From the island of Ischia off the Neapolitan coast to the Alpine valleys of German-speaking Alto Adige, the red thread that emerged on my recent month-long trip to Italy was that il tempo è impazzito — the weather has gone crazy.

In Turin, I witnessed the most violent and rapid-forming hailstorm I’ve ever encountered, with golf ball-sized stones that were so abundant they looked like a foot of snow — in May!

Even with the sun shining above, an outdoor event I was presenting in Turin was shifted indoors because the weather was so unpredictable (thank goodness because that hail storm arrived later that day).

In Ischia, the cab drivers and restaurateurs all lamented that tourism was down because of too much rain that scared away the beachgoers (it rained twice over the four days we were there).

But it was the grape growers who seemed the most forlorn and exasperated.

The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its early starts and stops.

Unusually warm weather in early spring cause the plants — across Italy — to jump start their vegetative cycles.

But the cool weather and rain that followed, with a repeated succession of cool and warm weather, has caused alarming unevenness in the vineyards.

Repeated rain has nearly exhausted organic farmers’ budgets for holistic treatments: when you spray and then it rains, you have to start over from scratch and spray again.

And then of course, there’s the catastrophic hail damage that has made its way like a checkerboard across the country. Some will be fine, others not as fortunate. It’s become a sort of Russian roulette for vineyard managers.

And now that warm weather has taken hold for the summer, growers in some regions are telling me that they are terrified of what could be a serious drought.

Whenever vintage comes into discussion, it’s important to remember that it ain’t over until it’s over. Remember the 2022 vintage?

I’m in contact every day with Italian winemakers and I’ll continue to share their notes here. In the meantime, let’s pray.

I’ll be taking next week off from the blog while Tracie, the girls, and I are vacationing in Italy. I’m sure I’ll plenty of adventures to share. In the meantime, here are some highlights from my week in Abruzzo for the consortium. See you in a few weeks. Thanks for being here.

Nic Tartaglia grows Montepulciano on clay-rich soils in some of the highest lying vineyards in Casauria. He and his team are working hard in the U.S. and the wines are awesome.

I really loved this barrique-aged, rich-style Pecorino from Guardiani-Farchione. It’s really cool to see how winemakers are experimenting with Pecorino and pushing its envelope.

Sara Tilli makes wine in the shadow of the Maiella massif. The peak in the photo is obscured by clouds. My visit to her winery and the Maiella valley were profoundly inspiring. Her wonderful Montepulciano is grown on 100 percent limestone.

The famed vineyard where Cristiana Tiberio developed her massal selection of Trebbiano Abruzzese, which many believe to be an avatar. Her wines have been making people rethink what they know about this amazing region.

Luca Paolo Virgilio of Caprera is one of the coolest people I’ve met here. His wines are awesome and he’s one of the faces of Abruzzo’s next generation. Don’t miss the ancient Roman vinification basins not far from his winery.

It was amazing to walk the vineyards in Francavilla not far from the sea with my good friend Valentina Di Camillo at I Fauri. Her family’s amazing story of resilience is so compelling. And I really like her fresh-style wines a lot.

One of the most fascinating visits was at Tenuta Antonio Fiorentino @tenutafiorentino in southern Abruzzo. I loved getting to chat with Antonio’s dad, Carmine, whose “historic memory” of Abruzzo viticulture is a treasure. Antonio also grows delicious saffron. I’m so glad I made it down there to see them. Great wines, great people.

The food in Abruzzo is extraordinary. Thank you to Davide and the consortium for a fantastic dinner at Isola della Piane on my last night here! See you soon.

On Monday, June 17, in Houston, and Tuesday, June 18, in Austin, the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas will be presenting celebrity mixologist Valentino Longo. He will lead participants on a guided tasting of Vermouth di Torino and a discussion of the aperitivo.

Click here to register for the Houston event, June 17. Here for the Austin event, June 18.

I regret that I won’t be able to attend (I’m traveling in Italy this month for work and my family is joining me tomorrow for a vacation here).

But I’ve been spending a lot of time in Turin, where vermouth was first made, thanks to my client Amistà, who makes a fantastic red wine-based vermouth (above) using their Nizza.

We recently hosted a group from Miami at the winery for a seminar by Fulvio Piccinino, the dude who literally wrote the book on Vermouth di Torino, “Italy’s most famous aromatized wine.”

The interest in vermouth continues to grow on both sides of the Atlantic. And it’s exciting to see programs like the one the chamber is presenting in Texas.

See the links above to register and happy tasting!

Writing on the fly this morning as I head for another day of tasting and visits in Abruzzo (for my ongoing project for the Abruzzo wine growers consortium).

But had to share my experience from last night.

As it so happened, Les Caves De Pyrene, the leading distributor of cool-kid wines in Italy, was having a regional buyers tasting in Pescara where I’m staying.

I was lucky enough to snag an invitation to the dinner they held last night at a wonderful venue in the city’s industrial district, Fabbrica del Vino.

There I met and tasted with Terre di Sovernaja, a producer of cask-fermented, cask-aged Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Fantastic wines.

I also got to taste with Arteteke, an Aglianico del Vulture grower whose collective provides wine trade training for young people with disabilities.

Another winner in my book — the wine and the people.

Was the conversation dominated last night by tales of woe in an industry that seems to be losing ground every day?

No, not at all! No spreadsheets here!

As we munched on Abruzzese lamb-filled tacos (not very traditional but tasty), the confabulatio was centered on the joys and challenges of viticulture. And the mood was bright and brio. No nostalgia for the “good old days” when big wine supposedly flowed like water.

Maybe it’s because young Italian wineries have a built-in consumer base. Maybe it’s because smaller scale and family focused continue to be winning models in a world where cheap Prosecco sales are falling through the outhouse floor.

Or maybe it’s just because there still are those crazy grape growers and winemakers out there who believe in what they do, who see themselves as part of continuum of viticulture that stretches back millennia.

It would seem that despite all the problems the wine world is facing, passion hasn’t gone out of style.

Thanks again Paolo and Domenico for including me! I had a blast!

Our family’s hearts and prayers go out to everyone across the U.S. who was impacted by catastrophic weather over the Memorial Day weekend. We just had a few rounds of severe meteorological events in Houston, including some close calls for our community. Extreme weather seem to be the bywords of the day.

This video was shot on May 24, 2024, by my colleague in Turin as he was trying to get home after our late-afternoon meeting in the city center.

That’s hail, not snow. Yes, hail.

We were meeting in a room with a view of the expansive Piazza Vittorio. The weather changed from partly sunny to cloudy and then became suddenly violent.

Everyone I’ve encountered on this trip to Italy keeps talking not just about climate change but also about how rapidly and intensely and unpredictably weather events seem to develop.

Weather forecasts they say are only partly reliable. And it’s affecting everything from outdoor restaurant seating to grape growing to erosion to flash flooding and more. I’ve been coming to Italy for nearly 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.

Video courtesy Paolo Tondat.

I’ve only been in Italy for a few days but it’s been a whirlwind trip already.

On Tuesday, I presented the wines and vermouth of Amistà for a wonderful group from Miami at the winery’s farmhouse bed and breakfast.

Then it was off to Alto Adige for an extraordinary visit with Hofstätter.

Today, I’m back in Piedmont for an Amistà tasting with a group from Texas in Turin.

I’ve barely been able to catch my breath and enjoy the tide of spring flowers that have sprung up across wine country. It’s truly breathtaking to see.

The shot above is from one of Hofstätter’s top vineyards for Gewürztraminer. The ancient pine tree (directly above) stands nearby. And below a “money shot” of the famous San Michele Church in the Sant’Urbano vineyard where their top Pinot Noir is grown.

The weather has been very strange in recent weeks, with intense rains that caused some flooding and created major issues for some growers. Climate change and the accompanying challenges continue to keep winemakers extremely busy. And they all say the same thing: it’s the extreme nature of weather events that keeps everyone guessing.

Next week I’ll be heading to Milan to attend a concert with friends. Then it’s back to Piedmont for another event before I head to Abruzzo for a few days of tasting.

The best news is that Tracie and the girls will be joining me early next month! And we are going to have a genuine family vacation. The girls have made me promise that we won’t go to any wineries! We’re going to travel by train and the girls are going to get their first taste of the Grand Tour.

Writing on the fly today but it only takes a few days on the ground to be reminded that Italy’s ceaseless beauty, cultural richness, and warm humanity never fail to astound even the weary traveler.

Thanks for being here. I’m looking forward to sharing my notes from my trip.

This week marked the 100th year since the Chianti Classico consortium was founded.

Think of that! 1924, two years after the March on Rome, a time of sunny optimism and resurgence of national pride in Italy, years before clouds of war would appear on the horizon.

A century later Tuscan resilience, ingenuity, entrepreneurial acumen, and Chianti terroir have endured war, economic catastrophe and revival, booms and busts. And Chianti Classico and the interest in its wines are arguably more robust than ever in history.

The organizers of the wonderful Top Drop festival in Vancouver asked me to celebrate the anniversary in my keynote talk at the gathering earlier this week.

Chianti Classico and all those uniquely Tuscan attributes above are a model and an inspiration for a wine trade in a moment of crisis. Its arc shows how Tuscan — Italian — creativity and diligence offer a roadmap for a brighter wine industry future.

The Iron Baron, Bettino Ricasoli (1809-1880), is often remembered today for the “Chianti recipe” he created (read it here).

But for those who have read his celebrated exchange of letters with professor Cesare Studiati in at the University of Pisa, the focus on the formula misses the point.

Ricasoli and his colleague realized that acidity was the key to making wines that would retain their quality during shipping.

They discovered that the marriage of native grape varieties with their terroir produced wines with higher levels of acidity.

From their research and work in the field emerged a new wave of Sangiovese growers who followed Ricasoli’s example: like the baron, they ripped out their gaggle of grape varieties and replanted primarily to what is considered the quintessential Tuscan grape.

Think of that! How powerful to consider an advent of terroir!

It’s another reason why we owe so much to Chianti Classico — the wine arguably more closely aligned with a place than any other. And maybe it will inspire us to remember how Tuscan imagination and resourcefulness are essential elements of the terroir that has made Chianti Classico a wine icon.

Writing on the fly this morning as I prepare my keynote talk for the Top Drop festival in Vancouver BC this morning.

But have to give a warm shoutout and thanks to wine director Andrew Forsyth at L’Abattoir in the city’s Gastown.

On the recommendation of the festival organizer, I popped in last night for an extraordinary glass of 2015 Chardonnay by Quail’s Gate in the Okanagan Valley.

Wow, what a wine! Still extremely fresh, it was like biting into a bowl of lovingly ripened tropical fruit.

Paired fantastic with the restaurant’s signature baked oysters topped with a savory zabaione.

I went with Andrew’s excellent recommendation but I could have gone a thousand different directions with his gorgeous list (and wow, the prices in Canada are great!).

I was also super impressed by the general esprit of the staff. Everyone I interacted with engaged me with conversation and notes on the menu and wines. I loved this place and highly recommend it.

Oh, and please don’t tell Tracie that I had the below for a late-night snack (not at L’Abattoir, obviously!).

This is such an amazing food and wine town! I’m looking forward to the festival tonight and tomorrow and hopefully will get some raw oysters in before I head out tomorrow for California.

Thanks for being here! Wish me luck and wish me speed…