Clik here to view.
The End of the Golden Age of Wine
Wine, associated with appreciation and enjoyment and part of a cultural and culinary movement that was defined by the freewheeling social and economic post-World War II era, succumbed in America today...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sunset Trip
It seems, more and more lately, that aging folks just can’t step away from the dais. Whether it is confined to the wine and spirits trade (and that includes those who write about it) all the way down...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Depthless Abyss
Somewhere in time - when you remember another time - things were deeper, truer, bluer, more connected to a believable reality. But here we are, with this pitiful excuse for a genuine moment. We’ve come...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oh, The People You’ll Meet! (At a Wine Trade Tasting)
Oops!... I did it again - Went to a wine trade tasting and seminar. Something I used to do, lots and lots of, when I was visible. But now, it is a rare appearance I make for these things. In any event,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Wine That Wasn’t - Anymore
I’m just going to come right out and say it: I don’t like being me anymore. I was born a wine, but I’m tired of being locked up in this dark, dank, confined space, year after year. If this is living, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Bullshit-ification of the Italian Wine and Food Experience in America
Inspired by Jon Lovitz of Saturday Night Live fame... I had an epiphany recently. And it was, the new reality in America is that the old maxim – Money talks, Bullshit walks– has been hacked. It appears...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who in Hell Knows Where This Ride is Going?
In Memory of Patty Wright-Ferrini... Yesterday a dear, good friend died. We met in college, that’s how long we go back in time. She was a force of nature, always positive and upbeat. Not to say she...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happiness, happiness…
…everybody wants happiness. Round and round we all do race, everybody looking in a different place. Yeah, pretty much how it seems. I see so many wine professionals rushing all over the globe, living...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tariff Tornado Season: Steering Alee from Excess Wind, Dross and Excisions
"It's like déjà vu all over again" -Yogi BerraThere appears to be no bottom in the hustle to bloviate and sully us with all the excess bullshit that is being produced these days. Now we’re being sucked...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First there is a tariff, then there is no tariff, then there is.
Learning to love wine again in the era of Patrioligarchy“Welcome to earth. Please take a glass and a seat. Someone will be with you shortly.”I was hoping for a haiku, but the words were too long. It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Break
Back next week... © written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy wine blog + Italian wine blog + Italy W
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where Does Italian Wine Go From Here?
The Quo Vadis ChroniclesLet’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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The ˈknobbly road of business, camaraderie and wine compiling
Gran Sasso - AbruzzoFor 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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Memoriam: The Death of a Loved One
From the archivesIn 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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“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,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Much Do Wine Expert Ratings Matter?
Luciano Pavarotti and young fan at Golden Gate Park, San FranciscoIn the last year, I have been consulting with my local Italian wine shop, primarily making point-of-sale materials (shelf-talkers) for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From the Archives: Featured Father ~ A Modern Day Marco Polo
In Memory of Hank Rossi, who left us last year... Watch out, Bin Laden, "AK-47 Rossi" is on your tailEnrico “Hank” Rossi has the wandering spirit. Oh, and he likes to wear black, makes it easy to pack...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine on lists starting @ $100, concert seats @ $1,000, cars that run...
It finally dawned on me - We all live in a yellow submarine– now I know what it means. A submarine, a bubble, a fantasy world, that’s where we’ve landed. While multitudes of innocent children, women...
View ArticleClik here to view.
That ain’t Italy, folks – Tourism in the 21st Century
The image above was taken from the Instagram site of a hotel I stay at occasionally in Rome. It is their way, I suppose, to offer up a fantasy view of a Rome that is Disney-like in its aspirational...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Service of Italian Wine
Now that I am “retired” I’ve spent some time reflecting on the years I worked in the wine trade. I am glad I survived those years, for I have a list of men and women who didn’t. At first, I thought it...
View Article