Once the tryptophan haze from the turkey from Thanksgiving wears off and the big post-T-day sales have eased, we can look ahead to gift giving for Hanukah or Christmas. This week’s blog from City Vino focuses on some potential gifts to give for the upcoming holidays.

Yes, City Vino is writing about Italian wine again this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving may be a United States holiday, but we just cannot ignore the fact that Italian wines make great pairings with our plethora of dishes on our respective dining room tables.

So many events, so little time, friends. We have your events here! This past Saturday marked the beginning of October, and that means it is once again yes, Virginia, its Virginia Wine Month. This month vineyard crews, cellar rats, harvest interns, assistant winemakers, and winemakers themselves are spending long grueling hours harvesting their fruit, getting it fermented and turned into wine before it gets its rest over the winter. For the Virginia wine fans, there are lots of events including harvest festivals, wine dinners, bonfires, live music, food trucks, and even a few opportunities to stomp on grapes a la Lucy in Italy. (You know that you want to. Just admit it.)

Have you ever put a glass of wine up to your nose and noticed prominent aromas of flower, and wondered those notes come from? I can, with good conscience, confirm that floral scents in wine DO NOT come from a winemaker dipping an extra-large tea bag of dried flower petals into their tank or barrel of wine. The answer to the question, “Well, from where then?” is chemistry. I know that your eyes are now glazing over, and you are being flooded with memories of high school lab, and the smell of burning sulfur is filling your nostrils and making you cough. Bear with me, okay?