Now, don’t get me wrong: there’s no other place I’d rather be this weekend than at home in Houston with my girls.

But if we were in Italy for Labor Day, I’d be taking them out for lunch on Lake Iseo in Franciacorta country.

Just look at how beautiful the morainic hills look set against the blue waters of the lake! Italy’s immense beauty never ceases to amaze and fascinate me!

My traveling companion and I were treated to a private boat tour of Lake Iseo last month while visiting Franciacorta as part of my Franciacorta Real Story project (which is sponsored by the Franciacorta Consortium of wine growers).

That’s the Isola di Loreto (above), a privately owned island and castle on the lake. Gorgeous…

We had lunch that day at the aptly named Locanda al Lago on Montisola, another one of the lake’s mountain islands and a sovereign township within Brescia province.

How’s that for a captain’s platter???!!! (A little musicians humor; who gets the joke?)

Aaaaaa… Lest our repast be incomplete!

All in all, it was a pretty fabu day on the lake… especially thanks to the company.

Can you see why I’d love to be there for this Labor Day weekend?

Tracie P and I have been talking about when we’ll take the girls to Italy for the first time (Georgia P’s actually been twice but when she was too little for her to remember today).

Maybe in a few years… Lila Jane just turned two and today was her first day at preschool! She dove right in like a champ! No crying or fussing…

We were so proud of her and Georgia P is loving being back at school, too. We are so blessed to have them.

Happy Labor Day and End of Summer, everyone! I’ll start posting more images from my recent trip to Italy next week. See you then!

That’s a shot of Sangiovese in Chianti Classico, taken on Thursday of last week.

The grower I visited there (in Castellina in Chianti) said that thanks to some rainfall in July, temperatures had remained moderate there during the summer. He’s expecting an excellent harvest, he told me, with an arguably more classic arc than in other parts of Tuscany like Montalcino where growers had to deal with an uninterrupted heatwave that began in early July and lasted through mid-August.

Between the newly established Gran Selezione category for the highest quality of Chianti Classico and the growing movement of organic farmers there, I get the sense that the appellation is poised to make a new mark in the fine wine world in coming years.

I’ll looking forward to following developments there and tasting the wines…

In other news…

A restaurant client of mine asked me to do a little R&D during my time on the ground in Tuscany.

That’s the gate of the beautiful walled hilltop town of Monteriggioni, as seen from inside the village, in the photo above.

I snapped these photos while on a short visit there on Thursday on my way to Castellina.

Whenever I travel for work, I always regret not taking time to enjoy Italy’s rich cultural patrimony.

It was lovely to take a stroll through this famous and celebrated medieval settlement.

The funny thing, though, is that there were no Italians there except for the shopkeepers and restaurateurs. Everyone I countered seemed to be from one of the nordic countries of Europe.

A busy morning here at Do Bianchi editorial and so that’s all I have time for today. Stay tuned for more reports from my recent trip to Italy. Thanks for being here!

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Solomon 2 15

Today’s blog post comes in the form of a song that I wrote for the girls over the weekend: “All We Need is Grapes.”

Miraculously on Friday, I made my connection in Newark and even made it from Bush airport down to southwest Houston in time to play with the girls before they went to bed.

On Saturday morning, Parzen family protocols went into effect.

In accordance with Parzen family regulations, Saturday morning began with wholewheat bagels; a trip to the “real astronauts” at NASA; lunch of “cheese” quesadillas and French fries at the “train restaurant”; naps; and finally, before dinner, a visit to our local Whole Foods to eat grapes on the bench as we watch all the people check out (many of them stopping to greet the girls as they passed by).

And that’s when it hit me: all we need is grapes.

Since last fall, when I decided that I needed to revamp my business, it’s been a tough road building it back up to where I wanted it to be. Honestly, it took two more Italy trips than I had planned to reach my goal and that travel has taken investment, sacrifice, and a toll on me and the family.

I’ll never forget that feeling of being on the other side Atlantic, a day’s travel from the girls and already a week away from Houston, when Montalcino flooded and lost power and internet last week.

The previous week in the north had been full of missteps and mishaps.

I couldn’t get online for two days and couldn’t get my work done. I was a nervous wreck.

But after the rain passed and the sun reappeared, the hills were filled with ripe grapes, tender grapes, ready to be picked.

Five days later, our family grape bunch was reunited. And there we were munching on white and red grapes, acting silly as we sat on the bench watching all the people go by.

If you listen to the whole track (in the YouTube below), you’ll hear that Georgia P appears in the coda of the song. She’s really developed a sense of rhythm and melody. Her intonation is getting better every day and she even composes her own melodies to the songs that I write for them.

And if you listen really (really, really) carefully, you’ll hear that Lila Jane is in there, too, playing shaker and chiming in.

Happy Monday, everyone. Thanks for being here. When times are tough, remember that all we need is grapes…

It was exhilarating to visit Proseccoland yesterday where growers were just beginning to pick their fruit.

That’s a Glera bunch above, a photo I took in the hamlet of Monfumo in Asolo township (where my client Bele Casel grows and makes Prosecco DOCG).

Despite the extremely hot summer and some emergency irrigation that was needed to help certain vines that were suffering from hydric stress, winemakers in Prosecco are very pleased with the vintage.

Especially in the wake of last year’s rainy vintage and unusually low yields, this year’s bumper crop of fruit with great acidity and healthy sugar levels is a much welcomed harvest for them.

Just look at the sexy bunch above! It was an amazing feeling to walk through the vineyards yesterday.

Today, Billy the Astronaut (below) and I are on a flight back to Houston via Newark, an airport that we in the Parzen family refer to as my own personal Bermuda triangle. I’m traveling light and keeping my fingers crossed that, between my Global Entry, my TSA Pre, and no checked bags, I’m going to make my connection.

Wish me luck and wish me speed. I’m finally going to be reunited tonight with my loves and my heart…

This just in: our wine list at Sotto (by Christine Veys and me) is up for “best wine list in LA” over at the LA Weekly. I’m kinda stoked about that! Please vote if so inclined.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

It’s a glorious time to be in Italy right now.

White wine producers have just begun this week to pick and red wine growers are extremely optimistic about the harvest’s potential. Everywhere I go I am surrounded by gorgeous, sexy grape bunches hanging on the vine.

Those are Sangiovese grapes (above) in Montalcino (below), where I’ve spent the last few days.

The abundant rain that arrived Monday morning (knocking out the internet in Montalcino for two days, btw) was just what the appellation needed after a long hot summer. Since the precipitation, the days have been sunny and warm and the nights cool enough that you need a sweater in the evening.

All things considered, it could be a great vintage here. And the same holds for Piedmont, where I spent Saturday and Sunday speaking to growers who are equally pleased with the ultimate progression of the vegetative cycle there.

Today I’m headed to Chianti Classico where I’ll be checking in with growers as well. And then it’s on to Prosecco where some producers have already begun to pick (more notes on that to come).

Friday, I’ll head back to Texas. Man, I’ve been homesick on this trip! But even after my return, I’ll continue to post my harvest notes as the dispatches come in.

Montalcino’s so beautiful right now that it’s almost impossible to take a bad photo (below).

Stay tuned… more to come…

Above: desiccated and dying, olive trees affected by Pierce’s Disease in Salento, Puglia. The photo was taken by Davide de Lentinis, a young man from Salento who has called the crisis and the Italian government’s inaction “a crime against humanity.” Click here to read his stirring Facebook post, which I translated today for my client Cantele.

Late last month, Wine Spectator reported on a newly discovered outbreak of Pierce’s Disease (Xylella fastidiosa) in Corsica, France, where the bacterium is afflicting myrtle bushes.

Yesterday, Italian news outlets reported that authorities have discovered a new outbreak in Puglia, where there is already a vast quarantine area.

According to a report published yesterday, EU officials are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels this Friday to discuss an expansion — a “redefinition,” as they call it — of the quarantine or so-called “buffer zone” (zona cuscinetto).

Even though officials tend to downplay the crisis, thousands of olive trees — some of them a thousand years old or more — have been affected in Puglia. And there is no end in site as growers continue to grub up diseased plants.

In a Facebook chat on Friday with grape grower and Coldiretti Puglia president Gianni Cantele (my client), he told me that he “shudders to think” what will happen if the bacterium travels beyond the buffer zone.

Today, I translated a chilling Facebook post by a young agricultural entrepreneur in Salento that came to my attention via Gianni’s Facebook.

“Thousands of people are at risk of losing everything,” he writes. “Not just the olive growers but other members of the community, as well, like plumbers, electricians, and house painters.”

Click here for the post. And may G-d help them… and us.

The power is out today in Montalcino after a thunderstorm that dropped rain on the township all morning long. I took advantage of the outage to play hookie from my computer (where I should have been typing away) and I visited the beautiful romanic (yes, “romanic” not romantic, mr. Spellcheck) church of Sant’Antimo where I snapped this photo with my iPhone.

I won’t be meeting with any growers until later today but the rain and seasonally appropriate temperatures are good signs for a healthy crop despite an extremely hot July.

Everywhere I’ve been in Italy so far, people tell me that the weather is “crazy” now every year. But despite the challenges posed by a hot summer, it could turn out to be a good to great vintage for many winemakers throughout Italy. After last year’s extremely wet vintage, that’s good news.

Stay tuned for more notes from the trip when I can get back online.

That’s Lake Iseo as seen from atop Belvedere to the west.

We visited there yesterday to see what most believe is the highest vineyard in the Franciacorta appellation, where classic method sparkling wines are made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc.

It was one of the highlights of an extraordinary week of tastings and winery tours. The sojourn was part of my “Franciacorta: the Real Story” project, a year-long blogging campaign sponsored by the Franciacorta Consortium.

Today is my last day here and probably my last visit this year.

I have lots of notes and images to share.

Thank you to the Franciacorta Consortium and its members for their great work in organizing our time here. And truly heartfelt thanks to all the winemakers who received me and the journalist that I’m traveling with.

Opening your wine for someone is like playing them a song you wrote. It means putting your heart on the line and your soul on display. I greatly appreciate the hospitality, the honesty, the earnestness, and the passion that you shared with us.

I’ll see you next year.

During my first full day in Franciacorta today, I spoke to a handful of growers who made a point of pointing out that harvest isn’t over quite yet.

Yes, most have harvested the majority of their fruit and nearly all the Pinot Noir has already been picked.

But there is still a considerable amount of Chardonnay in the vineyards, some noted, like the parcel in the image below, in Passirano township.

There are a few holdouts, I’ve been told.

Ripeness is a sensitive subject among winemakers here and the topic is particularly delicate in a warm vintage like this one.

But across the board, everyone I’ve spoken with says that it’s a good if not great vintage for them, with less fruit that they would have hoped for but healthy fruit nonetheless with good acidity.

The alarming news is that there is a panther on the loose in Franciacorta. Yes, a panther.

On Thursday, a group of roughly 40 officials — police and firepersons — is planning to hunt down the beast, which was first spotted on July 31.

Some have doubted its existence but it’s believed to have been “caught” on a video surveillance tape.

Panthers are not indigenous to Franciacorta and if it does exist, it probably escaped from an illegal trafficker or an eccentric collector of illegally trafficked animals.

The subject came up today when I told my hosts about how I went jogging at dawn near the Franciacorta marshes on Sunday morning.

Evidently, the whole area is on lockdown, especially during nighttime and early morning.

Wouldn’t that have made for a fantastic blog post? “American wine blogger attacked by panther in northern Italian wine country!”

Well, on second thought, probably not worth the clicks…

Click here for notes from our tasting today at Il Mosnel. Thanks again, Lucia and Giulio! Great tasting and tour!