Writing on the fly this morning from the road in California but I wanted to share some upcoming dates and news…

In Houston, I’ll be hanging out on Monday, September 21, at everyone’s favorite wine bar Camerata for a happy hour hosted by my new client from Piedmont, Tenuta Carretta.

My friend Giovanni Minetti is a walking encyclopedia of all things Langa. He was the president of the Barolo and Barbaresco consortium from 2001 to 2007 and he is the sweetest and most interesting guy. I encourage all the Houston wine folks to come hang with us.

On Tuesday, September 29, I’ll be attending a Piedmont wine dinner hosted by Houston Chronicle wine writer Dale Robertson and my friend and client Tony Vallone at Tony’s Ciao Bello.

Dale is the sports writer for Houston’s paper of record and he is the super coolest dude. Tony goes all out for these dinners and he’s digging deep into his cellar for some older Nebbiolo to pour that night (the pours are generous). It should be a fun night.

From October 22-25, I’ll be attending and blogging from the Boulder Burgundy Festival, where I’ll be moderating the Seminar: “A tour of Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru” with Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière (Bonneau du Martray), Ray Isle, and Paul Wasserman.

Pretty cool, right? The Boulder Burgundy Festival is such a great value and all the people are so chill. I love working with the organizer Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman and I LOVE hanging out in Boulder. Tracie P will be with me, too.

A lot of cool stuff and wine tasting going on this year but the coolest news is that…

In May 2016, I’ll be one of the guides on Adam Japko’s “Design and Wine Italy” tour, a week-long trip through the Veneto including stops in Venice (and Venissa), Asolo, Valpolicella, Verona, and a lot more groovy sights and tastings.

Adam and I became friends a few years ago through wine blogging and last year he invited me to lead a wine tasting for 300+ persons at his Design Bloggers Conference in Atlanta.

He and I connect whenever our schedules align (mostly in NYC) and I was thrilled when he asked me to be part of this trip. My task has been that of curating the wine content for the group. It’s been a dream job for me.

Check out the snazzy itinerary here.

The deadline for reserving is December 1 and the spots are already filling up after just a morning of open registration.

This should be a spectacular experience and I’ll be posting more on the wine content as the date approaches.

That’s all I have time for today as I head from LA to SF for dinner at A16. And then tomorrow to La Jolla to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Buon weekend, everyone!