Morocco day one, arriving in Casablanca.

Here are two quick pictures i snapped, edited and posted with my iPhone. Quite hard to write much at the moment. Off for some more exploring for the day and tomorrow Marrakesh and then Essaouira.

Cruising through London

One of the classic Banksy tags in London.  This particular one has been preserved and encased in plastic where in other areas the city has painted over certain street art.

London has been amazing cruising the streets with the Gubbio Crew from Rome.  Many eats and drinks, fish and chips and traditional sunday pub stops.  Today off to the National Gallery to see some paintings by Caravaggio, and then tomorrow I catch a flight to Morocco where I'll be sure to post on some gastronomic adventures. 

 A Lamb shank with yorkeshire pudding for brunch anyone? An awesome afternoon spent in a traditional English pub sipping pints.  Andover Arms in Hammersmith London.

And don't miss out on this secret English pub snack.  Pickled egg mashed up 

in a bag of salt and vinegar crisps with a dash of tabasco!  Incredible shit, no?

Negroni In Bocca

Geneva, Switzerland... September 2012.  All work and no play makes Nico a dull boy...
allora, ci facciamo un bel negroni in bocca!

   
negroni in bocca from croosadabilia on Vimeo.

Lyon, Escargot and Chablis

Sometimes even the most ordinary wine can strike you at the just right moment and in the right way that it creates such an experience as if it were another beast.  Tuesday was all about the magic of Lyon and escaping the gloomy calmness of an uneccentric city. Arriving in Lyon, I took a direct route to the large food market known as Halles de Lyon.  Seeing many locals enjoying small dishes of escargot I had to follow suit and I sat down at Ecailler Cellerier.  Not expecting anything great on the wine list I spotted a 2010 Chablis from Louis Jadot and went with it.  Not that it was an extraordinary wine by any means but I have to say it was absolutely delicious with the food in that very moment.

La Fontaine Bartholdi, Place de Terreaux, Lyon

Berlin to Geneva to Lyon

After a week of tongue searing Riesling I escaped to discover Berlin earlier this week with Whitney and Talia.  What an amazing city we uncovered and there is no doubt that Berlin is having a special moment in time right now.  Today I arrived in Geneva which is quite a polar opposite of Berlin.  Good times to relax and gather some thoughts however.  Seeing some old friends, talking some shit, cooking roman style dinners and then tomorrow I will explore Lyon, About a 2 hour train ride west of Geneva.  Cheers y'all.

 The Victory Column, arriving into Berlin.

One of the many wiener schnitzles consumed on the Berlin trip.

Swans with sunsetting in background, Geneva, Switzerland.

Last days in the Mosel

Our last couple of days on the wine trail in Germany ended up in Mosel.  The landscapes here are unimaginable, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  An important thing to note of course is the amount of very young, troken (dry) wines that are consumed here and not so much the sweeter styles.

Looking down the Willi Schaefer vineyards into the town of Graach, in The Mosel. These are some of the steepest vineyards in the world, this vineyard here lies on a slope of around 60°. 

 The Willi Shaefer wines were all so very focused that they carried one of the most individual styles of German Riesling.  The Grosses Gewachs (G.G.) pictured above was one of the very few expressions of these wines to give meaning to the quality level of the G.G. VDP.

Talia Baiocchi shuffling some grey slate in the Schaefer vineyards.  This grey slate pictured above dates back to over 300 million years ago and gives the wines that characteristic richness as well as a minerality that balances haroniously with the high acidity and residual sugar.

Dining at the Wein & Tafelhaus owned by Chef Alexander Oos and his wife in the Mosel was an all around flawless dinner. Wonderful wine list and excellent hospitality. The groups favorite dish of the week by far was this local baby deer with puree of sweet potato and wasabi foam.

 Wein & Tafelhaus 

Moselpromenade 4, 54349  

Trittenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Our team Germany 2012 with Willi Schaefer second to left and our legendary driver Stefan second to right.

An amazing last tasting with the lovely Amei from Joh. Jos. Prum.  The wines from the Himmelreich vineyard showed an untouchable minerality and balance while the wines from the Sonnenuhr vineyards had a fuller body and riper fruit character.

What an amazing last day in the Mosel and then  followed by birthday adventures in Berlin...

A Glimps into the Mosel

New friends, new wines and 300 million year old slate making up the terroir of these lands. Here is a glimps of what we are getting into.

Drinking some old white wine is always one of my favorite things while on the wine trail. Getting to taste the Dr. Burklin Wolf 1999 and 2001 rieslings yesterday while in the Pfalz was amazing and two of my top wines on this trip so far. Today we stumbled upon some classic German bratwurst and after a gorgeous sun setting on the way to dinner. More to come...

To The Rheingau.... But first, freshen up!

What have you been sippin on today?

Alf Ewald, winemaker at Georg Muller Stiftung, 

discards of some Riesling that won't make it to the proper ripeness this season.  

See you in the Rheingau, with the beautiful 2011 Georg Muller, Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Riesling... drinking quite swell, especially nice with the late warm weather here in the Rheingau.

Germany day 1, The Rheinhessen

 Arriving to the Wasem Weinhotel in Ingelheim (Rheinhessen), Germany.

Had a gorgeous first day cruising the Rheinhessen, even though there were a few kinks in the system.  Talia had a 3 to 4 hour flight delay, while Whitney didn't make it at all.  She eventually arrived the next day though and now everyone is here.  Matthew Walls and Christina Pickard both flying from London, Whitney Adams, Talia Baiocchi and myself from The States.

 Heading off for the Weingut Bettenheimer vineyards in Rheinhessen.

 The Gruner Silvaner Trocken 2011, very easy accessible wine.

 Up close and personal with Riesling grapes.  They are very delicious off the vines at the moment, quite a nice vintage for 2012 and harvest has just begun for some of the other varieties in the region.  

The Riesling grapes will still mature a bit longer.

 Loading up the Tractor.  The hottest way to cruise around the German wine trail.

 Still in the Bettenheimer vineyards checking out some Spätburgunder grapes with Jenz.  So far everyone ages their Pinot Noir in mostly new Barriques.  This has not been a huge hit with the five of us, as we all seem to be looking for a fresher, naturally elegant style of Pinot Noir from these lands.

 Self portrait with Pinot Noir still life.

 Next stop, meeting up with Weingut Winzerfamilie Flick. 

 Riesling with a view...

 Pre-dinner tapas for ya'self, and maybe some pretzle bread?

 Dinner at Domherrenhof in Essenheim.  

Rheinhessen Vitello Tonnato paired with the wines of Weingut Braunewell. 

That with a conclusion of Creme Brulee' ... who isnt into that shit!? my ideal dinner... Enough said. 

Leaving Milano, momentarily...

 Clara Gipponi, taking one last stroll with me through Milano.

 Navigli nightlife, outside of Capetown.  Gents drinking on the streeet, 

the way it should always be in the summer.

Carpaccio with tomato and ricotta salata at Osteria della Stazione, A friulian inspiration in Milan.

The 5:00 am Scene at a Milanese airport. 

Ho Voglia diSCO PARTY !!

Milano, Bar Basso a mezzogiorno.

 Giovedi, c'é sole e fa caldo. 

Un signore manda un messagio mentre beve un bicchierone di aperitivo.

Negli anni sessanta, Il Negroni Sbagliato e stato creato qui, nel Bar Basso.

 

Camel! cos'é questo liquore? Io non lo so, e neanche il bartender a bar basso.  Sapeva solamente che viene usato per dare un po di colore a qualche cocktail. Tiene poco alcol e non esiste sul google search!

Mo' scappo a festeggiare... A Milano E' la notte di Italian Vogue, Fashion night out !

Appena arrivato a Milano

 Upon arriving into Milan Linate Airport I was instantly reminded of one of the major differences in airport food between Italy and The States.... Look at that gorgeous San Daniele and it speaks for itself.

First espresso in the airport as well...

 

 Found a lucky Schioppettino by Ronchi di Cialla by the glass at Polpetta DOC last night.  Kept it mellow and was able to sleep away most of the jet lag.  Off for some exploring in Milano, and looking forward to a stop into Bar Basso.