florence’s public living room, its packed with cafes where you can enjoy a cappuccino or aperitif while marveling at the beauty of the Palazzo Vecchio and the outdoor sculpture gallery (including a replica of David, the original used to stand here).
• Ponte Vecchio: Spanning the Arno River, this bridge was built in 1354 and leads across to Pitti Palace. Its so beautiful even Hitler ordered it spared from destruction in WWII. Now lined with jewelry shops (I picked out my beautiful engagement ring here!), until the 16^th century it was full of butchers. Fun to see at night as all the closed shops look like little treasure chests. Peer over the side of the bridge by the statue of Cellini (Florence’s famous goldsmith) and you’ll see big masses of locks hooked up together. Legend goes that men bring their lovers here to profess their commitment, lock up a lock together, then throw the keys in the Arno to be together forever.

• Santa Croce: Lovely church with tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo.
• Pitti Palace: Florence’s royal family, The Medici’s, home from 1560-1860. Beautiful gardens in the Spring and Summer.

More on Florence tomorrow…Italian Treasure Hunting and a Taste of Tuscan’s Finest.

This week through Sunday is Virginia Wine’s Love By the Glass promotion, March 18-27. More than 340 restaurants and wine stores throughout Virginia are participating in Virginia Wine Week with specials, tasting and events. Visit Virginia Wine for more details. Many wineries are having special tasting and release events.

If you haven’t explored many of Virginia’s 190 wineries, this week is a great time to start! Its also a great time to try a new type of wine. Last month at the Virginia Wine Expo, several Virginia wineries had wine varieties I had never tried.

* Wisteria Vineyard‘s fantastic owner Moussa Ishak was serving up a few new discoveries.

• Seyval 2008: Made from 100% Sevyal white grapes, this is a nice refreshing wine with a citrus aroma and hint of pear. Its smooth finish also has a slight nutty aftertaste. The Seyval grape is a French hybrid.
• Carmine: Carmine is a red grape cross of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carignane developed by Dr. Harold Olmos, of the University of California. He developed it as a Cabernet alternative for California’s cool coastal regions but it never took off in California. Wisteria’s wine was a dark red in color with an aroma of berries and hint of persimmon. Its explosive taste has a clean finish. Wisteria is the only Virginia winery growing this grape.

Be sure to visit their lovely winery located on the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Luray, Virginia.

* Rosemont Vineyards, in Southern Virginia, had a nice Traminette wine. This white grape is a hybrid of Gewürztraminer made in 1965 by H.C. Barrett, then of the University of Illinois. Their Traminette 2008 is a Silver Medal winner from the Virginia Wine Lovers Classic. Its a crisp, dry wine with aromas of apricot, honey and peach.

See if a local restaurant offers them by the glass and if your favorite restaurant doesn’t, ask them to add some to the list.

Cheers to Virginia Wine Week!

There’s no better way to get to explore Bordeaux wine than being there in person! Last spring during our long weekend trip, I was able to try 30 wines from 14 of the 60 AOCs/regions. Here are the MUST GO’s once you’re there.

* Your Wine Sign at La Winery

La Winery, “A New Approach to Wine,” is an ‘everything wine’ spot north of Bordeaux outside of Arsac. Philippe Raoux, a winegrower and trader in Bordeaux, opened it in 2007 … “What we want to do is experiment, never stop, not keep doing what we did yesterday.”

Their Le Signe Oenologique®, or Wine Sign, is what drew me to La Winery. In this 45 minute blind tasting of six wines, “you’ll discover the style of wine you prefer, the keys to your own taste and your Wine Sign.” Candice was our guide and led us through their tasting steps of look, smell and taste. We tasted two white wines and four red wines, all French, answering a question about our preference of each on little hand held devices. In between each tasting was a question about other preferences of food, tastes, etc… We learned a couple of cool tasting tips from Candice in the process. First, the ‘legs’ on the glass when you swirl the wine help you identify the body and alcohol percent. The thicker the legs, the higher the alcohol percent. Second, color helps you identify the age. As red wines age they turn more brown orange in color. Paler white wines are younger. Then Candice goes away, tallies the results and brings you out your Wine Sign booklet. There are eight wine signs…mine is “Refined with ascending Sensual.” I “look for purity, typical character and aromatic complexity in my wine, an unusual bouquet and even deep sometimes surprising tastes.” Right on! In three and a half years, they’ve done 13,000 signs.

After your tasting, put your Wine Sign to work exploring Winery’s Cave which features over 1,001 wines from France and around the world. Your Wine Sign booklet suggests wines you would like from their cellar and they even make a wine for each sign.

Still more exploring to do at the Wine Bar. Sommelier Vincent led me through a wine flight of Bordeaux wines. He pulled out the map to show me where each one was produced as he explained the wine and the terrior in which it is created!

La Winery also has a restaurant, vineyard tours and event space. When getting there, leave a little extra time as its slightly hard to find but definitely worth the visit!

* Bordeaux Wine Council Offerings

The Bordeaux Wine Council is a wealth of information. In all my wine exploration, I’ve never seen a wine region make wine so approachable and offer so many resources.

• Bar ā Vin (3, cours du XXX Juillet) is their wine bar across from the Tourism Office (another great resource and must stop). It was named one of the best wine bars in Europe last spring by by Travel & Leisure. You can sampling lots of wine from throughout the region for only €3 per glass, enjoy nibbles to pair with your wine and a beautiful interior design with walls full of wine bottles and stain glass art of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine.
• Bordeaux L’Ecole du Vin, the Bordeaux Wine School, offers classes throughout the year for beginners to connoisseurs.
• Bordeaux Wine Trails: Last but not least, you can drive the roads of Bordeaux and stop at wineries along the way. The Bordeaux Wine Council guides you on five wine roads across the region. Check out their site or pick up a guide book at the Tourism Office.

Before you go, or if you can’t get there in person, check out my posts on Simplifying the Complex World of Bordeaux Wine. Either way let us know your favorite!

Now that we’ve taken a simplified look at the complex world of Bordeaux wine and we know 2009 is the best vintage in 30 years, let’s buy a bottle!

First Step

Do you want a red or white? If red, do you want a bold, strong wine? Using what we’ve learned so far, you’d want to pick a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Left Bank (like Médoc, Graves, Margaux, Pauillac or Saint-Estèphe). If you’re looking for a softer red, you’d want to pick a Merlot from the Right Bank (Saint-Emilion, Pomerol or Fronsac). If white, do you want a round citrus or a golden sweet? If you’re looking for round citrus, you’d want to pick a Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux, Graves, Entre-Deux-Mers or Pessac-Léognan. Sweet white, go with a Barsac, Cadillac or Sauternes.

Finding It

Now that you know what kind of wine you want, how do you find it? Let’s take a look at reading Bordeaux labels.

The label tells you everything you need to know about the Region/AOC (where its from which will provide insight into what kind of grape it is and taste like we discussed above), name of the château/winery and the vintage/year (check out the ‘good year’ list here). This image from the Bordeaux Wine Council explains it simply.

Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Wine Course (a great resource for all wine) puts it simply also. In reading the labels, your basic Bordeaux name on the label will be your least expensive and basic quality. A Bordeaux label with region/AOC is next up the ladder in quality. Finally a Bordeaux label with region/AOC and château will be best quality (you know it comes from an individual vineyard although remember there are thousands of them so not all will be great).

Also keep in mind when picking a Bordeaux, when it will be ready to drink. A great chateau needs a minimum of 10 years to age. A cru bourgeois or a 2nd label needs a minimum of 5 years to age. A regional wine can be consumed within 2-3 years of the vintage year. And a basic Bordeaux AOC is ready to drink now.

Do you have to spend a fortune?

This question often comes up in buying Bordeaux wine. The reality is you can find good quality at many price points. Kevin Zraly has a great way of looking at it…the ‘reverse pyramid method.’

It all starts with knowing what you like. We all can’t afford the perfect Château Lafite-Rothschild every day. But we know its from the Pauillac AOC/region. So we could pick a Fifth-Growth/Cru from that region which is must less expensive, all the way down to a regional Pauillac. As Kevin says “When I go to my neighborhood retailer, I find a château I’ve never heard of. If it’s from Pauillac, from a good vintage/year, and it’s twenty to twenty-five dollars, I buy it. My chances are good.”

In the end, its about experimenting and finding what you like! Hopefully you find these tips helpful. I know the facts I’ve shared over the last few days have helped me feel more confident in picking out a Bordeaux.

Cheers to 2009 Bordeaux!