DaVinci Wine’s Storyteller Experience on Facebook

DaVinci Wine’s Storyteller Experience is bringing the Italian region to Facebook news feeds.

How? In its second year, the DaVinci Storyteller Experience is recruiting artists, writers, photographers and foodies to join the storied Italian wine brand for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tuscany.

After a robust application process, three applicants were selected by DaVinci to fill three categories: Language Arts, Culinary Arts, and Language Arts. A fourth Storyteller was left to the brand’s Facebook fans to select, who awarded the coveted Fan’s Choice spot to a professional illustrator. It was announced Wednesday, Oct. 10.

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In July, this multitalented quartet traveled to Tuscany to meet and experience the people and place behind the 50-year-old wine cooperative that produces DaVinci’s wines—including Chianti, Chianti Riserva, Pinot Grigio and Brunello di Montalcino.

From the winery’s hometown of Vinci (birthplace of Leonardo) to the storybook hillside town of Montalcino—and every sun-dappled vineyard in between—the journey offered the Storytellers no shortage of inspiration, says the company.

“The Storyteller Experience is really our way of allowing authentic storytellers—from different backgrounds and disciplines—to experience the people and place behind our wine,” says Courtney O’Brien, director of Marketing for DaVinci Wines.

“How they choose to represent their time in Tuscany is entirely up to them. And their works truly become a reflection of our rich culture and history.”

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From an author and a food blogger, to a professional photographer and an illustrator, the 2012 DaVinci Storytellers hailed from a wide range of artistic backgrounds, including:

• Mark Leslie (Language Arts): Author of an Italian culinary memoir, this Alabama-based theater professional was on familiar ground, documenting his experience in narrative, video and recipes at Beyond the Pasta.
• Jade Sheldon (Visual Arts): This Oregon-based photographer captured sunflower fields, sunsets, tablescapes and wine growers with breathtaking detail and nuance.
• Cathi Iannone (Culinary Arts): A creator of mouthwatering Italian-American dishes at The Brooklyn Ragazza blog, Iannone was inspired to pair DaVinci Wine with an array of authentic Tuscan recipes.
• Michelle Kondrich (Fan’s Choice): Truly a fan favorite, this Denver-based illustrator turned reality, to fantasy, and reality once more with dreamlike watercolors of the DaVinci world.

Sample content includes: Chianti balsamic chicken with porcini mushrooms, photos of sunsets set ablaze against the summer sky, travel logs recounting sunny drives along cypress-lined roads, eye-catching paintings of barrels, cannoli and weathered winegrowers.

DaVinci Wine has started unveiling this year’s Storyteller creations on the brand’s Facebook page and will continue to share content in the coming months.

To experience Tuscany and see DaVinci Wines through the eyes of the Storytellers, visit Facebook.com/DaVinciWine.

DaVinci Wine: Nestled near the Tuscan hillside town of Vinci—historic home of Leonardo da Vinci—Cantine Leonardo da Vinci brings together 200 passionate local winegrowers, who contribute their finest grapes to an extraordinary collection of authentic Italian wines.

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Rooted in centuries of winemaking tradition, DaVinci wines embody the rolling hills and majestic vineyards of Tuscany.