Vio's Food & Wine

Home
United States
Annapolis, MD
Vio's Food & Wine

🍷 Wine education for women who refuse to feel intimidated
Learn clearly.

Own the table.

🇫🇷 🇮🇹 French & Italian wines
🎓 DipWSET student
Founder of Vio’s Food & Wine

For legal drinking age audiences. 🍷 Welcome to Vio’s Food & Wine! 🇫🇷🇮🇹
I'm Vio — your go-to wine cheerleader, here to help you feel confident (and fabulous) around food & wine, even if you’re just starting out. If you’ve ever felt lost in a wine list, intimidated at a dinner party, or like wine talk was ju

st too snobby and serious… bienvenue! You’re in the right place.

✨ Here, wine is joyful, not judgmental. ✨
With a focus on French and Italian wines (because… of course 😉), I’ll show you how to pair Italian and French food and wine, and most importantly — enjoy every sip. From wine basics to pairing tips, restaurant hacks to cultural tidbits, I make it fun, informal, and 100% beginner-friendly. Because wine should feel like a celebration, not a test. 🥂

Raised in France, a bit of a globetrotter, and forever smitten with Italy’s dolce vita. WSET 3 certified — yes, I sip and study wine! 🍷📚

🎥 Come join the adventure on YouTube, Instagram & Pinterest — and don’t forget to grab your FREE guide on Vio's Food & Wine webiste!

👉 Whether you’re hosting, ordering, or just sipping solo, I’m here to help you shine with every glass.

09/01/2026

It’s oyster time! 🦪

There’s something about eating oysters close to the Atlantic that just feels right.

This was during a few days at my brother’s summer house near Les Sables-d’Olonne, not far from some of my favourite places on the French Atlantic coast, La Rochelle and the islands of Ré and Oléron. And of course, when I’m there, seafood is very much on the menu. 😉

With the oysters, we opened a Royal Oyster Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie from the Pays Nantais, in the western Loire Valley.

Muscadet is made from Melon, also known as Melon de Bourgogne, and sur lie means that after fermentation the wine remains in contact with its lees, the dead yeast cells. This can give the wine a little more texture and subtle ye**ty character without taking away the freshness.

This one had plenty of citrus, with lime and grapefruit, some white flowers and white peach, and that lovely fresh, saline character that made it such a natural partner for the oysters.

And this is exactly why Muscadet + oysters is such a classic pairing: high acidity keeps everything fresh, while the wine’s light body and saline character work beautifully with the delicate, briny oysters.

Sometimes the simplest pairings really are the best. 🦪

=========================

08/27/2026

Raw seafood and Champagne. Do we really need anything else?

This was one of those dinners where the pairing almost chooses itself: a table full of raw fish and seafood with a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve.

A blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier, the Brut Réserve is elegant, fresh and beautifully balanced, with citrus and orchard fruit, delicate floral notes and a subtle brioche character.

And that's exactly why Champagne can be such a wonderful partner for seafood.

The bright acidity and bubbles refresh the palate, while the wine is delicate enough not to overwhelm the subtle flavours of raw fish and shellfish. Add that little savoury, ye**ty complexity from ageing on the lees and you have a pairing that's difficult for me to resist.

Simple? Yes.

But when the food and wine work this well together, they don't need much help. 😉

=======================

08/25/2026

Happy hour, Corsican style 😉

A sunset over the Mediterranean, Bastia in the background and a glass of Coteaux du Cap Corse Blanc from Domaine Pieretti. Hard to ask for a better apéro.

Made from Vermentinu, the Corsican name for Vermentino, this was exactly the kind of white wine I wanted by the sea: fresh and bone dry, with white flowers, exotic fruit and a lovely salty character.

Domaine Pieretti's vineyards are in Cap Corse, on the wild northern peninsula of Corsica, where vines grow on clay-schist soils surrounded by the Mediterranean and exposed to the winds.

And in the glass? A wine that felt completely at home there.

Fresh enough for the apéro, but also a natural partner for the food I associate with a Corsican summer: seafood, shellfish and grilled fish.

Wine, sea and sunset. I think Corsica understood the assignment. 😉

======================
🍷

08/21/2026

The results are in… and apparently I know myself quite well. 😅

Back in June, I sat two more WSET Diploma exams at my school in Mâcon: D4 Sparkling Wines and D5 Fortified Wines.

I walked out of D5 feeling pretty confident.

D4? Not so much.

The tasting started with two rosé sparkling wines, something I hadn't really practised, and they completely threw me off. I struggled to get my confidence back and left the exam convinced I had failed the tasting.

Well… I was right. 😅

I passed the D4 theory but failed the tasting, which unfortunately means retaking the whole D4 exam next June, theory included.

Am I disappointed? Of course. Especially knowing that I passed the theory and will have to sit it again.

BUT… there was some very good news too.

I passed D5 Fortified Wines with MERIT! 🎉

And I'm really happy about that one. I had felt good about both the tasting and theory, so apparently my post-exam instincts aren't too bad after all. 😉

This Diploma is teaching me a lot about wine, but also about myself.

Knowing wine and tasting wine under exam conditions are two very different skills. D4 showed me exactly what I need to work on: taste more broadly, practice the styles I'm less comfortable with, and learn not to let one difficult wine derail the rest of a flight.

So yes, I'm disappointed about D4.

But I'm also going to properly celebrate that D5 Merit. 🥂

Next stop: D3 next May… and a little D4 rematch in June 2027. 😉

=============================

08/18/2026

Pinot Noir Day… but how about a Pinot Noir from Auvergne? 🍷

Yes! And this one was a lovely discovery.

La Chambre d’Édouard from Domaine Grosbot-Barbara is a Pinot Noir from the Auvergne, a French wine region that doesn't always get the attention it deserves.

I found lots of raspberry and tart cherry, with bright acidity and a little touch of vanilla. Light, fruity and fresh, it was exactly the kind of red I enjoy drinking in summer.

Because summer wine doesn't always have to be white or rosé. 😉

Give me a slightly chilled lighter red, a plate of charcuterie and a warm evening, and I'm very happy.

And if you've never looked toward Auvergne for wine before, perhaps it's time to change that.

==========================

08/14/2026

Whaaaaatttt? Champagne made from Pinot Gris?! 🥂

Yes! Pinot Gris, traditionally called Fromenteau in Champagne, is actually one of the seven historic grape varieties authorized in Champagne. We hear so much about Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier that it’s easy to forget about the others, Fromenteau, Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier.

I tasted this rather unusual bottle during my visit to : "Trop m’en faut!", made from 100% Fromenteau.

And even the name comes with a little French humour. 😉

“Trop m’en faut!” sounds like Fromenteau, and the joke continues on the back label with: “Si bon que je n’en aurai jamais trop !” — “So good, I can never have too much of it!”

The 2022 edition I tasted came from the Les Frousses parcel, with 50% from the 2019 harvest and 50% from 2020. The grapes were organically grown, the wine was partly aged in wood and it was made with zero dosage.

Despite the zero dosage, this wasn’t an austere Champagne. It showed a surprisingly generous, aromatic side, with floral, fruity and slightly honeyed notes alongside plenty of freshness.

Only 7,500 bottles of this edition were produced, which made discovering it at Drappier even more special.

Proof that Champagne still has a few surprises hiding behind those three famous grapes. 😉

And if Fromenteau just made you realize there’s more to Champagne than you thought, my full Champagne guide is on YouTube. 🥂 Link in bio.

================================

08/11/2026

Sunday lunch by the Adriatic.

We were in Francavilla al Mare, near Pescara, for a weekend with friends, and Sunday lunch had to involve seafood. Lots of it. 😉

We started with a beautiful selection of crudo di mare, calamari with peas, followed by mussels, and then this enormous platter of grilled fish and seafood to share.

In the glass, we stayed local too with Masciarelli's Villa Gemma Abruzzo Bianco 2025, a Trebbiano-based white from Abruzzo.

Fresh, crisp and citrusy, with a lovely saline character, it was exactly the kind of wine I enjoy with seafood. Enough acidity to keep everything refreshing, particularly with the richer grilled fish and olive oil, while its citrus and mineral notes worked beautifully with the more delicate flavors of the raw seafood.

And this is one of the things I love most about eating in Italy: drinking the wine of the region with the food of the region, just a few steps from the sea it came from.

Nothing complicated. Just good food, good wine, good friends… and a very long Sunday lunch.

====================

08/07/2026

Anniversary dinner with a view… and a little taste of France in Switzerland. 🥂🇫🇷🇨🇭

We celebrated our anniversary at the Swiss Diamond Boutique Hotel on Lake Lugano, and I think my French side was particularly spoiled that evening. 😉

We started with a Bruno Paillard Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne: fresh and elegant, with citrus, white fruit and lovely brioche notes from ageing on the lees. Its bright acidity and fine bubbles worked beautifully with the delicate seafood that started our dinner.

Then came a 2022 Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume from Charlène & Laurent Pinson. Citrus, green apple and a lovely stony character, with a very slight smokiness from its time in oak.

I’ve always loved Chablis for its pure, fresh style, often with little or no obvious oak, so I’ll admit I’m a bit of a purist here. This one had just enough of that smoky character for me to notice it, but it was subtle enough not to overpower what I love about Chablis. And yes, I really enjoyed it!

It accompanied one of my absolute favourite ways of eating fish: cooked in a salt crust.

The whole fish is enclosed in a thick salt crust before going into the oven. As the crust hardens, it seals the fish inside, trapping moisture and allowing it to cook gently. The result is wonderfully tender and juicy — and despite all that salt, the fish doesn’t come out tasting overly salty.

The freshness of the Chablis was just what the delicate fish needed.

And then dessert…

Paris-Brest. 🇫🇷

Apparently taking the French girl out of France doesn’t stop her ordering the most French dessert on the menu. 😂

Beautiful food, beautiful wines, Lake Lugano in front of us and a very special reason to celebrate.

Happy anniversary to us.

==============================

08/04/2026

Raclette, Givry and Mont Blanc, that's all I needed...

After a busy few months, this was exactly what I needed, sitting around a table with my mother and my brother in Arc 1950 in the French Alps. It felt like pressing the pause button.

On the menu? A glorious raclette with charcuterie, followed by a delicious blueberry tart. And, of course, a bottle of Pinot Noir, a 2020 Givry Premier Cru "Clos de la Baraude".

Givry, in Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise, may not have the international fame of some Côte d'Or appellations, but it's one I always enjoy revisiting. This Premier Cru, produced by Les Vignerons de Buxy under the Domaine Steinmaier label, offered everything I was hoping for: vibrant cherry and raspberry fruit, a touch of spice, silky tannins and enough freshness to balance the richness of the melted cheese beautifully.

It was a reminder that great wines don't always have to come from Burgundy's most famous villages.

As a marketer, I can't help thinking that Givry is one of Burgundy's best-kept secrets. It quietly delivers elegance and character while so often living in the shadow of its more famous neighbors.

Every good food and wine pairing starts with a recommendation.

The best ones become memories.

I don't know what I'll remember most from that evening: the bottle, the raclette, the view of Mont Blanc, or simply the laughter around the table.

What I do know is that this Givry has earned its place on my list of wines I'd happily share over raclette again.

Have you ever discovered a wine that completely changed the way you think about a classic food pairing?

===============================

07/31/2026

Did you know a French President inspired a Champagne? 🇫🇷🥂

When we visited Champagne Drappier, one story stayed with me. General Charles de Gaulle wasn't just a historical figure. He was also one of Drappier's most loyal customers.

Whenever he returned to La Boisserie, his home in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises just a few kilometers from the estate, he loved serving Drappier Champagne to his guests. His favorite style? A Champagne with plenty of Pinot Noir—powerful, authentic and full of character.

To honor him, Drappier created the Charles de Gaulle cuvée in 1990, marking the 50th anniversary of his famous Appeal of 18 June. It's still made today with 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, a blend that reflects the style he enjoyed.

I love these little stories. They remind us that every bottle has a history, and sometimes that history reaches far beyond the vineyard.

==========================

Address

400 4th St
Annapolis, MD
21403

Website

https://www.viosfoodandwine.com/, https://www.youtube.com/@viosfoodandwine

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Vio's Food & Wine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Vio's Food & Wine:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Annapolis?