Blogger:
Joseph Reigle
Photos:
Goat’s cheese pralines with honey taken by Simon Kessel
All other photos by Joseph Reigle
Last week, students enjoyed a wine tasting generously hosted at a nearby restaurant, Renato e Luisa. Renato, the chef and sommelier, and Luisa, the hostess, are longtime friends of Cornell in Rome. Their restaurant neighbors the previous Cornell in Rome facilities on Via dei Barbieri.
Renato began the evening with a brief explanation of the winemaking process and the difference in three types of wine–red, white, and rosé. With the help of a couple of volunteers, he taught us how to open wine bottles properly. The key is to do it slowly and smoothly to avoid making a loud POP when the pressure in the bottle is released.
The wine tasting began with a glass of prosecco, a sparkling wine similar to champagne. The wine was paired with a delicious appetizer: soft goat’s cheese pralines with honey! The kitchen prepared two dishes to go with the white wine: smoked provolone with speck and plums as well as gnocchi with parmesan. Egg with truffle accompanied the red wine, and for dessert, we had chocolate cake.
Renato ended the night with a fun competition. Each table was given three wine samples to smell and guess and correctly identify the scents, for instance, lemon, strawberry, pepper, etc. The prize for successfully guessing all three scents was a bottle of wine. While all the tables made valiant efforts, none of us guessed the scents without making one or two mistakes. Nonetheless, Renato surprised us by sending each table back to their apartments with a bottle of wine where the tasting can continue!
