We open this issue, Heart of Italy, with three stories about contemporary artisans and their creative interpretations of Italy’s ancient ceramic traditions. Next, we take a car, boat, and walking tour through Franciacorta, the beautifully scenic area of Lombardy that has been producing sparkling wines for centuries. Today, the world-class wines known as Franciacorta, focusing on small production and high quality, are hidden treasures whose cachet is quickly growing beyond the boundaries of Italy.
Then we come to a story that is the eloquent essence of the issue.
It starts in August, when I traveled with Ada Chio and TK Director of Photography David Hartung to Campania and the village of Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi. On our third afternoon there, I sat on the terrace of famed restaurant Don Alfonso 1890 with Livia Iaccarino, one of Italy’s first female sommeliers and the wife of Chef Alfonso Iaccarino.
