Lost in the technical details of malolactic fermentation, pH, green harvests, new barriques and old Slovenian oak, we can sometimes forget that wine is about stories. I wanted to begin the 2013 blog by sharing a few of those stories I experienced with several VinConnect colleagues (and friends) during a recent four-day trip to Tuscany …

There are truly an overwhelming number of wine guides on the market these days and an even more overwhelming number of (established or self-proclaimed) wine experts writing for these guides – journalists, critics, sommeliers, bloggers, and a little bit of everything in between.  Therefore, when I heard that a new classification of the “best Italian …

Back on the road… One thing I really came to appreciate about France was the frequent presence of top-notch roadside service areas.  It might sound like a small thing, but after 6 hours in a loaded down Fiat 500 (though it’s actually much roomier than you might think…), I assure you that clean bathroom facilities, …

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I, a wine-lover and Francophile living just on the other side of the Alps, had never been to Burgundy. Obviously, I was familiar with fabled names like Montrachet, Richebourg, Puligny, Echezeaux; I’d had the opportunity to uncork a bottle now and then; and I had heard countless stories and …

Wine, and the world that surrounds it, continuously amazes me.  Whether making, drinking, buying, selling, talking or writing about it, this libation is endlessly fascinating. I often find myself in situations that seem like they’ve been plucked directly out of a movie or book, those things you only hear about in stories.  This past weekend …

Vinitaly — the event held each March that (pretty much) everybody in the Italian wine business has visited…at least once.  It’s overwhelming, chaotic, impossible to park, and even more impossible to find a clean bathroom, but all in all, worth it.  It’s a chance for trade and the common wine lover to visit Italy’s most …

The Versilia, along the Tuscan coast in the province of Lucca, is a resort area generally known for its nightlife and as a hot spot for VIPs. Riviera locales such as Forte dei Marmi and Viareggio are legendary holiday destinations for some of Italy’s most famous faces with their wide, sandy beaches packed with umbrellas, …

February is a good month for Italian wine aficionados in the U.S. Two of Italy’s most important references for food and wine, Slow Food and Gambero Rosso, are hitting the road to present the new 2012 editions of their wine guides, Slow Wine and Vini d’Italia respectively.  Each of the tours will stop in three …

This year’s 2011 edition marked the 20th anniversary of the Merano Wine Festival, the swanky wine fair held each year in the fairytale village of the festival’s namesake, Merano, at the foot of the Dolomite Mountains in the Alto Adige region of northeastern Italy.  In the guise of VinConnect’s Italian director, I had the opportunity …