I don’t know if there’s such a thing as ’tile blindness’, but if there is, I think I’ve got it. In the umpteenth warehouse we visited, they all started blurring together into one giant amorphous terracotta mass. And which did we choose ? Which can you look forward to walking on when you first enter your holiday for two villa ? That’s right - none of them. But the good news is we’ve narrowed it down to about 50-60 possibles…

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Valpolicella Classico. 2006. Lamberti

Along with Chianti, Valpolicella is Italy’s best-known red. It’s also one of its most misunderstood. There’s no grape variety called ‘valpolicella’, or town of Valpolicella providing the centre of production. Valpolicella is a region sandwiched between Verona and Lake Garda in Italy’s north-east. And as for Valpolicella wine ? Well, unlike Chianti, which is pretty much all-Sangiovese, Valpolicella can be a real mongrel of a wine, with Corvina Verona, Rondinella, Molinara, Rossignola, Negrara, Trentina, Barbera and Sangiovese grapes all able to be part of the mix. And what’s the blend in the Lamberti Valpolicella Classico ? Corvina Verona, Rondinella, Molinara and…Merlot. Merlot ? Yup. Go figure…

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We’ve got the official OK for our Abruzzo property plans – so it’s time to start turning architect’s drawings for your holiday for two villas and our house into reality !

We got the official approval for the rebuilding plans of our Abruzzo property from the Casoli comune last week. Despite some of the horror stories we’ve heard about grindingly slow Italian bureaucracy - and it does vary wildly from comune to comune - the process here in Casoli was slick and efficient.

As you read this blog, we’re just finalising the permits that’ll allow the actual construction work to start. Before that happens, the power and water lines to the site have to be reconnected and the existing ruins have to come down…

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