The Editor Speaks

Time is playing on his mind

The trouble with the world of wine is often the more that you think you know is when you realise that you know so little, and the knowledge you think you have is the knowledge you have to reassess all over again, and these are my I feeling as I bring 'Winefullness Magazine' back to life after a little while away.

Wine and writing have a lot in common, particularly time, and time management is something I've had to really learn since we were last together because without it I would have floundered and possibly got nowhere.

Every time I started to work on this edition my time was stolen by another project, idea, reality butting in, and at times it felt as though time was often slipping away as one tries to cram so much into those small sections of a clock that seem to get smaller each time one looks.

There's been a magazine to work on, a couple of books that needed nursing to completion, and a move to France where time had to be found to decorate, renovate and make it a suitable space to live, work and play.

The result of all these calls on time, without proper planning, was to simply let time slip away until moments of panic make you desperately try to plan and organise better, and mostly fail!

Writing this editorial, after looking over this edition a couple of times, one thing occurs, and that is the subtle way 'Winefullness Magazine' is changing into more of a wine travel magazine that is meant to illustrate the world of wine in a way that makes you want to do more than passively taste wine from the safety of your armchair.

The plethora of reviews that always used to accompany the articles are gone for now because I feel that you're more than capable of searching out the wines listed. These sites tell their stories much better than I can. All you have to do is invest a little bit more time and you'll be really rewarded. So what are you getting in this edition? What lovely morsels am I about to offer you?

Lake Garda. Still and mysterious

As the last edition was about Italy, and I don't want to throw too many shocks your way, I'm returning to that most beautiful of places to deliver a sort of part two of my recent travels there, the backbone of which is a road trip that takes me down towards the overlooked finery that is Abruzzo, before snaking my way up through the centre of Italy.

There are stops at Lake Trasimeno before reacquainting myself with Lambrusco and tasting the beauty of the northern Italian Lakes and the sparkling wines of Franciacorta. In between the road and the wine, I find time to have a chat with a few producers.

In a piece I've entitled, 'The Lugana Affair' I take a wine tour of a wonderful location that is snuggled in front of a backdrop of Lake Garda, Italy's biggest lake. Here, I taste interesting wines and go all James Bond on a speedboat with nothing to protect me other than a small glass of Lugana's finest!

As I write, edit and find time to complete this edition I feel as though it's the beginning of a journey that I'm starting out on again, but with a much better grasp on what is needed to bring you the best from the Winefullness World.

There are numerous plans for 'Winefullness Magazine' that I'm going to keep a little quiet for the moment because I've laid out future plans before and found it difficult to deliver them. I might talk a good game, but I don't want to promise something I don't have the time to deliver.

All I can say is that if you stick around it's going to be fun, and pray I'll not use the word time anymore! This I cannot promise.

Bye for now

Tony Harries

Editor of Winefullness Magazine