The first grapes of 2012 are starting to be picked, these are pinot noir for a local sparkling wine.

It's a very steep vineyard in Valdivilla.

It has been seriously hot and humid here which makes harvesting extra hard. Everyone is waiting for a thunderstorm to clear the air.

Even though there are many shops and restaurants that are closed one can find plenty to do on italy's BIGGEST holiday Ferragosto

This is what most Italian families do find the one restaurant that is open and make reservations for 10, 20 or more then spend the day with family and friends over a very long lunch 3 to 4 hours or head south to the sea.

Last week Leslie was in Minnesota this was the first foodie sign she came across on her lay over in Reykjavik Iceland Hmmmmmm….

While Leslie was away Robert was very busy relaxing on the water front just beyond the village of Baveno on Lago Maggiore on his way to pick up customers in Verbania.

Alway last but not least Nebbiolo the flag ship grape varietal of Langhe is a little bit ahead of schedule this year. This bunch is almost done with its verasion as of Aug 15th.

As the vine trimming season draws to a close, and green harvest is mostly done, most of the vineyard work shifts to the winery to prepare for harvest

At 8:00 in the morning the humidity was higher than the temp this means we are going to have a very sticky day

The best way to beat the heat is to grab some bubbles a chef knife and a friend with a ready glass for sciabola.

It's only the end of July but these Dolcetto grapes are telling us harvest is just around the corner. Some wineries say they may be starting harvest mid August.