I Always Leica… Poggiarellino.

This is a photo of Anna Ginotti. She and her husband Ludovico own and operate a small winery in Montalcino, Italy. We met her in May 2015. Anna & Ludovico are from Siena and were getting close to retirement age when they took on the challenge of owning a winery. Poggiarellino is a small winery which produces great Brunello di Montalcino. Amy and I felt ourselves fortunate to visit this Italian couple and their winery. As we walked through the vineyards, Anna expressed a profound love for the property, the soil, the vines, and the wine produced from them that nearly brought tears to our eyes. We were taken into their home where they shared a bottle of Brunello and homemade bread with us. It was truly an amazing experience. We left feeling like we had made a strong and lasting connection not only with the owners, but with the winery itself. Now, when we drink their Brunello we feel their love and and the beauty of their winery. It makes each glass of Poggiarelino wine very special for us. The picture of their home on the label reminds us of that wonderful afternoon.

Poggiarellino Brunello is a direct import to K&L Wines in California and Zachys Wines in New York. Their wines receive great scores by the wine experts (2010 Bruenello received 95 pts from James Suckling) and because they are a direct import, they can be purchased at reasonable prices in the US. It remains a special wine for us to share and enjoy.

I Always Leica… my Leica cameras.

Following our first trip to Italy in 2001, I knew I wanted to return with a good camera to document future visits. I purchased a used Leica M6 (film camera) and three lenses on eBay. I love the image quality as Leica has great lenses. I appreciate the smaller size of the M system and the manual control of the camera, forcing one to slow down and think about each photo. I have updated my camera with the M8, M9, M240, and now the M10. My current travel kit of three lenses includes the 21mm Super Elmar and two of the original lenses (Summicron 50mm and 90mm). This makes for a fairly small travel kit. Amy often has great ideas for the next photo. Because of that I recently purchased her a Leica Q. It has a full frame sensor, great image quality, a fast f/1.7 lens, focuses to within one foot, and has a macro adjustment which allows you to get within 6″. It also has autofocus which was one feature Amy requested. Our hope is to shoot some great artistic photos on this trip and to post them on this blog with other documentary photos to help introduce the reader to each location.