The 2024 season is upon us!
We're back! Did you miss us?
Wow, where has the time gone? Are we really in mid-May? We know you’ve been waiting to receive the latest news from your favourite bloggers so without further ado….(and in no particular order)..
We are currently across the border in Umbria — we have sold our house (NOT the business) in Montepulciano. We are either:
dazed and confused after a frantic and stressful house move, where the goalposts and deadlines were constantly shifting Italian style, OR
we are enjoying the freedom of not being tied down by a 16th century house and all the related maintenance issues, the garden, the olive trees, the electric gate with a nasty disposition and a sense of umbrage, and lots of places to mislay ones favourite garden implement (such as an amazing rake), OR
all of the above…..
We are exploring the Umbrian and Puglian countryside this summer, while in temporary accommodation, as we search for a new pasture to call home. On that note, and based on our initial exploring of restaurants, beautiful little towns and countryside (all in the name of research - for you…), Umbria is stunning and we are enjoying making new connections in this region. If you haven’t visited, you must.
But seriously, moving home is always tiring and quite often stressful. We had a bit of both. Thanks to Paari’s diseas..uh..superior skill of preparing for the worst in every situation, the move went off very smoothly. You will be glad to know that the Amazing Rake was found and made the cut. We have a ton of boxes in storage and some more with us. We can’t wait to see where we end up. Last video of the old house….
During that period, we also headed off to VinItaly — the largest wine expo in Europe was AMAZING. It is massive. It could easily be overwhelming. There are some very big exhibits and thousands upon thousands of little ones, whole areas dedicated to single regions, organic and non organic wines, a few foreign countries who apparently also make wine (imagine that) and lots of equipment stuff. You can guess who seemingly got lost and found (him) themselves there a few times.
Everyone is trying to stand out - mostly by doing the same things as everyone else! It is crammed full of producers, distributors, buyers, restaurants, wine students (now thats a lark!), suppliers, advertisers, politicians (Madame Melloni shimmied through the halls (Niall wanted to say “goose stepped”)), rake salespersons but no Luigi Public. And everyone is sampling wine or grappa or even beer. And its mostly in Italian.
It. Is. Bedlam.
We had a very successful first attendance there showing off our first Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (2021). Lots of useful contacts, discussions, experiences and above all, learning! We have had interest in our wine from a number of countries and our days are now filled with sending export price lists and samples, and having Zoom calls, with potential importers and distributors across the globe. We have just fulfilled our first major export order but to where? Those of you who guessed Mozambique take a bow!
We then did a sneaky trip to Berlin to see Paari’s folks, who were touring through all parts of Germany. Another stunning city Berlin…so many places, so little time!
Then, a couple of days ago, we were invited to speak to some US university students about life as a foreign business owner in Italy. We had three very keen, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students who sat open-mouthed as we regaled them with stories of life in the Tuscan countryside. They may never return.
No post would be complete without a weather report. Hey we are farmers after all. The weather has been all over the place. One week we had 30 C heat and the next there were downpours for 4-5 consecutive days. The weather gods seem to be playing musical chairs. However, the grapes are doing fine and Niall is often seen loitering among the vines, singing Irish folk songs to them. So if the 2024 vintage has an Irish accent, you know why.
Until next time…
Toodles,
Paari - Niall
Great post. Was Tuscany not big enough for ye? Hope that Prof O’Toole didn’t go down too many rabbit holes lecturing the US students! The best of luck in Umbria!