Friuli and southward
Briefly, since the Blackberry is low on juice. Waiting at Marco Polo airport near Venice to fly to Naples in a couple of hours. After several intense days in the Verona area, about which I shall show and tell much more when I get home, it's been a very pleasing two days in Friuli.
We went to the small, dynamic and extremely beautiful Aquila del Torre winery in northern Friuli yesterday. Michele Ciani spent many hours showing us his 85 hectare spread, then tasting his ravishing wines. Immense potential there. Yes, much more when I get home, lots of show and tell.
We spent a great afternoon with Mario and Ferdinando Zanusso in a slighlty more southerly location of Friuli. As always we tasted well-made delicious wines of excellent ageability--Jancis Robinspn calls them "nectars"--and had lively discussions about winemakers and the wine business. Ah, the tales they telll...
Tomorrow we will begin a mini Grand Tour of Campanian producers. Different producers, grapes, terroirs, all inivisibly linked by a passion for wine that says something.
And, yes, show and tell when I get back to New York.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
so enough already
when you gonna sell somethin?
Posted by: Helena Basquet | May 01, 2008 at 07:40 PM
ha! you have to love somebody that gets straight to the heart of the matter ......
Posted by: fredric koeppel | May 01, 2008 at 09:53 PM
Yeah I'm busting my keister trying to make numbers with this recession and this lousy dollar, and you're on a mini Grand Tour? What's wrong with this picture? You definitely hit the lotto, brother. Let's hear no Irish wailing for a while, eh?
Posted by: AC | May 01, 2008 at 10:21 PM
It is fortunate that you have have Saudi backers. What with your shuttling back and forth to Italia every other month, their oil wells will dry up before you sell a drop of wine.
Posted by: Marco | May 02, 2008 at 07:47 AM
First, you have to have the wine. Oddly, no one is going to hand you an established name.
Second, you know this is a relationship business. You have to begin somewhere and cultivate it.
Third, I get enormous free lunches in splendid old palazzi. It works out.
Posted by: terence | May 02, 2008 at 12:47 PM
You are doing a good job no matter what they say about you :^-)
Posted by: Marco | May 02, 2008 at 07:38 PM
Damn, Terry, how can I be you when I grow up??;)
Somewhat off-topic: I'm freaked. Not making my own wine this year, but buying enough of Cecchin's organic '06 Bonarda to put my label(??)on 1200 bottles. I'm taking deeeep breaths. *NOW* the real work begins...I may ring you up with the help of Skype on my laptop...
Cecchin has an importer/distributor in the Dallas area, we have to try to figure how much separate paperwork I have to do to bring a different label from wine he's made...any ideas???
Posted by: David J | May 03, 2008 at 10:45 AM