It has been an age since I last put a post up, but that does not mean that PiemonteMio has not been busy.  Far from it, in fact, as the pictures below will tell you.  Since each is worth a thousand words, I’ll let them speak for themselves.

Waking From Our Hibernation

Following the usual winter lull – honestly, people, buck your ideas up and visit Piemonte over the winter – spring saw not only a return of the international visitor, but a family celebration back in Britain:

Above, an ‘international visitor’ – Jeff Chilcott, cellarmaster at Marchesi di Grésy in Barbaresco – conducting a tasting;

Below, my father, playing with indoor fireworks on his birthday:

Luckily, we had not only a spectacular cake (to follow the rest of the masterful lunch prepared by my sainted sister) but a suitable bottle …

… or several to wash it down with:

Once the weather warmed up a bit and I could use the terrace again, we got stuck back into some tastings.  April saw an ‘Amphora Reds’ tasting – theme: red wines, any age, any region, any grape varieties, as long as they were fermented and/or aged in amphora, the clay pots that we believe were the first vessels used for winemaking 8,000 years ago.

Summertime And The Living Is, Well, Hot…

In early July I went to see the Tour de France.  And I only had to walk to the end of my street to do so…!  (No, I didn’t think that Alba was in France, either, but you know what they’re like, the organisers of the Tour de France.  Started it in Yorkshire one year…)

That’ll be race leader – and eventual winner – Tadej Pogačar cruising by in the yellow jersey.

The rest of the summer was spent in a haze of heat, wine, cooking classes, truffle hunts, cheese tastings, trips to CERN and wine.  Again.  Lots of wine.

Heat and wine, above – present and correct.  Below: one of the cooking classes, as mentioned.

 Truffle hunt:

Autumn, Season Of Mists And Mellow Fruitfulness

It may not have felt like it to begin with, but once autumn arrived, mist or no mist, so did the grapes:

As did the good old white truffle:

And tastings were back with a bang:

Including some pretty special wines:

With the season all but over, PiemonteMio did manage a cheeky getaway to Lisbon.  Highlights were; in no particular order; wonderful views, terrific wines, a trip down memory lane with a visit to Estufa Fria botanical garden, vibrant street art, and a visit to Adegas Beira Mar, the Giuseppe Quintarelli of Colares wine producers.

Top of the list, though, has to be seeing family, even if too briefly, that I haven’t seen for years.  And a special thank you to my cousin, Simon, for his spectacular hospitality!

Told you the views were good…

Likewise the wines:

Estufa Fria botanical garden:

Here’s some of that street art I alluded to earlier:

Colares Chitas, from the inimitable, 97-year-old, Antonio Bernardino Paulo da Silva at Adegas Beira Mar.  That barrel dated 20-8-86 – that’s 1886.  Chestnut wood from Brazil…

In The Bleak (?) Midwinter

So this is Christmas, and that’s what I’ve done.  Another year over, a new one not quite begun.  I hope you have fun over the festive season – the old and the young…

All that remains is to thank everyone who made this year so special and to wish you all:

Buone Feste & A Wonderful 2025!