(Italiano) Il vino e l’arte: inebriare senza degustare.

It is certainly not a mistake to say that wine is art, so long as it’s not an excuse for consuming it in excess, of course.
The inevitable parallel between the delicate titillation of the senses both when tasting a wine and when contemplating a work of art, whether a painting or another form, is interesting.
From touch to sight (the contemplation of its color and glints), to hearing (the convivial sounds that always mark the consumption of the ‘nectar of Bacchus’), wine as art becomes a harmonious encounter of sensory perceptions.
Artists – says the competent critic Vittorio Sgarbi – set about to interpret this dialogue in imagery, grasping its nuances in a language made of light, matter and color.
The history of wine as seen by art has its roots deep in time, and has inspired great artists who, through its allegorical significance, were able to communicate and reveal glimpses of society in the most common rituals and most unusual delights.
Torpor and unruliness, scenes of banquets, harvests and Roman triclinia, bunches of ripe grapes and scenes
of country life have been standard subjects for artists over the centuries.
The place and date of birth of wine, as an ‘object’ of distinction and wisdom are still shrouded in mystery
but we know that  “…it was also consumed in vast quantities by the people and was among the insignia of kings and pharaohs”.
In fact, we find wine in the painting of the tomb of Nakht, which goes back two thousand years before Christ, but also in the ‘Home of the Centenarian’ in Pompei, where the owner of the house is depicted in the semblance of a Bacchus, draped in the fruit of the vines.
Even the devout Michelangelo Buonarroti, when in 1400 he sculpted his first profane figure, depicted the basic dualism of the enological topic in the goblet offered to the satyr almost as if to promise great wonders.
The most celebrated Bacchus, however, will forever be the one painted by a brilliant Caravaggio who rebelled against the artistic cannons that decreed that only human figures could communicate emotions.

Through his bland symbolism, he was able to convey not only the meanings hidden behind the key figure in the painting, but also all the bucolic elements of the chalice of wine consumed or offered.
The artistic representation of wine doesn’t end with Caravaggio but continues down the centuries passing through Impressionist art and Pseudo-realism to our own time, when it becomes the subject of murals and billboards in which humor is mixed with tradition and the sacred element of ritual where wine plays a
leading role.
In contemporary art there seems to be a sort of desire to go back, in a pop key, to the symbolism communicated by Galileo in his statement: “Wine is a mixture of love and sunlight”.

Food and Wine Tourism: the bond with the area is the key point at the center of the tourist’s research.

Food and wine are a tremendous draw for tourism, and cooking is the connecting link.
That’s what chef Paolo Sadler says, and he is echoed by dozens of experts in the sector who claim that the future of the Italian economy is closely linked to that of food and wine tourism.
The food and wine craze has intensified in the last five years, bringing twice as many tourists as in the past.
They want to have memorable experiences that bind them irrevocably to the local traditions of the places they visit, and what tradition is more deeply rooted and authentic than that of fine food and wine?
Tourists in 2018 are tech savvy, and can organize their own trip on the Web but like to make comparisons.
They are prepared to spend so long as they receive in exchange the perception of the authentic values of local tradition.
One Italian out of 3 has taken a food and wine tour in the last three years, and 70% of them are under 40.
The boom in food and wine tourism is rather recent, but the numbers, if interpreted correctly, could grow exponentially in a very short time.
A step in this direction has been made in the direction of legislation on food and wine tourism in Italy.
The emphasis given to an area, as much as its credibility, derive from the careful regulation of projects and the study of their ability to satisfy tourists who may have traveled very great distances for them.

The opening of multifunctional facilities to tourism has to be firmly flanked by the sustainability and quality of the experience our country offers, and must render them exceptional.
In this connection, we have chosen to address food and wine tourism toward locations where it is more feasible to monitor and regulate it, i.e. to the zones in possession of IGP, DOC and DOCG certification.

The bond with the area is the key point and lies at the center of the food and wine tourist’s research.
I’m traveling to the Veneto region – says the European tourist – so I want to drink Prosecco and Amarone, eat baccalà and polenta and I want to take part of that experience home with me, materially as well as spiritually, and the more my destination has revealed its secrets to me, the greater my pleasure will be.

Training is the key word for the progress we are moving toward.
The study of food, wine, traditions and history will make us unbeatable and can give us everything the progress of food and wine tourism in Italy needs.

Uova e asparagi: un classico intramontabile. Li avete mai provati in abbinamento al Pinot Grigio?

L’importanza della stagionalità nella dieta spesso non viene rispettata.

Vogliamo fornirvi uno spunto per un piatto semplice che rivisitato in chiave gourmet si adatterà perfettamente ad un pranzo primaverile veloce ma raffinato.

Il binomio uova-asparagi potrebbe apparire scontato, in realtà rappresenta uno degli abbinamenti più azzeccati della cucina italiana.

Di asparagi ne abbiamo di diverse qualità e provenienze, senza complicarvi la vita vi consigliamo quindi di utilizzare i più diffusi: quelli verdi, ma di farlo solo a marzo o all’intiepidirsi delle temperature per avere la certezza che siano selvatici o comunque di stagione.


-8 ASPARAGI (Privati della parte ultima del gambo che potrebbe risultare troppo dura e fibrosa.



-2/3 CUCCHIAI DI PARMIGIANO (meglio se meno stagionato)


Per prima cosa cuocete le due uova in camicia ma ricordate di aggiungere all’acqua un goccio di aceto.

Ponete massima attenzione a non stracciare l’albume e a non cuocere troppo l’uovo, la riuscita del piatto sarebbe compromessa.

Messe da parte le uova, dedicatevi ora alla preparazione degli asparagi che vanno semplicemente sbollentati per pochi minuti, facendo in modo che restino croccanti e di un verde vivo.

A vostro piacimento, prima dell’impiattamento potrete lasciare gli asparagi semplicemente bolliti o ripassarli in padella.

Ultimo step della ricetta prima di passare a comporre il piatto è la crema leggera di Parmigiano, che otterrete restringendo il latte intero in un pentolino aggiungendoci a pioggia il parmigiano e non smettendo mai di mescolare.


Componete ora il piatto mettendo sul fondo allineati gli asparagi e adagiandoci sopra  l’uovo in camicia che sarà ricoperto dalla fondue di Parmigiano e da qualche fogliolina di menta o da grani di senape pestati al mortaio.

(Un filo d’olio di oliva, purchè non sia troppo forte, sarà sempre gradito per completare il piatto)


L’avvolgenza del tuorlo d’uovo, ancora fluido assieme alla sapidità del parmigiano e alla freschezza dell’asparago saranno il giusto accompagnamento ad un buon calice di Pinot Grigio di Tenute SalvaTerra la cui naturale mineralità e il palato leggermente aromatico sposeranno e contrasteranno la pungenza della menta o della senape e i sapori semplici ma complementari del piatto nella sua complessità.


Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.