Anthony: August 2007
Tonight we opened a bottle of what was one of my favorite Vin Santos since getting to Florence - the one from Castello Verrazzano. The new wine is the 2003 vintage, the 2001 was the last vintage and it has been gone from shops in Florence for awhile. Unfortunately on the first taste I have to say this wine is a major pass - all I could get from the nose was alcohol, and after the initial strong alcohol smell blew off, it just smelled like a weak glass of rubbing alcohol. It tasted the same, with maybe a butterscotch candy thrown in. The alcohol actually burned my throat and the finish was very hard. Nothing like the 03, no warm flavors of honey and caramel, no aromas of flowers, peaches or toasty oak. It was almost grappa like - very surprising, and ultimately disappointing.You can find some great Italian wines for sale at The Wine Messenger:
Their seem to be several "official" websites to many of Florence's museums and churches. Sometimes it is just overlapping bureaucracy (the Commune may have a site, the state may have a site, the museum itself may have a site), and sometimes it is people pretending to be an official site, either to try to get you to click on an ad or book a hotel or something else that either makes them money or brings their website traffic. Then there are the hundreds (if not thousands) of small sites who have their own listings and descriptions of some or all of the museums in Florence (like this one!). Below are links and brief descriptions to the official sites of the major museums of Florence:
Luxist.com is reporting that this stylish bag is made in Florence:
"Melissa Loyd Maish, the former creative director of Bally, has her own line of purses. The atelier is based in Florence, Italy and the line features luxe looks in leather and linen. My favorites are the Sunset models, adorable linen bags with leather appliqués shaped as birds, suns and other organic shapes. The tote is white linen with brown leather and sells for $770."
What I made for lunch today. Recipe below -