Arrivederci Dario!

And so, we say arrivederci - rather than goodbye to Dario - as he departs soon to the land of Montepulciano.

As well as being tuned into the London-Italian wine - insert…. rhymes with… raffia, Dario has been instrumental in elucidating the geography, culture and history of his native wines on behalf of the Caviste community. And that elucidation went way beyond merely drawing colourful maps – even though they were highly instructive, especially for those of us with only the haziest sense of Italian geography. A tasting with Dario would invariably throw up a fund of anecdotes and amazing historical detail, guaranteed to leave his audience in a state of mild shock-and-awe. Moreover, Dario also organised the most memorable customer wine trips. And when we say organised, we mean organised! His German genes ensured that every minute in each itinerary would be jam-packed with cultural highlights and educational goodness.

Dario’s impressive polyglot skills were often tested at Les Caves, but never to destruction.  On one notable wine trip he seamlessly converted the endless ramblings of certain Italian growers into pithy explanations, whilst in a succession of seminars at The Real Wine Fair he became the host who translated the most! Let’s just say clay seminar – Giusto Occhipinti – Dario – wow! Respect etc!

"A tasting with Dario would invariably throw up a fund of anecdotes and amazing historical detail, guaranteed to leave his audience in a state of mild shock-and-awe. Moreover, Dario also organised the most memorable customer wine trips. And when we say organised, we mean organised! His German genes ensured that every minute in each itinerary would be jam-packed with cultural highlights and educational goodness."

His customers doted on him to such an extent that when we lost a major group contract, a posse of sommeliers approached the buyer to demand the reinstatement of their favourite rep. That mixture of professional proficiency and personableness garnered Dario a massive amount of respect in the trade.

Whenever he returns to Blighty, which we hope is often, we will have a glass of something non-Montepulciano-and-profoundly-natural waiting for Dario, in order to keep him off the straight and narrow.

From all of us, his colleagues at Les Caves de Pyrene, we send Dario and his family our heartfelt best wishes for the future!