I hadn’t long landed back in Serralunga d’Alba after my two weeks in Tuscany when I was off again to Monforte, just across the valley, this time to watch Chiara Boschis of Barolo producer E.Pira plant a new vineyard.

For the last several weeks I have been much more in Beaujolais mode than Burgundy, prospecting for suppliers to add to the range to take advantage both of the brilliance of 2009 in the region, and also what I perceive to be a renewed interest in the region from trade, press and consumers alike. Thank […]

After visiting 41 Chianti Classico cantina over 11 days I now feel a certain grasp on what’s going on among the Tuscan hills. I also got a grip on the twists and turns in the road, aided and abetted by my mate Tom (Tom). True ‘he’ occasionally threatened to lead me up the garden path, […]

Well, it was a whistle-stop week of walking, talking and I can’t lie…  a lot of lunches and dinners! There is no doubt that the show came to town last week and there was buzz in the air. Although I’m not entirely sure on the numbers I do know that there were 750 exhibitors, and […]