I love Andrea Franchetti, founder of Tenuta di Trinoro in the vinous wilds of the Tuscan/Lazio border and, subsequently, Passiopisciaro on Etna. You can read why in this 2002 profile of him.
He visited his UK importer Corney & Barrow at the end of November to show a succession of almost bewilderingly varied vintages of Tenuta di Trinoro that had been shipped from the estate five weeks earlier, including some precious magnums. The fact that his engineer son Ben is now based in London designing low-energy engines presumably provided some sort of draw. Andrea Franchetti himself was just back...