Here's another break from my articles dedicated to Vinitaly 2018... if I keep it up I'll publish them in June! In fact, this year I've been so good at collecting so much material that I'm practically in a crisis to tidy it all up! 😄 Since today is my birthday, and it's a good 33 years, I'm taking poetic licence to talk about my three great loves in life: wine, orchids and my beautiful Lake Iseo...
First, let's talk about dreams, reality and boundaries. If there is one thing I have realised just this year, it is that nothing and no one is more important to me than where I live. Every person has different priorities in life, and mine is the Lake. Always, over everything. There are things that cannot be explained, and perhaps sometimes not even understood. For me, waking up in the morning and hearing only the birds singing, seeing only the green grass and the mountains overlooking the lake that changes colour with the sun's rays is the greatest wealth I have and nothing and no one can compete with this state of well-being. I believe that every individual should seek his or her 'Lake', that place that, regardless of how life, health and human relationships go, makes him or her serene. And then I believe that he should never leave it again, because nothing is more changeable in life than life itself... and the only solid point we can find is precisely the environment in which we live. I also believe that you should never be content with the place where you were born and wander everywhere until you find your Lake. It can be on a mountain top, in the middle of a Brazilian forest, by the sea, in a small fishing village in the Algarve, on a hill, in Medoc or in a big city like Paris, Sydney or New York... or just the country where you grew up. Everyone has their own personal Lago that defines them. And you must never be afraid of losing the relationships you have built: I have my dad in Ravenna (300 km) who I hear from practically every 10 minutes, Fabrizio in Rome (600 km) with whom I speak at least an hour a day, and Marco in Australia on the other side of the world who hasn't missed a day in these four years that I haven't heard from him on the phone or close to my heart. The point is that in an era where communication is possible by any means, real relationships are something that goes beyond physicality. Bottom line, It all depends on where you want to go.
Where do you want to go? I want to 'conquer the world' without moving from where I am now, Monte Isola. Here I have found my size. A small diffuse municipality of 1,744 inhabitants (I am in fact the 1,744th inhabitant!) in an area of just under 13 km² where cars and anything with more than 2 wheels cannot circulate. I admit, I would be even more restrictive and would try the route of only allowing electric mopeds to circulate! Or a sidecar in my case, because Paco's old moped hairball is scared. Although it is the highest lake island in Europe, it has become world famous for The Floating Piers, the splendid work of Bulgarian artist Christo. Man, it's only been two years that I've been 'treading water' with my parents and aunt and it feels like a century ago. Everything has changed in these two years. Everything. And just thinking about it I found myself crying, even though so many things that have changed make me very happy and other things infinitely sad. Certainly in these two years I have realised that nothing is more precious than health, and that arguing, discussing or making existential problems about the little things in life, about differences of opinion, about money... everything is madness when you are lucky enough to be well. It all depends on where you want to go, but to go there, remember that you only need two things: Health and Will. So always treat them as the most precious gifts you possess: respect your body and mind, always. And, well, in my case it limits the salamino di Monte isola, which by now Paco's favourite stroll is to go to Mazzucchelli's in Siviano to buy it!
From childhood we are taught that in life we must have a job and passions and that these rarely meet. The result of this madness is that for most people work is a means of living, indeed a burden on life. The result? People who have no desire to work or who experience work as a compulsion, committing themselves to what they do the minimum wage and dreaming of the end of the day and the weekend. I have two great passions: wine and orchids. Well also writing, design, cooking and eating, travelling... 😄What are your passions? What did you dream of being as a child? An astronaut? Ballerina? The Martian? Painter? A pilot? As a child I dreamt of writing on a lake. I have rotated my entire life over the last four years to achieve this and have now been living writing on Lake Iseo for three years. It all depends on where you want to go, but don't stop, never. Nothing is more dangerous for your happiness than procrastination.
"Procrastination is a trap. You will always find excuses to procrastinate. But the truth is that there are only 2 things in life: excuses and results, and with excuses you go nowhere. Robert Anthon'
Of everything we do, we are the cause and the effect. And the more time we spend procrastinating, perhaps spending entire days without accomplishing anything, the more frustrated we become and the more stress we accumulate over deadlines we cannot meet. Perhaps simply because we mismanage our time. However, I believe that the main cause of the excuses people come up with to justify their condition is simply because they do a job that they do not really enjoy. The message is: don't be afraid to give up and fail at what you have done so far. Failure and destruction are necessary for change. Another profoundly wrong teaching we have been given since childhood is that failure is wrong, a disgrace. In friendship, in love, during studies or at work, we anchor ourselves to things we hate and make us unhappy in order not to fail in the eyes of others, beings we believe are perfect for some strange reason. Frankly, I have never given a damn about what other people think of me, and often my very high self-esteem, one of my father's greatest merits, has been confused with self-centredness. Success and failure are two sides of the same coin: give up what you hate to make room for what you love.
"You are not better than anyone, but no one is better than you."
Everyone has different talents and passions, and this is the greatest wealth of mankind. Whatever you love, turn it into your work and nothing will ever weigh you down again. Today I turn 33, 33 years where I have made hundreds of mistakes and at the same time done hundreds of wonderful things. I live by writing and communicating about wine and orchids in the place that makes me happy. I have wonderful and lasting bonds with wonderful people who have taken me by the hand through life, protecting me and teaching me to love myself. I have my dad, the most special man in the world, and a mum in whom I have discovered resources I didn't think she had. I have a super grandmother whom I hope one day to at least match in the kitchen. I have uncles and cousins scattered between Romagna and Tuscany whom I see little of but think about. This for me is the greatest wealth.
Humility lies in silencing our virtues and allowing others to discover them. There are people so poor that they have nothing but money.
It all depends on where you want to go, but never live a life that does not make you happy just because someone told you to. Today I turn 33 and my first chalice is the Langhe Rosso 2011 by Gabriele Scaglione 'Everything depends on where you want to go' which seems perfect for the inevitable annual reflection I do on my birthday. This wine, made from a blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera, was Gabriele's first wine and precisely the beginning of the realisation of his dream. A bottle was opened with Federico, who had returned from Japan a few days and just in time to visit Gabriele together. A fabulous afternoon, but that's another story and I'll tell you about it in a few days.
For now, I enjoy this intense, transparent ruby red goblet with beautiful garnet hues. I lose myself in the spicy notes of underbrush, morello cherry under spirits, leather, blackberry jam. Today, a few days after opening it, I find it even better and more evolved. On the palate it is soft and balanced, warm and really persistent. I found it perfect with the mixed goat's tomino that Gabriele paired with it, but last night I paired it with (before continuing with the Barolo), a splendid pork fillet that I cooked religiously... also the one I got from Mazzucchelli's in the piazza and which was simply delicious! Here on the island we have a hell of a pork, vegetarians notwithstanding! Then I have to say that with Maurzio Ribola's monocultivar Sbresa olive oil and the freshly toasted spongada from the ladies of Peschiera Maraglio, which has nothing to envy to pan brioche, it went perfectly!
Here, it all depends on where you want to go. I say today for the first time that I want to be here, writing about wine and orchids.
A hug and see you soon,
Chiara
P.S. As always, I thank Sony and UniversoFoto.com for the splendid Sony RX100M4... the camera without which this blog would be half as good 😍
P.P.S. If you want to give me a beautiful gift... enjoy the 500 bubbles you should absolutely taste in 2018 by buying my sparkling wine guide 500 bubbles in 500 by clicking HEREI! You too will be part of my dream 😍❤ Thank you very much!
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