Top 10 posts for 2014 and direction for 2015 ~ Year 10 of blogging on the Wine Trail in Italy

2014 has been a year in which I have done the least amount of blog posts since I started this blog on this day nine years ago. On the positive side, this has been part of a plan to produce less but to raise the quality of the writing. When I first started this blog I sought to write three blog posts a week. About four years ago I made the conscious decision to narrow that down to two posts a week. Now I have taken it down to one a week. Is writing fatigue the problem? Hardly. I am writing in other places (and being compensated for it) and I have taken on more responsibilities in my work.


My goal in 2015 is to maintain at least one essay-style post a week. If I am traveling and have the time and the inspiration, I will feel free to post as desired. But once a week is what I am shooting for.

And what of that one? My desire is to write, as I seem to like to do, in essay form, and to share my observations about Italy, wine and culture in whatever way strikes the cords of my heart. I am a visual person, so this writing business doesn’t come easily. I don’t care if you know my every move, every wine I drink and every morsel of food I stick into my mouth. What I do care about, embarking on year ten, is finding those unobserved moments that are revealing, magical and noteworthy, if only in the little bubble I call my world. Hopefully there is something transcendental about what I will share, but if not, I will not apologize. For after all, isn’t a blog something of a vanity project? I think so.

2015 also notes a landmark in time for me. When I was a wee lad, I picked up a camera, in 1965, and it has been my companion for 50 years. I think back to 1965, and I remember my first love. We are still in touch but our lives have gone in different directions. But the one that has always been by my side is the camera, to help me interpret and understand what is going on right in front of my eyes. Without the camera the writing wouldn’t be as bright. Because of the way my memory works (visually) the images captured, first on film and now in digital form, inform me of my world. Hopefully there is also something informative for other people as well.

Thank you, dear readers, for the time you have put in coming to this site. I never thought it would get this far. But I am far from finished. Happy New Year to you all.

Saying all this, I’m sharing the top ten posts the readers read in 2014. #1 was a surprise to me. But a happy one. I’m glad people still like to read about the poor, maligned grape we all love to talk about hating, but which, it seems, many of us still love. I know I do. There are some other surprises as well. If you missed them, or time got by you, I'm sharing them starting with #10 and working my way to #1. Thank you again for reading.

Top 10 posts for 2014

#10. What New World Sommeliers Need to Know About Old World Italian Wine

#9. Why older men prefer higher alcohol wines and younger women

#8. Our Selfies, Our Wines

#7. Wine Blog Death Watch: Two wine blogs that are bright lights in a forest of darkness

#6. Italian Culture and Compassion in the Post-Berlusconi Era of Francis I

#5. Wine Spotting Selfies – Narcissism or Simply Sharing?

#4. My Problem with Pinot Noir

#3. Oh, The People You’ll Meet! (At a Winemaker Dinner)

#2. Sexy Italian Wines That I Love

#1. A Serene Patch of Merlot in a Noisy World of Pinot Noir

written by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

wine blog +  Italian wine blog + Italy W