Avvinare

Avvinare is a blog created by Susannah Gold, who is a wine writer, educator, brand ambassador, publicist, and a certified Italian sommelier. This blog was launched as a way for Susannah to remain connected to her Italian roots after moving away from Italy. The term "Avvinare" refers to the process of rinsing a glass in preparation for wine. Through this blog, Susannah aims to enrich your understanding of Italian culture, satisfy your curiosity about Italian wines, and highlight the amazing women making their mark in the wine industry, both in Italy and beyond.

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Discovering Brda in Slovenia

4 weeks ago | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

This month the #WorldWineTravel group is writing about lesser known wine regions. I am taking the opportunity to write about an area of first heard of in 2018 from one of the members of the Scurek wine family at an American Wine Society event. I was there to give a Masterclass on Lugana wines from Lake Garda but also was able to attend other sessions. I attended one on Slovenia and learned about a very interesting region called Brda that is right on the border of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Join Me: World Wine Travel - Lesser Known Regions -#WorldWineTravel

1 month ago | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

I am hosting our combined wine writers group in May this year and our topic is lesser known regions of the wine world under the #worldwinetravel hashtag. I hope many of you will join me. I have not hosted in a while and am excited to jump back in. This is my 17th year of my blog and it coincides with this week so I am happy if I am also actively sharing with others, what blogs are supposed to be about, if memory serves :).
Italian Wines At Altitude

1 month ago | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

This month the Italian Food Wine and Travel crew looked at wines from the mountains also known as Alpine wines. I am always excited to drink wines that I know are grown at altitude and as climate changes continue, many more areas are looking to plant higher up, in search of freshness, straight forward flavors and purity of fruit that I find you get in wines that come from grapes grown at altitude.
Tasting Irish Whiskey At Keens

2 months ago | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

I wish I were at my favorite steakhouse, Keens ,right now, sipping some Irish Whiskey and eating a steak. Keens has a long and glorious New York history that started in 1885 when it was part of an actors club. I like to take non-New Yorkers there for dinner. I like the pipes hanging on the walls, the art, the armor, the old wooden seats, the iceberg wedge. Keens Steakhouse owns the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world.
Monday Musings On Wine Education: Focused on Studying Burgundy

2 months ago | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

What are you studying for someone in the wine industry asked me recently? I have been attempting to focus on the Master of Burgundy wine with the Wine Scholar Guild for awhile now without much success however, last week’s tasting of Burgundy wines and an upcoming focused one on Bouzeron’s Aligote have turned me into a believer that this could be the year, finally. I have always been on the side of that debate that opts for education, formal and informal.
A Look At Montepulciano, Italy’s Second Most Widely Planted Grape Variety

Mar 2, 2025 | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

Tomorrow I will be at the Slow Wine Event in New York at Eataly serving wines from Abruzzo made with Montepulciano. Come say hello if you are at the event! Even though Montepulciano is Italy’s second most widely planted grape variety after Tuscany’s Sangiovese, it is still not as revered as it could and, in my view, should be. Many tend to see this welcoming variety as an easy, quaffable beverage.
Happy Lunar New Year - The Year of the Snake

Jan 30, 2025 | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

This is the year of the Wood Snake. In the Chinese Zodiac there are 12 signs and 5 elemental powers. This combination is what is represented this year and is supposed to bring a year of wisdom, new beginnings, and hope. I had always thought of the holiday as Chinese New Year the Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries including Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, and Korea.
Zenato’s Lugana Riserva Shines

Jan 23, 2025 | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

This fabulous bottle of Lugana was my drink of choice this week. It was a 2016 Lugana Riserva from Zenato, a venerated winery in the Veneto, equally famous for Amarone and Lugana, among other wines. I was the Lugana brandambassador for 8 years and worked hard to transmit and promote this amazing area. When I got to serve Zenato’s wines my job was very easy. This 2016 was amazing and showed how beautifully Lugana can age and show notes of honey, pear, and even tropical fruit.
Buona Befana A Tutti!

Jan 7, 2025 | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

Gearing up for the end of the winter holidays, everyone makes numerous resolutions, including me. One of mine is to write more copy on this blog. I will start with today’s holiday – la Befana. It is a holiday in Italy where an unattractive old looking woman gives out coal to children who are bad and candy to those who were good on January 5th, the Epiphany Eve. January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany.
December Pleasures: Bubbles from Ridgeview Winery in Sussex, UK

Dec 9, 2024 | avvinare.com | Susannah Gold

Last night I had the pleasure of trying these two beautiful bottles of bubbly that hailed from Ridgeview in England. I have had other English sparkling wines in the past which I wrote about here but never these two and never a blanc de noir. The winery started in 1995 in Sussex. The winery’s second generation is now also involved. Ridgeview is a certified B Corporation and is also a founding member of Sustainable Wines GB. The vines at Ridgeview are up to 28 years old, some of the oldest in England.