Levi Reiss

I Love Touring Florence Italy - Santa Croce District Hotels

The Santa Croce neighborhood is located southeast of Florence's historic center. It dates from the Middle Ages and centers on the Gothic Santa Croce Basilica that houses the remains of many of the greats such as Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, and Niccolo ... Read >

I Love Organic Wine - An Italian Chianti

We have reviewed many Italian wines and at least two Chiantis, one that cost about $20 and another at half the price. As you may well know, Chianti has evolved over the years and what was once considered a mere table wine now shares Italy's top wine desig... Read >

I Love Touring Florence Italy - Hotels Near The Cathedral

The Florence Cathedral is also called the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore or simply the Duomo. This majestic late Thirteenth Century to Fifteenth Century building defines Florence's center. Don't you dare miss this spectacular site. If you are in good ... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In the Liguria Region

Little Liguria in northeast Italy is the Italian Riviera. It faces the Ligurian Sea and its climate starts to warm in the early spring. To avoid crowds plan on a spring visit. You won't regret it. The Yacht Club of the upscale resort of San Remo, populati... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In the Campania Region

Campania is the beginning of southern Italy. It lies on the Tyrrhenian Sea and is truly a land of contrasts. Many areas such as parts of Napoli, the regional capital and Italy's third largest city, remain largely poverty stricken. And other areas such as ... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In Basilicata

Basilicata is a small region of southern Italy with a very short coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and a slightly larger coastline on the Gulf of Taranto to the east. You won't see too many tourists here, perhaps one more reason to visit this tr... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In The Marches Region

The Marches is a narrow region of central Italy that lies on the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city, Ancona, population 100 thousand is a seaport in the middle of the region. This is the real, traditional Italy. Like many parts of Italy, the regio... Read >

A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - An Organic Sangiovese Carton

Sangiovese. When I hear that word, I just have to tell a story. In the final semester of my wine steward course at one of our wine dinners we were served, unknown to us, a Brunello di Montalcino wine. This is one of Tuscany's great wines that for obvious ... Read >

A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - An Organic Canadian Riesling

I am getting in the habit of tasting organic wines. But there won't be many of them in this column for one very good (actually very bad) reason. Organic wines tend to cost more than other wines. So when I saw this bottle I snapped it up. Actually, I'm sor... Read >

I Love Italian Regional Cuisine - Sicilian Cuisine Paired With White Wine

Would you believe that almost half of Sicily's huge wine production is made from white grapes? Unfortunately not many of these wines are available in North America, at least not yet. So I am forced to suggest fine or sometimes fair to middling white wines... Read >

A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - A White From Rioja (Spain)

Rioja is arguably Spain's greatest wine region. To be more precise: Rioja is arguably Spain's greatest red wine region. This region in northern Spain produces relatively little white wine and unlike the reds, Rioja whites rarely go for big bucks. Traditio... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In Veneto

The region of Veneto lies on the Gulf of Venice in northeastern Italy. Its capital Venice is home to an extremely popular Carnival and is one of the world's top tourist spots year round. As in so many other places, spring here is more of an April and May ... Read >

A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - A Zinfandel From California

Zinfandel may well be America's only indigenous European-style grape variety. It makes fruity, powerful red wines. Yet approximately 85% of the time this red, red grape is vinified into a very popular rose wine known as White Zinfandel, one of which we re... Read >

I Love Italian Regional Cuisine - Pairing Sicilian Cuisine With Red Wine

Can you believe that an independent Sicily would rank seventh in the world when it comes to wine production? Again and again I was forced to strike suggested wines off the list because they aren't available in North America, at least not yet. So maybe you... Read >

I Love Touring Italy - Springtime In Trentino-Alto Adige

The Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy sits on the border of Switzerland and Austria. It is largely mountainous territory and you won't be feeling the spring in early March. But there's a lot to do and see in any season and before very long the ... Read >