November 26, 2021

AZIENDA AGRICOLA SOFIA “Piano dei Daini” Etna Rosso 2018

(Etna, Sicily, Italy) $55

Etna Rossos, made on the ancient lava flows of the Mt. Etna volcano in Sicily, are made from red Nerello Mascalese grapes—Italy’s “Nebbiolos of the south.” The wines have a dark, savory, Italian edge of delicious bitterness that frames a core of spicy cherry fruit. This Sophia “Piano dei Daini” is also laced with notes of wild mushrooms and something like sarsaparilla. (Where oh where is a rich meat-sauced pasta dish when I need it?) Sophia is a small family winery with vineyards 2100 feet above sea level. (12.5% abv)

94 points KM

Available at Vivino

Why is orange juice drunk mostly at breakfast?

A. Because over time, consumers realized its aromas and flavors were the perfect antidote to morning “coffee breath”

B. Because it goes well with white spirits like vodka and can thus be made into morning cocktails like mimosas

C. Because orange growers created a marketing campaign to convince us that orange juice was especially good at breakfast time

D. Because in the 1950s, scientists determined that high-acid, vitamin-C-rich juices, drunk in the morning, could help alleviate morning drowsiness

In the early 1900s, several cycles of massive over-production of oranges in both Florida and California lead to a nationwide orange glut. At the time, oranges were mostly eaten whole. Juicing provided a logical solution for orange growers. But what to do with all that juice? Canning it was an option, but the flavor of canned orange juice (which often tuned viscous and brown) was a far cry from the flavor of actual oranges. The next innovation—canned frozen concentrate that could be mixed with water—was better. Growers launched enormous advertising campaigns extolling the virtues of orange juice. But if orange juice was to become a staple (capable of using up a lion’s share of all the oranges produced), more demand for it had to be created. Advertisers decided it needed a “place” in everyday eating behavior. The answer was breakfast. As everyone in America now knows, no breakfast is really “complete” without orange juice.

1783

Year the oldest and most productive cork oak, named the Whistler Tree, was planted, in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal. Cork trees are generally harvested for the first time when they are 25 years… Continue reading

AZIENDA AGRICOLA SOFIA “Piano dei Daini” Etna Rosso 2018

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