A great day to update our blog as Italy has lifted the last of its Covid restrictions today after 28 months ago, here's a look back at covid from our prospective.

When we first saw the headlines in Spain we thought all this will blow over soon



Returning home just a few days before Italy’s first lockdown there was a knock on the door, a policeman in a baby hazmat suit hands us an envelope with information, masks and sanitizer wipes. It’s now very clear to us this is a big deal




Mundane everyday things became very complicated, even taking Cotta, our dog to the vet required documentation and proof of an appointment.







We were very fortunate to be able to travel to the states in March 2021 to get our vaccinations, months before we would’ve been eligible in Italy, however we were able to get our booster shots here in Italy.








Of the 4 tours we did in 2020 and 16 tours we did in 2021 they all luckily went very well. Needless to say they were a bit awkward and a bit worrisome at times especially before vaccinations were common









To keep from going stir crazy during multiple lockdowns and not many tours.
We spent a lot of time combining our favorite passions Art, Wine, Food and photography

2019 was another great vintage with a lot less drama than 2018 less hail and more typical weather in fact a few producers were harvesting till the end of October.
We spent even more time in the mountains this year because customers have asked to join us. They are always suprised how many options their are from 90 minutes to 4hours in almost any direction. After all Piemonte Means “foot of the mountains” They are even more surprised about the vines growing at high elevation. As we write this (Feb 1st) 2020 is of to a good start lets hope it continues.

River PO head waters

Winter in the Po valley

Ballooning over Barolo

Paragliding in Chamonix

Hiking in the alps

Hiking in the clouds

Getting the shot

Starderi Party time

2018 seemed to zip by even faster than 2017. 2018 was off to a rough start with a lot of hail in the spring but the weather turned around so the 2018 vintage not only ended up being very good in quality but in a rare instance quantity is also up. Some producers were saying last fall that their tanks were bursting with wine 🍷. We started 2019 with our first tour on Jan 4, thankfully they were from Kiev so the chilly 🥶 weather was no problem for them. We are currently knee deep with the flood of emails we receive every year for the new season. Below are a few photos of our travels this past year as you can see we spent a lot of time in the mountains to cool off in July and August and do some hiking and photography.


Aperitivo in the Stura valley

We finally got to sleep in a Botte (cask)

Hiking near Pontechianale


Hiking and aperitivo in the Dolomiti Alps in August


Cooling down our Bubbles (Billecart-Salmon) in a glacier stream

2017 was a very busy year (in fact we missed our 10 year anniversary of living in Italy) filled with lots of traveling. We had some repeat customers who requested to see and learn about other wine regions in Italy some well know others not as much so here are a few photos of our wine travels this past year

Verona home of Amarone, Valpolicella Ripasso, Soave, Bardolino and ……..Starting in the late 90's we travelled to Verona every year to attend VinItaly.


Aosta home of Petit Rouge, Prié Blanc and one of the highest vineyards in the world making sparkling wine at 1187m (3,895ft).


Riding up the mountain to our favorite place in the Dolomiti (Dolomites) Collalbo.


Dolomites, Home of Kerner, one of our favorite white varietials in Alto Adige.


Venice, almost home to Prosecco, a very wine friendly city.


Cinque Terre Home to the DOC wine called "Cinque Terre DOP" a white wine made from a blend of Uva Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino.


After 10 years as a one car family we now have a car for photography tours that can get Robert and his customers into the vineyards year round.


Spent three lovely nights in Bergamo, the concert Messa di Requiem at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore


Front row seats thanks to our friends who know the conductor Corrado Rovaris, a very nice surprise after waiting outside for good seats.


We took the long way home from Bergamo by passing through Torino just in time for the first snow of the season.


After Torino we came home to vineyards covered in snow. Very good for the vines.

Wow! it's been a whole year since our last blog thanks to many great customers from referrals, Google and TripAdvisor. 2016 was incredibly busy, it's a good problem to have so much work that we don't have time to do blog posts to generate more business, however we still we still feel bad about keeping family and friends out of the loop of what we've been up to. So here's a quick update on the Nebbiolo Vineyard we planted last year.

In the second year the vines have grown enough to need support wires with lots and lots of help from Mariagrazia and Valter from Icardi. Old cool Poles, training wires and metal stakes for each vine were installed last weekend.

As the wax from the grafting at the nursery wears away the vines are growing fast therefor they need to be tied to the stakes for this year and next then they will be tall enough to be tied to the suport wires

Leslie and our friend Massi from Italy Unfiltered prepare dough for mini burger buns for for the infamas pasquetta party


With easter being late this year the weather was sunny and warm, no rain for once.


Panna Cotta senza mani (without hands) eating contest

After years of encouragement we finally planted our own baby Nebbiolo vineyard. Step 1 of many steps was turning over the soil
Step 2 our friend valter lays out the rows with string and poles

The vine are readied for planting by having their roots cut off this is done to force the new roots to grow down searching for water.

Using a lay out pole the vines are planted in very straight rows.

Valter oversees The last of the 200 vines being planted.

Over the next 4 years while we wait for the vines to mature we will have lots of weeding to do along with shopping for a cute little 300 liter tank to make our wine in.

we are very lucky in our line of work. Interesting people from all over the world travel to the Langhe and share part of their lives with us. They're Wine enthusiast/Geeks,Foodies,Photographers and Travelers. Last fall a couple from NewYork had all 4 of those passions wrapped up together, they share their travels on Jennifer's blog called tinyurbankitchen where she recently posted some very kind words about us. Her blog along with her instagram feed is a must follow for foodie,wine,photo & travel buffs
Robert had a blast shooting fall colors with them

Chasing the Light at Sunset

Another harvest is finished and this year the fall colors have been beautiful, better than the last few years. Truffles are few this year and very expensive. No rain in the summer for truffles. When good for grapes, bad for truffles and vice versa.