There is so much to share...
It's been a couple of months since we did this! Let's see if we remember how...
Where o where does the time go?
One minute you’re sitting near the fire in January, thinking that you have three months before the season starts again, plenty of time to do all the admin-y bits, to make improvements, to move things forward. And then bam! It’s April, you’re moving at breakneck speed because guess what - life came in the way and now your To-Do List is longer than before (how did that happen?), you are being pulled in every direction (including ones you didn’t know existed!) and yearning for those winter months in Montepulciano (which you didn’t think you would ever do).
And of course we should have realised that everyone else around us is doing the same thing. That’s why it takes 3 to 4 months to get a quote for a new water pump!
So where do we start?
LIFE: all is good. Between VinItaly, work as lawyers and home, it has been rather hectic. We also threw in a couple of trips to the UAE and India, to get our fix of shawarmas and dosas. If you don’t know what those are, please Google. Your life will be better once you know (and try).
We have also become gym rats (much needed!) - we each have our own gym that we visit. Paari’s gym is a 25 minute drive from our home in Castiglione del Lago (beautiful place and well worth a visit), and her discipline of waking up at 6.10 am to make it to her session at 7.30 am three times a week inspired Niall to join the gym in Montepulciano that is a 4 minute drive away from home. [Co-Editor’s note: we all know who wrote this paragraph…]
AGRITURISMO/VILLA: the season of guests, fun, laughter (and maybe a little stress) is upon us. We are looking forward to welcoming our first guests towards the end of this month. So Villa prep is in full swing. Most mornings our coffee needs a coffee. The fact that we are kept guessing on what the world economy will do makes running a business in Italy EVEN MORE FUN. Not. At least there is an Aperol Spritz somewhere on the horizon.
WINERY: big big big news ——— you can tell it’s really big since we used the word three times.
For those who have been reading our blog for a while, you will know that we were working on our first Rosé. Well, we have now launched it.
Presenting: Lily.
This wine is an ode to our Mums.
The wine is named after Niall’s mum, a lady with a real joie de vivre, who had many interests. She loved dressmaking, gardening, cooking, flower-arranging, being with family and eating delicious food and drinking great wine. She often used to say: Life is too short to drink bad wine. We couldn’t agree more.
Doesn’t she look stunning in the picture above?
Something else you may not know: barring gardening, Niall is adept at all of the above activities. Yes, even drinking great wine.
The label is based on a painting done by Paari’s mum, Geeta, an artist, who also has a real love for life. Geeta recently celebrated her 70th birthday so the launch of the wine is very timely! We couldn’t have planned it better if we tried.
The painting hangs in the dining room of our home in Italy, and was Geeta’s response to Niall requesting a painting of sailing boats. ⛵️ We absolutely love it.
The making of a painting and a label 
The finished masterpiece The other big big big news on the winery front is our soon-to-be-launched wine club. If you’re looking for a way to enjoy some of Tuscany’s finest wines in the comfort of your own home while not having to worry about silly things like shipment costs and dare we say the T word (tariffs), fill in this form to register your interest!
We have also redone our wine tasting room. Fully designed by Paari and executed to perfection by Niall and Elia, wait for our next post to see what it looks like now.
Finally, we want to take a moment to thank all our blog readers - we really appreciate the kind and thoughtful messages we receive after we write each post. We set out to have a sort of online diary of our adventures in this beautiful country through this blog, but somewhere along the way it became bigger than that. It allows us to tell our story but it has also inspired a few others to chase (or stalk!) their dreams. So thank you for reading and please continue to do so. 😊
Until next time..
Toodles,
Paari & Niall