Travel


It’s ironic the Emmental Valley is one of Switzerland’s least visited regions. Not only does it possess some of the country’s most iconic landscape, it is the homeland of the famous and oft-imitated “Swiss cheese” as Emmental is called by so many of us. The region, and its famous cheese, are named after the Emme River and you can arrive here in…

  Hello Everyone! This is a long overdue update to let you know I am alive and well and living in Switzerland. I’m sorry I have not posted much since the big move from La Petraia, but alas I lost my muse. Petraia was the inspiration for so many of my posts and after leaving her I have needed some time to…

  In my previous post about our trip to Abruzzo and the Gran Sasso I promised to introduce you to a fourth generation transumanza shepherd. This story actually doesn’t take place in Abruzzo, but just across its border in Lazio, deep in the remote and little visited Monti della Laga range. It was August 15th and ferragosto, Italy’s national summer…

We visited Abruzzo in a camper van nearly 20 years ago and ever since then we’ve been meaning to get back. With the highest peaks in the Apennine range this region boasts vast expanses of wilderness and, for a country as urban as Italy, Abruzzo is sparsely populated. But the biggest draw for us was its spectacular landscape. For one…

It was big news back in 2009. On April 6 that year Abruzzo suffered a deadly earthquake that devastated the region leaving 308 people dead and thousands more homeless. It’s epicenter was near L’Aquila, the region’s capital, but it also affected many other surrounding communities. You don’t hear much about L’Aquila these days, the tragedy seems largely…

The summer solstice has passed and around Petraia that’s when things really start to grow. We’re busier than ever keeping up with the weeds, the vegetable garden, the vineyards and the many wonderful guests who have come for a wine tasting or to take a class. There hasn’t been a whole lot of time to kick back…

So excited to have arrived in London. Just spent the evening in this lively neighborhood around Spittalfields Market where we will be showing our Primaia wines at the Raw Artisan Wine Fair this weekend in the Old Truman Brewery.  Check out the pictures below and read our latest blog post over here on the RAW blog.  …

  Recently on a trip to the Franco-Suisse Jura mountains we enjoyed a memorable afternoon at La Boissaude, an isolated farmhouse-restaurant just a stone’s throw from the summit of Mont D’Or and the Swiss border. We were there to try the local melted cheese speciality called la boîtes chaude, a whole Vacherin du Mont D’Or cheese melted with a little white wine and served…