Super shout out today to @thehuesociety for hosting me on one of their virtual tastings last night. That was a blast.

And heartfelt thanks to @marcofantinel for hooking up super wines. The Pinot Grigio RocciaPonca was a standout for me. And perfect for showing the range of #Friuli wines.

My week got turned upside down when German transportation workers negotiations sent everyone scrambling to find alternate routes for destinations in Europe.

Lufthansa strike aside, I’m on a flight eastbound still hoping to make my first appointment in Abruzzo early on Thursday morning.

Travel to and from that part of Italy can have its challenges. It just takes a little bit of time to get there. Maybe that’s part of what makes it so cool. I’m really looking forward to getting back.

In other and more important news… I felt compelled to share this screenshot today from the Corriere Vinicolo, one of the institutional voices of the Italian wine industry.

“The Prosecco rush comes to a stop,” reads the headline. Allusion is to the “Corsa all’Oro,” the “Gold Rush” in Italian.

“For cru-designated wines,” it continues, “it will be a trench war,” with the implication that only the strongest will survive the mano-a-mano fight for market share.

When Prosecco is in trouble, people of the Italian wine trade, we all need to take time out and have some serious conversations.

I’ll be traveling across central and northern Italy for the next seven days and I’ll be talking to a wide variety of people, trade and lay. I’m looking forward to sharing our chats and their notes here. I’m optimistic for a clear path forward in Italian wine. But I’m also realistic in recognizing the immense obstacles that lay ahead.

Thanks for being here and please wish me speed!