Bastianich-The Buzz

THIS JUST IN... We need your vote! Abbiamo bisogno di VOI!

Friends and Amici Italiani! 

There is a contest on the web to vote for Italian television shows.

C'è un concorso sul web dove si puo votare per programmi Italiani.

Here is the link:

Ecco il link. 

http://www.tvblog.it/post/28611/tvblog-awards-2011-si-comincia

GO AND VOTE FOR MASTERCHEF ITALIA AND JOE BASTIANICH!

ANDATE E VOTARE PER MASTERCHEF E JOE BASTIANICH!

Thanks! Grazie!

European Wine Bloggers Conference (and WiseQueen) @ Bastianich!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending my second European Wine Bloggers Conference (ewbc) in Brescia. Two days of great talks and seminars, tastings and dinners with wines from Franciacorta to Chile, and LOTS of camaraderie between bloggers from 34 different nations!

As usual, there was a serie of post-trips, and one of them came to Friuli for 3 days to experience what makes this place so special for producing world-class wines. Day 3 of that tour brought the group to the Bastianich vineyards in Buttrio/Premariacco and then for a quick tasting of 4 wines ('09 Adriatico Friulano, '09 Vespa Bianco, '07 Plus and '07 Calabrone) at the winery...

 I truly appreciated the time and attention everyone paid to me while I told a little bit of our story here... 

I'd like to personally thank all the great people I met and hung out with at the conference and those nice enough to come and visit us at Bastianich. I wish I had the time and the energy to list your names here, but you are all on the EWBC list on Facebook, and if I remember you, I have "friended" you there...

Also, on Sunday, I drove, hungover and somewhat tired, from Brescia with my dear friend and blogger Sabina Maffei (If you read Italian, please read Sabina's brilliant blog HERE) and another well-known blogger, Donna Jackson aka "WiseQueen". Donna was slated to come on the Friuli trip, but realized she had schedule conflicts at the last minute. She asked if we could do Sunday, and even though I was NOT in TipTop shape, I managed to get her here and give her a taste of Friuli, first at Buttrio's Trattoria Al Parco (where we were treated to a full tasting of Meroi wines), and then on to the cantina in Cividale...

(Wisequeen and I tasting Vespa Bianco and Plus at the Foresteria)

At Valentino Butussi, I was really starting to fade fast. My Red Bull had worn off and all I could think about was sleeping. But we tasted a couple wines instead...

Filippo (whose blog you can read HERE) took Donna out to dinner as I retreated home... 

Photographing the photographer - vInception?

Woke up in the dark this morning to meet Daniele Borghello, pro Photographer, at our Buttrio vineyard for a sunrise shoot. The weather has been astounding recently, and it has been a fantastic vintage so far (more details to come). Today did not disappoint, although Daniele did complain of a little bit of foschia (haziness, light fog) that made the morning light more yellow than red.

Now, I'll admit (and you may have guessed) that I'm horribly jealous of great photographers who really know how to use those "big clicky cameras", as my friend Samantha calls them. Someday I'll get me one of those big clilcky cameras and take some good pictures... For now I entertain myself trying to snap a couple shots here and there, and I thought it would be interesting to take pictures of someone taking pictures... Like the movie "Inception", but with vineyard photos... vInception!

The sun came up and revealed a gorgeous morning, lighting the vineyards in Buttrio in a way I haven't seen since I worked the '02 vintage. I managed to pop off a couple of my own before heading home to shower and properly dress for the office. Daniele stuck around to watch the pickers do their thing and get some poetic shots of the old Tocai Friulano vines in the "Plus" vineyard... Something I have not managed to capture with my small, non-clicky camera.

I'm sure Daniele's photos will be stunning, but in the meantime, I'll hit you with my best shot...