I came across this little widget that allows you to run simple polls and questionnaires on your website or blog.

And in a moment of idle curiosity, I thought it’d be fun to run a poll to see what everyone’s favourite Italian food was.

(Thirty-odd ‘favourite Italian foods’ later, it was all starting to get a little out-of-hand. Click on the headline title above to find out more !)

Pecorino ‘Unico’ IGT. 2008. Tenuta Ulisse

Pecorino is the new (rapidly) rising star of Abruzzo wine and this offering from Tenuta Ulisse is the very best you can get your hands on.

And that’s not a subjective judgement either. This Pecorino – the 2008 vintage – was voted ‘Best Italian White Wine’ at 2009’s prestigious London International Wine Challenge, also picking up a gold medal for ‘Best Pecorino’ almost as an afterthought.

(A delicious start to the wine-tasting year. Find out more by clicking on the main headline title above…)

Walk into any church in Abruzzo during December – and with regional variations, this probably applies to the rest of Italy too – and you’ll find a lovingly-built Nativity scene: the ‘presepe’ depicting the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

But it’s a tradition that isn’t just confined to churches, because constructing a presepe is a hugely popular hobby among Italians…

(And our neighbour Nicolino annually produces one of the most ambitious presepe in Abruzzo. Click on the headline title above for more – with pictures…)