Taste of Italy

Category: People

  • Standing room only for Texas BBQ and Italian wine, a new Houston tradition.

    Standing room only for Texas BBQ and Italian wine, a new Houston tradition.

    Above, from left: Celebrity pit master Ara Malekian, owner of Harlem Rd. Texas BBQ; Dale Robertson, wine writer for the Houston Chronicle; Tom Dobson, Italian buyer for Spec’s; and presenter Jeremy Parzen.

    One of the greatest things about Taste of Italy, the largest trade fair and festival in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian food and wine, is the gathering’s “Texas BBQ and Italian Wine” seminar.

    Each year we ask a top Houston pit master to join some of the city’s leading experts on Italian wine to talk about the art of pairing Italian wines with classic and creatively smoked meats.

    Celebrity pit master and owner of the popular Harlem Rd. Texas BBQ smoke house, Ara Malekian returned this year. He was joined by Dale Robertson, the long-time wine writer for the Houston Chronicle and an italophile wine lover, and Tom Dobson, who selects Italian wine for one of the largest wine retailers in the country, Spec’s. Food and wine historian Jeremy Parzen moderated the panel. Tom selected the wines.

    The most surprising wine in the lineup was the St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio from South Tyrol (Alto Adige) in German-speaking Italy. Tasting the Barbaresco-marinade brisket (yes, marinated in Barbaresco!) and pork ribs paired with the white wine drew a number of ooos and aaas from the crowd.

    The Vite Colte Barbaresco was another show-stopper while the Cerrino Barbera d’Asti seemed to be one of everyone’s favorite wines in the flight for pairing with Texas smoked meats. See Dale’s write-up here.

    Now in its fourth year, the Texas BBQ and Italian Wine seminar has really become an institution to itself. There’s no doubt that it’s a great way to discover the incredible range of Italian wines, their food-friendliness, and their approachability.

    Special thanks to Chef Ara whose food always takes this tasting over the top!

  • Congratulations to the winners of the Houston Sommelier Competition 2023!

    Congratulations to the winners of the Houston Sommelier Competition 2023!

    Above, from left: Presenter Jeremy Parzen, sommelier Dario Najera, sommelier Jason Barnett, wine educator Walden Pemantle, Italian Consul General for Houston Mauro Lorenzini, and Kroger regional wine manager Jaime De Leon, founder of the Houston Sommelier Competition.

    Now in its third year, the Houston Sommelier Competition was created by Kroger regional wine buyer and sommelier Jaime De Leon to help promote wine education in the Houston wine professional community. Since its inception, it has expanded eligibility to include candidates from anywhere in the world who wish to compete.

    This year’s first prize went to Walden Pemantle with Jason Barnett and Dario Najera winning second and third place, respectively.

    Pemantle, who works as a sales manager for a Houston-based distributor and educator at the Texas Wine School, will be taking part in an all-expenses-paid trip to Abruzzo wine country later this year.

    Barnett (sommelier, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse) and Najera (sommelier, MAD Houston) received scholarship awards of $600 and $400, respectively.

    Congratulations to the winners and everyone who competed! And special thanks to Jaime De Leon, the founder and organizer, and Master Sommelier Nathan Prater, who oversaw the testing and service exam.

  • Thank you to everyone who made Taste of Italy 2023 such a memorable event!

    Thank you to everyone who made Taste of Italy 2023 such a memorable event!

    Taste of Italy 2023: Nearly 400 attendees, more than 70 brands, more than 250 wines and food products presented, 2 sold-out seminars… THANK YOU to everyone who made Taste of Italy 2023 our best event to date! And special thanks to the honorable Mariangela Zappia, Italy’s ambassador to the U.S., and Italy’s Houston Consul General Mauro Lorenzini for joining us on such a memorable occasion!

    That’s madame ambassador Zappia, below, with IACC director Alessia Paolicchi (center) and IACC deputy director Maurizio Gamberucci (left).

    Congratulations also to the winners of the Houston Sommelier Competition!

    Click here to see the Taste of Italy 2023 Facebook album.

  • Ambassador Zappia, Consul General Lorenzini to attend Taste of Italy networking reception.

    Ambassador Zappia, Consul General Lorenzini to attend Taste of Italy networking reception.

    The Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Texas is pleased to announce that the Honorable Mariangela Zappia, Italian Ambassador to the United States of America, and Mauro Lorenzini, Italian Consul General in Houston, Texas, will be attending the Sunday evening networking reception on the occasion of the 2023 Taste of Italy trade fair and festival.

    Madame Ambassador Zappia, above, and the Consul General will make brief remarks before the panel discussion held in the afternoon at the Omni hotel.

    “We couldn’t be more honored to receive such a high-level delegation at our event,” said IACC director Alessia Paolicchi. “With more than 60 Italian companies whose representatives have traveled to Houston especially for the event, we were already expecting it to be one of the best gatherings to date. Their address to our exhibitors will make it all the memorable.”

    Now in its ninth year, the Taste of Italy trade fair and festival is the largest event in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian food and wine.

    Image via the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC YouTube.

  • Taste of Italy remembers Francesco Tiralongo, leading manager for top Italian wineries and inspiration for Taste of Italy.

    Taste of Italy remembers Francesco Tiralongo, leading manager for top Italian wineries and inspiration for Taste of Italy.

    The world of Italian wine mourns the loss of one of its brightest stars this week.

    Francesco Tiralongo (above, left), veteran manager for some of Italy’s most iconic wineries, passed away yesterday, March 2, 2023. He was 55 years old.

    His passing was reported by scores of Italian mastheads, including the Giornale di Sicilia, the island’s leading daily newspaper.

    In 2020, Francesco became the CEO of Baglio di Pianetto, a top winery in western Sicily, owned by the Marzotto family (the same group that created Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio).

    Before that time, he had worked as a manager for some of the biggest names in Italian wine, including Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi, Mionetto, Donnafugata, and Cantine Settesoli.

    His loss is acutely felt here in Houston, where he had had an outsized role in shaping the Italian wine community.

    Not only was he a close friend of Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Maurizio Gamberucci (pictured, right, with Francesco, above). But he was also one of the inspirations for the first Taste of Italy Houston, held nearly a decade ago.

    “He always had bold business ideas,” said Maurizio in an email. “When I moved to Texas, we came up with the concept of an Italian wine trade show that would later become ‘Taste of Italy.’”

    Francesco is survived by his wife Chiara and their two children, Nicolò and Eugenia.

    He will be sorely missed and dearly remembered.

  • Dispatch from Houston by the legendary Darrell Corti, featured Taste of Italy speaker and “tastemaker” to a generation of Americans.

    Dispatch from Houston by the legendary Darrell Corti, featured Taste of Italy speaker and “tastemaker” to a generation of Americans.

    Above, from left: Rick Mindermann (Darrell Corti’s assistant), Ed Revak (a Houston-based spirits distributor), Darrell Corti, and Jeremy Parzen (Taste of Italy co-organizer and emcee).

    Darrell Corti, says celebrated food writer Colman Andrews, co-founder of Saveur magazine, “is one of those people whose importance is far greater than the name recognition.”

    The quote comes from a 2019 Los Angeles Times profile of Corti entitled “How Darrell Corti became a tastemaker in California food and wine.”

    Not only is Darrell, the owner of the legendary Corti Brothers grocery store in Sacramento, one of the top Italian-focused buyers in the country. He is also a legacy “tastemaker” whose encyclopedic knowledge of world gastronomy has introduced generations of Americans to the joys of traditional balsamic vinegar, countless iconic Italian wines, Spanish olive oil-cured tuna, and myriad other culinary treasures.

    “Darrell opened my eyes to products from around the world,” says Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley and one of America’s farm-to-table pioneers. “He knows everything about everything.”

    That quote comes from a 2008 Los Angeles Times piece, “Corti Brothers store began a gourmet-food revolution.”

    On the occasion of his time in Houston for Taste of Italy, Darell also wanted to experience our city, enjoy our restaurants and food shops, and visit our museums. When the curator of Asian art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston heard that Darrell, a noted collector of Japanese art, was coming to town, he insisted on giving Darrell a personal tour of the Asian collection.

    Yesterday on the Corti Brothers blog, Darrell’s assistant Rick Mindermann published this extremely detailed dispatch about the trip.

    We couldn’t have been more proud to welcome Darrell to our city. And it is with great joy that we share their notes from their time here.