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| [06/08/2025, 13:48] | How Much Do Wine Expert Ratings Matter? |  |  | | Luciano Pavarotti and young fan at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco |
In the last year, I have been consulting with my local Italian wine shop, primarily making point-of-sale materials (shelf-talkers) for them. It?s been an interesting project and one which doesn?t take up too much of my time, but also allows me to keep a toe in the water of the wine trade, albeit in a passive and almost invisible manner. Just as I like it. But one of the surprises I have found in making these materials is the relative influence of the various wine writers who review and score wines. There are more now than ever, so the field has been diluted. Hence, it takes a little searching on the internet to find those voices and opinions (and scores) which I gather when making the shelf talkers for the store.
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I will say, from the outset, that scores are not the only thing I put on the talkers. I also include a graphic, to get the guests? visual attention, and have a little story about the winery or the wine, along with the reviews and the score. And finally, I have incorporated a QR code into the talker for a deeper dive. It could take one to the winery website, maybe a YouTube or TikTok video, or a snazzy piece dreamt up by the winery to seduce the consumer into buying into their story. It allows them to bring all of us on their journey. And it can be fun. But what I have found is that ultimately the main influence on the buyer is the score. It?s quick, it?s easy and it?s a guarantee that an expert found this wine to be worthy of a 90, a 100 or somewhere in between. Suffice to say, anything under a 90, these days, doesn?t get much attention, even though it might be a really good deal, or a wine with an 88 might be every bit as good as one with a 93. Consumers have been trained in America to go for the best, and 88 feels like a second best. That in itself is a damn shame, but it is the little patch of heaven we are floating in at this time. That said, who among the giants of wine criticism rule the roost? You might be surprised. I went about finding information on search engines, both Google and DuckDuckGo. I went to winery websites as well. What I found was that longtime legacy review sites like The Wine Spectator and Robert Parker?s The Wine Advocate (which he sold a majority stake in 2012 and subsequently in 2019 Michelin took full control) were not as prevalent as they had once been. It might be because much of their content is behind a paywall. But that is also the case with James Suckling?s site and Antonio Galloni?s Vinous site, along with others. There are about a dozen wine sites on the internet that review Italian wine, among them are The Wine Enthusiast, Ian D?Agata, Jancis Robinson (who does not use the 100-point rating scale), Decanter, Jeb Dunnuck, Luca Gardini and Luca Maroni. There are others as well. But it became pretty clear who the alpha review team was, and for a simple reason. Because one team regularly and consistently gave high marks. One writer?s 92 is another?s 96. 100 points given out like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at Halloween. And what do American wine consumers like? They like winners! Any number of thoughtful wine reviewers can give a wine 90 points and load up the review with purple prose. But a short, sweet and succinct review with a 97 point ribbon on the top will seal the deal so much more thoroughly in these here United States.
And that is what I found. Over the last year and more than 300 shelf-talkers that had the 100 scale points listed on the talker, the one reviewer (or review team) that consistently showed up on top of the internet search and the winery website brag pages, was none other than James Suckling. Now you could think something cynical right now, especially if you aren?t James Suckling. But I?m thinking right now that he was some smart sonofabitch who executed a brilliant strategy. Because of it, he?s made a ton of money, he?s become a super influencer, and he is sitting on top of the dunghill of Italian (and the world) wine review might. He learned, early on, how to juke the stats. No contest! Full disclosure: Winery friends, Marco and Jacopo Bacci, of Castello di Bossi and Renieri (Brunello) long ago saw the value in forging a relationship with James Suckling. I mocked them for it. Well, their business has only grown by leaps and bounds and they calculated the tipping points magnificently that led to their unprecedented success. My bad! So, all those other wine writers who post on Instagram all their wonderful pictures of 30 years of Sassicaia and the like, and the untouchable wines of Romanee-Conti, etc., etc., etc., good for them. They are having a wonderful life. But they are also-rans, when it comes to today?s world of algorithms and SEO, which control the spread of information. And now that we are going headlong into the world of AI, I can only imagine how algorithms and SEO are going to be tossed like a Caesar salad on a Caribbean Carnaval cruise during hurricane season. Don?t believe me? Go ahead and ask perplexity.ai ?Who is going to be the most influential wine critic in 2028?? N.B. ?Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming? - David Bowie
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| [06/01/2025, 14:36] | ?Don?t Age Wine Longer than 10 Years!? | |
It was just a simple coffee meeting with an longtime Italian wine colleague, who, last time we talked, has since gone on to their version of fame and fortune. We were talking about how long, ideally, Italian wine should age before it is considered long enough. Seeing as 25% of the wines in my ?cellar? are 25 years or older, I was interested in another person?s opinion, as I have had more misses than hits when opening these oldsters. I guess I was looking for advice or maybe validation? In any case, my friend launched into a prolonged jeremiad, which I recorded (with permission) and whereby this post now goes into that mode. Here goes: ?I cannot imagine any wine improving past ten years of age, red, white, sparkling, still or sweet. In my experience I have found that ten years is the limit. Let me explain.
I have been tasting newly released Barolos and Brunellos and it seems like, in these times, the wines are being released ready to drink now. I know, I know, some of the big names in wine reviewing like to say things like ?drink 2023-2030? but in reality, they are full of shit. They have no way of knowing where the wine will be stored, how it gets there and what the wine will be served with and what time of the year it will be served. It could be in December when the temps are cooler. Or it could be in August when the heat index is in the triple digits. There?s no way Mr. Big Shot Wine Critic can reliably recommend a wine to be drunk in a time period somewhere off in the future. They?re selling their brand and their penchant for prediction. But one can recommend a wine for now. And the folks in Italy are making more red wines for now. Does that mean they won?t or can?t age? Of course not. But the way wine is being made today is not like it was being made in 1958, 1964, 1971, 1987, 1990 or even 2000. The technology and the ?culture? of winemaking has progressed. And society is more impatient now.
Yeah, yeah, I know, all the snotty somms are posting pix of 40, 50-year-old wines they are drinking with their buddies on Sansabelt Island in July. Good for them. But half of those wines aren?t even from the vintage that is pasted on the bottle. And the other half are so damn old they are barely wine anymore. I want flavor. And I want fruit, fresh not rotten. I don?t want my glass to smell like a bloody compost heap. I want flowers and fruits and perfume and ?life! for Heaven?s sake. I don?t want to drink decrepitude. I can see enough of that in some future mirror. In the meantime, I want to enjoy the fruits of the labor of the winemaker and drink wine with pleasure.
I know, I know, I sound like a g.d. hedonist. So be it. But I?m telling you, once a wine passes the ten-year mark, it?s downhill for it and everyone who is trying to wring any amount of delight from it. Call me ageist? Not so quick. When was the last time you preferred to take an Uber in a 10+ year old car? Or rented a 15-year-old car from Turo to drive around Minneapolis in December? No, you?d go with the newer model because it is more reliable. And there you have it in one word ? reliability. A younger wine is more likely to not disappoint you with off flavors or tired tertiary aromas.
Oh yeah, it?s savage to flex on the socials about all the great old wines you are tasting ? all at the same time! Yeah, that will get you a gold star in the wine world. But the reality of wine enjoyment today boils down to those singular moments when one can savor a bottle over an evening. It?s part of something bigger in your life, not the main attraction. The culture of wine appreciation has changed, and all the conspicuous and gnathonic posturing of old times will now lose you aura points in today?s world. So, for me, the meat and potatoes of wine enjoyment is that exactly ? enjoyment. And my research, albeit purely anecdotal, has proven, for me, to generally stay far away from wines older than ten years. That?s my prescription for fine wine enjoyment in the future. Now, I?ve got to catch my Uber and get to the airport. And next time we chat, let?s talk a little more about that broken heart of yours, ok?? wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W | | TrackBack | | | |
| [05/25/2025, 14:13] | In Memoriam: The Death of a Loved One | | From the archives
In a world where there are so many tragic events ? from the father who lost his wife and daughter when he was 30 and raised his two sons as a single parent, only to lose a son when he became a grown up, to a young boy who, at 5, lost his father to tribal warfare in Ruanda ? what does the loss of one tree matter?
Earlier this month, crisscrossing Texas by car, time and again, I recall the morning I was driving from Dallas to Houston and saw a large, mature oak tree in a field that had toppled over from the rain. I was going 65-70 and as I saw the newly fallen giant, I felt a sharp pain inside. Still green, still hopeful from a Spring filled with energy, this tree wouldn?t see another autumn.
A few weeks later, driving by the same spot, the tree was brown and lifeless now. There was none of that ?It?s still green, it might just be sleeping on its side? pretend one does to internally forestall the inevitable reality of death.
Driving from Houston to Austin, around Bastrop, again the area was lush and verdant from a season of rainfall. A few years earlier, during drought, fires ripped through the area. As a reminder, thousands of charred, stripped poles dotted the landscape. Here, thousands died. And their lifeless trunks stood as their grave markers.
May, in Texas, has vanquished the drought that had loomed over us for several years. That is now the fate of California. And to gauge how bad the drought is, scientists have turned to the trees. Looking at the rings of blue oak trees, going back to the 13th century, and have determined nothing this extreme has been in play, for at least a millennia.
Yes, there are many important, urgent occurrences pushing up against all of us. So, why one tree, why would it impact any one?
I remember when I brought it home from the nursery. I was so proud to have found the little fig tree. It was in a gallon size container. It had only the simplest of markings on it, ?Brown Turkey fig.? I had recently moved into our house and the side yard needed a tree. My grandparents in California had this wonderful fig tree in their back yard. I loved figs. It seemed right.
I look out the window where I am writing this and instead of those bright green leaves and the little baby figs that were sprouting out from the branches, not 24 hours ago, now there is nothing but the naked sky. It sickens me to think of how I found my fig tree. I went outside to check on something and noticed the branches were drooping rather low to the ground. We?d just had another torrential downpour, so I thought the branches were heavy with the weight of the water. And then I saw the tree was leaning, rather, propped against the house. I panicked. The tree stood maybe 12-14 feet tall; the double trunks were probably 14-16 inches in circumference. It was a heavy tree. I would not be able to push it back up, prop it with poles, wires and hope. Who knew if we were done with the rains yet?
A month, maybe six weeks, until harvest. Until the time when I would go out and chase away the birds from the sweet fruits. No more. Harvest is cancelled this year. The birds, and the humans, will have to search elsewhere for those wonderful pleasures.
I didn?t think about why my grandparents had a fig tree in their back year in California. They had other fruit and citrus trees back there as well. They ate from their back yard, as we do today in this now barren of fig tree year. I also had to cut down the little fig tree that I planted 6 years ago, a cutting a friend had brought back from Sardegna. Two fig trees lost, in the same month. Devastating, to this one.
Talking to a young man this morning at the local farmer?s market. He could relate. ?I recently planted 5 acres with 500 peach trees. We lost 267 of them with the rains. It?s a tough pill to swallow.?
Is it one of insurmountable grief? Of course not. It?s nothing like when my wife died. But it is like the loss of a distant family member, of a pet, of someone you might not have known but who nonetheless was influential in your life, maybe like a President who was gunned down in the streets of Dallas. Maybe yes, maybe no.
The loss is raw and sharp right now. Over time, it will temper and soften. And from the stumps of the two trees, there is hope. Little leaves are sprouting back up. It?s not a total loss. But it?s a painful one in this moment, a tough pill to swallow, like the farmer said. And another lesson in the transitory nature of life in a universe that we have found ourselves immersed in, for the time being.
This happened ten years ago. Boy, do I still miss that tree....
written and (unfortunately) photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy
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| [05/18/2025, 05:30] | Is Your Favorite Italian Wine ?Coded?? | |
It seems "things being coded" is all the rage these days. My preferred AI overview posits coded thusly: In the context of social media slang, ?coded? means that someone, something, or a behavior embodies or resembles a specific character, stereotype, or archetype. It's a way of using recognizable traits to make quick, playful connections and associations, often without explicitly naming the reference. Jumping off from that point, it got me wondering if Italian wine is coded in these days of disruption. Almost anything can be, especially when one trawls the eddies of social media. Here?s what I have surmised from my brief but spectacular subterranean foray into the dark world of the coded. For this exercise I?ve compiled a set of interactions that I have had this year at my local Italian store which sells Italian wine. I have been tasked with providing information on little cards (shelf-talkers) for them, and while I am there servicing the racks, people come up to me with questions. They might think I work there. In any case, I?m glad to provide direction, as I no longer represent any brands and am able to speak about any or all Italian wines on the shelf regardless of who imports or distributes them. An elderly gentleman came up to me. He wanted a ?Big red wine? to go with his frozen lasagna. ?I don?t want to wimp out when it comes to my love for red,? he exclaimed. Mind you, it was 85?F outside, and it was only the month of May. I took him over to the Amarone section and set him up with the ?bigliest? red we had. Now, how would we code the Amarone? I?d lean in the Boyardee direction. Amarone can be so many things to different people, but to this red wine zealot, I?d imagine he was much more comfortable watching ?Leave it to Beaver? when he was a kid back in those glorious days of the 1950?s. He?s still looking for his ?Rosebud,? and in the meantime has to settle for a big red and a slab of lasagne.
 How to code that? She was Gen-Z, looked like part of her heritage originated somewhere in Asia. Very neat, maybe a musician. She had G clef earrings. I?d venture a guess and code that Trebbiano as Free-Range in the key of G. Another woman, she was in her 50?s, but if I were to guess, I would have put her in her early 40?s. I know so because she was having a special event (a birthday, hers) and she was proud to have been born in the late 1960?s (she told me she was a fan of the Allman Brothers). In any case, she needed bubbles. I took her over to the sparkling section, dominated by Prosecco but augmented with Trentino DOC, various Lambruschi and Franciacorta. Her first words were ?I?m not crazy about Prosecco, I don?t like the bubbles they make, and the wine seems too sweet for my taste.? I knew exactly which wine to hand her - Ca' del Bosco Cuv?e Prestige Brut Franciacorta with that pretty gold cellophane gift wrap it comes in. She beamed when I handed it to her. ?Give me three bottles please.? Bingo! What?s the code here? Someone who knows her mind, who takes care of herself, who is assertive, yet not afraid to ask for advice. My code word, there is only one word I can imagine: Empowered.
So, these two guys are in the store, shopping. They look like they know their way around the place. In fact, they told me they often spend the month of August ?somewhere fabulous? in Italy. Money is no object. They want six bottles of a red and six of a white. They love Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast. For the red I handed them one of my favorite Brunellos, one with a lot of history (for the cognoscenti). It was a bit pricey, but they didn?t flinch. One of them squealed, but I think it was involuntary. In any case, I was looking away at the time and it helped to diminish his embarrassment. For the white, I handed them a Greco di Tufo, for the simple reason that I love the wine and it has Campanian roots. So, in effect both wines could act as an homage to the two regions the gents loved so much. The wines could also act as jumping off points when entertaining their guests to talk about the wonderful villas and palazzos they?ve rented while ?on holiday? in Bella Italia. So, what?s the code? Well, for the red, an elegant Brunello from an historic property, I?d have to go with Legacy. For the white, I think a proper word for it might be Moonstruck. I say that because one of the fellows told me about a night they once had drinking Greco on the beach (in all white clothes) under the full moon near Positano. Oh, I know, I?ve made up my own rules. No left, no right. No mention of independent or moderate. The closest I?ve gotten was to the elderly gent who, just more than anything, wants to run the clock back to a time when he was younger and healthier. Who wouldn?t want that? Actually, I wouldn?t. I?m happy to be here in the present, relatively healthy and although no longer young, also not decrepit. Or so my trainer at the gym tells me. Must be all that Lambrusco di Sorbara I drank in the last 20 years when I was part of the Zeitgeist.
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| [05/11/2025, 15:41] | An American in Rome ? Can a world leader reshape the long tail of Italian wine? | |
By now the world knows there is a new pope and most of us have become acquainted with him, if just superficially. He, no doubt, will alter the conversation for peace in the world, which has been perched precariously over a precipice, caused by the wants and desires of men. While the dance cards of peace and humanity and civility and truth and, while we?re at it, reality, get shuffled here in the 21st century, what about little ?ol Italian wine? Can Pope Leo XIV reignite the fortunes of growth for this sputtering agro-economic powerhouse? I?m sure there are a few households in Italy where the candles are burning, the altars are set and the prayers are coming at a feverish pace. Yeah, I?m in the ?thoughts and prayers? stage over this matter.
We should determine if Leo XIV likes wine. We know Leo XIII did, very much. Reporting has it that he enjoyed a wine called Mariani, which was red wine laced with cocaine (legal at the time). He was certainly productive and vigorous during his reign. We know Pope Francis was a Jesuit. And my personal experience relays that the Jesuits are known imbibers of alcoholic beverages, wine among them.
But the Augustinian order, which Pope Leo XIV came out of, is there a tradition of wine?
In short, yes. One of the most famous wineries in Italy is the Abbazia di Novacella in S?dtirol in the autonomous province of Bolzano. They produce excellent wines and have one of the great libraries in Europe. Two of my favorite wines they make are the Kerner and the Sylvaner, both whites. How about closer to Rome? Any chance for the region to get a papal bump? It might be too soon to tell, although the Lazio region has undergone a reawakening in terms of quality and finesse in their wines. It really is one of Italy?s hidden gem areas for up-and-coming winemaking.
But really, I think the hope is the pope uplifts all of Italy and by symbiosis, the wines of Italy. Not that this notion is even anywhere on his radar. After all, the world is a hot mess and his 1.4 billion followers might be looking to him to lead them out of the fog. Of course, it might not be as easy as that, seeing as in the different factions in the church who maintain their independent tenets with regards to faith, behavior and morals, there is sure to be some robust debate and even challenges to the direction Leo XIV might be intending to take his flock. Not all may go willingly, as witnessed by the last pope and his experience with contravening groups, especially here in the USA. The good news, is that Leo XIV understands the American mind from his time here living as an American. And while he has been spoken of as ?the least American out of all the Americans,? this is probably a good time for an American world leader to have a broader sense of the world in which we live. At the very least, this can be a good thing for Italy and Italian wine, which has been one of the main focuses of this blog for 20 years now.
My hope, first and foremost, is that Italy is infused with a new and invigorating energy, let?s call it the energy of America, where the dream of a better life has been one of its main aspirations. If so, then maybe Italy can awaken from its little pisolino and feel the hope of possibility and moving forward. This is not something foreign to the Italian culture and soul. Italy is a religiously creative country, where elegant problem solving is a high art. The world is in a pause right now when it comes to wine and wine culture. There are distractions and warnings. Health reasons are up there. So are other euphoria producing products, vying for the dollars (or Euros) of the up and coming younger generations. And yes, economics. And, quite frankly, the diminishing ambition felt so broadly all across the European continent. My hope is that this lights a fire in the bellies of Italian winemakers, winery owners, importers and marketing professionals to self-inspire and re-inspire the world about the greatness of Italian wine.
How about that for thoughts and prayers? wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W | | TrackBack | | | |
| [05/04/2025, 18:55] | A Master Plan for the Master Class | |
The decade we?re in started in 2020, and it was then that heightened consciousness was brought to racial injustices, and covered many aspects of life, from the way we talk about housing to the language that we use in general. It was then that the term ?Master Bedroom? had a light shone upon it as being indicative of those invisible prejudices we?ve lived with, seemingly, all our lives. Alison Hunter had this to say about it: ?Things that were once considered wholesome are being viewed through more nuanced lenses and could possibly be deemed exploitative in retrospect. One example: Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben have retired from store shelves and now reside in the same place where the public consciousness sent other emblems of subtle and not-so-subtle racism.? She goes on to talk about the term Master Bedroom: ?The word ?master? carries a hefty load of baggage. In addition to conjuring a mental association with slavery, it is also a term that inexorably describes a male person in power. (Swap out ?mistress bedroom ? or ?madam bedroom? for ?master bedroom,? and we?re probably not talking about real estate anymore.)? The real estate trade has been quick to adopt, in some places, the term ?Primary Bedroom? or ?Owner?s Suite.? There doesn?t seem to be a consensus, and for those toeing the line to maintain a kind of political correctness with a reawoken sense of the times we are living in, those new terms in the real estate world are valid steps forwards the kind of social justice we started looking for when this decade began. Alison Hunter again chimes in, ?Outside of real estate, change is more forthcoming. As mentioned, Mars retired Uncle Ben, PepsiCo replaced Aunt Jemima, and Conagra dismissed Mrs. Butterworth?s.? So, if these steps have been taken in the world of real estate and the larger corporate world, is it time the wine trade re-examines one of their oft used terms, ?Master Class??
Of course sometimes those classes are being taught by someone who has achieved a level of certification bestowing upon them the title ?Master Sommelier? or ?Master of Wine.? Whether or not we should still be using those terms is a subject for another day. For this purpose, I will only examine the use of the term Master Class whether or not it is taught by someone who has achieved certifiable mastery. Allowing for a certain social atmosphere that is still sensitive to issues of enslavement, at least among a segment of the population that still believes in truth and fairness, in a diverse society that is still interested in justice for all, the term "Master Class," to me, seems offensive. And it?s not because the arrangers of such classes often employ folks who have no possibility of mastering the subject at hand. That also is another story for another time. It?s the nomenclature. It implies a rarified spot in the world of wine. It borders on snobbery. Wine snobbery. Which for the last 40 or so years many folks have been working tirelessly to vanquish wine snobbery from the wine trade, along with sexism, racism and any other shameless ?isms.? So, what could we call a class like that, which purports to inform the pedants in the room in a manner which would be all-encompassing and well-rounded and not sound snobby?
I?ve come up with a few. They are: - ace-worthy
- consummate
- extraordinary
- incomparable
- nonpareil (a bit archaic?)
- peerless
- singular
- top-flight (edgy)
- top-notch (kind of spunky and fun)
- unprecedented and unequaled ( still a bit snobby and elite sounding, but has a certain oomph to it)
- world-class (though it might have passed its ?use by? date)
I?m sure there are those of you out there with your own ideas, if the thought of the term ?Master Class? doesn?t appeal to you anymore. I?d love to hear from anyone who has any thoughts. In any case, I reckon we need a Master Plan for scuttling the term Master Class. Or would that be an ?Extraordinary Plan?? Or maybe a ?Singular Plan?? In any case, we need a plan. And it ain?t for a canal in Panama. Over and out.
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| [04/27/2025, 17:23] | The Red Badge of Carnage (or the other wine that crashed and burned) | |
While rummaging through my wine stash, I came across a red from Italy and another red from Greece. We were having smoked brisket and I wanted to open up a few bottles of wine to try with the smokey, mellow red meat. I also had cooked up a pile of pinto beans ala Ranchero, the slow way, and they were simmering and ready. The reds, a 2012 from Mt. Etna and a 2008 from nearby Mt. Ossa in Greece, were my choice after a brief consultation with a friend overseas. Both wines did not make it into my final cut a few months ago, when I consolidated my wine collection down to less than 200 bottles. There just wasn?t room. So, Easter Sunday, they were chosen to show their stuff. The Etna, a 2012 IGT Terre Siciliane from Passopisciaro, had been in my closet for a few years and it was time. The Greek wine from Rapsani winery from Xinomavro grapes mainly, was a PDO Rapsani (??? ??????), it was a 2008. So, it was ready to open as well. Opening a bottle of wine, after years of letting the bottle lie in a quiet, cool and dark place, is an event, at least for the wine. It is the moment that a particular wine can strut its plumage, let the world know what it has become, a coming out ceremony. Sometimes it is momentous and sometimes it is a bust. In this case it was a mixed bag. The Etna rosso, came out a little stubbornly. There were indications of a noble birth, the mineral elements and the acidity that Nerello Mascalese impart upon the imbiber. But there was also a weariness with the wine, like its better days had passed. I set it aside and sipped on the Greek wine.
Much livelier! The wine was raring to go and it was firing on all cylinders. We have lift off! So, what happened? Both wines were stored in the same place, a wine cave. In fact, the Greek wine had a short period when it was just in a rack, subjected to variations in the ambient temperature where it was stored. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw. Frankly, I had high expectations for the Passopisciaro. I?d been to the winery last in 2016, when I was there with Eric Asimov, as his photographer, while he worked on a series of pieces about Etna wine for the New York Times. I was no stranger to these wines. We?d been given a fantastic primer and walked all over the property, which was impressive. And I?ve had wines since 2016 from the property that were bright spots from the Etna constellation of wine. So, it wasn?t all for nought. The Greek wine, though, really got my attention. It was one of those moments when one has little or no expectations for a wine, and then the wine completely steers one in another direction, that being one aimed towards joyful exploration. Wow, sorry for the purple prose there. But the wine really did take off and took us with it. It was like being there, wherever ?there? was.
So, we set the Etna wine aside, and I put it in the fridge for another taste later. And we proceeded to munch down on the brisket, cooked perfectly by my son, and the Ranchero beans, made ready by me. Again, though, I wonder what made one wine ?shout it to the mountain top? while another one crashed and burned? We wine lovers wear our wines on our hearts. They are our badges which proclaim our attachment to some thing. As I?ve been slowly extricating myself from the fetishization of wine these past few years, I?ve come to see my attachment to wine was caused by my identification with the wine business, at the time. Now that wine is no longer part of my livelihood, it?s more like an old friend. We get together once in a while and shoot the breeze. And I am a bit more objective as to how wine fits into my life now. I often wore the wine badge like it was a courageous act, but lately I am seeing wine more like a red badge of carnage. It can be toxic, if mis-used. It can kill people. It killed the father of one of my best friends. Mind you, I?m not enjoying it any less, I am just enjoying it less frequently. I don?t know why. But I know it is working for me. And that Greek wine worked for me ? it worked really well. wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W | | TrackBack | | | |
| [04/20/2025, 13:37] | The ?knobbly road of business, camaraderie and wine compiling | |
 | | Gran Sasso - Abruzzo |
For some reason, I have been going over my wine career and the speed bumps along the road that I incurred during that 40+ year long journey. Not the successes, not even the failures. This dive was into the hearts and souls of people I worked with and for, and their sullied motivations. We are living in a moment where retribution and grievance are center stage, I get that. And I?m not one to harbor a grudge for long. I?ve witnessed that in wine and friendships since retiring, some have come, some have gone. In the workaday world there were a few people who stood out in terms of the way they approached their co-workers or employees. Some of these folks I really find hard to know how they slept at night, the things they did to their fellow humans. No, they didn?t torture any of us. But they did take advantage, and it all seemed to revolve around money. Some of those folks got really wealthy, with their fancy cars and motorcycles, lake houses and faux-French ch?teaux in fancy neighborhoods. They?re all getting old, those who are still among us. They aren?t going to get out alive. So, why did they do what they did, to those to whom they did it? One fellow I gave his start in the wine business. He was selling long distance discount cards and perfecting his golf swing. He?d hit a wall. I took pity on him. His wife, at the time, asked me to help him find his way. I took him on, he was in fact a really good salesperson, which is to say that he had infinite lines of bullshit. And he parlayed it into a rocket-to-the-moon career that put him on the cover of magazines and provided him with all the money he could ever desire ? generational wealth. But along the way he felt like he had to crawl over my back to get there. He buggered me good. And all I ever did was open the door for him.
He was just one of a handful of folks who were like that. Maybe I misinterpreted our initial friendship. I have a bad habit of misreading friendship. In fact, I keep a list of erstwhile friends I have had over the years that just de-materialized, to the point now that I have made a study of it. I didn?t know besides transactional relationships, of which I am very familiar, that there was also this category of temporary friendships. Covid taught me that. People were isolated and looking for outlets, for conviviality. College can foster similar occurrences, as well as the working world. I?m getting to know new things about myself and my tolerance for such things. But to mix friendship with business can be a very slippery slope. I had this chum in my business life. We spent a lot of time traveling through Italy. I really thought of this person as one of my best friends. And while he didn?t take advantage of me or screw me over, like the fellow in my earlier mention, once I was done with the working world, the camaraderie that we shared dried up, like the dead sea. Nothing here to see but ghosts. OK, I get it. People move on. They have families, young ones to put through school, older ones to care for, new ones coming into the world. Everyone is involved. Everyone is busy. I once had a teacher in grade school who told my mom, ?Your son is too sensitive.? Guilty as charged. So, how do I navigate this world from here? Well, the ones who screwed me over royal are history. The ones who ghosted me are in the wind. Nothing I can do about that. The ones who are passing through, well, let ?em pass. Kind of like a wine collection in a way. How so?
Well, I?ve been decreasing my wine collection quite a bit lately. I had an air conditioned ?room? and a wine cooler. Now that room is slated to be put to other uses. Meanwhile some of that wine is just getting past its prime. And we?re not drinking that much wine, anyway. So, time to pare down. I think that is sometimes the way it is with human interactions too. We all have a finite time here. Best to make the time count. Yes, I?ve indulged this space with some of my grievances, but the bottom line is that those who have wronged me, I?m content to have them go in peace. And to those I?ve wronged, I?m more than happy to leave them in peace too. And to those who were here for some brief moments, I like to think of them as Champagne. When they were here it was sparkling and was all well and good. But when the bottle is empty, well, we all know what that means. The key for me is to recognize that I must move forward, leave it all behind me. And head back to the cellar for another bottle.
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| [04/13/2025, 19:53] | Italian Wine and its SMH moment | |
The annual Italian wine trade show, Vinitaly, has just ended, and the threatened US tariffs against Italy have just been adjusted down to 10% (for now). What a hell of a week it has been. Now what? For those who are wondering what direction Italian wine should take in 2025, this could be a bit of a ?shaking my head? moment. After all, Kyiv is 1,300 miles from Milan, less than the distance Houston is from New York. And with a protracted war that has taken trade off the table for Italy with Russia, and with an unstable reality driving the American economy (for the foreseeable future), where does Italy pivot to? Local consumption is down, as has alcohol consumption, worldwide. China is seeing their growth slow down, who is going to drink all that Italian wine? Is it time to pare down wine production in Italy? Have we reached that moment? Again, I am going to take the point of view of the winegrower and winery operator. It is likely that I have vintages in the cellar, mainly reds, waiting for their release date. And some of those release dates are predicated by laws governing such things. So, the wines cannot sit in the barrels indeterminately. Let?s talk about the white, sparkling and ros? wines first. They are coming up on release dates presently. And with tariffs ?paused? for 90 days, I?d be making deals with my US suppliers to get as much wine out of the winery and onto the water ASAP. I?d probably have to give extended payment terms and maybe even discount the wines. Not a fire sale discount, but something to stimulate interest in getting these wines into the market post haste. That would be my strategy for those kinds of wines. Red wines are a different story. Depending on where my vines are grown and what kind of wines I make, I?d have to consider the longevity of the red wines I was making. Obviously, wines from Tuscany and Piedmont have been thought to lend themselves to greater ageing, especially in the higher appellations (Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico Riserva, Brunello di Montalcino, and so on). But what if I produce red wine from the Marche or Abruzzo, wines which are meant for earlier drinking and not always with so much bottle age on them? I?d probably be marketing those kinds of wines similar to the whites and ros?s. Release them as early as the DOC laws allow (if they are a DOC) and for less significant appellations, move ?em out as soon as I could.  Italy needs to re-examine their work life. Maybe taking the month off in August might not be in the cards this year. Maybe it won?t matter a bit, depending on one?s cash flow. In any case, this will be a year to sharpen the pencils and crank everything down in a most economically efficient way. This will not be a Rolex year, more likely a Seiko one. In other words, watch your spending. I?m fiscally traditional in manners like this. I know the large distribution houses have warehouses loaded with merchandise. 2024 was not a year in which sales set new records for increases. And contractual obligations have not been able to slow the flow down to a slow drip. Everything is flowing as if we didn?t just experience the last four or five months as we did. Which is to say, the element of uncertainty and chaos now must be factored in. As often is the case, the small growers and producers, along with the small importers, distributors, retailers and restaurants, will feel the pinch more. This is not a good time to be the little guy. But that?s the reality and one must face such things head on. Italy has had worse to deal with in its past. And that?s not to rationalize this topsy-turvy era we find ourselves in. But the aspect of survival is always present and in order to survive, one must evolve with the times. Out run it, out-think it and outlast it. And that is something the Italian mind heart and culture is very adept at.
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| [04/06/2025, 16:34] | Where Does Italian Wine Go From Here? | | The Quo Vadis Chronicles
Let?s start with the small questions, shan?t we? All kidding aside, as we are in an epochal shift, what shall Italian winemakers do to tackle the existential threat to their livelihoods, their families, and their land? What would I do if I had 5 acres of Sangiovese in Tuscany? Well, there are a number of hacks, short term, so I?ll start with that. If I am invoicing a case of 12 bottles of wine to my importer at let?s say, ?100, the first thing I would do is to study the possibility of doing a couple of things. One would be a past billing, let?s say present an invoice for goods long since received, and offer it as a second or third notice. Another ?solution? would be to back off on the price and maybe offer the same case at ?50 with the understanding that sometime in the future, if or when the tariff issues are resolved, to bill the additional ?50 for the case, bringing the total, in time, to ?100. It?s a bit of a shell game, but we?re dealing with a crook, a convicted felon, and someone who has bankrupted 6 companies and is going full bore into his 7th bankruptcy, this time the USA. A more surgical solution would be to take whatever percentage of tariff it is, let?s say 20%. And that would be for the farmer/winemaker to take a 10% cut and the importer to take the other 10%. Somewhere in there one could even try and persuade the wholesaler/distributor to share in some of that 20%, conceivably from their margins. I?m not hopeful for that, seeing as the big distribs have contract with their big suppliers, some of them American producers, and there will be pressure from those large suppliers to grow their domestic business in these turbulent times. What does the Chinese proverb say? - ?A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind.? 
Forget about expecting the retailers or restaurateurs partaking in this exercise. They won?t be by-and-large. Another would be to sit and wait. But with inventory piling up and lighter red and white wine with a ?use by? date, this doesn?t sound like a good idea. But for those who have a larger export base, this could be a partial strategy, especially for long-lasting red wines. But Italy already has reduced their business with the once-lucrative Russian market, and the Chinese business is flailing, because China is also experiencing tidal waves in their economy. Along with that, domestic consumption is down, and the younger folks in Italy either don?t have the money to drink more Italian wine, or they?ve moved away from wine to other euphoria-producing products. Or abstinence. All in all, it?s a bleak forecast, one which I am sure this week at Vinitaly is being discussed every which way. We experienced a bit of this in 2008, with Brunellopoli, the Brunello wine scandal from the 2003 vintage which presented itself at Vinitaly in 2008. We also struggled in 2002 with the blowback from 9/11 ad the ensuing conflict that came about in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, Italy and their American counterparts have had to deal with struggles and crisis before, this time seems a little different though. It seems self-inflicted from the American side. And after the 1,300 or so marches all across America yesterday, it seems that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Americans are angry about the direction the so-called leaders of the USA are taking Americans, and the world. Another view of thing (also requiring taking a deep breath and sucking it in) is that this might be a time to reset things in one?s life, one?s business dealings and one?s view of livelihood and all the expectations one might have for that. Easier said than done, I know that. But there are cycles, and this one is definitely a down-cycle, subjugated by the whims of a narcissistic sociopath drunk on power and grievance. That said, this will not be an easy time. Just when everything seemed to be getting back to normal, with a few exceptions (Ukraine and Gaza) the world economy seemed to be recovering and going back to normalcy. And then, more disruption. That is what we are dealing with currently. Like I said, putting myself into the shoes of a winemaker in Italy, I think what I would do would be to crank it down real tight, watch my spending, curtail promotional travel, and reduce my production. Make better wine in smaller amounts, for the time being. And in 2025, wait out the storm. And if things don?t get better, I will have trained myself to be more judicious in such uncertain times. And if things get better, I will emerge with the rest of the world, after this giant hiccup subsides and we move on to better times.
? written and *photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy * photos were taken in Southern New Mexico of the patina on an 1954 IH truck wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W | | TrackBack | | | |
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