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No trip to Florence is complete without going to La Spada - home of the Bruno special and a staple for those who went to Gonzaga-in-Florence. It is a real tribute to the larger-than-life personality of Fr. Bruno Segatta that by simply stating his name, the entire staff of La Spada treats you like a regular and a friend. Amazing.

To add to the nostalgia of this meal I ordered an Antinori wine. As a student at Gonzaga both Isabell and I took classes in the famed Palazzo Antinori just down the street from La Spada. But this go around I ordered an Antinori I had never seen, the La Braccesca Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. On the nose, the wine was intense and had typical aromas of fruits with a delicate hint of vanilla. On the palate it was structured and well-balanced. A great wine for my meat and potatoes!

For the past two week my wife and I have been in Italy. Before I left my intention was to blog from there about various wines and restaurants we came across during our trip. Two things prevented this from happening: 1) Italy rates near the bottom of the European Union in internet connectivity - and it showed. Finding an internet connection in either our hotel or internet cafes was a little tough. And when we did the prices were ridiculous. The most laughable was our hotel in Rome: 10 euros ($15) get you one hour of internet time. And 2) We were in Italy - the home of long meals and so much history it would literally take a lifetime to see it all, which makes blogging not much of a priority. Ok, excuses out of the way, on to the good stuff...

For dinner one night in Florence we went to an enoteca/ristorante called Enotria. The restaurant was a little out of the city center walls, about a ten minute walk from our hotel and the Santa Maria Novella train station, and the prices reflected this - as did the patrons. This was a great local place that took a lot of pride in matching great Italian wines with classic Tuscan fare. Isabell and I both ordered a pairing menu where we got an anitpasti, pasta, and main course all matched with selected wines. Each of our meals was excellent and the wines were great, too. One wine in particular stood out to me: the 2003 Monteraponi Chianti Classico. It embodied all that is great about chianti, but offered tastes that were complex and smooth. I had this wine pared with my pasta: rigatoni with a classic Florentine ragout sauce. Fantastic!

I ended up buying the 2003 Monteraponi Chianti Classico reserve to bring home, as well as another Classico that the manager highly recommended.

One of the most difficult wine pairing always seems to be the Thanksgiving meal. There are just too many different kinds of food (and too much food period) to have a pairing that is spot-on. So to solve this conundrum I went to my favorite wine columnists over at The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. Their take? Drink American...


So after some inspiration to find a good American cab, but not something I've seen on menus and at the store, I needed to go to someone in the know - in this case it was Paul Rakovich, the sommelier at Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas whom Isabell and I met back in June. I sent Paul an e-mail asking about a great American cabernet that was a little off the radar for most. On his recommendation I ended up buy the O'Shaughnessy Winery 2004 Howell Mountain cabernet sauvignon. The wine was fantastic and did what all great wines do: it made the day, our first Thanksgiving together, a memorable one.

Here are the tasting notes on the wine:

Deep, dark ruby red color with a vibrant purple hue and an almost opaque core. Complex aromas of black cherry, black currant, tobacco, sandalwood, leather, smoked meats and chocolate. This wine has a purity of place and minerality with black pepper, orange rind and soy sauce qualities. Mixed red berry flavors and sweet vanilla cream with an excellent acid, tannin balance that lingers on the palate. An elegant yet extracted wine that is impressive upon release.

Last night Bell and I had our friends Sean and Liz O'Connor over for some appetizers and wine. It was yet another reminder that some of the best times spent are at the table with friends. The conversation was fun, the food delicious and the wine excellent. Our fare for the evening was Thai pork loins with grilled bok choy, poached shrimp in a Cajun butter sauce, spinach artichoke dip, and a peanut butter chocolate pie. To compliment the eats we had a 2005 Schweiger chardonnay, a 2002 Joseph Swan zinfandel, and a port from Dutcher Crossing.

It's been a while since I've posted on the latest food and wine experiences for me and Isabell. For good reason: we got married on September 15th!

We honeymooned in Napa-Sonoma and that of course brought about plenty of amazing food and wine experiences, not to mention a fantastic hotel we stayed in. Instead of trying to cram something about each winery into one post, I figured that I will provide commentary over the next several months as we open some of the wine we brought back. But in installment number one I will review all the happenings of our first stop: Healdsburg.

After the wedding we flew to San Francisco, hopped on the 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge toward Sonoma Valley. For the first three nights we stayed in the cool little town of Healdsburg, at the Hotel Healdsburg. This hotel was easily one of the most enjoyable hotel experiences for both of us. Amazing place. In the hotel is a Charlie Palmer (of New York's Aureole fame) restaurant called Dry Creek Kitchen. The restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star and did not disappoint. We had a 2003 Hafner Cabernet Sauvignon that was very good.

A day latter we walked down the street to Cyrus, a two star Michelin restaurant. This is bold but Isabell and I both agreed that it was the best restaurant we have ever been to - absolutely epic. The wine we selected was a 2005 Unti Grenache and it was very lively and fun. The food, service, atmosphere, wine, and obviously the company were perfect. Definitely a evening we will never forget.

As you might have guessed, Bell and I stopped into several wineries during our time in Healdsburg. I will dedicate an entire post to our wine tasting experiences soon.

On my way over to class last Thursday at Seattle U I spotted a new coffee shop: Stumptown Coffee Roasters. I made a quick trip over during a break from class and decided to try it out. The verdict: excellent coffee! The atmosphere was what I call modern-attic - urban, industrial, but comfortable too. Perks include free wi-fi and daily cuppings (tastings).

After doing a little research I found out that Stumptown is a Portland boutique coffee roaster that has garnered a ton of accolades from the likes of Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, Entrepreneur Magazine, and USA Today. Good to have another quality coffee company in Seattle!

Last Friday was Isabell's birthday and we already had plans to have a little party at our new place. So that meant that I needed to find a good lunch spot to take the place of a birthday dinner. Neither of us had been to Tom Douglas's Dahlia Lounge, so we decided to give it a shot. The food was classic Douglas: northwest fare with interesting sauces and fantastic desserts. More on that later... Lunch rules be damned, we both had a glass of wine: Bell had a nice Cotes du Rhone that really came alive with her spicy pork and rice dish; I had a viognier that was very nice with Tom's classic crab cakes. But the real wow of the meal came at dessert. We had a pear tart with caramel sauce. Good food, good wine, good company, good times for Bell on her birthday!