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On the Wine Trail in Italy
Italian wine Ambassador, moving between Italy and America. Passionate about both of my countries. Sustained by the energies of California, Texas, Sicily and the Adriatic. Drawn to the open spaces of America and the small vineyards of Italy. Old soul with a young heart.
354 articles
Assembling a Rainbow, Brick by Brick
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 2 days ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Imagine driving out of a pounding snow storm, ice everywhere, drifts of snow, soaked shoes and gloves, miserably cold. And then to arrive at a place where the sun is shining, the snow still cavorting in the upper ranges. A moment of respite, not from Nebbiolo but from Winter. Sure enough we'd be back in the thick of it the next day, but for now we are looking over the amphitheater-like plane leading down to Lake Iseo. It truly is a beautiful view on many levels. For the moment I am focused on...
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Italian wine in an age of self-consciousness
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 4 days ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Traveling through Piemonte and Lombardia this past week, soul-searching is on the rise. While there is always a certain amount of healthy ego involved in the making of a product like fine wine, what I sensed on this latest trip is that the Italians are vigorously peering inside as to the nature of Italian wine. Winemakers and marketers alike seem to be probing for the next step in the evolution of Italian wine in the 21st century. William Gibson remarked that in these times Future Shock in no...
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Boca- From Noah to Moses
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
There are those places on the wine trail in Italy that really pay homage to a glorious past. But sometimes they don't have to shout. All it takes is a whisper, a caress, a memory. So it was we made our way back into the snow and ice to the hilltop town of Boca in Piemonte. Not in the Langhe anymore, but a place that more people have forgotten about than remember.Christoph K?nzli is a modern day Moses for this area. Technically a foreigner, from nearby Switzerland, over 20 years ago he came here...
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Langhe Report: Barbaresco at a Crossroads
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
The young in this world don't remember the past; the old can't imagine the future. As it goes throughout the world and history, this pattern keeps repeating. And in a place like Barbaresco, once again we are at a crossroads. Can the advances of the past be passed along to the new generation' Are they ready' Are there enough to pass it to if they are even receptive' Wine communities all over the world struggle with this passing of the baton to the new crop.Old people look around and shake their...
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Langhe Report: First Snow of 2012 (and It's a Big One)
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
From the "Cuckoo for Cocconato FilesJust the beginning...Have you ever gotten into a car and headed to a place, feeling there was something waiting for you that you might not be waiting for yourself' Yesterday (Day 3) in Alba after I finished my appointment with the Pio Cesare folks, I looked towards Asti and wondered if I should be driving up there. I sent a text to my colleague, Robert Bava, but didn't hear back. I took that for an ?all clear.? As I neared Cocconato I started to see a light...
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Langhe Report: From Ovello to Novello to Bolly in only 14 hours
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
Day 2 started out early in Barbaresco to visit with Aldo Vacco at Produttori. Aldo was running late, but Luca met us with hot espresso. Luca's grandfather was one of the very first to help set up the cooperative and at only 26 his life's course it set. Like a monk, Luca diligently explained to us all the new improvements and the comings and goings (one grower recently passed and the property was sold to another grower, etc.) along with the new construction at both of the facilities. The places...
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Langhe Report: Nebbiolo "Full Immersion" Day 1
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
I had no longer said goodbye to my Austin amigo, Devon, sending him on his way to the Real Madrid ?Barcelona game in Barcelona, than I set upon to make my way to Marseille, so I could catch a very early plane to Milan to gather up another Austinite friend, John Roenigk. Before that though I had to endure a night in a smoky room and some Colombard-Chardonnay to go with my (most-likely) Atlantic farm raised Salmon. But after 36 hours of being the walking dead, and working through it, it was not...
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Mill?sime Bio: Three days, too many wines and only one master sommelier
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
From "the times they are a changing" d?partementSomewhere in the last few days, here at Mill?sime Bio 2012, the subject of Gravner came up. Mill?sime Bio is a three day expo of organic and bio-dynamic wineries from France, Italy, Spain and all the rest who showed up. Pretty impressive showing for the natural yeast, sans sufre, bio-groupies. Nirvana for the hairy armpit lovers.Oddly enough, friend Alice was nowhere to be seen. I reckon she was off in more fertile pastures, ensconced in egesta,...
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Zero to 80 in two hours
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 2 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
I?ve been under the weather. And I've been over it too. The past few days I have been in many airplanes. Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Paris, Montpellier. The O-N-D season seems light in comparison. But this is the life. Well, not exactly ?the life' but a life. Freely chosen.I knew I wasn't feeling good when I went to Chicago. An early work week in Houston, and a layover at my house. When we got to Chicago is was bitterly cold. What does one expect in January' We shuttled between hotels, meetings...
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Baby, baby, don'cha go away mad
From On the Wine Trail in Italy, 2 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
We've all had it happen to us. You walk into an Italian restaurant, somewhere in America, and the place is bustling. Waiters are carrying trays of steaks, pasta, chops. Bartenders are mixing up classic drinks. Women have their bright red lipstick on. And resounding from the ceiling, good old blue eyes is crooning. You think, ?now were in for a good time, Sinatra is in the house.? Music doesn't seem that crucial to the success of restaurants in Italy. It's a place to eat, to talk to friends,...
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