Italian Wine Merchants

Although it's only been a few (great) months and a mere 34 posts (!) I'm afraid I will soon be ending my blog "Over a Barrel" on erobertparker.com. I won't be leaving the blogosphere altogether but joining the great team at Italian Wine Merchants, where I will be the Director of Communications, effective July 27th.

I'd like to thank my wonderful friend Bob Parker, first and foremost, for allowing me - and my blog- to be part of the erobertparker family, which has been tremendous fun. I'd also like to thank his behind-the-scenes talent (thank you, Joe and Mark) for putting the nuts and bolts of this blog together.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my posts- especially those who took the trouble to respond. I hope we can (all) connect again on the IWM site.
I look forward to keeping in touch.
Ciao!
Lettie

Awed by Austria

I met some remarkable winemakers and tasted some truly incredible wines during my six days in Austria. In fact, the trip itself was nearly flawless save for the fact that many of the producers were incredibly hard to find. Like Rudi Pichler (See photo below for the proof that I did, in fact, finally locate him. ) It took about three passes through Rudi's tiny village in the Wachau to find his (very) tiny sign. It didn't help that there was another winemaker named Rudolf Pichler a few streets away in the same town. (No, I didn't taste his wines).

I'd always heard that Austria was a beautiful country and my little sojourn certainly confirmed that. I want to go back as soon as possible - though with a better GPS system next time. I'll be writing about my Austrian endeavors in-depth in my next "Wine Matters" column for Food & Wine so stay tuned!

Rudi Pichler and Me (and some great Wachau vineyards)