Suadela – Collezione degli Enologi

Daniel Cernilli and Charles Laurey

Why have one oenologist when you can have six? Daniele Cernilli, on the left above in the photo by DoctorWine, made the introductions for wannabe wine producer Charles Laurey.

For wealthy people with a passion for wine and who like to go further than mere collecting, there comes the moment of reckoning: they want a piece of the action themselves. Tuscany, for example, is full of second-careerists who, in a moment of clear vision, or pure folly depending on the outcome, acquired properties and found themselves amid their own vines.

While passion goes a long way to compensate for a...