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Mike Riccetti

Wine at the Rodeo means Big Competition

Mike Riccetti
Feature Stories
4 min read
That one of the world’s biggest wine competitions is associated with a rodeo might come as a surprise.   The images of an oenophile studiously judging wine and one of a cowboy flailing atop a frantically bucking bronco across a dirt-laden corral are a bit discordant, but the fact that the

The viniferous joys of Lucca

Mike Riccetti
Feature Stories
4 min read
Less than fifty miles west of Florence, the handsome walled city of Lucca is not exactly unknown, but its wines certainly are. Given the attention Tuscany receives in the entertainment industry and from wine-loving tourists alike, it might come as a surprise that there are worthwhile wines and even entire

When Thinking of Red Also Think of Rosso

Mike Riccetti
Feature Stories
4 min read
When I saw Stefano Campatelli again in Houston in late January, I commented to him once more that “Baby Brunello” is a terrible moniker for Rosso di Montalcino, a diminutive that immediately describes it as no more than second-best. He nodded, and replied diplomatically that there was not much that

Orange Gateway: An Unexpected Use for Skin-Macerated Whites

Mike Riccetti
Features
4 min read
The Collio appellation, at Italy’s northeastern edge, offers an impressive array of wines.  A number of varieties, both indigenous and French, thrive in its unique, mineral-rich soil and its temperate climate, buttressed by the Alps to the north and the Mediterranean to the south.  Sauvignon, as Sauvignon Blanc is called

Inspired Selections from Houston Wine Lounge

Mike Riccetti
Features
3 min read
The restaurant Philippe is at one end of a contemporary multiuse building in Houston’s upscale Galleria area. At the other is the very popular RDG + Bar Annie from the city’s most famous chef, Robert Del Grande. Valet stands just thirty yards apart both see a heady percentage of shiny