blogging away and "conflict of interest"

this blogging thing is a little bit weird in some ways.  i mean, there you are: yours truly writing down his thoughts, hoping someone will read them and actually find them interesting...

then there is in some ways self-censorship at play .  how much ranting should i air so openly?  believe me that, for a guy like me, this medium of self-expresion is very tempting indeed.  in fact, maria already calls me a grumpy old man at the tender age of 40, so you can now understand why i tell everyone who wants to hear that she is already a saint... 

then, there is this "statement of principles" that more than one blogger put on their sites assuring us, idealistic readers that we are, that there is no conflict of interest when a restaurant or a wine is reviewed and that no money is collected when a hyperlink is clicked. 

well ladies and gentlemen of the world wide web, here is our statement: we pay for all our meals and all our wines.  when we make a review it is because we genuinely liked the experience and when you see a link it is to freely and enthusiatically share the experience with our dear readers. 

the only areas of our site where we will make huge amounts of money is when you will support us by clicking on the google ad and buy the books we list in the amazon box below. 

of course, if you buy one of our travel bag (patented and manufactured exclusively to our specs), not only will you ensure the your clothes are not spoiled when you carry wine in your suitcase, but you will make is very happy.  

and so, we hope that our statement is clear enough and that, one of you in particular will be satisfied that there is no conflict of interest in these pages - just plain enthusiasm and passion for wine and for food!

Published by jc on August 27, 2008

2nd thoughts on less than positive reviews...

at lunch today, maria looked at me straight in the eye and, with a grave voice, said: " i read the blog this morning..."

i immediately knew what she meant.

and so tonight, i am removing my previous post as i have had 2nd thoughts about it all day and i have decided that i do not do criticism very well.

as we have said to each other more than once, we think this blog should stay positive and upbeat and talk about what we love and enjoy and not waste our energy on what we don't.

those who know maria will easily recognise her big bright smile as i write this...

Published by jc on July 14, 2008

writing wset diploma assignments

i have been crazy with too much travels and not enough time for myself in the last 2 months so that once again i am stuck to write my wset assignments at the last minute. 

three subjects this time: french wine in crisis, trading-up, and the cooperative movement.  all due on te 8th of april, but with my visit to paris and vinitaly next week plus a hop in hangzhou on tuesday, i must finish them this easter week-end.

other than that, i will be travelling to shanghai in late april and california in may.  hopefully, i will find the time to study for my the exam of my last unit (3) to be held in june.

in the meantime, we are re-designing our site which is targeted to be launched in early april.

all this to say, i might not post too much these days and for a while.  we will make it up later on.

 

Published by jc on March 21, 2008

launching our new logo this week

in advance of relaunching our site in march (and start to take it more seriously), we are launching our new logo this week, a creation of the good people of zemma & ruiz moreno, a graphic design firm specialized in wine labels. 

as you can imagine, we absolutely love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

last week in buenos aires, i had the pleasure to meet with the creators.  i can report they are very passionate about what they do and being at the forefront of wine label design they have a very impressive list of clients (terrazas de los andes & rutini wines among others).

 

Published by jc on February 23, 2008

a passion for travels - ''view outside my window'' photo set on flickr

wine and food are for me 2 parts of a 3-part passion.  traveling is the 3rd.  i really get excited every time i pack my suitcase and i love it so much that i am on a buzz from the moment i put the key in the door when i leave to the moment i return - no matter how long the trip.

since i plan to travel so much in the next 12 months, i have decided to begin a little experiment and take a photo each morning outside the window where i will be staying (including the in-between when i will be in hong kong).

as i am not sure it will interest anyone, i will post my photos on my flickr (you can see the set by clicking here) and from time to time, i will post them on this blog.  who knows, perhaps after 1 or 2 years, it will be interesting to see a kind of pattern?

in any case, watch out for my windows when i travel as below in the next year:

- christmas & new year holidays in india

- january business trip in france & holland

- february (chinese new year) holidays in chile & argentina

- march trade show in taipei

- april trade show in italy (verona)

- may trade show in shanghai

- may business trip in u.s.a.

- june holidays in great barrier reef

- august trade show in germany

- september holidays in italy (amalfi)

- december retreat in thailand

also plenty of trips in between to taichung, shanghai, and other exotic locals in china...

Published by jc on December 13, 2007

welcome!

welcome to our blog where we share our passion for food and for wine!

franco, maria, and i (jc) are student of wine and we hope this site will help us improve and more importantly share with other wine lovers around the world who are as passionate as we are.

franco has informally learned about wine all of his life in italy.  soon, he will be taking the sommelier course level 2 in milan to formalise his vast knowledged acquired throughout the years.  he targets to complete all the way to level 3.

myself have studied the wset courses for a while now and i am currently sitting the diploma level which i target to complete april 2008.

as for maria, she has been supporting my studies as patiently as an angel and in fact, i think she now knows more about the nectar than myself.  she will share with us in our tastings and reviews.

franco is based in saronno, italy and will contribute to this blog in italian.  as for maria and i, we are in hong kong and will write in english.

all of our travels have an element of food and wine as we most definitely chose our destinations based on the the restaurants we want to visit and the wine we want to drink.

you can send us an email to: contact [AT] grandepassione.com

 

 

 we hope you enjoy and please do share with us your passion!

Published by jc on August 8, 2007