Where did that month go?

Uh-oh, I couldn't even keep up with an abbreviated record of events :-(

So here's a diary for me to come back to and fill in.

Saturday, March 26: Drove from Pau (France) to Santander (Spain). Surprised at the speed limit and number of speed cameras in Spain, plus how they build villages around industrial areas (an oil refinery!) and apartments in the middle of the countryside.

Sunday, March 27: Drove to Vigo on the west coast. Didn't plan on doing 600km a day.

Monday, March 28: Raining heavily. Went to a groovy wine bar in Albarino country and picked the locals' brains about good wines. Bought three glasses for benchmarking. Visited one estate (couldn't get an answer from others) and fortunately it was a goodie.

Tuesday, March 29: Drove to Ribera del Duero for a tasting. Stayed in a hotel opposite a bull-fighting stadium!

Wednesday, March 30: Another Ribera del Duero tasting, then drove to Rioja. Popped in to Artadi, then spent a while with a radical winemaker called Gonzalo Gonzalo. Drove to Calatayud.

Thursday, March 31: Tasting with a foreign local, then drove to Barcelona for a tasting of a range of bargain wines I'll be importing: a grenache-shiraz and cava to start, and a tempranillo to follow.

Friday, April 1: Two tastings in Priorat, one fantastic and one miserable. Great fun driving around the windy roads and up into the hills with Dominik Huber of Terroir al Limit (the fantastic one), but hayfever struck hard!

Saturday, April 2: Drove from south of Barcelona to La Ciotat on the south coast of France.

Sunday, April 3: Drove to Treiso in Piedmont, Italy.

Monday, April 4: Tastings around Piedmont. Some really bad wines ... still find it difficult to get my head around young nebbiolo, but being in the region really accelerated my understanding. Found an excellent producer of Dolcetto, Barbera and Barbaresco. Add one to the list: Giuseppe Cortese.

Tuesday, April 5: Another goal: Francesco Scanavino will supply us with spumante (I couldn't believe how good this vintage methode champenoise was!), moscato d'asti, arneis and barbera. Then drove via Pisa to Montalcino for a Tuscan tasting.

Wednesday, April 6: Several tastings around Tuscany, none satisfying. Then drove north of Verona to a great view, terrible location for our needs!

Thursday, April 7: Day 1 of Vinitaly. Got in thanks to a friend and made several tasting visits. Should do this to start my Italian trips, then follow up those who show well. Found a great source of pinot noir and budget reds from Sicily, plus a couple of quirkly varietals.

Friday, April 8: Another long drive -- to Alsace via Switzerland. Gee, the Swiss make like they don't want visitors. Will try to avoid in future.

Saturday, April 9: Three tasting appointments around Alsace, from one extreme to the other (and over an 80km span). Might take two of them.

Sunday, April 10: Fabulous lunch and then drove to Silz in the Pfalz area of Germany.

Monday, April 11: Tasting at Rebholz in Siebeldingen. Fantastic range of 2010s. Wondered why they told me they didn't deacidify. Was soon to find out -- it is the hot topic (or should be) of the German vintage. Followed this with tastings at Schafer-Frohlich and Emrich-Schonleber. Lots of great wine.

Tuesday, April 12: Quick tasting at Knebel in Winningen (09s mostly sold out, 2010s not finished fermentation), then a leisurely drive along the Mosel to Schmitges in Erden.

Wednesday, April 13: Carl von Schubert in the Ruwer, then Reinhold Haart in Piesport and Willi Schaefer in Graach. Have to be quick with my orders as yields were down by up to 50%!

Thursday, April 14: Fritz Haag and Schloss Lieser, what a double! Brothers with contrasting approaches and results. Queueing up! Had to skip Van Volxem cos they have no 09s left, and 2010s are sold out before they have even finished fermenting!

Friday, April 15: Zilliken looking lovely, and a great opportunity to try some back vintages and see the vines.

Saturday, April 16: Driving back into France and straight to Bouzy for a tasting and chat with Benoit Lahaye. Awesome bio champagne.

Sunday, April 17: A crazy five-hour walk and talk and vertical tasting with Vincent Laval in Cumieres. We drank the last bottles of several vintages, back to 1988. Looking forward to finally landing these in Australia. Then an interesting dinner in Ay, with 18 rare and older champagnes matched to tapas dishes prepared by two three-star chefs. Great night!

Monday, April 18: The Terres et Vins event. I tasted pre-release champagnes and the 2010 vins clairs of my four producers there -- Lahaye, Rene Geoffroy, David Leclapart and Chartogne-Taillet. Then tried those not represented in Australia and was keen on a couple. Mouth almost numb from two days of high acid, I raced off to Sillery for a tasting with an Italian importer friend, then went south to Congy for an incredible afternoon and evening, chatting with the livewire Olivier Collin of Champagne Ulysse Collin. Take the tip, the Wine Advocate is calling his 2008s the Coche Durys of Champagne!

Tuesday, April 19: Another trade tasting, this time Artisans du Champagne, in Reims. I have my eye on a few here, but Pierre Gerbais and Lancelot-Pienne are definites. Then off to the legend, Fallet (or Fallet-Prevostat) in Avize. Two dozen bottles safely in tow, I popped in to see if I could get some Selosse. Sucess there too!

Wednesday, April 20: A day to be sick and do paperwork :-(

Thursday, April 21: Tastings at Ployez-Jacquemart, Henri Billiot and Rene Geoffroy. Wow, the latter collection is screaming hot. So glad to have a restock shipment on the water now.

Almost up to date! That'll do for now. Will add a pic or two when I have better internet signal.

Cheers
.