Gran Sasso - Abruzzo For some reason, I have been going over my wine career and the speed bumps along the road that I incurred during that 40+ year long journey. Not the successes, not even the failures. This dive was into the hearts and souls of people I worked with and for, and their sullied motivations. We are living in a moment where retribution and  grievance are center stage, I get that. And I’m not one to harbor a grudge for long. I’ve witnessed that in wine and friendships since retiring, some have come, some have gone.  In the workaday world there were a few people who stood out in terms of the way they approached their co-workers or employees. Some of these folks I really find hard to know how they slept at night, the things they did to their fellow humans. No, they didn’t torture any of us. But they did take advantage, and it all seemed to revolve around money. Some of those folks got really wealthy, with their fancy cars and motorcycles, lake houses and faux-French châteaux in fancy neighborhoods. They’re all getting old, those who are still among us. They aren’t going to get out alive. So, why did they do what they did, to those to whom they did it? One fellow I gave his start in the wine business. He was selling long distance discount cards and perfecting his golf swing. He’d hit a wall. I took pity on him. His wife, at the time, asked me to help him find his way. I took him on, he was in fact a really good salesperson, which is to say that he had infinite lines of bullshit. And he parlayed it into a rocket-to-the-moon career that put him on the cover of magazines and provided him with all the money he could ever desire – generational wealth. But along the way he felt like he had to crawl over my back to get there. He buggered me good. And all I ever did was open the door for him. He was just one of a handful of folks who were like that. Maybe I misinterpreted our initial friendship. I have a bad habit of misreading friendship. In fact, I keep a list of erstwhile friends I have had over the years that just de-materialized, to the point now that I have made a study of it. I didn’t know besides transactional relationships, of which I am very familiar, that there was also this category of temporary friendships. Covid taught me that. People were isolated and looking for outlets, for conviviality. College can foster similar occurrences, as well as the working world. I’m getting to know new things about myself and my tolerance for such things. But to mix friendship with business can be a very slippery slope. I had this chum in my business life. We spent a lot of time traveling through Italy. I really thought of this person as one of my best friends. And while he didn’t take advantage of me or screw me over, like the fellow in my earlier mention, once I was done with the working world, the camaraderie that we shared dried up, like the dead sea. Nothing here to see but ghosts. OK, I get it. People move on. They have families, young ones to put through school, older ones to care for, new ones coming into the world. Everyone is involved. Everyone is busy. I once had a teacher in grade school who told my mom, “Your son is too sensitive.” Guilty as charged. So, how do I navigate this world from here? Well, the ones who screwed me over royal are history. The ones who ghosted me are in the wind. Nothing I can do about that. The ones who are passing through, well, let ‘em pass. Kind of like a wine collection in a way. How so? Well, I’ve been decreasing my wine collection quite a bit lately. I had an air conditioned “room” and a wine cooler. Now that room is slated to be put to other uses. Meanwhile some of that wine is just getting past its prime. And we’re not drinking that much wine, anyway. So, time to pare down. I think that is sometimes the way it is with human interactions too. We all have a finite time here. Best to make the time count. Yes, I’ve indulged this space with some of my grievances, but the bottom line is that those who have wronged me, I’m content to have them go in peace. And to those I’ve wronged, I’m more than happy to leave them in peace too. And to those who were here for some brief moments, I like to think of them as Champagne. When they were here it was sparkling and was all well and good. But when the bottle is empty, well, we all know what that means. The key for me is to recognize that I must move forward, leave it all behind me. And head back to the cellar for another bottle.       © written and photographed by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy wine blog +  Italian wine blog + Italy W

The annual Italian wine trade show, Vinitaly, has just ended, and the threatened US tariffs against Italy have just been adjusted down to 10% (for now). What a hell of a week it has been. Now what? For those who are wondering what direction Italian wine should take in 2025, this could be a bit of a “shaking my head” moment. After all, Kyiv is 1,300 miles from Milan, less than the distance Houston is from New York. And with a protracted war that has taken trade off the table for Italy with Russia, and with an unstable reality driving the American economy (for the foreseeable future), where does Italy pivot to? Local consumption is down, as has alcohol consumption, worldwide. China is seeing their growth slow down, who is going to drink all that Italian wine? Is it time to pare down wine production in Italy? Have we reached that moment? Again, I am going to take the point of view of the winegrower and winery operator. It is likely that I have vintages in the cellar, mainly reds, waiting for their release date. And some of those release dates are predicated by laws governing such things. So, the wines cannot sit in the barrels indeterminately. Let’s talk about the white, sparkling and rosé wines first. They are coming up on release dates presently. And with tariffs “paused” for 90 days, I’d be making deals with my US suppliers to get as much wine out of the winery and onto the water ASAP. I’d probably have to give extended payment terms and maybe even discount the wines. Not a fire sale discount, but something to stimulate interest in getting these wines into the market post haste. That would be my strategy for those kinds of wines. Red wines are a different story. Depending on where my vines are grown and what kind of wines I make, I’d have to consider the longevity of the red wines I was making. Obviously, wines from Tuscany and Piedmont have been thought to lend themselves to greater ageing, especially in the higher appellations (Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico Riserva, Brunello di Montalcino, and so on). But what if I produce red wine from the Marche or Abruzzo, wines which are meant for earlier drinking and not always with so much bottle age on them? I’d probably be marketing those kinds of wines similar to the whites and rosés. Release them as early as the DOC laws allow (if they are a DOC) and for less significant appellations, move ‘em out as soon as I could. Then I would hunker down. Work on my DTC (direct to consumer) business, locally and if there remains any, the touristic visits to the wineries. At this point we don’t know how tourism will be affected, although there are plenty of people who have already planned visits, cruises and vacation times. Italy needs to re-examine their work life. Maybe taking the month off in August might not be in the cards this year. Maybe it won’t matter a bit, depending on one’s cash flow. In any case, this will be a year to sharpen the pencils and crank everything down in a most economically efficient way. This will not be a Rolex year, more likely a Seiko one. In other words, watch your spending. I’m fiscally traditional in manners like this. I know the large distribution houses have warehouses loaded with merchandise. 2024 was not a year in which sales set new records for increases. And contractual obligations have not been able to slow the flow down to a slow drip. Everything is flowing as if we didn’t just experience the last four or five months as we did. Which is to say, the element of uncertainty and chaos now must be factored in. As often is the case, the small growers and producers, along with the small importers, distributors, retailers and restaurants, will feel the pinch more. This is not a good time to be the little guy. But that’s the reality and one must face such things head on. Italy has had worse to deal with in its past. And that’s not to rationalize this topsy-turvy era we find ourselves in. But the aspect of survival is always present and in order to survive, one must evolve with the times. Out run it, out-think it and outlast it. And that is something the Italian mind heart and culture is very adept at.     © written and photo-styled by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy wine blog +  Italian wine blog + Italy W