There's a lot to love about working with small French and Italian family wineries like those we partner with at Vino Cammino.
We can build long term relationships built on personal trust, and our customers get access to top quality wines that would otherwise not have made their way to our shores.
One particularly nice thing about working with small producers is that we deal directly with the winemaker / owner of the estate. What we've noticed over the past year, is that their communications with us evidence their ever present connection to their vines and land. It's rare to receive an email or text, regardless of the main topic, without a few words about the current crop or weather. We thought we'd share a few examples here from the first half of the year.
From the joy of Spring...
Sophie Conte of Tregole in Chianti: 'Big hugs from a beautiful spring atmosphere in Chianti."
Laure Adam of Kuentz-Bas in Alsace: "All the best from Alsace where the spring arrive, my favourite moment."
Catherine Dehoy Deruet of Domaine de la Fontainerie in Vouvray: "In Touraine, the sun has been back for a few days and the vegetation is growing rapidly."
...to an oppressive Summer
Caterina Carli of Il Colle di Carli in Montalcino: "It's very very hot, but the vineyards are well and the grapes are growing beautiful."
Anne-Laur and Blandine Conte of Domaine Conte et Filles in Cognac: "Summer is in full swing, between storms and heatwaves, the vine grows at its own pace, proud and twisted."
Marjorie Molusson of Domaine des Trois V in Chablis: "Otherwise, we’re managing the summer as best we can! The heat has been intense but the vines are holding up for now… fingers crossed for a good balance through to harvest."
It's lovely to get these snippets of life on the ground from our winemakers. Their connection to land and vines is a good reminder of why we choose to work with them. For us it also supports our decisions to sometimes say no to great wine if the producer is a bit too corporate for our liking. For example, we met an excellent Sancerre producer on our last French trip, and were considering adding them to our portfolio, right up until they asked us to get in touch with their Hong Kong based director of sales for Asia Pacific for next steps...
We'll let our mailing list know that next time our producers to travel to Australia, so hopefully you'll have a chance to meet them for yourself.