Luca Zaia (L) President of the Veneto Region

First off, those with a stake in such things will declare ?The 2024 Vinitaly was the best ever!? and they will back it up with formulated statistics that claim ?attendance was up 4% from the previous year!? And that will be true. From 93,000 people in 2023 to 97,000 in 2024 were estimated to have attended. Now it doesn?t necessarily mean they break down the attendance if the same person attended all four days and was counted as one. Possibly, the persons who entered through the turnstiles daily were aggregated individually.

As far as exhibitors (wineries, importers, people who had exhibition rooms/space), the high-point year was 2019, when 4,600 exhibitors attended. Not all that different from 2023.

Foreign attendance was up from 2023 in 2024 (30,070 vs. 29,600) but nowhere near the halcyon years of 2014-2016, when 55,000 foreign attendees were recorded.

my random numbers over the years

From the numbers I have tracked since 1991, the high-point of attendance was in 2014 and 2015, when 150,000 people were said to have attended.

But 150,000 versus 97,000 is a bit of a different story. That?s a 35% decrease. I?m sure Covid and the worldwide pandemic played into these figures, as well as global instability with regards to war and peace.

Inflation, higher prices and the change to a more virtual meeting environment also helped to erode those numbers. Also, spin off shows, from nearby Summa to VinNatur, helped to eat away at the Vinitaly numbers. That?s not necessarily a bad thing. But it does spread out the folks who have particular interests that these shows focus on and address more acutely.

A word about trade shows: It isn?t just the wine world that is seeing a downturn in trade show participation. The watch world (which I also track) and other large industries are pivoting from the expense-bloated showcases in favor of more virtual gatherings. Economics plays into this, as well as logistics. But during Covid the world learned that they could get much of the information they needed from a screen. Now, it is impossible to taste wine virtually, but the world trend is people drinking less alcohol also plays into this decrease in actual physical involvement.

My first Vinitaly was 40 years ago, and it opened a world unto me that I didn?t know of. Imagine everyone who is involved in the Italian wine industry, which I adored then, under one roof (or in the case of Vinitaly, many roofs). It was a dream. It still is for many people, old and new. The energy of thousands of souls rowing together is a fantastic feeling. As well, to see people in one place without having to drive all over Italy is a boon to the time-deprived sommelier, wholesaler, p.r. person, retailer or importer. Read my lips: Vinitaly is good.

?        https://corrieredelveneto.corriere.it/notizie/verona/cronaca/24_febbraio_14/truffa-del-vino-coi-fondi-ue-veronafiere-vuole-patteggiare-per-la-frode-milionaria-a-bruxelles-9ee226e4-00ee-4e80-9214-4596bee16xlk.shtml

?        https://corrieredelveneto.corriere.it/notizie/verona/cronaca/23_aprile_19/verona-vino-e-fondi-dall-ue-truffa-milionaria-i-pm-europei-chiedono-6-rinvii-a-giudizio-d9c41fe2-de05-11ed-8e0e-82e8b32702b9.shtml

?       https://www.repubblica.it/il-gusto/2024/01/23/news/vino_fondi_ue_laccusa_di_frode_scuote_il_mondo_del_vino-421963782/   

But that?s for the judges and courts to deliberate upon. Eventually the corrupt elements that hover around Vinitaly will be exposed and prosecuted, hopefully. There?s a lot of money in and around Italian wine and it doesn?t just attract the wine lovers and enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it also draws the con men (and women) to their juicy nectars as well. But, as one Italy watcher noted, ?The powers that be hate scrutiny and embarrassment.? Indeed. 

That said, ultimately what propels Italian wine is greater market share and increases in sales. And while we?ve all been through the Covid hiccup, that seems to be rebounding for Italian wine. It still is a value, and a quality wine. People feel comfort in Italian food and the wine accompanies those emotions. So, we?re in for a good run in the future for Italian wine, this I am certain of. Now, we all just need to do our part. And it starts with opening up some bottles and proceeding.

 

 

? written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

wine blog +  Italian wine blog + Italy W

It is a bit folly to watch it. Meanwhile, swimming in this genetic/memory/observational soup over that last 50 or so years, I realize I have a unique picture of the Italy that has been presented to me. 60 trips, most for a week, some for months, some for extended weeks. 21 trips to Verona and Vinitaly! Nothing longer than three months. In and out. No full immersion for a year or more. But still, the impression has been made. My brilliant Italy has left an indelible mark on my soul and on my chromosomes.

And while I?m standing on top of the soap box, Italy isn?t just about food or wine or antiquities or architecture or art or music or romance or history. Italy is longer and wider than time and place. It is so much more than my little view of it. And yours too.

So, let that sink in and hopefully this little rant will compel you to rethink what Italy is in the larger scope of the universe of things. Yes, it is wonderful. Yes, it is romantic. Yes, the food and wine and art and music are incomparable. But know that there is a deeper, richer, more timeless Italy than anyone of us can imagine.

As Hamlet uttered, ?There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.?

So, it is. 

In today?s hyper-aggrandized environment for aspiring wine professionals, where certification is all the rage, one would think that someone like a master sommelier or master of wine could be more than capable of teaching such a class. And many are. Likewise, I?ve been in master classes led by master sommeliers who had me squirming in my seat for their lack of preparation and dissemination of faulty and incomplete material. After all, they too, are only human. But there is an expectation around an event like a master class, that one who attends such a seminar comes away having greater knowledge of the subject than what he or she had before such an experience. It isn?t necessary that such a class be taught by a master, but it should be handled by someone who has mastery of the subject and is fully capable of communicating the necessary information.

One such event, and the person who presented it, provided the perfect example of what a master class should be. The event was Discovering Franciacorta, Italy?s premiere sparkling wine. It was sponsored by the Consorzio Franciacorta and arranged by Constance Chamberlain of Wine & Co. The presenter was Franciacorta Ambassador May Matta-Aliah, DWS. It was held in Dallas at the tres chic Mister Charles restaurant, in their main dining room. In my career days, I often sat at the soda counter, when it was the Highland Park Pharmacy, and had a quick grilled cheese sandwich and a Dr. Pepper, in between account appointments. It was nice to be back in a space that had been restored, re-imagined and reinvented for today. And on this day, we were in store for some delicious wines (and foods), with a nice dollop of education about Italian wine and specifically, Franciacorta.

The dining room at L'Albereta with Chef Marchesi looking on from afar

This time, Franciacorta came to us in Dallas and the restaurant provided a rare convergence of food with the wine that was quintessentially kismet.

Franciacorta Ambassador May Matta-Aliah started on time and the event lasted approximately 2 hours. Enough to learn a little about Franciacorta, taste three flights of wine (nine wines total) and sample them with seven small bites from the chefs at Mister Charles.

Wine Ambassadors come in a variety of styles and persuasions. There are the ?guns for hire? varieties, which can sometimes come off as ?shilling for dollars.? Then there are those who are engaged in the subject matter and present it in an educational yet entertaining manner. Ms. Matta-Aliah is from the latter camp. She gave a good background on the subject, complete with a nicely done Audio-Visual program. She didn?t belabor the presentation with personal anecdotes ? it wasn?t about her. She was professional and I came away knowing a more about the subject and the wines than before the seminar. And I?m fairly well versed in the wines and the area, having been immersed in Franciacorta a time or two. Well done! I could only imagine what the younger wine professional took away from this event ? as it had lots of useful information. 

And then there was the tasting.

We had three flights of three wines each, starting with the Sat?n, going to the Brut and finishing with the Ros? wines. And even though we are talking sparkling wine in the classic method, Franciacorta is more thought of as a wine to accompany food rather than a strictly celebratory sparkling beverage, which it also can be. But the Italian sensitivity is towards food with wine. Thus, the matched small bites were an additional point of illumination when it came to not just understanding Franciacorta, but also Italian wine, if not to Italian culture, altogether. How?s that for Italian-splaining?

First flight ? Sat?n ? served with Ossetra caviar and egg salad on toasted brioche, and spring pea goug?res, and truffle beignet, chive cr?me fra?che

Berlucchi Franciacorta Sat?n Brut 61 - Green nose, slightly buttery, acidic, sharp-Bright ? good finish.

Barone Pizzini Franciacorta Sat?n Brut 2019 ? Yeasty ? buttery, acidic, sharp citric and lean.

Castello Bonomi Franciacorta Sat?n Brut 2019 ? Evergreen, piney, fruity, lemon notes; bright slightly saor (ala Venice) ? savory

shrimp Cappelletti

Second flight ? Brut ? served with Blue Fin tuna crudo, Thai passion fruit dressing, and shrimp Cappelletti sauce velout?, Guajillo

Faccoli Franciacorta Brut ? Delicate fragrant nose, slight butteriness; well balanced; good fruit, nice length, good finish. (matched well with the tuna crudo).

Castelfaglia Franciacorta Brut ?Monogram? Blanc de Blancs ? Buttery, slight evergreen notes; thin, acidic, sharp (electric!)

Ca? del Bosco Franciacorta ?Dosaggio Zero? 2019 ? Saline nose, fleshy, slight butteriness. Thin (lean or skinny?) high acidity, good fruit, slightly spicy, some herbal quality. (Note: not too fizzy)

Third flight ? Ros? ? served with Seared scallop, roasted sunchokes, pomegranate, and Atlantic Halibut, cauliflower, sauce Vierge

La Montina Franciacorta Ros? Extra Brut ? Fleshy, iron (rust? arrugginita?), slightly bitter, possible reductive note (maybe from product seeing exposure to heat in transit or in warehouse?)

Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Ros? Brut ? rich nose, spicy; berry/raspberry notes. Nice balance, good fruit, but kind of an odd wine. Feels a little bit commercial.

Ferghettina Franciacorta Ros? Brut ? Straight Pinot noir (100%) lots of berry and savory notes.

(Didn?t go too well with the vinegary sauce Vierge.)

Overall, the wines showed well and there was a varied group of wines showing, from larger commercial houses to smaller boutique operations. Franciacorta is a small appellation, but inside the area there is a great deal of diversity in soil, exposure and climate. And of course, opinions on winemaking. It is Italy, after all.

I had a little laugh I shared with another participant, James LaBarba. James and I worked together from 1989-1992 at American Wine, started by his father Tony LaBarba. We sold Berlucchi (sparkling) and Ca? del Bosco (still and sparkling) back then, which was, for both of us, half-a-lifetime ago. I noted to James in casual conversation during a break, that our half-a-life-time ago was, for almost everyone else in the room, a lifetime ago, as most of the attendees were not born, back then when we were trying to get some traction for Franciacorta in Dallas and in Texas. Thankfully, now, we have a larger legion of younger professionals who can take up the torch and climb those mountains for Italy and Franciacorta wines. It is truly something to be grateful for, to watch the progression of the generations and the advances being made.

Thanks again to the Franciacorta Consorzio, and to Constance and to May, for making Dallas one of their stops. For too long, we were flyover country. But now, Texas, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and other urban areas, are seeing more immersion from the educational resources to forward the cause of Italian wine.

Lake Iseo

• Further writing on this blog, over the years, about Franciacorta

Inneggiamo, il Signor non ? morto.
Ei fulgente ha dischiuso l'avel.
Inneggiamo al Signore risorto?
oggi asceso alla gloria del Ciel!

So, it came to be, on a Friday at Noon, one week before Good Friday, that the proprietor of the fabled Tuscan estate, Il Carnasciale, landed in Dallas, between Slow Wine gigs in Austin and Denver for a quick twelve-hour sip and swirl with local chefs and sommeliers.

Upon meeting Moritz, he immediately presented as most affable and warm. He knew who I was, which is always a bit of a shock. We got down to talking about wine post haste.

Let me deviate for just a moment.

There are all kinds of people who get into the wine business, in the world and in Italy. Italy holds a special charm for many people, for the land is romantic and enchanting. If one bought into the place before the prices skyrocketed, it was a bargain. But Italy expects something back from their ?owners.? And that is to listen to the land, and in this case, the vines. On this property the vines were also outliers, or so it seems.

Caberlot has been called a ?cult? wine. When I hear that word, I tend to more think of Kool-Aid and Jim Jones, unfortunately. But the Latin and Greek word, cultus, focuses more on the process of cultivation. To inhabit, to tend, to care for. And in that way, I can perfectly imagine this wine to be made in the spirit of caring and salubriousness.

Sidebar: Mortiz told me something that I would also probably tell someone, if I were in his position. And that is that they have not genetically tested the grapes because they really don?t want to know at this point, don?t want to burst their bubble in case the grapes turn out to be different than what they had been told. I too would say that, on the record. But I sure as hell would want to know, just for curiosity?s sake. If they have, let it be their little secret. It doesn?t diminish the impact of the wine in my view.

This could really be a longer post, but I know our collective attention span doesn?t allow for an elaboration. So, let?s talk wines:

Second up was the 2020 Carnasciale. From the Caberlot vines and handled similarly to the Caberlot releases, but with a lighter touch with regards to ageing. I found the wine to be rich and velvety, quite lovely. The oak was present but not overbearing. It was well balanced and again, a really nice wine. Hovers in price between $70-90.

2019 Il Caberlot ? I found a little closed in ? deep colors and flavors ? spicy ? some oak ? tannic, but supple (think Harry Waugh?s famous ?tender tannins? appertaining to Latour). Long finish and highly perfumed. I kept going back to this wine, especially the aroma. They were wonderfully integrated. Just another lovely wine.

2018 Il Caberlot ? deeper flavors, purple fruits. The thing about this wine that struck me was that while this might be seen as an ?international? style of red wine, it definitely said ?Italy? and even more so ?Tuscany? to me. It had tannins galore, and the spice was well woven into the flavors, making the tannins seem not so stringent and unmovable. The fruit haloed all of this, of course. If I were younger, I?d put this in the wine closet for the future, for sure.

2017 Il Caberlot ? this one had a fleshiness to it in the initial handshake. It was open and warm and slightly tannic - We are talking 2017 here -and that was a dry, droughty year, preceded by an early spring frost which determined many things, crop size among them. The wine was aromatic and lush, a great effort considering the challenges of 2017. A gorgeous, if lighter wine. I could cellar this one in my dotage, easily.

The winery produces 20,000 bottles of which 70% are 1.5 liter magnums. So, a lot of 750ml bottles don?t make it to America, and even fewer to Texas. And the Caberlot wines, in 750ml, retail in the mid-to-high $200+ per bottle. In restaurants, expect to part with $600-1000 for the experience of having somebody pour it for you in public.

That would make this wine either a special occasion wine or a wine for people for whom spending a thousand dollars is like spending ten bucks. And Dallas has no shortage of that caste. So, it really is a wine made for this glitzy urban refuge of 8+ million souls. Or, a fortunate fraction.

I?m a fan ? I?m not ashamed to admit it. It?s a wine for the Royal Oak and Nautilus crowd, and sometimes I get invited to the table. I?ll concede from time to time. After all, it is a gift from Italy, and I am a son of Italy. So, I am grateful to her, and to Moritz, for dropping into our neighborhood and gracing us with his presence and his very wonderful wines. Or as we say in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex (DFW), these are ?DFW? (Delicious F***ing Wines!)

This past week, it was raining hard, and I needed to walk my new knee. So I went to the local mall, NorthPark Center, which is enclosed and dry and has a lot of great art and stores. It also has Eataly, an Italian emporium, a dozen places to get espresso, clean bathrooms, and some nice shops. I am into watches, so I like to look at the new offerings as I perambulate my way towards new-knee health. But recently I?ve tracked a trend in retail, which I have been sensing also happens in the world of wine ? the new gatekeepers.

Three incidents happened, almost at the same time.

Anyway, I waited behind a rope until the rent-a-cop gave me the OK to go in. I approached the table where the clerk was. We exchanged greetings and I explained to him that I had walked by this place probably hundreds of times but never gone in. ?This is my first time in.? I got a ?so what?? kind of look. I then told him a friend of mine was a big fan of these watches and I had noticed a watch on him that I liked, a Submariner. The clerk replied, ?We don?t have any in stock, these are just exhibition pieces.? Not a, ?Would you like to try our exhibition piece on your wrist and see how one might look?? No, nothing.

As the visit spiraled into what I considered an embarrassing and humiliating experience (one of the reasons why I never walked in the place until now) I realized this clerk was a gatekeeper, not a ferryman. He was not inclined to put my name on a list, just in case one of those watches showed up in the next few years. 

So, I skulked out of there, wondering why the hell did I go in there in the first place? It was exactly as I had feared it would be ? excruciatingly humiliating ? all because a clerk decided to play gatekeeper instead of experience unfolder.

A few days earlier we were in the same mall and there was a new restaurant that had just opened. It was 3:45PM and they were having a happy hour. I went up to the front desk and a bevy of young, well-dressed women were waiting to receive us. First they asked if I had a reservation. At 3:45 PM on a weekday? No. Then they asked my name, my phone number, my email. I asked them if this was necessary, we just wanted to try the place out. 

We have a nice Italian food and wine emporium in the mall, and we like to buy food, eat and walk around and see the new products. I decided to walk into the wine department and ask about a wine I once saw there. I spotted a gent who I had noticed in there a bit, he seemed to know the lay of the land. So, I asked him if he had the Erbaluce di Caluso in stock. ?What is the varietal,? he asked. ?Erbaluce,? I responded. ?From Piedmont, the Alta Langa.? I could have been speaking Klingon.

A small display of Erbaluce producers

I thanked him for his time and ambled off. I wasn?t looking for Gavi. Or Arneis. Or Sauvignon Blanc. Another teachable moment lost. (Then again, when I was in there one time, another clerk was trying to tell me Sassicaia had Sangiovese in it.) One would think, in a place like that, specializing in Italian wine, that the clerk would have been in the least curious? For God?s sake, they have a Trebbiano from Abruzzo in their ?reserve vault? for $1,000! Erbaluce is not out of their league. Or is it?

All this to signal a wariness that I am seeing in the world and also in the wine world. And that is a growing cadre of gatekeepers, trying to keep people from experiences rather than ferrying them over into new territory. What, someone out there says? What about the young kids and the crusade to put natural wines on the map?

Funny you should ask.

Here's the thing ? the folks we used to serve when I was a sommelier and a server, that we called customers, are now called guests. But now the guests need to be exposed to experiences that are curated by someone who is on a journey. It is no longer service. It is ?we will show you the way, you know nothing.? That is what service looks like in 2024. Welcome to Huxleyville.

We need fewer gatekeepers and more ferryman and women. Better listeners, not self-brand ambassadors. Devotees to service and study. 

Like the ferryman Vasudeva said in Siddhartha. ?The river has taught me to listen, from it you will learn it as well. It knows everything, the river, everything can be learned from it.?

? written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

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For the sake of this speculative exercise, though, I decided to erect a few hurdles. Here goes:

• They should not have any kind of affiliation with winery, importer, distributor, retailer or restaurant.
  

• They should not have any connection with any government or governmental agency, whether it be Italian, American, Chinese or any other country.
  

• They should be free of any attachment to any kind of awards program, wine competition, ambassador program, academy or marketing operations.
  

• They should not have any connection to any commercial concern that interacts with the Italian wine trade ? that would include public relations, ambassadorships, product endorser, paid influencer positions or trade show affiliations.
  

• They should not have any connection to any road show that Italian wineries participate in, whether it be gratis or pay-to-play. There should be a firewall between the expert and all commercial and trade related enterprises which seek to promote the role of Italian wines.
  

• They should never take free trips, junkets or participate in anything that might be seen as trying to influence the expert from an outside source.
  

• They should fully understand the classic traditional wines of Italy, the appellations, the sub-zones, the MGA?s, the DOC/DOCG wines and laws.
  

• They should also understand the new and incoming wines and wine styles and be able to place them in the larger context of Italian wine and what their place in that world is and where it is going.
  

• They should thoroughly understand every region, be fully briefed on the types of grapes Italian wine is made from as well as all the biotypes that exist and are being discovered in real time. They should understand the difference between a clone and a biotype and use the words correctly. Same goes for varieties and varietals.
  

• While they might be acquainted with various producers and importers of Italian wine, they should maintain a professional distance from them so as to not send any message of collusion, conflict of interest, or violation of anything of an ethical nature.
  

• They can write about, talk about, lecture on and even instruct others about Italian wine, so long as it does not favor any one wine or winery, region or marketing collective. They should share their knowledge and enthusiasm, by all means, but it should be objective.
  

• Rating wine when writing about them? The 100-point scale has been bastardized by some ?experts? to enrich themselves personally, so I would look for someone who does not abuse the 100-point scale. I understand why it had become accepted in today?s world, but I would prefer them not to use it, if at all possible.
  

So, where does that leave us? I realize there are a lot of hurdles placed herein, but I think in order to be the #1 Italian wine expert in the world, they must rise above the fray. Is there anyone out there? One person comes pretty damn close. Another one might have been, at one time, in the running. But they are running a larger concern and that would take away from their overall momentum, and income generating. Another one claims to be all things to Italian wine, but it comes with a price. That person has benefited greatly in financial terms, but they also are getting close to being seen as the George Santos of the Italian wine world.

Don?t expect the Italian government or any of their agencies to foster expertise at this level. There is still too much corruption and the temptation for the money grab is just too great for most people. I understand this, as the EU and Italy often throw so much money around, it?s like going out into the back yard and pulling weeds after a week?s long rain. Unfortunately, with those inclined, when they harness the power that allows them to influence the direction of wine, it usually doesn?t end well for them. Like I said, corruption in the highest levels of Italian wine, at the government level, is part of the tradition of the institution. It?s a shame, but it exists and is quite real.

In a perfect world, this person should be free of any pecuniary encumbrances, therefore able to go about the business of expertise without any concerns for income generating activities. Other than someone in academia, if they were independently wealthy, that would be a plus. But we don?t live in a perfect world, do we?

So, who is out there? Are they Italian? Are they American? Are they from China? Are they in England? Male? Female? Gender fluid? I?d ask for comments, but this is more of a ?think on it? piece.

That?s what I?m going to do, over a fresh bottle of Langhe Nebbiolo.

? written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

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Our paths first crossed 40 years ago, in 1984. It was my first business trip to Italy and I was with my friend and colleague Guy Stout. We had a duo of Italian restaurateurs with us and our guide Barone Armando de Rham, who represented Scavino to us in the U.S.

We were coming from Vinitaly, which in those days was a smallish (but growing) affair. Piedmont! It was so exciting to be going to the Burgundy of Italy, which was what we were told. In those days, the Italian wines and regions leaned on French equivalents, so the unknowing could find an entry point. Now, not so necessary, as Italian wine has become a force in the wine world.

1984 a very young yours truly at far left, Armando de Rham and Enrico Scavino -  photo by Guy Stout

Paolo Scavino

Enrico, daughter Enrica and Armando de Rham

What I remember about Enrico, and his whole family, was that they were pretty mellow. Driven yes, but calm. They looked at time in generational terms, something most Americans have a hard time gripping onto.

Thirty years later, in 2015, I returned to the winery, for the 30^th anniversary festivities for their crowning achievement, their Barolo Bric del Fiasc. Luminaries from all over the wine world flew in for the party, and we were lucky to be in Italy at the time and get invited. 

I always had a soft spot in my heart for Elisa, ever since she was a toddler. But the whole family emanated a warmth and a familiarity that was welcoming and engaging. One of the great things about being in the wine world, and getting to know and love the people in it.

When I got word that Enrico has passed, it saddened me. So many people in the wine world that I grew up with have left us. Or rather, left their little rivulets and gone on to the Greater Sea.

Indeed, after a period of swimming in the vinous river of the Langhe, Enrico has also gone into that Larger Presence.  Bon anima, amico. See you on the other side.

Meanwhile, I scroll past endless dinners and wine tastings from friends and colleagues. The effect is that some of these folks seem to be having an endless and moveable feast, from London to New York, Milan to Hong Kong. If I didn?t know better, I?d almost jump to the conclusion that some of my friends and colleagues might have a drinking problem. But that?s the problem with social media ? folks offer these brief snapshots of their life and it fills up the viewfinder, as if that were all they were doing. Of course, they are involved in other activities as well ? sleeping, bathing, paying bills, having sex, packing, traveling, waiting at airports, checking into hotels and taking out the garbage. But who wants to see any of that!

So, I asked myself, ?Am I drinking too much wine?? Last month notwithstanding, I took a look at my usage, based on what I depleted from my collection, which is tidily arranged on a spread sheet.

So, how does one know if they have a drinking problem, especially if one is involved in the trade? Well, it has always been expected that those in the job help promote the trade. And that involves popping corks and trying, promoting and encouraging others to imbibe as well. These days it might not be as politically correct to do so, but how does one balance the needs of one?s livelihood with the demands of one?s personal health? Is there a razor?s edge one must balance oneself upon in this quest to achieve work/life harmony?

A lot of questions. Not a lot of answers.

But alcohol is fun! There?s the buzz factor, which we rarely talk about in public, but which many folks muse over in private conversations. I?m not talking about getting snot-slinging drunk, just a wave of light exhilaration. Gotta be good for the blood pressure, no? So, how bad can it be in the long run?

When I had my tonsils taken out eight years ago, I stopped drinking any alcohol while recovering. I had a profusion of chemicals careening around my system: steroids, antibiotics, morphine, iodine, aspirin, ibuprofen. Alcohol was just one more toxic substance.

For myself, I know that I am not drinking too much wine. I?m not drinking as much as I?d like, even though right now that is a pretty low bar. I know I?m not addicted to the stuff. I?m not even sure how much I like it anymore, to be brutally honest. I?m not in love with it. But I like it, occasionally. Maybe it?s just autumn season of my life I?m in.

This is an attempt to reconfigure wines importance in my life. It was never front-stage-and-center. Wine, to me, is a marker within a more inclusive cultural setting. It?s an appendage, rather than the heart.

Years ago, I wrote this, and it bears repeating in my present stage of recovery: ?Coming out of the fog I found myself in these past few weeks, I realize that balance, not only in wine, but in life, is more important than acid, than minerality, than fruit, or wood, or expression or concentration. Too much of a good thing is just that ? too much.?

What about you, friends and readers? 

And then I heard an ancient song, by the Shangri-las, whispering lyrics to their hit song, ?Remember?:

(Remember) walking in the sand

(Remember) walking hand-in-hand

(Remember) the night was so exciting

(Remember) smile was so inviting

(Remember) then she touched my cheek

(Remember) with her fingertips

Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips

And then, I remembered.

The same day, a Saturday, 23 years ago to the day, February 17, 2001, I got a call from the care center where my wife Lizanne was. It was 5:30 AM. ?Mr. Cevola, you need to come. Your wife doesn?t have much more time.?

So, I got up, fed the cat, got dressed and headed out to say good-bye to my dear wife.

23 years later, how does it go? It goes. Life goes on, with or without us. But as I?ve witnessed in our age of social media, when friends of mine lose their mates too early or untimely, they let us know just how painful it is in the beginning. The truth is, it still is. It?s just that one lives to learn to endure the pain, to live with it. What else can you do?

The day of Liz?s passing, her best friend told me to come over and stay with them that night, to not be alone. I went home, got some things, fed the cat again, and headed over. We had a meal, some wine, and I went to bed in their guest room, which when Liz was her roommate, was once Liz?s room. As I was slipping into sleep, I felt Liz gently graze my arm with her touch, as she moved on into the greater cosmos. She was unbound, everything would be ok for her.

But I would find a way to stay the course. If only to honor the struggle she gave, by living the best life I could, for me and for her memory.

I?m not sure I excelled in that part. But I tried.

What I found out, along the way, was that things like work and career are highly over-rated. Sure, I raced up and down the wine trail in Italy for years until the race ended. And I took it so very seriously.

But love and family and peace and health and yes, happiness, are the Golden Fleece of this life for me. And for anyone listening, take heed. Your child is a million times more important than a placement, a blog post, an unforgettable meal or a once-in-a-lifetime 20-30-40-year vertical tasting of some fabulous wine property in Italy or France. Those pursuits are as dull as dishwater compared to the essential stuff of life.

One last note: I?ve kept a dream log every time I had a dream about Liz. I know her essence is still in my heart as well as running around the universe. Maybe one day, when I am no longer corporeal, our essences will dance together again, drink the wine of the cosmos, and everything will be as one, as the physicists tell us it is. Until then, I am here, 23 years to the day after, still loving, and still remembering our hand-in-hand walk, in the sands of time.