CLAUDIO BISIO is a native Italian who hails from Varinella, a tiny village in southeast Piedmont near the wine town of Gavi. Like many Italians, the Bisio family had a small vineyard and produced wine for their dinner table. As a boy, Claudio also helped his uncle, a trattoria owner, and accompanied him on local wine-buying excursions. Subsequently Claudio learned about wine in Italy's other regions through his extensive travels working in the tourism trade. For 10 years he planned tour itineraries and menus as a guide for various American and Italian tour operators. In 1999, he co-founded La Dolce Vita Wine Tours with his wife and business partner, Patricia Thomson, and acts as the company's tour designer and guide. PATRICIA THOMSON began traveling to Italy 25 years ago, when she spent time in Florence studying Italian Renaissance art. After getting her Masters in art history, she subsequently moved into journalism, and now writes about Italian wine, food, and travel for Tastes of Italia, Gastronomica, and other magazines. Pat's interest in wine also began with that fateful college trip to Italy. It was subsequently nurtured with excursions to wine country in California, Washington, and New York, as well as formalized studies through the London-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust. Pat and Claudio met while biking in Piedmont and now divide their time between New York and Italy. A member of the Society of Wine Educators, Pat leads tours in Italy and directs La Dolce Vita's US operations. Copyright © 2005 - La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, Inc. - All rights reserved. Website Design & Programming: Canfield Design Studios, Inc.