Wines, etc

Great wines, wine tasting class, limoncello, grappa, and digestive liqueurs. It’s a full life…

Yesterday our host showed us around his cave. He’s got 1,200 labels with 9,000 bottles. I saw 1966 champagne and lots of Barolo from the 1980s.

Then we went upstairs and Carlo told us about how the different parts of the tongue notice different tastes (sweet, salt, acid, alcohol, tannin) and he had us test it out with salt, lemon, sugar.

We tested two reds from the same farm, same grape, quite different. We watched the trails form on the side of the glass, we smelled the rich aromas, then took in tiny sips to see how it rolled around it taste buds. Very fun.

Then he talked about how wine does best when it balances out fatty food with acidic wine or olive oil with tannin. Then we ate bits of parmesan and salami and noticed how the wines interacted with them.

He also gave us the history of the region and defined the DOC and DOCG regulations that farmers must work within. For one example, all the rights for grape growing have been allocated already, so if you want to go into the winemaking business, you must buy another person’s rights. That person must then destroy their vines and you have to plant new. Ouch! The Comune tells you how many bottles you can do, when you can start harvesting, and all sorts of other aspects. Very restricted!

Last night we tried a really nice 2004 Barolo. It was deep, rich, tasty!

But we are also drinking other fun beverages. We stored one night in a small hotel in the mountains and they brought out their home made liquers: limoncello, grappa, and two others. One with elderberry and one with chamomile. All zillion proof!

And, just in case that’s not enough, I’ve gotten in the habit of going out with a small group for digestive “amaro” bitter liqueurs. No photo yet, but I’ll update soon with some shots. Great way to end a day.