A native of Milan, Italy, Franco Ziliani (above, left) is one of Italy’s top wine writers, and has written Italian wine since 1984. He contributes to a wide range of specialized and mainstream dailies and magazines, including the Corriere Vinicolo, De Vinis (published by the Associazione Italiana Sommelier), Bibenda, the British magazine Decanter, and the Californian magazine Wine Business Monthly, among others. His writings also appear regularly at LaVINIum and Sommeliersonline.it. He is a member of The World of Fine Wine editorial board and a contributor to the Tom Stevenson Wine Report (in collaboration with master of wine Nicolas Belfrage).

His blog Vino al Vino takes its name from the Italian proverb pane al pane, vino al vino: “call bread bread, call wine wine.” Like the title of his blog, Franco isn’t afraid to “call a spade a spade.” His straight-from-the-hip style and often-humorous posts are balanced by his immense wine knowledge, erudition, and his often self-effacing honesty.

Franco greatest passion is Nebbiolo – Barbaresco and above all Barolo, but wines from Valtellina as well. He also counts Brunello di Montalcino and Châteauneuf-du-Pape among his favorites.

Franco is the creator and author of Barolo di Barolo.com , a website devoted entirely to Barolo and the township of Barolo.

Email Franco at franco at vinowire.com.

Jeremy Parzen (above, right) is a food and wine historian, writer, and translator specialized in Italy and Italian gastronomy. A contributor to Gastronomica and Wine & Spirits Magazine, Jeremy has published translations of numerous literary and scholarly works, including fifteenth-century Italian chef Maestro Martino’s The Art of Cooking (University of California Press, 2005). He received his Ph.D. in Italian from UCLA in 1997 with a dissertation on Petrarch and Pietro Bembo.

His blog Do Bianchi borrows its title from Venetian dialect for due bianchi or “two white wines,” a request you commonly here in the taverns of Venice and Padua where Jeremy spent many years as a university student.

Among his many other projects, Jeremy has recently completed a translation of Gian Piero Brunetta’s Guide to Italian Cinema (Princeton University Press, pending publication) and is currently working on a translation of La cucina veneziana (Venetian Cuisine), originally published by Muzzio.

Email Jeremy at jeremy at vinowire.com.