Italian Journeys

with Isabella and Luigi  Dusi

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Isabella's Books

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Vanilla Beans & Brodo

Vanilla Beans & Brodo tells of the tempestuous and bloody history of this medieval village which has left its mark on the character traits of the Montalcinesi, but also offers a rare insight into the anxiety, joy, fun and intensity of village life.

 

Isabella takes the reader through the seasons showing the changes that only someone who knows and loves Montalcino would recognise. Vanilla Beans & Brodo reaches a dramatic climax as summer approaches and tensions rise when unpredictable storms threaten to decimate the grape harvest.

 

An evocative story of the rivalry between village neighbourhoods, of football fever and festival pageantry, Isabella destroys the myth that Tuscan villages are tranquil places and instead reveals a life infinitely rich and packed with drama.

 

Bel Vino

Returning to the hilltop village of Montalcino, Bel Vino is a glorious tale of legends and truths peppered with porcini hunts and wild figs, harvesting purple grapes, ancient castles and a noble Contessa. 

 

Isabella has sensed that hidden beneath the age-old nobility, poverty and rivalry that drive the inward-looking Montalcinesi, so much of which was uncovered  in her first book, Vanilla Beans and Brodo, there is more to learn about the aristocratic origins of the most famous wine of all, the prestigious Brunello di Montalcino.

 

She sets out to unravel its tangled secrets...revealing, in the end, more about the citizens of Montalcino than the wine.

 

 

 

 

To purchase my books, personally signed,  visit my website at www.vanilla-beans-and-brodo.com or mail me for details of costs, postage and method of payment