Friday, October 16, 2026

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino (a White Wine) of Cascina del Colle in Abruzzo, Italy, and Pasta at Thompson Italian, Falls Church, with Alfredo Grifone from the Winery and Roberto D'onofrio of Impero Wine Imports (October 2026)






Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino (a white wine) of @Cascina del Colle in Abruzzo, Italy, and seafood pasta at Thompson Italian in Falls Church, with Alfredo Grifone from the winery and Roberto D'onofrio of @Impero Wine Imports.

Invitation by Thampson Italian 

We have a special guest in Falls Church on Monday night! 

Alfredo Grifone of Cascina del Colle is visiting from Abruzzo, the rugged stretch of Italy between the Apennines and the Adriatic. 

Roberto D'Onofrio of Impero is joining him, and together they’re pouring a four-wine flight that covers the region in four glasses. 

WHAT WE'RE POURING 

Pecorino Abruzzo’s signature white grape. Named for the sheep that couldn’t stop eating the grapes, not for the cheese. Crisp, mineral, and textured. 

Montepulciano Rosato Not your summer pink. It’s deeper, more savory, and full of bright cherry. 

Two Montepulciano Reds Same grape, two very different wines.

Taste them side by side to experience the difference. Each pour is 3 oz, so you get a proper taste of each one, and Alfredo will be there to tell you the story behind every glass. 

THREE WAYS TO ENJOY 

The Flight, $30 All four wines, poured by the people who know them best. 

Pasta + Flight, $50 Any bowl of our handmade pasta with the full flight. (Pro tip: Rigatoni Bolognese and Montepulciano were made for each other.) 

Classic Pasta Night Special, $35 Any bowl of pasta with any glass of wine from our regular menu, as always. 

Alfredo and Roberto will be pouring from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and reservations are recommended. See you tomorrow!

Cascina del Colle

Cascina del Colle is a family-run, certified-organic winery located in Villamagna, in the Abruzzo region.

Location: Situated in the heart of Villamagna in the province of Chieti, southwest of the coastal town of Pescara, sitting about 280 to 300 meters above sea level.

History & Ownership: Founded and operated by the D'Onofrio Family, the estate spans 16 hectares of vineyards and olive groves with over 25 to 60 years of winemaking and organic farming tradition. 

Wine Portfolio: Specializes in native Abruzzo grapes, including Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, Pecorino, and Passerina. 

Signature wines include Aimè (Pecorino Superiore), Mammut (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo), and Negus (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo).

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo versus Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are two completely different Italian red wines that share a confusingly similar name. 

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 

The Name: Named after the grape variety (Montepulciano), which is widely planted in the eastern Abruzzo region. 

The Style: Known as a reliable, fruit-forward, and rustic crowd-pleaser. It delivers deep color, rich dark-berry flavors, and soft-to-firm tannins.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 

The Name: Named after the place (the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany), not the grape. 

The Grape: Made primarily from Sangiovese (locally called Prugnolo Gentile), meaning it shares more stylistic DNA with Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino than with Abruzzo's wines. 

The Style: More structured, savory, and age-worthy, featuring bright acidity and earthy, herbal cherry characteristics.

Thompson Italian 


The Bar



Pasta 



The Wines





Tasting
 






Good Night
 

schiller-wine: Related Postings 



 
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Thursday, October 15, 2026

Winery Tour, During Harvest 2026, and Tasting at Azienda Agricola Foradori, the World-renowned Biodynamic Winery in Trentino, with Myrtha Zierock Foradori - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours











 
Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours, led by Annette Schiller, took place from Sunday, September 06 - Sunday, September 13, 2026.   
 
Being the northernmost wine region of Italy, Alto Adige is a very special place where Italian and German traditions merge. It is a fascinating and unique region in the Alpes. It boasts of an extraordinary variety of landscapes: snow-capped mountains in the Dolomites, fertile valleys, streams, century-old breathtakingly beautiful towns true to their hybrid Germanic-Italian culture. 
 
During this tour we did not change hotels. We stayed 7 nights at the famous, beautiful 5-star Art-Nouveau style Parkhotel Laurin in Bozen.
 
See:
 
Overview: The Alto Adige/ Trentino Region in Northern Italy and its Winemaking - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Day-by-Day Summary: Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Bozen / Bolzano in Alto Adige, Italy: A City Between Two Worlds - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
A Week at Parkhotel Laurien, Built in the Art Nouveau Style, in the Center of Bozen - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Day 4: This was our day to go to Trentino and to also explore the Valpolicella region north of Verona and also taste @Amarone
 
(1) Azienda Agricola Foradori, the world-renowned biodynamic winery in Trentino, often called the "Queen of Teroldogo", that Elisabetta Foradori took over at a very young age. Today, the estate is run by Elisabetta's three children Emilio, Theo and Myrtha Zierock and the latter was our host. 
 
I met her for the first time many years ago at a winemaker dinner at Restaurant schauMahl in Frankfurt when she was still studying in Germany. Myrtha showed us the vineyards and the wine cellar, including the very special amphora cellar, probably the largest in the world, and we sat down for a tasting of the Foradori #worldclass wines. 
 
Winemaker Dinner with Azienda Agricola Foradori (Trentino, Italy) at SchauMahl in Frankfurt, Germany (2015)
 
 
Picture: Winemaker Dinner with Azienda Agricola Foradori (Trentino, Italy) at SchauMahl in Frankfurt, Germany -  Myrtha Zierock Foradori and Chef Björn Andreas
 
(2) Lunch at @Enotheca della Valpolicella in Fumane with @Valpolicella wines. The lunch was excellent - very local and traditional, and at the same time at MICHELIN Guide level. We were met by the owner Ada Riolfi.
 
(3) Visit of @Allegrini , a benchmark producer in the @Valpolicella Classica region. We tasted through the whole range of the Valpolicella wine pyramid: Valpolicella Classico, Superiore, Amarone (using the appassimento method) and Recioto.
 
(4) Tour of Verona with the ancient Roman Arena that still hosts summer opera shows and the story of Romeo and Juliet. The tour ended with a glass of wine in a traditional wine bar.
 
Azienda Agricola Foradori — Trentino 

Azienda Agricola Foradori sits in Mezzolombardo, in Trentino's Piana Rotaliana. The Piana Rotalina is a broad alluvial plain formed by the river Noce which deposited gravel and sandy soils over centuries. The Piana Rotaliana is almost completely surrounded by vertical cliffs that can reach heights up to 4000 ft. This valley is the historic heartland of Teroldego, an ancient red grape found almost nowhere else in the world. This unique gepgraphy protects the vineyards from harsh alpine winds and stores daytime heat and radiate it back at night, contributing to a beneficial diurnal temperature shift. This helps the grapes ripen beautifully, developing concentrated flavors while retaining bright acidity. 

The estate was established in 1901 and purchased by the Foradori family in 1939. After the sudden death of her father in 1976, Elisabetta Foradori took over at just twenty years old following studies at the San Michele all'Adige wine school, crafting her first vintage in 1984. Then she met German Professor Rainer Zierock, who had a major impact both on her private and business life. 

In 1984, when Elisabetta Foradori began her winemaker career, Trentino was dominated by large wine coops planting international varieties such as the fashionable Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Rainer Zierock pushed her not to go the international varieties route, but to keep and to focus on the local varieties, in particular Teroldego. What followed transformed both the estate and Teroldego's reputation. Elisabetta rejected industrial clonal selection in favor of massal selection, eventually identifying fifteen distinct historic Teroldego biotypes across her vineyards, and became known internationally as the "Queen of Teroldego" for elevating a grape once sold off cheaply in bulk into one of Italy's most respected reds, notably through her flagship wine, Granato. 

In 2002 she began converting the estate to biodynamic farming, achieving certification in 2009, and pioneered the use of Spanish clay amphorae alongside oak and cement, arguing that clay lets a wine "reconnect to the earth." 

Today Elisabetta's and Rainer Zierock’s children run day-to- day operations, with son Emilio overseeing winemaking using native yeasts and minimal sulfur, and Myrtha focusing on the business part. The family has expanded into a fully polycultural farm, raising Tyrolean Grey cattle and cultivating vegetables alongside the vines that made them famous.

Arriving



Harvest 2026








Cellar









Vineyard





Cellar















Tasting

















Selfie with Myrtha Zierock Foradori


Bye-bye 



Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours: Already Released and Forthcoming Postings
 
Meet and Greet in the Garden of Parkhotel Laurin in Bozen - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
After-dinner Wine at Toma by Lisa Wine Bar in Bozen - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Guided Visit of Oetzi, the Iceman in Bozen - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Authentic South Tyrolean Dinner up in the Mountains at Buschenschank Baumannhof, with the Legendary "Soul of the House" Mali - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 

Monastery Tour, Vineyard Tour and Wine Tasting at the Neustift Monastery in Brixen - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours

Lunch at Granpanorama Hotel Sambergerhof, Famous for its Uninterrupted 54-kilometer Panoramic View of the Dolomites Chain - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 

 
Lovely Al Fresco Dinner in the Alleys of Old Town Bolzano at Franziskaner Stuben - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
 
Tour and Tasting at Kellerei/ Cantina Nals Margreid - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
 
 
Winery Tour and Tasting at Azienda Agricola Foradori, the World-renowned Biodynamic Winery in Trentino, with Myrtha Zierock Foradori  - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Lunch at Enotheca della Valpolicella in Fumane with Valpolicella Wines, with Owner Ada Riolfi - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Visit of Allegrini, a Benchmark Producer in the Valpolicella Classica Region, Tasting through Valpolicella Wine Pyramid: Valpolicella, Valpolicella Superiore, Amarone and Recioto - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Tour of Verona with the Ancient Roman Arena that still hosts Summer Opera Shows and the Story of Romeo and Juliet - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Tasting at Weingut Tiefenbrunner with Owner hristof Tiefenbrunner in Kurtatsch - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours  
 
Lunch and Tasting at Elena Walch at Castel Ringberg, Overlooking Lake Caldero - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Dinner at Thaler Arome, an Upscale Rooftop Restaurant in the Heart of Bolzano - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 

Cellar Tour and Tasting at Manincor, a Biodynamic Pioneer and Flagship Winery of the Region, with Owner Count Michael Goess Enzenberg - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Lunch at Alpin Hut Oberholz up in the Dolomites 6300 Feet Above Sea Level - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Tasting at Cantina Kurtatsch, a Premier Cooperative, with a Spectacular View of Adige Valley - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours 
 
Extensive Vineyard Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Alois Lageder, a Historic, Family-run Flagship Winery in Alto Adige, with Sarah Daval, Weinakademiker - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours
 
Tour and Tasting at Tenuta Hofstätter in Tramin, a Flagship Winery of the Alto Adige Region, a Pioneer of Vigna (Single Vineyard) Classification in Alto Adige, with Fourth-generation Owner Martin Hofstaetter - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy WineTours  
 
Farewell Dinner at Restaurant 1500 (1 Star Michelin) up in the Vigiljoch above Lana (Reachable only by Cable Car), with Chef Daniel Sanin and Sous-Chef Jonas Graber - Alto Adige 2026 by ombiasy 
WineTours

 

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