On Monday, after I spent time in Trento, Vin Italy and Venezia, we started our tour of the amazing vineyards in an area north of Trento high in the Dolomite’s called Valle di Cembra. Cembra is one of the many small communes that dot the mountains in this area that has to be seen to believe anything can be this beautiful.
So it’s about 7:11pm as we pull into Verona. I was hoping to write about my experiences in Italy day by day but…….I didn’t think to buy an electrical converter and there wasn’t wireless anywhere except Florence.Every day was awsome, the scenery was breathtaking and the wines from Trento have to get world wide recognition!! I will write more as soon as I can get online.
A couple things to remember when going to Italy…. say Ciao and Si 5 to 7 times in rapid succession to sound like you belong but you only need to say Grazie and Giorno (Bon not nessecary) three or four times!
Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao Ciao!
Tonight I get on a plane and travel to Verona to attend Vin Italy! I have never been and was told by a respected colleauge that I had better wear comfortable shoes and get ready to run. I can’t wait!
I arrive on Friday and will be driven to Verona and then attend the event on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday i am not scheduled for anything so I am going to take a train to Venice, just to take pictures and see it!
Then we travel to Tuscany to visit the wineries that the company represents and will be there for three days. I hope to get to Montalcino!
I am taking my laptop so hopefully I can update every day, plus post pictures as I go.
Ciao!!
Oh the red wines of Burgundy. When I was the Wine Director for a local restaurant, my favorite area to navigate with our guests on our list was the two pages devoted to Pinot Noir. Granted there are plenty of wines that have dizzyingly steep prices on those pages. Like all wine making areas of the world, certain wines and winemakers command exorbitant prices. Sometimes I get criticized for having some of these wines on the list. But I often say, (mostly to myself) “If you are going to have a French wine list, there are things that must be on it.” And those things are usually the most expensive. But there are some wonderful selections in Burgundy that are under $100.00 and some that are just a touch over that are well worth seeking out in a retail outlet.
My love affair with Pinot Noir began in the late eighties when I was a retail wine buyer for a group of wine stores in Portland Oregon. (Pronounced OAR-eh-gn, not Oar–eh-GOHNE.). Of course the Willamette Valley has become to be known as a mecca for domestic Pinot along with the Russian River AVA in Sonoma County and the Santa Ynez Valley AVA in Santa Barbara County, California. Even though the world may not have known how fabulous they were back then, all of us Oregonians knew it.
Since August of 2004, I have had a bug. That is when I took the introductory course for the Court of Master Sommeliers and passed it. And I passed it only missing two of the 80ish questions. OMG did I know about wine or what! I thought I knew it all. I only missed two questions!!!
