Let me repeat, I was not on vacation! I don't know how many times I have had to explain to my friends and colleagues that going to a trade show, even if it is in Italy, is not a vacation.  Verona, the host city for Vinitaly, while beautiful and romantic, is poorly equipped to handle the huge influx of visitors. Traffic moves at a crawl and if you are not staying in the city center it can take hours just to get to the fairgrounds and find a place to park.

Once inside the fairgrounds the real work begins. Appointments were scheduled from 9:00am to 6:00pm each day without even a break for lunch some days. I was with our wine buyer, Brad Lewis, who is a seasoned pro at surviving these marathon tasting days. One day he brought his lovely wife Joy along for a day in the life of Brad. Halfway through I noticed she was beginning to fade and by 3:00pm that day Brad decided it might be good for his marriage if he called it quits early.

I don't want to give the impression that going to Vinitaly is torture. It's just not vacation! In fact I hope to return again next year. There is nothing like sitting down face to face with winemakers and tasting the new vintage and discussing future business opportunities. 

Speaking of future business, look for new wines from Campania and  Franciacorta, as well as a couple of exciting new projects from some old friends. One is a new blend from the dynamic Gregory Perrucci of Racemi winery. The other is a new dry white wine conceived by our favorite Italian importer, Nadia Galati.

One of Italy's great winemakers, Gregory Perrucci at Vinitaly. The "car" in the background is part of the promotion for the wine Anarkos. Anarkos is available in our stores now...a must try.

Paul Quaglini, SE Florida Wine Supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinepaulq