#ChiantiClass12: A Trip to Chianti Classico

It is with great excitement that I can announce a new media trip, close on my Vinopanion horizon, to the venerable and very historic Tuscan wine region of Chianti Classico DOCG (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WineLog). I will start my trip to Florence, Italy to rendevous with the traveling #ChiantiClass12 group this Thursday, May 24, 2012, with the official start of the trip on Friday the 25th. Much like my previous adventures across the pond, I will be posting a lot of microblog content in real-time, including Twitter (#ChiantiClass12), Flickr, and through my Facebook profile & on Vinopanion's. Learn more about this fascinating wine region after the break, cin cin!

#Navarra5 Day 3: The Old & the Pago

Dawn broke for our third day (9/21/11) in the Kingdom of Navarra (Twitter, Facebook) with brilliant signs pointing to even more glorious weather to accompany our travels around this Spanish wine kingdom. From the window of my hotel room at the historic Palacio Guandelain in Pamplona, I could see and hear the rumblings of the (rare) early rising Navarrans in the plaza that stretched out from the hotel front. I couldn't wait to get started on our travels back to the Ribera Alta sub-region of the Navarra DO appellation. I felt rather rested, since I had given my body the morning off from my usual run, following my great success at getting thoroughly lost, the prior morning.

#Navarra5 Day 2: Lost in Iruña, Malón de Echaide, & Bodegas Finca Albret

Our second full day in Kingdom of Navarra (Twitter, Facebook) (day 3 if you're counting our travel day) started off a bit scary, due to the usual amount of stupidity that I tend to afford myself. As you've probably noticed from my previous post about Day 1 in Navarra, I love to go on a run in the cities that I visit around the world. I feel that it is one of the best ways to get to know a new foreign land and its people. Like an idiot always, I only carried my hotel keycard and a bit of cash in case I got into trouble and needed a taxi. I then headed out way before dawn at about 5:50am to streets unknown. Oh, and did I neglect to mention that I have absolutely no sense of direction?...I'm a total Marcus Brody. An hour later, my 20 minute jog has clearly turned into the definition of a lost tourist, replete with Spanglish as my only tool to communicate...no phone to call for a taxi, nor to even let my #Navarra5-mates know why I wouldn't be in the lobby at 7:45am!

#MFITV: 2011 Harvest Thoughts & the Quiet Winery

The 2011 Harvest is done. It has actually been done for the Northern California wine industry for a few weeks, but I needed those weeks to digest all that I have experienced (and re-acclimate to my previous life), before I was ready to write this final post for Man Falls in the Vines#MFITV. Harvest is such a compressed, intense experience. It has proven to be hard for me to sum up in a somewhat, year-end post. Despite such difficulties, I was able to complete my harvest insider feature article for the January edition of Mutineer Magazine, as well as their brand new Mutineer Magazine Beverage Trade Edition, also debuting in January. All of this experience, hard work, and camaraderie demand applause and to be forever thanked for, however. And after the jump, you will see all of the new (and one old) vinopanions that I made during those six weeks in Stags Leap, Napa at Chimney Rock Winery (Twitter, Facebook, WineLog).

Man Falls in the Vines – #MFITV

I'm delirious to announce a new project that I've stumbled into, courtesy of my fantastic sabbatical, rather sabbradical, from my work at Genentech: I am working the 2011 wine harvest (#Harvest2001) at Chimney Rock Winery (Twitter, Facebook, WineLog) in the Stags Leap District (WineLog) of Napa Valley, CA. I will be the harvest intern and cellar worker of which I've always dreamed...and basically working my ass off helping to produce fine Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, rosé, (Fiano), and Meritage wines. My participation in the controlled chaos of crush at the Rock comes courtesy of Terlato Wine Group (WineLog), my best friend Jeff van de Pol, Assistant Winemaker; and Elizabeth Vianna (Twitter), Winemaker and General Manager.
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