“They say that life itself is really just the dead on vacation.” – Tom Waits

Over the years my ideas about wines have changed a little. A lot less than I would have thought, though. Looking back over 35 years of seriously tasting wine, there have been moments all along the span of that time when [...]

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~ True Story ~

This time last year, I was traveling with a group in Italy. We were one day away from being finished and were in Grosseto to meet up with Morellino producers. At the end of the day we headed back into town, checked into our hotel and agreed to meet later for one [...]

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Two-stepping across Texas with Marco Bacci

Marco Bacci with Damian Mandola near Austin, Texas

How does one top a week of Italian wine in New York? How about piling in a car with an Italian and his wine and traveling across the state from Dallas to Austin, and then to Houston and back to Dallas, in four [...]

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From the “nothing to kill or die for” dept.

Let’s take a imaginary scenario – trade between Italy and the USA is halted for economic and security reasons. No more Italian wine comes to America, ever again. What would this mean to Italians in the vineyards? To Americans in Kankakee?
Assuming we had no choice, let’s say [...]

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This week has been absolutely beautiful in New York City. Autumn is in full swing, with cooler weather, a little gusts of wine, a scatter of rain and wine makers from Italy ( and everywhere else) crawling all over the city. And though I am headed back to Texas and ready for some blue skies [...]

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