“Am I drinking too much wine?”

I’ve been abstaining from drinking any kind of alcohol for the past month, as I had knee surgery and didn’t want it to interact with any medications I was on. Things also were tasting metallic, probably a reaction from all the chemicals that had been pumped into me. Do you want to know something? I really didn’t miss wine.

The Day After - A World and a Lifetime Ago

Yesterday morning, very early, I had this odd sensation. I remember lying in bed, as I have done for the past month, recovering from full-knee replacement surgery. I hadn’t been sleeping well for that month, so I just figured it was part of the process, wailing and flailing and general discomfort.

And then I heard an ancient song, by the Shangri-las, whispering lyrics to their hit song, “Remember”:

(Remember) walking in the sand

(Remember) walking hand-in-hand

(Remember) the night was so exciting

(Remember) smile was so inviting

(Remember) then she touched my cheek

(Remember) with her fingertips

Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips

And then, I remembered.

The same day, a Saturday, 23 years ago to the day, February 17, 2001, I got a call from the care center where my wife Lizanne was. It was 5:30 AM. “Mr. Cevola, you need to come. Your wife doesn’t have much more time.”

So, I got up, fed the cat, got dressed and headed out to say good-bye to my dear wife.

My Italian Bucket List – Version 2024

After having been to Italy multiple times for work and play, since 1971, one would think someone like me might have ticked off all the boxes of an immersive and exhaustive Italian experience. It seems though, on further contemplation, that there are a few boxes remaining to be filled in. So, here goes.

• Visit Sardegna – Of all the regions I haven’t been to there remains one – Sardegna. I’d love to visit the island, find the wild parts, hug the coastline, eat lamb, drink Cannonau and discover what it is about the island that makes it unique and wonderful.

• Drive or ride around Italy in a Ferrari – True confession: I have never driven or rode around Italy in the fabled motorcar. Or anywhere, for that matter! I’d like to break that spell and take a ride (short or long, fast or slow) in Italy in a Ferrari. Simple enough, yes?

• Wineries to visit that I have never been to – those would be Roberto Conterno, Angelo Gaja, Edoardo Valentini, Biondi-Santi and Sassicaia. These are iconic wineries and their wines. Although I have tasted and enjoyed many times, I have never had the pleasure, or privilege, of visiting ad locum.
  

 

Unfortunately, there is one thing I will never be able to check off. And that would have been to travel in Italy with my mom. We talked about it, even tried to plan it, but my wife Liz, at the time, was too sick. So, it never happened. Happily, my mom was able to go to Italy with my two sisters and a grand-daughter. It was a “girl trip.” And they had a great time. But I missed out on being one of the girls.

Really, on reflection, there isn’t much I have missed in regards to my Italian journey. I’ll probably get to Sardegna, not sure about the other things on the list. But I have no complaints. Italy has been very kind and most generous in sharing her bounty and her beauty with me in my lifetime. And for that, I am most grateful.

 

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

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What makes up Italian wine now?

As one looks over the evolution of Italian wine, one can find one consistent factor – change. Nothing stays the same, whether it be technological, tastes or styles. Today's bright star was yesterday’s smoldering nebula, just waiting to appear in time. Wines that were thought to be the “end of the world,” in 1980, are now conscripted to the dustbin of history. Not that this jives with quality or value. In fact, some of what propels Italian wine is this contrarian philosophy, a stubbornness to accede to whatever has become dominant, to maybe even become suppositious of that success.

“Every generation re-invents the wheel,” as the saying goes. And in wine, as in Italy, re-invention is part of the culture. “One cannot take chances in the shallow end of the pool – you must dive into the deep end, the unknown, with both dangers and rewards awaiting.”

How can it be that Italian wine, from 1946 until 2000 blazed a trail towards dominance in the wine world with incredible speed and accuracy, only to give it away to the new generation?