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Wine Travel Stories

In-depth Tales of Winery Visits Around the World

A Very Warm and Heartfelt Visit to Fuligni Winery

(Jan. 7, 2013) - The sun had just set as we left Casanova di Neri Winery to drive the short 10 minute distance to Fuligni Winery. The sky had turned to a lovely orange and the tall cedar trees were dark silhouettes against the sunset colors. Unfortunately as we wound our way down the hill, we missed the sharp left turn into Fuligni and had to go to the bottom of the Montalcino hill before we could turn the bus around. Then once we arrived, the bus was too large to enter the narrow driveway without scrapping against the long [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:55:04-08:00January 29, 2013|
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Visiting Casanova di Neri Winery – Home of Award Winning Brunellos

Jan. 7, 2013 - Our appointment at Casanova di Neri Winery wasn’t until 3:30, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in Montalcino without being rushed. However, we ended up being late for our appointment because as the bus was heading down the hill towards the winery, we encountered a funeral procession with a priest and a cop leading it. The cop refused to let us pass, so we had to follow the procession for 20 minutes until they finally turned in the opposite direction. Viticulture Practices at Casanova di Neri Pier Luigi met us at the winery door and immediately [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:55:29-08:00January 25, 2013|
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Visiting Montalcino – Hilltop City and Bastion of Brunello

Jan. 7, 2013 – As we left Florence to drive the 1.5 hours to Montalcino, the fog was just lifting from the city, and as we crested the hilltop with the bronze statue of David, we could look back and see all of the red-tiled roofs and domes of Florence gleaming in the sunlight. However the blue sky was short-lived as we headed south into Chianti Classico and the fog shrouded the bus again. It was only as we climbed the last twisting turns of the road into the small hilltop town of Montalcino that we burst out of the [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:55:49-08:00January 21, 2013|
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A Free Sunday in Lucca – City of Red Tiled Roofs

Jan. 6, 2013 – Since the 6th of January is an important religious holiday in Italy, we did not schedule any winey visits, and instead provided a free day. Many members of our group took the train the Venice, but Janeen and I decided to go to Lucca. We had both been to Venice before several times, but the city of Lucca was still unknown to us. I awoke rather hungry, as we didn’t eat any dinner the night before. We had decided to eat large lunches, and just have cheese and wine for dinner for the remainder of the [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:56:06-08:00January 16, 2013|
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Badia a Coltibuono – An Organic Winery in an 11th Century Abbey

(Jan. 5, 2013) - Before arriving at our 2:30pm appointment at Badia a Coltibuono, we stopped in the small town of Radda where Janeen had made a reservation to eat lunch at La Botte di Bacco Restaurant. This turned out to be one of the best meals of my trip. Lunch at La Botte di Bacco in Radda We started with a glass of local vermintino and a fresh salad mista. They served this with a big basket of mixed breads, including a very delectable mini-fried bread, which were addictive and hard to stop eating. In general, I usually do [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:56:26-08:00January 14, 2013|
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Visiting Castello de Verrazzano in Chianti Classico Italy

Jan. 5, 2013 – The next day, we boarded the bus at 8:45 to drive to Chianti Classico and our scheduled visit with two wineries. On the bus, I provided a brief overview of the DOCG regulations for this region, including the mandatory 80% sangiovese rule with the remainder 20% up to the winery where they can use other grapes such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and the traditional caniolo and colorino. As of 2006, white grapes are no longer allowed in Chianti Classico red wine. We also reviewed the production method of the famous dessert wine of the region, [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:56:45-08:00January 13, 2013|
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Arriving in Tuscany and Walking Tour of Florence Italy

Jan. 3, 2013 – Our group of 28 California wine professionals left San Francisco at 7:30pm on Swiss Air Flight to Florence with a 2 hour stop-over in Zurich. Though a long flight with over 12 hours of flight time, Swiss Air was quite generous in giving us two meals and plenty of Prosecco as well as a house white and red wine. Everyone was quite excited to be going on a 10 day wine tour of Tuscany. We were met at the Florence Airport by our EF College Tour Guide, Linda, who efficiently loaded us on a bus and [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:57:13-08:00January 12, 2013|
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The Flourishing Missouri Wine Industry and Visiting Stone Hill, Home of the Norton Grape

Oct. 28, 2012 – I am in St. Louis for two days preparing to embark on a Mississippi River Board cruise where we will celebrate the Historic Wineries of America. As part of the pre-cruise outings, we spent an afternoon driving about one hour west of the city to the small town of Hermann, home to some of the oldest wineries in Missouri, including the famous Stone Hill Winery that I have wanted to visit for years. According to the listing on the Missouri Wine Roads app there are around 120 wineries in Missouri. They were primarily settled by German [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:57:32-08:00December 16, 2012|
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Wine Judging Trip to Blue Mountains of Australia and Lillianfels Resort

October 2012 - During the second week of October, I was honored to be invited to participate in the Sydney International Wine Competition in Australia with 12 other wine judges from around the world. Two of us arrived on the non-stop flight from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday morning at 7:30am and took a taxi ($15 with tip) to the Mercure Airport Hotel where they had reserved a day room so we could shower before meeting the rest of our group at 10am. We then boarded a small bus and drove the 1.5 hours into the Blue Mountains and [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:57:50-08:00November 14, 2012|
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Average Vineyard Worker Wages in South Africa – Emerging as a BRICS Country

Sept. 2012 - Several times throughout my wine trip to South Africa I asked winemakers the average wage they paid their vineyard workers. The answer was it depends on the region, as well as whether or not the workers have housing and benefits on the property. In terms of regional pay differences, it appears that Stellenbosch pays the highest wages at 170 Rand ($21) per day for a basic vineyard worker who does not live on the estate. Wineries in Cape Point and the Constantia region said they paid 120 – 150R per day ($15 - $18). In Swartland I [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:58:09-08:00November 11, 2012|
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Last 24 Hours in Capetown, South Africa – Diamond and Red Bus City Tour

Sept. 29 – 30, 2012 - After our tour of Meerlust, we returned to Capetown where almost everyone in our group caught night flights home. As a flight was not available for me, I checked back into the Cullinan Hotel and then walked downtown to go on the 30-minute free diamond tour at Jewel Africa. This was informative, and they explain to you how diamonds are mined, cut, where the term “carat” comes from, and provide an overview of the world’s most famous diamonds. On the walk back, I bought more souvenirs at a small street market (much better prices [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:58:43-08:00November 9, 2012|
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Wine Tasting & Vineyard Tour at Meerlust Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa

Sept. 29, 2012 - After breakfast, we spent an hour shopping in downtown Stellenbosch. This is a charming town with historic buildings, tree-lined streets, and fun shops. It is a great place for tourists, and is also home to the famous Stellenbosch University. Next we drove to Meerlust Wine Estates near the town of Stellenbosch. Here over fifty palm trees line the driveway as you entered the gates and approach the historic Cape Dutch Architecture of the winery (see photo). Even the rain that spattered our windshield could not dampen our spirits as we passed the vineyards and a large [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:59:03-08:00November 6, 2012|
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Devon Valley Hotel in Stellenbosch, South Africa & Jamming with Amazink Live in Township

Sept. 2012 - We left the Swartland wine region around 5:30 and drove back to Stellenbosch where we checked into the lovely Devon Valley Hotel. This is a long, elegant country inn perched on a hillside overlooking the vineyards. I was given a magnificent room decorated in purple and gold with a king size bed, fireplace, huge bathtub, and an expansive vineyard view. The downside was I only was able to enjoy the room for about 90 minutes while fully awake. It was still raining softly when we arrived, and as we were running late, I only had 30 minutes [...]

By |2021-01-23T15:59:24-08:00November 5, 2012|
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Visiting Swartland, South Africa – Renegade Winemaker’s Paradise

Friday, Sept. 28 – The next morning the skies above Capetown were overcast and the day was cool. After the breakfast buffet, we boarded the van and drove almost one hour northwest to Swartland, which is known as a warmer viticulture climate and home to some very historic vineyards and “big reds”. Swartland also has a reputation for spawning “renegade winemakers” with a bent towards natural, organic wines and innovative blends and styles. Sadie Family Wines – Tour of Historic South African Vineyards Our first stop was the Sadie Family Vineyards where winemaker Eben greeted us and provided a tour [...]

By |2021-01-23T16:31:48-08:00November 4, 2012|
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Constantia Wine Tasting & Lunch at Steenberg Estate, South Africa

Sept. 27, 2012 - After walking through the beautiful vineyards at Cape Point, we discovered that the fuel pump of our transport van had gone out. Therefore we were delayed for almost an hour before back-up transport arrived so we could continue our trip to Steenberg Winery in Constantia. Fortunately Constantia, which is really a suberb of Capetown, was only a 20 minute drive from Cape Point Winery. As we drove the clouds descended and it started to rain. The tasting included six producers from Constantia, which is the oldest wine growing region in South Africa and boasts the legendary [...]

By |2021-01-23T16:30:37-08:00November 1, 2012|
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