Terralsole Winery – Our home away from home (Montalcino, Italy)

Every year from 2007-2010 Juliet and I went to Montalcino in Southern Tuscany to visit our amazing friends at Terralsole Cantina. Mario Bollag and Athena Tergis are the proprietors, our dear friends, and produce some of my favorite Brunello di Montalcino wine.

Brunello di Montalcino is the great wine of Southern Tuscany; made with 100% Sangiovese Grosso grapes, these wines are meaty, bright, austere in their youth, and some of the finest red wines on the planet with a meal. A great Brunello always has hints of tart cherries, new saddle leather, and tell-tale grip around every corner of the mouth. Brunello was the wine that convinced me to get into the industry and remains one of my greatest pleasures on earth.  [Read more...]

Top 25 Italy Moments – #13 Why I Was a Lousy Tour Guide

Me as a guide in 2006 "Photo by BJ Stanbery"

In 2006 I became a cycling guide in Italy. I wasn’t much of a cyclist and at the same time I was certain my passion for Italy and knowledge would be more than enough to lead clients through the region and give them a great experience.

After all, I basically served in this role in 1995 on my University campus and again in 2002 leading two friends on two occasions through Rome and Tuscany. I passed the Italian language test in order to work in Italy and so I assumed my language was at least “good enough”. [Read more...]