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Sunday, April 30, 2017

Rare and precious – And other unlikely juxtapositions

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I t started last night while I was looking for a bottle of wine to go with the lasagne. I wanted something a bit rustic, not too heavy, ma...
Sunday, April 23, 2017

Is the World Ready for New Italian Wine?

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W hen Jon Bonné penned his groundbreaking book, The New California Wine, he caused a lot of us to look at wine in a different light. It wa...
Sunday, April 16, 2017

An introvert’s guide to surviving Vinitaly

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Amor litteras ad Vinitaly M y dear mom was an extrovert. Being around people recharged her batteries, not that she needed them to. She wa...
Sunday, April 09, 2017

Perpetuating a Legacy in the Modern Day Business of Wine in Italy

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I n recent days, in Tuscany, there were some terrific thunderstorms. Along with the rain, hail fell from the heavens. Not exactly an “under ...
Sunday, April 02, 2017

Valpolicella at a Crossroads in the New Millennium

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O utside a storm is passing over, the sky rumbling in a way that is at once ominous and reassuring. Texas in April is not for the faint of...
Sunday, March 26, 2017

Who are the Future “Thought Leaders” for Italian Wine?

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W ith harvest behind us and winemaking for the year finished, Italians in the wine trade are living out of their suitcases. Traveling to m...
Sunday, March 19, 2017

The Secret Life of a Gateway Wine - Coming of Age in a Life of Wine

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L iving in a country that is geographically isolated from much of the world by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, many in America tend to li...
Sunday, March 12, 2017

Italian Wine in the Second Decade of the Third Millennium Gets Off to a Shaky Start – 2011 and 2014 - Analysis, Expectations and Opportunities

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W ith absolutely little or no pragmatic devices, and relying on instinct, I have hit a wall in the second decade of this new century, with...
Sunday, March 05, 2017

A Good Horse - And an Even Better Saddle

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T he other day I got a late-pay notice from a government agency. I fretted over it for a while, imagining all kinds of economic burden to ...
Sunday, February 26, 2017

The Trophy Life - Did you come this far to be somewhere else?

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T here’s this natty new watering hole with a wood burning oven on Washington Street in Yountville. I’m waiting there to meet a friend and ...
Sunday, February 19, 2017

How do you solve a problem like Prosecco?

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How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp (L) and Sergio Mionetto (R) I t’s one thing to try and grow a...
Thursday, February 16, 2017

Italian Wine and its Truth-Adjacent Death Spiral

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I was making my rounds in the wine job circuit. Serving tables. Sommelier. And now (1981) I was managing a wine bar in Dallas. My son was...
Sunday, February 12, 2017

Showcasing Italian Wine in the USA – 3 Events to Put Your Best Foot Forward

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Slow Wine – Vino 2017 – Gambero Rosso F ebruary has been a busy month for Italian wine in America. The Italian holiday vacations, for t...
Sunday, February 05, 2017

What will happen to Italian wine if America enters into a trade war with Europe?

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T he Italians never thought it would happen. They, led by the French, were marching into a huge new market, China. In that moment, they tu...
Sunday, January 29, 2017

Survivalism for the Shattered Tribe in the Fog of Winter

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C ould this be the week we will look back, someday, with the realization that our wine collecting days are over? For one, the span of my l...