Wine Lives and Breathes...so does my new blog's look.

Well, I did it. I changed to the new blogger layout. Yes, it is still the same me. Nothing changed there. But after some very useful suggestions and hints from my dear friend Katherine Andes, I decided it was time to go forward. You can get to her website by clicking on the "My Great Writer Friend" in my links list or you can just follow this link
After 30 plus years of tasting and enjoying wines, I have picked up a little bit of knowledge about wine but I am still a neophyte when it comes to websites, blogging and all that wonderful technical stuff. So her help was invaluable. I also pick up a lot of good info from her free newsletter which you can sign up for via her website.
My friend Carl Brown, who gets my newsletter and regularly leaves a comment on my blog, also is prompting me to get a little bolder and braver. He left a good suggestion in his comment on my "Champagne then and now"post. So thanks to all of you for your regular visits, comments and suggestions. I appreciate it very much. It spurs me on to the continued pursuit of the" fruit of the vine".
I could not do a post without at least one picture related to this subject. So enjoy this one. I took it in the Blue Grouse Vineyards and Winery on Vancouver Island. Those are lush Ortega grapes a few days away from picking. Oh and while we're at it, I am still having great fun preparing my Italian dishes.

Which leads me to my final note. In my next blog entry I will be telling you about the fabulous wine maker we met in Bolgheri. Alessandro Dondi makes some of the best wines we tasted while travelling through Tuscany.
Ciao!

When Wine flows like water......

......you probably have a plumbing problem! At least that is what happened at this year's annual Sagra dell Uva Grape Festival in the city of Marino. Every year, since 1925, the city of Marino celebrates one of the oldest wine festivals in Italy. Marino is located in the wine making region of Lazio in the Alban Hills south of Rome. This year the festival had a delightful turn of events when residents turning on their taps were surprised with a free flowing supply of local wine. Sad to say we were not there. But we did get our share of local wines and food while traveling all over Tuscany with my buddy Sanjoy from California. Having just returned, hence my lack of postings to my blog, I must say I am missing all that good food and wine. We visited the major DOCG regions and some of the more important DOC's like Montalcino, Montepulciano and
Bolgheri.
Driving along the Strada del Chianti ( SS 222) you get a wonderful sense of what the Tuscan countryside is like. That large picking basket just seems to be waiting to be filled up and 2008 appears to be bountiful with good quality grapes throughout the region. Just look at those beautiful bunches of Sangiovese grapes. Lush, ripe and mature and oh so sweet. These were scheduled for picking the day after our visit to the vineyard. Click on the pic to get a better view.


In my next posts I will be going into more details about some of the wineries we visited. All well known and all outstanding producers. Names like Ruffino, Cecchi and Ornelaia are recognized around the globe and we had the pleasure of visiting with them. Met an outstanding young winemaker in Bolgheri and was really impressed with his style of wine. I will be telling you more about Alessandro Dondi at the Castello di Bolgheri.
Tuscany, one big happy vineyard and I am already looking forward to a return visit. We maybe going through some world wide financial crisis but I tell you Italian food and wines give me comfort and lifts my spirits. But then good food and wine tends to do that. I will leave you with a message captured in this picture taken outside St. Francis' Basilica in Assisi. Yes, we did get in some fantastic sightseeing and of course sampled local foods and wines.
So Peace to you all, enjoy your wines and good things are bound to come your way.