Tasting the flavors of Piedmont

Piedmont, like other regions of Italy has a good problem.  Location. It’s because of Italy’s geographically varied landscape, the 20 regions are distinct in every way. Situated in the northwest corner of Italy, Piedmont is bordered in the north by the Swiss Alps, on the west by the French Alps,  and to the south, the Ligurian mountains. This unique isolation has served to preserve their extraordinary cuisine. Highly influenced by France, dishes are rich with milk, butter, cream, meat, and…

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Tasting Giada Vegas

Light, fresh and simple. This is Giada De Laurentiis’ style.  And inside Giada Vegas at The Cromwell, she greets summer with seasonal dishes that stay true to Italian classics with a casual California spin.  New tastes to discover is the generously portioned charred octopus panzanella, prepared with tomato, asparagus and charred tomato vinaigrette.  Pair it with Borgoluce’s prosecco superiore for a little effervescence. For the secondi, the fettuccini with sweet garlic scampi with heirloom tomato. With a light touch of…

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Discovering Ruchè

Wine made from the Ruchè grape has a beguiling aromatic promise of delicate, fresh blossoms of violets, geranium, lavender — sometimes expressing white fruits of quince and fig — while capturing cinnamon, spice and black pepper. This distinctive beauty harnesses wildly redolent red berry characters and delightfully fits the demand for a light- to medium-bodied red wine that can be served slightly chilled and stir conversation. “Rarely does one encounter an aromatic red variety boasting such remarkable structure and balance,” said Cameron…

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Thomas Schlumberger shares the beauty of Alsace

The Alsace region of France is so charming, it might as well be in a fairy tale. Set against the backdrop of the forested Vosges Mountains, quaint villages and storybook hamlets with little clusters of pastel-painted, half-timbered houses adorned with colorful flower boxes bring cheer to the picturesque landscape. Nearby vineyards display gorgeous scenery where exquisite wines are produced from a rolling landscape of green ribbon that enjoys precise alignment of the vines, which catch every minute of life-giving sunlight.…

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Fetching bottles from Aureole’s wine tower is no easy task

Photo by: Krystal Ramirez This story first appeared in VEGAS SEVEN magazine. If you ask me to ascend four stories while dangling from discernibly thin cables, I’d more than likely pass on the opportunity. Not just because I’m fearful of heights, but really, why would I want to do that in the first place? Unless of course, some form of fermented grape juice was involved. In all honesty, nobody had to twist my arm to be a Wine Angel for…

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