My next great idea . . . selling vino sfuso here in the US! Get your bottles ready . . .

You can't really see it, but it says "gradazione alcolica 10,5%"!

I would assume that is for the liter but I didn't ask . . . 

When you see the funny money . . . it can only mean one thing!

Love me some Euro!

Verona by night . . .

Found some pictures of Verona I took in April while wandering around the city at night.  After downloading them from the camera, I just forgot I had them and moved on but I looked again and found something in them that I had passed by when immediately home from my trip.  I love cities, especially medieval cities, at night; there is a stillness to them and silence to them you don't find in modern cities.

 I stopped at this square and then realized that underneath all the arches were homeless people sleeping.

Crossing the bridge and looking towards the Ponte Pietra . . . 

 And moving the camera a little too much . . . but I like it . . .

 

Found this inner courtyard of a palazzo in Verona just by following my nose . . .

Wisteria or Glicine in Italian and every side of the courtyard was covered with this vine that must have been over 100 years old. A great way to start the day!

Tasting wine @ VinoVinoVino in Cerea (how do you say "po'dunk cow-town" in Veneto?) and all our old friends and some new ones are here . . .

New vintages of Ronco Severo are on the way. But I am not sure which wines yet.

I tasted all the whites but really love the reds so we will have to see.

Ooooh, what's that? Costadila` 450 SLM in magnum with a cool new screwcap?

And really, when you get the chance to taste a whole bunch of vintages of Emidio Pepe . . . who would turn that down? By far, the best of the reds was the 2005 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and the best of the whites was the 2002!

You can tell you are in a city in Italy when . . .

when the guy across the courtyard is drying his fish caught in the river underneath his water heater on the balcony. Nice.

Yes, they still have these in Italy and yes, they still are very difficult to manage . . .

especially when you have half a gallon of wine in you.

Although, as Italian toilet holes go, this one was pretty darn clean!

For all my friends from the Monte Cengio, Padova, days, over 20 years ago, here is a blast from the past!

My good friend, Max M'bassado Marzio, came to visit me in Verona and we wandered around and had dinner in the University area. It was great to see him and shoot the breeze. Hopefully he will make it to L.A. this year to meet the babies and his little buddy Max, who will want to chase him around and play soccer with him.

My new transportation in Italy is the Fiat 500 . . .

which is making its way to our shores as we speak since Fiat now owns 1/2 of Chrysler. It is pretty fun to drive!

L'Union de Gens des Metiers @ VinItaly 2011

Hi all,

The Union of Tradespeople or the Union de Gens des Metiers or just UGM is getting together, as they do once a year, this time at Vinitaly to do a special tasting of their best wines. Hosted by Aldo, Milena and the whole Vaira family, these winemakers, like Benjamin Dagueneau, The Foucault brothers (Clos Rougeard), Francois Chidaine, Alain Graillot, Elois Durrbach (Travallon), Jean-Marc Roulot and a whole host of others, will present one wine each to a select group passionate wine professionals. The details are below and attached. Please contact Giuseppe Vaira to make your reservation if you happen to be at VinItaly and want to take a break from the fine Italian wines and go over the Alps for a brief sojourn in France!

Cheers.

Justin

The Tasting

Terroirs UGM

Friday 8^th of April, VinItaly at Verona

in room C, on the first floor, between pavilions 8 e 9

fifteen winegrowers of the

Union des Gens de Métier (UGM)

They will tell their story using the lens of their most representative wine.

Two sessions from which to choose:

from 11am to1 pm

or

from 3:30 alle 5:30

Entrance is free, but spots are limited

To participate, please contact us with your name and the session you have chosen

by writing to Giuseppe at: gsvaira@alice.it

To listen in: http://terroirs-ugm.blogspot.com