Category Archives: Favorites

Corte Gondina – The Place to Stay

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Corte Gondina – A Home Away From Home

Corte Gondina – A beautiful boutique hotel in La Morra.

Corte Gondina Living Room

If you ever find yourself in Piemonte, I highly recommend Corte Gondina in La Morra. This should come as no surprise for those who know me, as I frequent the beautiful hotel in the main streets of La Morra. Although there are many wonderful places to stay in La Morra, this has to be my favorite.

Corte Gondina

Bruno and his wife Elena will welcome you with open arms and treat you like family from day 1. Jackie, the gorgeous german/italian wonder maks a killer cappcino for breakfast in the morning and make sure the garden looks spick and span. All of these things make for a nice hotel experience. And don’t get me started on the breakfast pastries!

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In the winter you can sit in the living room and sip a glass of wine in the comfy armchairs and in the summer you can enjoy a chilled glass of white wine under the olive tree. If I ever get married and have a wedding, this is where it will be! You better get ready Bruno!

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For more info go to their website or contact me!

Best Wine Lists in Oslo

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The Norwegian Sommelier Organization and Kapital will announce who has the Best Wine List in different categories, which include Best in the Country, Best Bubbles, Best By The Glass and Best in Town.

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BA 53

My favorites among those who made the different lists are:

  • Territoriet
  • Beijing Palace
  • BA 53
  • Festningen Restaurant

Personally I think Cru is missing from the list, but I may not be objective. Still one of my favorite spots.

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Cru

Wine colors – a chart

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Wine Colors provided by Wine Folly

Wine Folly has a great color chart with an overview of the main wine colors, as you can see below. It is very common to describe a wine using color, and wine people have their own terminology, like pale amber or deep ruby. This chart also mentions the types of wine usually tied to the different colors: Nebbiolo is usually described as pale garnet and Chardonnay as deep gold.

Anyway, enjoy!

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Testimonials

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I am not sure you noticed, but I have a brand new page called “Testimonials” where some cool people have said some nice things about me.

“Piemonte Girl is the best.  Naturally approachable and sincere, her love and enthusiasm for wine and the Piemonte region really shines through.  On top of that, she has the real life experience and knowledge to back it up.  She’s one of my go-to resources on all things Piemonte.” -Kelly from Tennessee

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“Piemonte Girl really knows and loves the Langhe.  She’s been a great resource for me in suggesting wineries to visit, including some smaller ones not on my radar screen. Follow her blog!” – Joe from New York

If you feel like saying something nice about me, or have anything to add, feel free to contact me!

 

Chocolatte Helsingborg

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Chocolatte Helsingborg

If you’re a chocolate person (like me) you have to try Chocolatte in Helsingborg! There is a reason they win Chocolate awards; their chocolates are incredible! For Christmas we had their Christmas chocolates, with flavors like ginger bread and salty licorice. Perfect as a small dessert after tons of fatty Christmas food!

It’s a little unfortunate that they are located in Helsingborg, but if you’re ever there you should visit them. You can also check out their website, maybe they will ship their chocolates? I hope so!

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A Cascina Nuova Christmas

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Cascina Nuova: A Corino Christmas Night

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I love Christmas, and as you can see Cascina Nuova is now all ready for Christmas. And how perfect is Giovanni Corino‘s wine for Christmas? The red label goes great with the Christmas colors!

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Early December we had a sort of Christmas Party with food and baking and wine. My danish friend made some delicious danish cookies for us, and a really nice danish christmas meal. I love having such an international friend group; you get introduced to so many different foods and traditions. In addition to my danish friend, there was my dear friend from Bangladesh, a good friend from Canada and a new friend from Russia! Talk about diverse group of girls!

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Check out my amazing baking skills! And my beautiful santa hat! See the glitter? This hat was bought at a mall in Pennsylvania when I was maybe 6 years old, and has been my favorite head wear ever since! Anyone have any Christmas traditions or favorite parts of the holidays?

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Wine Opener: Which ones do you use?

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Wine Opener: Got any favorites?

I don’t know if wine opener is a huge subject, but I certainly have a favorite type. Most people open “regular wines” (as in not old ones with difficult corks) and now there’s glass and screw cap, so many also don’t need an opener. Honestly, I prefer corks. Not sure why. Maybe it feels more natural that way? Any opinions?

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Anyway, if you do have a “normal” cork, the ones pictured are the most common ones these days. And yes, I know, it looks like I steel wine openers for a living, but I swear I asked if it was OK for me to “steal” them. Thank you Nino Negri, Fratelli Revello, Manzone and Vietti!

All the openers pictured are called sommelier’s kinves. My favorite opener is the one on the left, the red one from Vietti. of course it doesn’t have to be from Vietti but that type of opener, with only one metal “arm”, is my weapon of choice. The one with two “arms” just doesn’t feel as good to use, not sure why. Any thoughts?

Other types of wine openers are twist corkscrews, air pressure wine openers, winged corkscrews and Ah So openers (the one for old bottles).  Check out a more detailed description here.