In the almost ten years that I have been writing this blog, there has been, more or less, a natural development of it. My blog voice, I’ve been told, has a tendency to be idealistic and often somewhere in the cloud between reality and “the way I really want it to be.” I realize some folks actually come here, from time to time, for solid information. So, let me share several pieces that might help those who are looking for those things.
Earlier in the winter Wine Meridien published an interview with me, in Italian and English,
USA: è sulla strada che si fanno gli affari (English site:
Learn to love the road). With Prowein and Vinitaly approaching, and with a more than inordinate amount of pitch email coming to my inbox lately, this is a good piece for folks looking to enter the USA wine market. It isn’t easy, hell, it isn’t often pretty. And sometimes it’s both at the same time, like Sunday, when I drove 4½ hours home after being away all week, unloaded the car, unpacked, did laundry, re-packed and 8 hours later at 6:30 AM got back into the car to drive 4½ hours in pounding rain (the whole time) to lead a seminar of rain soaked wine professionals about Italian wine. If I wasn’t tired from my Monday, the last sentence really wore me out. Anyway… read it and weep.
For Italian wine professionals or just folks who are hopeful to learn more about Italian wine and are just starting out, there is a piece on the Guild of Sommeliers site that I contributed,
La Torre of Babel: Deciphering Italy. This was not an easy piece to write. For one, it is not an easy subject to distill in 1500 words (there are books written about the subject). But I also saw this as a writing exercise and wrote and wrote and rewrote and rewrote this piece many times. Actually I wrote three totally different pieces until getting to the one that worked. I’m proud of the final result and Geoff Kruth and his fine team at the Guild is spreading the word to their followers. Thanks Geoff (and Matt and Kassandra).
There you have it… Vinitaly is next week. Finally, if you’re going, please remember to read my groundbreaking piece on
where to find the best bathrooms at Vinitaly. Believe me, you will thank me later. I should probably do one about Vinexpo, but I fear that is a lost cause. Nevermind. If you are going to Vinitaly, have fun. I’ll see you on there.
Links:
Wine Meridien interview:
USA: è sulla strada che si fanno gli affair (English site:
Learn to love the road)
The Guild of Sommeliers
La Torre of Babel: Deciphering Italy
First-Timer's Guide to finding the best bathrooms at Vinitaly
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