What 4 years of school and 20+years of study =

Weekend Getaway

http://www.kiawrites.com/articles/articl_14.pdf

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Delerium Tremens....what more can I say

Their hard work has been enjoyed by many @ BigSurFood&Wine

Fwd:

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Thomas <tperez36@yahoo.com>
Date: October 30, 2010 11:41:25 AM PDT
To: Mysweet Perez <healinghappy@gmail.com>

Thomas Perez Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group Wine Director Sent from my iPhone

Fwd:

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Thomas <tperez36@yahoo.com>
Date: October 30, 2010 11:51:38 AM PDT
To: Mysweet Perez <healinghappy@gmail.com>

Eilat Hills Vineyard



Thomas Perez Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group Wine Director Sent from my iPhone

Eola Hills AVA Willamette Valley Oregon, Harvest 2010.



Thomas Perez Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group Wine Director Sent from my iPhone

Caretaker

Practicing to keep the winery looking good durring harvest!!

GOOD NEWS

Willamette Valley...Brooks winery is as close to harvest in burgandy:
bad news Did not pack enough warm clothes....

2010 Eola Hills Pinot Noir

4 Reasons to Celebrate Non-GMO Month

Did you know that October is the first official Non-GMO Month? This month, retail stores nationwide will celebrate the consumer's right to be informed of foods and products that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

What exactly are GMOs again?

GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms, are products of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE), which creates new combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes by combining DNA from one species with DNA from another. The result: new organisms that do not occur in nature.

GMOs are often not labeled as such. In many developed nations, GMO products are heavily restricted or banned altogether because they have yet to be proven safe for people's health and the health of the environment. However, in the U.S. there is a dearth of public awareness of the potentially harmful repercussions of GMO products.

Here are four more reasons why you should celebrate Non-GMO Month this October and empower yourself to make the right decisions for you and your family.

1. Human Health

Currently, seed companies prohibit independent research with their products, leaving very little empirical data available.

2. Environmental and Animal Health

Genetically engineered crops can cause a variety of destructive problems on the surrounding environment. Farmers who use GMO crops can spray their fields to kill everything growing in the area except the specific GMO food crop. The increased use of pesticides and herbicides often leads to superweeds, which then become resistant to the same pesticides, creating the need for stronger, more toxic pesticides (that can leach into our food and water sources!).

3. Moral and Ethical Concerns

Some people question whether genetically altered crops and species threaten and violate the natural order of an environment. Also, genetic modification may involve the creation of foods that are prohibited by certain groups (e.g., the use of animal genes may conflict with some religions, as well as the diets of vegetarians and vegans).

4. Labeling Concerns

Whether you decide to limit or restrict your consumption of GMO products, the right to know what is in our food is important. Research has shown that many Americans would choose not to have GMO products if aware and given the choice.

When shopping for food, it's a valuable practice to stop and ask yourself the basic question: Where does it all come from? It's time for us to be food detectives.

Here are a few ways you may be able to consume fewer GMO products:

• Buy produce and other food items from farmers' markets.
• Start conversations with the people selling your food to get more information.
• Grow your own food in a garden at home or join a community garden.
• Join a corporate garden or co-op to know where items are coming from.

To help you choose the right foods, check out the Non-GMO Project's iPhone App Shopping Guide and the Non-GMO Shopping Guide.

How will you celebrate Non-GMO month?

To read the full article by Integrative Nutrition Founder Joshua Rosenthal go to The Huffington Post.

http://blog.integrativenutrition.com/connect/blog/2010/10/4-reasons-to-celebrate-non-gmo-month

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Wine Politics and the Emperor's New Clothes

In two weeks Washington State voters will decide the fate of the state's three tier system. This vote is the most consequential initiative concerning alcohol regulations any state in America has put to the voters many years.

The money in opposition to what is called Initiative 1100 comes from beer and wine wholesalers...across the country, not merely in Washington State.

Why do America's alcohol wholesalers oppose Initiative 1100? Very simply because it is an example of leveling the playing field and withdrawing the wholesalers many state-mandated protections folded into the three tier system that allow them to control the alcohol distribution system and guarantee themselves income earned by virtue of their place in the three tier system, not their performance or value.

What does Initiative 1100 do?

1. Takes the state out of the business of being the retailer of spirits through state stores

2. Gives private wine and beer retailers the right to sell spirits

3. Allow retailers and restaurants to buy spirits, beer and wine directly from producers, going around wholesalers

4. Allow volume discounts from producers to retailers/restaurants

5. Eliminate price controls

6. Allow retailers to warehouse their inventory and distribute it themselves to their various stores

7. Allow retailers to buy on credit

Alcohol wholesalers don't want any of this because it removes laws and restrictions that help wholesalers unnecessarily dominate the sale and distribution of alcohol. But their real fear is that these kind of sensible, consumer friendly, market-friendly reforms might spread to other states.

Recently at the Beer Wholesalers of America's National Convention in Illinios, the Wholesalers Chairman, Mitch Watkins called the move in Washington "a real and immediate threat". He's right. It is a threat to the kind of hacker's high handicap the wholesalers have been granted by the states.

Wholesalers make a lot of noise about just wanting to "protect" a system that "protects consumers" and "has for more than 75 years". Don't believe it for a second. That kind of rhetoric, if true, would represent the first time that an commercial industry supported something not because it benefits them but supposedly benefits others. The argument is similar to what the wholesalers have said about H.R. 5034, a bill in Congress that would prevent challenges to unconstitutionally discriminatory alcohol laws. Wholesalers argue that they've spent millions of dollars to pass this law because states need to be protect from lawsuits challenging their alcohol laws. In what imaginary universe have private companies decided that their primary mission is to protect the state from lawsuits? The wholesalers use doublespeak. Plain and simple.

What's weird is at their conventions and meetings the wholesalers themselves sit and listen to their own representatives tell them that the emperor is sporting some amazing new duds while they know full well he's completely naked. And they sit there and nod their heads approvingly. There's a name for sitting and listening approvingly to lies.

To-date, the anti-Initiative 1100 campaign has raised over $8 million, most of it from alcohol wholesalers around the country and with more than $2.4 million form the Beer Wholesalers of America an the Beer Institute alone. Recently the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America have thrown over $250,000 in the effort to kill reform in Washington State though an organization ridiculously named, "People for Responsible Liquor Law".

If Initiative 1100 passes a variety of things will come to pass:

1. Consumers will have greater choice in their alcoholic beverages

2. Consumers will see lower prices for alcoholic beverages

3. Retailers will be freer to source product from a wider array of suppliers, allowing them to better serve their customers

4. The alcohol distribution system will become a fairer and more just system

With any luck, Initiative 1100 will pass in Washington State and will be followed up with similar initiatives in other states where the emperor is declared to have no clothes.

http://fermentation.typepad.com/fermentation/2010/10/wine-politics-and-the-emperors-new-clothes.html

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Sommelier starts a winery

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjVfXBxvdg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Are you stocked up for your Halloween party??

Spätburgunder Eiswein...

I enjoyed a rare wine from the Rheingau, a late-harvest Pinot Noir. Only in Germany!!!



Thomas Perez Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group Wine Director Sent from my iPhone

DATE NIGHT

MY Fantastic husband took me out for a few hours on the town.......Akiono is the BEST restaurant in Carmel. Seriously
monk fish liver, yellow tail was the best ever
. Mundaka for a beer out of cidra vaso, made
me want to be on one of the greatest streets = GASCONA.

Brown's Best on Cantinetta Luca and L'auberge Carmel

The wine list is a dazzling array of Italian bottles (and 25 offerings by the glass). Thomas Perez is also responsible for this cellar. And there he was by my table – as always, the friendliest and most affable of fellows – to sort out for me a glass of vanilla-laden Tuscan chardonnay (Cabreo, La Pietra, 2007 - $16) and a bottle of big, muscular barbera d’asti from Piedmont (La Spinetta, Ca di Pian, 2006 - $67). It was a joy to see Thomas again and to benefit from his expertise.

Special Edible: Saturday: Made for Farm Fun

Special Edible: Saturday: Made for Farm Fun: "No fewer than three cool local gardening/farming open houses sprouted up this Saturday (tomorrow)—including one starring a couple who abando..."

Swiss Wine.....

After talking with my grandma yesterday and finding out many of my relatives on fathers side are from Switzerland (not sure why I never knew that?), it made me think about traveling and how to lure my husband into going there.

Swiss Wine: The Best Wine You've Never Tasted
by Victoria Daskal
“It’s difficult to export wine because we drink a lot” is the response I got when asking why Swiss wine does not exist on the international market.

Switzerland, a tiny independent country in the heart of Europe with a population of 7.5 million, is divided further by languages; French, Italian, German, and Romanche. While each region is actively involved in wine production, the most action occurs in the French part, specifically in the cantons Neuchatel, Geneva, Vaud and Valais. Lakes and rivers play a large role in regulating the effects of the Alps. Most of these vineyards grow on steep south facing slopes with increased sun exposure; Neuchatel vines sit by a small lake of the same name, Geneva and Vaud stretch over the northern part of Lake Geneva (or locally known Lac Leman), and Valais vineyards follow the banks of the famed Rhone River through a narrow valley. With such extreme topographies at once including mountainous terrain, large bodies of water, and every type of soil in between, these vineyards can sustain over a hundred grape varieties.

In Valais alone (which is the most productive canton, accounting for over 40% of Swiss wines) there are 49 varieties under the AOC Valais label. Still the most prevalent varieties are Pinot Noir, Chasselas, and Gamay. There is also a rising interest in local grapes (Cornalin, Petit Arvine and Humagne Rouge) and to varieties that are well suited for the Valais conditions such as Syrah and Pinot Gris.

LATE HARVEST

I was just reading a post from Dr. Maki Takashima of Monterey Naturopath and she gives us all a reminder to be grateful and appreciative. I wish as humans we were (or at least myself)not so inclined to focus on goals, resistance, or what we need to change in our lives to be happier or feel more satisfied. How many times do we have to be told that happiness is not a destination and if we could just lighten up, ALL WILL FOLLOW.

"It is said that energy of Gratitude/Appreciation/Thankfulness can clear your aura and raise your vibration. You can change dense energy to finer vibrational energy. Your heart will lighten and open up, which can lead to healing of the physical body. Even for people who do not believe in energy or metaphysical things, you feel good when people appreciate you. You can look at situations in more positive ways even when things are not going the way you would like to be.

Let's find something you are grateful for. Even small things. Being able to drink a cup of tea before bed, your friend listened to you complain, amazing cells in your body working their function nonstop, your pet brings you joy, your nice clothes to wear, etc...anything is fine. If that happens to be a person, express to the person how grateful you are. And it is not out of the obligation, but something from your heart."

Recipe
Last year executive pastry chef Ron Mendoza of Mirabel H&R, took first place in the annual "Golden Scoop Award" competition in New York City. Following is a simple dessert that is sure to make a memorable impression at your next dinner party.


Herb infused Panna Cotta
by Ron Mendoza

2C milk
2C cream
1/2C sugar
3 fresh bay leaves or herbs of your choice
4 gelatin sheets, rehydrated in ice water***can be found at Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table

Bring milk, cream, sugar, and herbs to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 20 minutes.

Return to a simmer and add gelatin (which has been strained from water), remove from heat and strain.

Pour panna cotta into cups or glasses. Chill 4 hours until set.

Top panna cotta with fruit of your choice, diced into bite size pieces. Garnish with herbs and shaved white chocolate or crushed graham crackers.

The highlight of this dish is that the panna cotta is very soft and creamy. "I enjoy the way it is set in a glass because I can build up from it in a parfait style which leaves a wonderful presentation," shares Ron.

It's FALL!!!

Fall is the best! The best weather and the best fruits and vegetables. Don't forget that when you have the sweetest, freshest ingredients you do not ave to do anything. Here is a reminder of how easy it is to make dinner this time of year.
Directions:
Choose 2-5 of the vegetables listed below.
Chop the hardest ones, like carrots and other root vegetables into smaller pieces.
Softer vegetable, like onions, can be cut into larger chunks.
Add vegetables into a pot in layers. Place the thickest on the bottom. It will cook more than the ones on top.
Add about 1 inch of water to the pot and cook until vegetables are soft.
Empty vegetables into a large bowl and use leftover cooking water as a delicious sweet sauce.
Notes: Any vegetables such as: corn, carrots, onions, beets, winter squash and sweet potato have a deep, sweet flavor when cooked. Other less known sweet vegetables like turnips, parsnips and rutabaga, also taste sweet when cooked

check out more simple and super healthy recipes on http://www.integrativenutrition.com/connect/recipes/205

Win a Bottle Of Newly Released Sebastian '08 Pinot Noir
What is your favorite Pairing?
Personal favorite food-wine pairing: "Scottish wild grouse terrine with Pink Moscato. It might seem silly, but the terrine being thick and rich, needs something light, fresh and vibrant to cleanse your palette. It's delicious."

As this blog is growing into your source for wine health & food and wine pairings, You Must know where it is all comming from:

Thomas Perez is wine director for Aubergine and Cantinetta Luca

At night the war always crept back into his head, and he would awake in sweat-soaked sheets, trying to shake those familiar images of death.
Yet suddenly, not long ago, the nightmares stopped, with his own wine aging in the bottle and a child on the way. Only then did Thomas Perez sleep through the night. The man, now content and successful in his adopted country, finally outran his childhood.

To truly understand Perez, wine director for Aubergine and Cantinetta Luca in Carmel, and winemaker for his own Kristi-Lynn label, one needs to look beyond the Italian suits, the Latin locks and the Carmel charm. Go back to 1984, when two humble farmers in El Salvador sent their 13-year-old son Tom s to America to escape the civil war that was tearing apart their country.

Since the age of 9, Perez had lived in fear as the military-led government fought a bloody, 12-year battle against the left-wing guerrillas, a brutality that would ultimately claim 75,000 lives.

"The war started so fast and intensely that there was no time for training," said Perez, now 39, recalling his formative years growing up in La Union, in southern El Salvador. "They gave you a gun to shoot and you were ready. The most recurrent dreams were of either myself or my parents being kidnapped — or my family being murdered or disappearing."

In those days, people often disappeared. If they ever returned, they came home in pieces, a grisly reminder of war and intimidation. Human heads adorned fence

posts, and death became routine. In the countryside, security forces tortured and killed campesinos, shooting up their houses and burning their crops.
Simple, honest people like the Perezes, unsure of which side to live for, or die for, found themselves attending rallies for both. Confusion and fear paralyzed the populace.

So they sent their son away, with a 14-day visa and a scrap of paper scribbled with an address in Mexicali, Mexico, where he met a woman, a coyote, who drove the boy all the way to Pacific Grove to live with his much-older brother, who had already fled the war.

Tomas was now Thomas, and his new life had begun.

A privileged world

"What do you think, Tommy?" asked a dapper man in a dark suit, who had carefully poured 10 reds from Bordeaux before asking his young charge to taste and deliver his assessment.

It was 1989, and Thomas Perez, a young busser at the prestigious Pacific's Edge restaurant at Highland's Inn in Carmel, had stepped into a whole new world.

"I was captivated," he said. "But I didn't know much about wine, and I didn't know how to describe it. I was overwhelmed."

He froze, but pointed to his four favorites (four grand cru labels, and the four most expensive and noteworthy).

He was 18, brown-skinned, and spoke little English — and he dared to step out from the back of the kitchen into a world of rich, white folk who sipped and swirled and spoke in an eloquent, poetic manner about wine.

But he had developed a thirst, and on that day it became his life's quest to quench it.

Altogether, Perez worked 10 years at Highlands Inn, as a busser, a breakfast waiter and finally, unbelievably, as sommelier. He worked at 10 of the annual Masters of Food & Wine events, an extravaganza featuring the world's top chefs and vintners. "The influence and opportunity to learn was unbelievable," he said.

The dapper man in the suit was Mark Jensen, then the wine director at Highlands Inn.

"Tommy always had big infectious smile, and I loved his work ethic," said Jensen, now the wine director at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley. "He learned to trust himself and let the wine speak to him. He has a tremendous palate."

Encouraged by Jensen and David Fink, then the general manager at Highlands, in 1998 Perez abruptly decided to empty his meager savings account and leave for Europe to complete his wine education.

The call to his parents didn't go well.

"'You're going to quit working?' my mom asked (which I did)," said Perez. "'You're going to spend your life savings?' (which I did), 'and drink wine for a month?' (which I did).

"She didn't understand that I was following my dream."

Fink understood. "I always saw this passion and drive in him," he said. "He's got this beautiful heart that is meant to be around people. It's the heart of a servant."

Of course, a servant means something else entirely to his mother. Señora Perez does not understand the tailored suits, the $100 bottles of wine, that insatiable American desire to claim the best of everything.

"It is extremely difficult for them to grasp the life I lead today," Perez said of his parents, who still make their home in La Union. "These are two completely different worlds we are living in. The hard part is, that world will always be a part of me, but they have no piece of the world I live in and have created."

Determined to succeed

It was never easy, creating this world. He lived with his brother, 15 years his senior, but really he raised himself. Somehow he got himself up every morning, attended school and learned English.

"Life gives you choices," he said. "I could have gotten into trouble, but I was determined to succeed."

After his tour through Europe, he joined Jensen at Bernardus, then a new, upscale resort determined to make a culinary impact with its restaurant, Marinus, and local winery. Perez started as head waiter before quickly becoming a sommelier.

And, finally, after 16 years working in this country, he became an American citizen.

But again he grew impatient, and in 2001 abruptly quit his job, sold his growing wine collection and left for Spain to attend the Escuela Superior de Enologia del Pais Vasco, where he received his masters in oenology and viticulture. "I wanted to go to school in a European country because of the history of winemaking there," he said. "I wanted to learn it all."

While attending school, he made time to work the harvest in 2002 with Jean Francois at Domaine Coche-Dury in Meursault, France, and in 2003 with Fidel Fernandez at Bodegas Luis Cañas Villanueva de Alava, Spain.

In 2004 he returned to the Peninsula, where Fink was waiting with a job offer to run the wine program at his newly opened L'Auberge Carmel.

Fink knew he had something special in Perez, now a worldly wine scholar with an impeccable palate.

Two dreams remained — starting a family and making his own wine. He fell in love with Kristi Markwalker, a server at Fink's third Carmel restaurant, Cantinetta Luca, and they married in 2007. Two sons followed.

Fink's brother Jeff makes wine in Santa Barbara County under the Tantara label, and David Fink directed Perez there. Perez took the science of winemaking to heart, tasting berries from single vineyards throughout the Central Coast, finding just the right blend for his signature Pinot Noir, the most elegant and temperamental of Burgundian grapes.

His first vintage was 2006. Today, Pacific's Edge, among other restaurants, carries Kristi-Lynn's two labels — Sebastian and Phoenix, named after his two sons.

"It's so rare in our world that you have a sommelier who completes the circle of wine," said Fink. "There are hardly any sommeliers in the world who are also winemakers, enologists."

A contented life

The nightmares have stopped, and now Perez can almost look upon his violently shattered youth as a blessing.

"At that time I had no future. Not knowing if I would make it on my own as a 13-year-old traveling through a civil war and across a border, my parents gathered their strength and courage and said goodbye."

He's now content. "I love serving people, and I love teaching people. I'm satisfied where I am in life."

He owes his parents everything, yet longs for them to share his contentment.

"I would love for them to see and understand where the road they faithfully allowed me take has led me," he said. "I hope they know it was all worth it."

Thomas Perez ·Age: 39 ·Born: La Union, El Salvador ·Married to: Kristi Perez; two sons, Sebastian and Phoenix ·Occupation: Wine director for Mirabel Hotel and Restaurant Group, responsible for all wine and spirits service at each property, including Aubergine and Cantinetta Luca in Carmel and Cantinetta Piero in Yountville; winemaker under the Kristi-Lynn label. ·Winemaking philosophy: Classic winemaking techniques and aging in finest French oak barrels concentrate the fruit's flavors and intensity, producing a wine of elegance and power. ·Wine-drinking philosophy: "I think wine is a gift from Mother Nature made naturally by the actions of yeast and bacterias. Yes, it is an alcholic bevearge, but in my mind wine is more like food, and is also good for your health if consumed in moderation (and don't forget to share with friends!)" ·Personal favorite food-wine pairing: "Scottish wild grouse terrine with Pink Moscato. It might seem silly, but the terrine being thick and rich, needs something light, fresh and vibrant to cleanse your palette. It's delicious." ·Contact: www.kristilynnwine.com.

Check this out.... the 1000 most viewed sites on the web.
Facebook at #1 with 570,000,000,000 views.

http://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/

Hudson Valley??

"While superior Pinot Noir wines are being made in Napa and Sonoma counties in California and now in Oregon, I believe that the Hudson Valley has the potential to produce far superior Pinots that more closely resemble those produced in Burgundy - hence the pursuit of my own "Holy Grail." I think that this is true because our climate, soil composition, and underlying geological substrata are more conducive to producing more "French-style" Pinot Noirs."

http://www.hvwinemag.com/index.php

DAY 7

Early breakfast, depart Hotel President in Udine on the Colli Orientali area in Friuli, to the wineries of Torre Rosazza and Borgo Magredo.Wines - Borgo Magredo prosecco Borgo Magredo pinot grigjo 09 from Grave, Torre Rosazza pinot grigio 09, Torre Rosazza friulano 09. Torre Rosazza Sauvignon Blanc 09, all from Colle Orientale, Borgo Magredo pinot nero 09, Grave Friuli, Torre Rosazza pinot nero "ronco del palazzo Colle Otientale del Friuli 05, Torre Rosazza altromerlot, Colle Orientale del Friuli. Again enjoy a SIMPLE Lunch! So Italian. The Colle Orientali is a special area, a very different sense of place with the Alps so close, Austria, and Slovenia different from Italy for sure. Now on the road to Verona. The drive should take about 3hrs, this afternoon we'll be going to Castellani winery in Marano della Valpalicella with the Castellani Family, tasting with "owner wine- maker Sergio Stefani. And doughter Mara. Leave to check in at Hotel Verona, free night in Verona. Here in the Valpolicella Classico the trellied system used is called Pergola. The grapes are dry for 4 months with open windows and vents for the fruit to dehydrate, the grapes will losse about 40% at the wieght, the fermentation takes about 45 days, more the any wine I know, corvina igt is only dry for 2 month, recioto is like Amarone except it does not finished fermentetion, Armarone will go dry by adding new yeast to finish fermentation, by law it needs to be 3yr in oak and 1yr in the bottle. Ripasso needs to be 18 months in oak and 9 months in the bottle.Wines: Corvina igt the fruit is dry for 2 month and 15 month in oak 06. Ripasso Corvina, Rindinella, Molinara 06. Colle Christi Corvina, Rindinella, Molinara 06. Campo Caselin Corvina, Rindinella, Molinara 06. Cinque Stelle 06. Ricioto Corvina, Rindinella, Molinara 07. By law Ripasso must have at least 50% of Corvina and Amarone is 70% the rest is the other two varietals. Amarone was born in the early 1900's (1932) by having the wine referment.Tonight we are in Verona for Food & Wine. Went to Bottega Vini for couple wines and Alfredo & I went to dinner at Osteria della Vigna a great Restaurant, great Menestrone, Mussels, Spaghetti alla Vongole, Linguine alla Bottarga, but the hightlight of the night was "Horse Salad with Rucola & Cheese" yes Caballo for dinner.

Day 6

Early breafast again, we have a couple hours in Florence and then going to Fattoria Le Sorgenti in the Colle Fiorentini near Florence. The state is owned by the Ferrari family.Wine: Sghiras Blanc, 70% Chardonnay 30% Sauvignon Blanc, Respiro, Gaiaccia, Toscana 07, Laudemio olive oil. 80% frontoli, 20% the rest, Laudemio is a Consortium created by the Frescobaldi's there are about 25 producers that make Laudemio Oil in the Central Hills of Tuscany "the final product is simply the best" Scoris Cab, Merlot, 06, Great simple Lunch and now we have a 5hr drive to Friuli the north eastern part of Italy. What a drive! It took longer than I thoght! But made it to dinner at La Taverna di Coloredo a great Restaurant in the Colli Orientali right next to Slovenia, The reception was amazing lots of little bites and Prosecco by Borgo Magredo, and Dinner with Torre Rosazza winey

Day 5

7:00 breakfast, in the bus, leaving Montalcino from the town of Chianciono heading west towards Maremma, it will be about two hr drive. After we will be traveling to Chianti Classico and staying in Florence, having dinner with couple of friends from here Kathrerine and Paolo.Now we are in the Montecucco doc wish is in the soutern part of Tuscany. wines: Colle Madsari winery "Melacce" Vermentino 09. Grattamacco Bianco Vermentino Bolgheri doc 08, Colle Massari Rosato Toscano "Grottolo" 09, Colle Massarie Montecucco Rosso doc "Rigoleto" 08, Colle Masseri Riserva Montecucco Rosso 07, Colle Massari "Lombrone" Sangiovesse Riserva Montecucco doc 06, Colle Massari Bolgheri Rosso 08, Grattomacco "l'alberrello" Rosso 07, Grattamacco Rosso Bolgheri Rosso 07. Great Lunch with Lucca the wine maker and the owner of Claudio Tipa and his wife Maria Maurizio. In the bus to Chianti Classico In Greve should be a three hr drive. Vignamaggio 700 yr old Winery. The Gherardini family satarted this Winery in chianti Classico, Lisa Gherardini was the Daughter soon to be be "Monai Lisa" Leonardo de Vinci made the portait, they own 100 acres of Vineyards, Morino 100% Sangiovese 08, Castello di Spaltenna Chianti Classico 07, Vignamaggio "terre di Prenzano" Chianti Classico 07, "Gherardino" 07, Vignaggio Castello di Monna Lisa Chisati Classino 06, 1st Vintage 85, Vignmaggio Obsession 04, Vignamaggio Cab-Farnc 04 35 yr vines, Vignamaggio Levanter Primitivo, Salento igt 07, Vignamaggio "Suhaili" Syrah, Salento igt 07, Vignamaggio Vin Santo del Chianti Classico 03.... Ok its 5:30pm and we are heading to Florence, Thank you! What a long day!!! Dinner in Florence was incredible, Puerto Fino Restaurant with my Friends, amazing seafood the highlight was a whole "Rombo" Turbot

Who says just because you are in Montepulciano sipping the best of Salcheto you can't add in a little Secret treasure from the central coast?

Day four:7:30 breakfast the best yet! Somewhat an American breakfast, 8:00 ready to drive it's 4 hrs from Osimo In the Marche region to Montalcino. On the road again and listening to mana en vivo, Going through the mountains between Marche and Umbria . Next Perrugia, Umbria is home of Sagrantino from Montefalco. Beautiful drive on a1 after Perugia is the Castiglioni del Lago, stopping in Cortona for a bite! Just getting to Montepulciano where the famus Beef comes from " Bistaca Fiorentina" now we are at Palazzo winery a small family owned, they only have 4.5hc of vineyards and is operated by the family only, 25000.000 btls produced. Wine, taste it: Rosso di montalcino 07. Brunello di Montalcino 04 05, 04,03 riserva and 04 alcineo. 1 yr old age grappa and white grappa. Done! I feellike this winery stole my heart, the people that run the day to day operations are so genuine and you can taste that in the wine, I think I just spent my allowence for the rest of the year! Now driving to Montepulciano to Salcheto winery,pre-tasting chianti colli senesi 08. Vino nobile di Montepulciano. Before dinner we had a choice, spa at the hotel or exploring the town of Montepulciano, I choose the town! Beautiful very ancient from the 12 century!!Dinner: with Salcheto winery, rose from MontePulciano 09, Montepulciano 08, Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano docg 04

day two

Day two: From apulia driving to marche a four hr drive. 9am living barletta on the adriatic coast. On 13 north just past Napoli, just past Foggia. Beautiful Adriatic coast.1 pm just crossed abruzzi now into marche. 4pm at umani ronchi winery. Rosso canero docg. Wine making dating back to 4000 yrs before Christ. They montepulciano d' abruzzi "costamaro" in colline teramane docg. Pecorino is the same family as Greco and fiano, from chieti. Berdicchio dei castelli di jesi doc, casal di serra 09, "Podere" 09. Montipulciano d'abruzzo 08 "montipagano" rosso conero 100% montepulciano "San Lorenzo vineyard" 07. "jorio" montepulciano d'abruzzoDinner: lacrima de morro d'alba, pecorino, "plenio" verdiccho reserva 06."cumaro" conero riserva montepulciano marche docg 06. "Pegalo" montipulciano , cab, merlot, marche 06 finished with some grappa and Maximo sweet

Italy Day one

Day one: of tasting and bus traveling.7 am breakfast. On a 3 hour drive to campania area of avellino to casa dell'orco winery. The guy next me just threw up! Thanks to my beatiful wife I am listening to mana en vivo! On e 45 towards Napoli beautiful day. A 30 min ride towards avellino. They use big rounds of 24 hl slowvenian oak to about 7 yrs. 2000 botls made here. They are at 360 m high. 1st wine sparkling falanghina from catine iannella. The winery is in st. MichelleThe wines: fiano, Greco, taurasi 05, 03, 01.After lunch: Now driving to apuglia .Andria castel del monte doc 12 to 15 miles from the ocean and 700 feet of elevation Here at the Rivera winery founded in 1950 with sebastiano and Carlo toratto. Primitivo grows in Taranto and negroamaro in salemto in the north of puglia Nero de troia and aglianico, for rose is use bombino Nero and bombino bianco. Primitivo and Neroamaro are early ripening grapes from august to mid September.1st wine: bambino bianco and rose from bambino Nero both lots of acidity and low alcohol. Montepulciano is so grown here. Salice salentono wich is made from negroaro, There are 26 appellations in puglia.09 preludio n1 Chardonnay, 09 pungirosa rose, 04 cappellaccio aglianico, castel del Monte is the only d.o With aglianico in apulia. 05 Il falcone reserva. 06 Triusco primitivo, I sat next to Carlos de corato the father.