Hmmm… what can I say about the wine tasting? Amazing.
I can see the beginnings of an addiction to eating and drinking great food and wines at Renato and Luisa’s. How convenient in that it is right across the street from our palazzo!
The wine tasting was a quick preview of the delicious Italian wines – from the different red, white, sparking varieties from all over the country. The beginning of the wine tasting started off with a lesson about how wines are made, kept, stored, served, etc. I learned that in the process of making spumante, the bottle is chilled, so that the yeast inside is frozen. Next, the bottle is opened to remove the ice, and then the bottle is recorked and ready for consumption. While the quick wine lesson yielded a few tid bits about wines that I hadn’t known previously, it was obviously not as enjoyable as actually tasting the wine!
There were three wine and food pairings, fresh bread, and dessert. The first wine we tried was prosecco, which was served in a long fluted glass to keep the carbonated bubbles within the glass. The prosecco was paired with a small antipasto of cheese balls rolled in some sort of oats, which tasted creamy, nutty, and a bit tart. The cheese ball antipasto was topped with thin slices of parmegiano reggiano and served alongside slides of cured meat. The next wine was a white wine called Falanghina, made in the Campania region of Italy. It was paired with fried zucchini flowers and skewers made of pancetta, smoked cheese, and prunes. The food was actually very light and a good match to the crispness of the white wine. The final food and wine pairing was a red wine, Castel de Paolis, made in the Lazio region, which was served with savory crepes stuffed with fresh ricotta and spinach. Lastly, we finished the tasting off with homemade chocolate cake topped with stewed peaches. The peaches are in full season right now, and the peach topping tasted so unbelievably delicious! Sadly, there are no photographs of the crepes and dessert. This is where my mind went into a serious food coma, and my attention shifted away from my camera and towards the food and wine!
Anyhow, the wine tasting was a very enjoyable experience. Looking around, everyone was laughing and talking about their first few weeks living in Rome and about the different things and places that they have seen so far. As I am studying abroad for a year, I have the chance to do another wine tasting next semester, and I am thoroughly looking forward to it!
Ciao a tutti,
Christine
