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Customer Trip To Germany May 2024

It had been a few years since I had done wine visits in Germany.  Despite traveling to Dusseldorf each spring for the annual wine trade fair ProWein, I had not had a chance to visit our partners or other individual estates since prior to Covid.  With several new German winery partners added since that time, […]

Customer Trip to Spain October 2023

It had been a few years since I had the pleasure of escorting a group of VinConnect customers on a tour of one of Europe’s major wine regions.  The global pandemic interrupted our plans, and while I personally have been traveling and visiting our estates in various countries over the past few years, coordinating a […]

Customer Trip to Sicily June 2019

Fessina Vineyards at the foot of Mount Etna

These days wines from Sicily (and specifically Mt. Etna) are among those gathering the most interest among U.S. consumers, sommeliers and wine media. I know a bit about the region and have enjoyed the wines for several years, but do not have the kind of detailed knowledge of Mt. Etna’s grapes, soils and wines that […]

Spain Wine Tour November 2018

Haro Town Square

Given the recent rapid growth of VinConnect it has been several months since I have had the time to get away and visit a wine region. After some consideration Spain bubbled to the top of my destination list — it had been years since I had been to Spain, and the combination of our existing […]

Barolo and Barbaresco Wine Tasting and Tour 2017

Tasting with Chiara Boschis

Three of VinConnect’s top customers and I recently traveled to Italy for a wine tasting trip to Piemonte, the home of Barolo, Barbaresco and Alto Piemonte, as well as the legendary Nebbiolo grape that stars in all three.  As this was VinConnect’s third trip in the past 5 years, we leveraged our many existing relationships […]

Wine Tasting in Barolo and Barbaresco — VinConnect Customer Trip 2016

As you may know, about once a year I invite several of VinConnect’s customers to join me on one of my wine tasting trips. This year the location was Italy’s great Piedmont region, home to the famous wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. I’ve described our agenda in great detail below, highlighting the top wine(s) for […]

What You Must Know When Planning Winery Visits in Europe

Wine tasting in Italy

Visiting wineries in Europe can be a very different experience from visiting them in the U.S., for a variety of reasons. Largely these reasons all relate to the fact that wineries in Europe are more generally agricultural operations, not tourist attractions — the are typically small, family run operations, and few if any have the […]

VinConnect Customer Tour to Tuscany — June 2015

Tuscan countryside

Earlier this month we launched another VinConnect Customer Tour, this time to visit the region of Tuscany. I was accompanied by some of VinConnect’s customers, who joined me for tours and tastings at our winery partners, some wonderful meals and visits to many beautiful places. We were able to taste wines across several recent vintages, from […]

VinConnect Customer Trip to Barolo and Barbaresco

Hillside vineyard

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] Travel Day: Sunday-Monday This year’s VinConnect Customer Trip began for me in Washington, DC on Sunday afternoon, November 16th. Once I arrived at Dulles, I decided to indulge myself at the VinoVolo (website) outpost there to help set the mood while awaiting departure.  I really enjoy those VinoVolo locations that seem to be popping up […]

VinConnect Customer Trip to Tuscany — November 2013

Vineyard in Tuscany

A few months ago I invited several VinConnect customers to join me on my next set of regional winery visits, which turned out to be Tuscany in November 2013. Three loyal, intrepid VinConnect fans signed up for the task, and so joined me the week before Thanksgiving to tour and taste with VinConnect’s partner wineries, […]