What does Amarone have to do with a Pierre Hardy sandal? Read on, my friends.

Wherein guest blogger Bene finishes her Roman adventure on a fishy note — and regrets missing out on fried artichokes.

Bene’s next installment finds her vistiting Ristorante L’Arcangelo. I’ll spare you puns about the food being heavenly, but I couldn’t resist thisFra Angelico fresco of The Annunciation. (The Archangel Gabriel — get it?)

Bene’s reportage from Italy continues. In this installment, she goes for the two-fer, dining at one of her favorite Roman spots twice in one day.

STBNY hits the road (vicariously) through this guest post from Orvieto. Pesto, pigeon and deconstructed tiramisu. Try not to get jealous.

Italian Wine Week ended on a strong note. (It also ended a week ago, so I’m taking a very Italian approach to deadlines here. What can I tell you, it’s August.)

Another day, another region, another variety. This time we’re heading over to Liguria for the 2005 Lupi “Le Braje”, a wine with a split personality if there ever was one.

Wherein I raise my glass to a versatile summer wine that’s like Reese Witherspoon in a glass.

For day 2 of Italian Wine Week, I made the switch from red to white and tried a 2008 Pecorino, or, as I like to call it, the Chardonnay gateway drug.

Italian Wine Week got off to a rousing, if somewhat obscure, start last night with this 2007 Cantine Sant’ Agata “‘Na Vota” Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato.