I spent my early Friday morning researching and writing this post for my client Barone Pizzini producer of Franciacorta and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi. Buona lettura e buon weekend… I hope you enjoy the post as much as I did writing it and have a great weekend…

He was called the “ace of aces” and was one of the most famous aviators of World War I: Francesco Baracca (1888-1918), “the Prancing Horse,” author of 34 aerial victories during “the great war,” and one of the most celebrated wartime figures of the era.

(Click here for his English Wiki entry and click here for a detailed technical account of his missions.)

As a young cavalry officer in training at the Scuola di Cavalleria (Cavalry School) in Pinerolo township (Piedmont), he befriended Baron Edoardo Pizzini Piomarta Delle Porte (1882-1966), founder of the Barone Pizzini winery.

(Click here for a description of the school by British contemporary of the Baron and Baracca.)

Some time after Baracca became fascinated with aviation and abandoned horsemanship to become one of the most decorated “fly aces” of early aerial combat, he wrote to his friend Edoardo, inquiring about a favorite horse at the school.

Please click here to continue reading the story of the “prancing horse”…