I was born and raised in Harvard, Illinois, a land of Manhattans, Pabst beer and Friday-night fish fries — wine was unknown. However, during a college semester spent studying in Europe I discovered wine and fine food, and there was no going back.

After graduating from Illinois State University, I worked as a photojournalist and food and wine writer in Chicago for four years before my passion for food and wine overwhelmed my sense of reality and I entered the wine business

In 1980, I joined Sam Leavitt as a partner in Direct Import Wine Company which grew to be recognized as offering the most elite portfolio of estate wines in the Chicago market. In the early 80’s we began importing the Italian selection of Neil and Maria Empson and the French wines of Rebecca Wasserman and Christopher Cannan. These people influenced me deeply and the many, many hours I spent with them in the vineyards shaped and developed my palate. I will be ever grateful to them for this extraordinary education.

In 1996 the company was devoured by Paterno Imports (who later fed it to Southern Wine and Spirits), but I remained at Direct as president until 1999. In a fit of sanity, prompted by an outburst of ethics, I left the corporate world of the Terlato Wine Group to return to the area of the wine industry that fueled my passion for wines to begin with: small estates making distinctive wines with a personality reflecting the vision of the people that created them.

Following a brief crash-and-burn as an importer, I spent the next two wonderful years in Italy, writing and doing a total immersion experience in Italian winemaking. This led to my creating VinoCibo.com to share these experiences and engage in an exchange of ideas with other like-minded “terroirists”. Now that I am back in the USA that project has been replaced by The Wine Camp Blog as I wanted my focus to go beyond the wines of Italy.

After twenty-five years in the wine business, the call of pinot noir was too enticing and I find myself on a quiet hilltop in the Willamette Valley of Oregon working alongside a great team dedicated to making extraordinary pinot noir. You can read the details of that struggle at the Anne Amie Vineyards Willamette Valley Cellar Blog

Now, after a long break, I have returned to photography as a serious hobby and am pleased to present my favorite images to you in this photo blog. Thank you for visiting and I look forward to your comments.