Men Who Like to Travel - David Latt

The 2018  Vini d'Italia   tour was an invitation-only gathering to sample wines from some of Italy's best small-production wineries. After Philadelphia and Austin, the last stop was  Terra ,  Eataly 's rooftop dining room in the revitalized Century City Mall. Marilyn Krieger  works for the  Winebow Group  which organized the tour.  She said that the event was an opportunity to taste premium Italian wines distributed by  Leonardo LoCascio Selections  (LLS) and to talk with the winemakers. The wines we would taste that afternoon would evoke the location of their cultivation and the winemaker whose palate guided the creation of that year's bottling. Each wine was unique. Each winemaker had a story to tell. I understood completely what Krieger meant. I love visiting vineyards and enjoy meeting winemakers, like  Shawna Miller  at  Luna Vineyards  in the Napa Valley and  Mélanie Weber  in her viney...

Traveling in wine country means visits to wineries to have tastings of vintages made with the grapes from the vineyards that spread across the fields surrounding the tasting room. Being that close to the source of the wine you are sipping is a great pleasure. Having the opportunity to speak with a winemaker while you are there is icing on the cake. I was lucky enough to have that experience on a trip to Napa. California’s Napa Valley is home to some of America’s best wineries. The valley is also well-known as an incubator of women winemakers.  Shawna Miller  is one of a group of talented women who have pursued a winemaking career in the valley. Growing up in a small Virginia town along the Appalachian Trail, Miller spent a lot of time outdoors, hiking and helping her grandmother tend the large garden that fed the family. In the summer they ate what they grew and canned the rest. During the wet, cold winters they happily survived on the food they put up in the...