Do you ever wonder what children who were born in the past 5 years will think what normal life is like, when nothing has been normal whatsoever over the past 3 years? Once our lives sorta started to get back to prepandemic days this year, there comes a war, then extreme weather, now what seems to be a recession coming. But, thankfully, our passions lived on amidst uncertainties and craziness surrounding us.

That being said, we are at that time when we reflect on the past year, see what our followers and newsletter subscribers responded to the most in 2022. What were you, passionate wine and food explorers, most interested to hear about over the past year? Let’s find out.

Connecting with Winemakers

Vero came about to bring real products from real people farming their own lands which were missing from the US market; those who make authentic and interesting wines & foods from hidden corners of the earth to surprise and delight you with new discoveries and flavors. Getting to know the people behind the product is fundamental to our strategy. And you’ve embraced that.

Our VeroTalks, conversations and virtual wine tastings with Vero producers live from their farms & wineries, are of keen interest to our newsletter subscribers. Our followers enjoy meeting and hearing from these down-to-earth farmer artisans directly. And, in some cases, the farm & winery owners come and tour around the US. We were delighted to be back with in-person events this year, like hosting women-owned Vigna Petrussa who came to New England, New York and Chicago this past October.

We held a wide range of VeroTalks this year:

• starting with getting to know schioppettino, the rare, native red grape to Friuli, Northern Italy, grown and made by 3 generation of women winemakers, Vigna Petrussa;

• a cooking demonstration and winetasting from a local favorite trattoria in the Langhe, Piedmont Italy with Barolo winemaker, Aldo Clerico;

• live from a small winery Clos des Amis growing grapes and making wine in the undiscovered California wine region of Ventura County;

• learning about Antonella Manuli’s inspiring story of starting and growing her regenerative farming natural wine estate, La Maliosa, in the wild west of Tuscany, both in a VeroTalk in April and in an interview between our founder, Sheila Donohue, and Antonella on the Italian Wine Podcast in November;

• getting all of you oaked chardonnay lovers, as well as unoaked, to try another noble white wine grape, turbiana, with Zamichele winery family in the Lugana wine region in Northern Italy;

• meeting the down-to-earth brother-sister family winery, Febo, making natural wines and Italian olive oil in Abruzzo;

• exploring cork farming live from a cork farm in Alentejo, Portugal while sipping wine from the local winery Herdade dos Grous;

• getting to know the 6th generation of the Corino family, brother-sister taking over their natural wine estate from their dad, Lorenzo Corino;

• finding out everything about Asti Monferrato this fall, including a visit to Ivaldi, who made their US debut this year with a range from sparkling to full bodied red wine;

• also meeting and wine tasting with the talented young winemaker of Thaya in the Czech Republic, who also made their US debut with us this year;

• kicking off sparkling wine season with another brand new wine to the US, the volcanic wines made from the durella grape by the Italian sparkling wine estate Sandro de Bruno.

Wow, we were busy this year with VeroTalks, huh? Thanks for joining us on the ride! Be sure to go to our YouTube channel to check them all out. And sign up for our newsletter so you can keep tabs on our 2023 VeroTalks and other news.

Elephants in the Natural Wine Room

After attending Raw Wine in Los Angeles in April, hearing some ‘heavy weights’ in the natural wine world, like Isabelle Legeron and Rajat Parr, our founder, Sheila Donohue, was inspired to write some reflections on unclear, or even controversial, topics in natural wine in this article Elephants in Natural Wine Room. It’s not surprising that it was one of the most read of our newsletter articles this year, as it churned up lots of conversation about what is natural wine and also the defects to watch out for.

As the year went on, Sheila spoke with other natural wine thought leaders, like Aaron Ayscough, author of the newly published The World of Natural Wine, and Alice Feiring, journalist and author who is one of the earliest advocates for natural wine. Sheila discovered that there is a lot of controversy over what is a defect or not in natural wine even amongst these natural wine experts.

These debates are continuing, as you see, for example, in this article from last week where a Master Somm, Justin Moore, make a pledges to seek out “well made” natural wines in 2023 as he complains that ‘the world has been flooded with natural wine and pet nat wine that are trying harder to be cool than delicious.” Watch this space, as natural wine grows in popularity in 2023.

How to Make a Good Risotto

Our followers never cease to surprise what captures their attention. This time it’s risotto. Those of us used to rice see it as a side dish that you set to boil and then stir once. Risotto, on the other hand, is taking rice to an art form (leave it to the Italians!). Read more about it and get a recipe with wine pairing.

Teaching You How to Fish for Wine

Rounding up in the top articles for 2022 is a recent series we did on how to taste wine like a pro, pairing foods with wine and finding a wine for that special person as a gift. One reason Vero came about was to help people feel more comfortable on their own in making wine purchasing decisions. That is, in part, because we push the envelope when it comes to trying new wines, from dry wines to natural orange wines and natural sparkling wine. But in doing so, we want you to be able to experiment and try wines you never had before, whether it’s a new variety, a new wine style, a new producer, or a place you’re not familiar with.

We’re here to help you along your wine discovery journey, like with this article that introduces new wine grapes by comparing them to wines you already know. And our somms are just 1 zoom meeting away, where you can consult with us for free by scheduling a chat.

We hope you’re enjoying the journey! Make it your new years resolution to sign up for our newsletter and follow your passions into 2023!

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