Shadows, Plettenberg Bay

I really liked this shot. Late afternoon, Plettenberg Bay, and a couple of bottles of beautiful wine to sooth the soul... Perfect combination for a pretty picture if you ask me.

Birds, Stellenbosch Vineyards

One thing that I have loved about now working at Waterford is the wild life I get to experience every day. I still haven't identified what this is, but I managed to catch it in the late afternoon on my way to check up on our Chardonnay block.

Francesco's Winery, Certaldo, Italia

Whilst in Certaldo we stayed with one of Alma's good friends, Francesco. Francesco's family own a winery in Chianti, and so they produce a lot of wine using Sangiovese. We were treated to a tasting at the cellar and shown around by Francesco himself. It was great to be taken through a proper tasting of a Chianti wine by the winemaker himself, as well as taste some pretty amazing Vin Santo, a popular sweet wine of the region. I also really loved his Cabernet Sauvignon, which although packed a punch on the palate, was a wonderful wine which I think has a lot of potential to develop over a couple of years.

Me, Alma and Francesco

Francesco at work

The winery

Soave with Alma

The old medieval wall of Soave town.

My last couple of days in the Veneto I spent with Alma in the town where she stays called Soave. Is is an old Medieval town surrounded by a wall, and it is made of narrow little streets with one or two little enoteca (wine bars) and cantinas. I spent two days in the vineyards with Alma. She works for a winery called Inama and it is one of the more well known in the Soave region. Soave Classico is a type of white wine made from a grape varietal called garganega. In the past, Soave Classico was one of the most prestigious wines in the world, but due to big producers flogging it as bulk wine the quality dropped and so did the regions reputation. Now however, thanks to wineries such as Inama, Soave Classico is slowly regaining its place amongst the world's best. It was great going around the vineyards with Alma inspecting all the vines and learning, she's brilliant! 

Soave's narrow streets.

The old gates to Inama's property at Lonigo.

My new home, Bure in Valpolicella

The neighbouring town of Gargagnago in the distance.

So this is my new home! It's a little village called Bure in Valpolicella, a major wine making area of the region. I've been having an incredible adventure exploring the place, and slowly getting used to clanging church bells that peal out the time every hour and half hour. But I have been given a fantastic old bike which I get around on and I'm beginning to orientate myself. These a couple of photos from the cycle I went on on Sunday morning...

Looking back towards Bure.