Before his death, the incredibly talented Bernardo Vallana was able to pass on his knowledge to his daughter Giuseppina’s husband, Guy Fogarty, a British citizen by birth. Later, after Guy’s passing, we’ll find that Giuseppina also had her father’s gift – though she really didn’t have a choice, Guy passed, suddenly, and the grapes were…
Antonio Vallana e Figlio, Alto Piemonte, Part II
Before Marina begins to show me the (Boca) vineyard, and explain the quadretto vine training system (used only at this site), she takes great care to explain the family history. It begins in 1859, with the death of his uncle (in-law). This is when Bernardo Vallana took over the vineyards left to his care. Here’s…
Antonio Vallana e Figlio, Alto Piemonte, Part I
It was April, 2014, and it was a rather warm (read: too warm) day inside Padiglione (pavilion) 10, home to the Piemontese wines at Vin Italy. Inside Pad 10, (see below for map of the whole place, the larger Pads/Buildings on the map are, HUGE (no, think bigger) – and not air conditioned, and crowded…
HOW TO MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION – MASSOLINO (AZ. AGR. VIGNA RIONDA), PART III
Franco describes the new project. It’s part cellar, part community park. The cellar will be all underground (even if in the picture below it is exposed – it won’t be when completed ), and on top, there will be a natural space with places to sit, gather, relax. This is how it was, many years ago…
Winegrowing on Etna Mountain (Sicily Part 5)
The drive from Ortigia to Randazzo is not too bad at all. In fact, it’s kind of fun at times, with all of its narrow, winding roads that go up and up for the better part of an hour. Just past the midway point, is this crazy-big place called Etna Land. Kind of strange, this…
Getting wowed in Barbaresco
It’s not easy to get wowed these days. You see, I’ve been doing this wine thing professionally for nearly 20 years, and getting wowed happens less and less often it seems. Well today that changed – I visited Sottimano. Andrea Sottimano is slight of build, but his vision for what is possible is quite big,…
Two restful days in Ortigia (Sicily part 4)
The drive from Ragusa to Siracusa/Ortigia is fairly easy. It’s when you get to Ortigia and try and find a parking space that problems arise. Not being familiar with the policies (but having been warned they were less than favorable), I contacted my host at at he booking.com property where I stayed 2 nights. My…
Ragusa, Vittoria and red wine with fish (Sicily Part 3)
The road from Marsala to Ragusa (which passes through Agrigento, home to The Valley of the Temples) leaves a lot to be desired. A lot. There are countless bridges, most quite long, perhaps 2km or 3km, that span the countless hills and valleys that blanket the inner countryside of Sicily. The bridges themselves, or should…
Busiate, a very cold night, and Vintage Marsala (Sicily Part 2)
Ok, so where was I, oh yeah, I was in a tiny airport (think smaller) in the middle of nowhere on a cold, wet and very windy Sunday with no car, no driving license and a greatly deflated spirit. But, I was told “someone local” might be willing to rent me a car, I had…
I cut myself shaving (Sicily part 1)
The day began like any other, I suppose, get out of bed, shower, shave — errrr, crash! For some inexplicable reason (though carelessness is probably at the top of the list), I cut myself shaving. But it wasn’t just any cut you see, this one had me lying down, with pressure on it for over…
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