This past week, I spent many hours working, writing, meeting people, enjoying children, and harvesting some lavender on Sunday… which brings me to musings of lavender and wine publicist advice with Tenuta Polvaro.

I felt guilty cutting some fresh lavender from my garden bees; but, then I remembered that the lavender is very much set into its place and has come into its magnificent own. I brought some into the house and looked for the right container. I didn’t want one where I’d be adding water. I  w-a-n-t  it to dry out and become aromatic.  I suppose I should hang it upside down, but I’m liking it’s irregular free form shape. It’s how my schedules are going right now. If I can take advantage of every moment as it inspires me, I’m mostly doing it right. And, so my last week went.

Some wines arrived from Arel Group Wine & Spirits, Inc.

PR pro Mary Bryan Haltermann reached out to tell me that they exclusively import Candoni, Carletto, and Tenuta Polvaro Wines; unique, Italian wines produced mostly in the Northeast of Italy. The company is owned and operated by the Candoni De Zan Family: Armando De Zan and his wife, Elviana Candoni De Zan, along with two daughters, Barbara and Caterina. It’s a fifth generational family of winemakers. They began importing their Italian wines to the US Market over a decade ago.

She wrote, “We would be honored to send you samples of our wines to taste. Please let me know if you would be open to this opportunity, and if so, the proper protocol to send our wines to you. We greatly look forward to your reply. Thank you in advance for your consideration.”

The decision to taste these wines was made very easy for me, because of really well executed PR:

• Straight forward (I have so little time to spare right now, the point is an important point to have)
• Extremely polite (mom and dad can check off charm school as having been worth the investment)
• Very informative ahead of time (allows for me to not have to do a lot of research to get immediately to the core)
• Links and suggested retail on the bottles (all I need on my list of things to get… Check!)

“Yes, I’d be happy to,” was my reply.

What the family is wanting to offer the American consumer is authentic, Italian wines that are fit for all occasions.

Translation… You can afford these wines, and anyone that you share them with should be very satisfied… Unless, of course, that person was looking for an Opus One and only one Opus One would do.

Enchanted ~ I opened the 2011 Tenuta Polvaro ~ Lison Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita Classico White wine. Yeah, there’s a mouthful for this Maine Anglo-kinda gal. And, every taste – versus a mouthful – was, how do you say in Italian, “un delizioso vino bianco” [a very delicious white wine]. At only $15 a bottle, it seemed to accompany my foods throughout the week. I was eating light fare, and this made a perfect house white wine. From pasta with just olive oil and freshly ground Himalayan salt, to pork chops grilled to perfection, and my salads and fruit, it was all satisfying. Eating simply, this Lison fit perfectly into my life style. I loved the floral aromas, which paired well with being in my herb, flower, and vegetable garden.

It also became my 146th grape variety tasted, on my Wine Century Club’s spreadsheet, as I now shoot to have tasted 200 different varieties.

From wine-searcher: Lison is a white-wine DOCG of north-eastern Italy, covering an area of eastern Veneto and western Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lison wines are made from Tocai, one of Veneto and Friuli’s signature white grapes. The variety is now officially known as Tai, to avoid confusion with the sweet wines of Hungary’s Tokaj region.

I’ve yet to taste the other two in the shipment:

• Candoni Italy Moscato White Wine (non vintage)
• or the Ricco Rosso from Carletto (Great name. Say it and listen to how it sounds like an Oscar winning, Hollywood story… Ricco Rosso from Carletto)

More later from me… You can find out more about each of these portfolios at the brands’ respective websites: tenutapolvaro.com, candoniwines.com, and carlettowines.com.