A few weekends ago the BF and I trekked to the westside to hit up a special Italian wine tasting at the most delicious Wine House. Tre Bicchieri is the highest rating that Italian food/wine magazine Gambero Rosso gives out to only the very best wines from Italy. It was a joy to drink 20 of these Tre Bicchieri winners all at once, without having to endure a boring layover in JFK or a sexy TSA pat-down. Some of the producers themselves were present, so THEY got the sexy TSA pat-down. I thank them for traveling all this way to let us guzzle some elegant and stately Nebbiolos, Sangioveses, Amarones, etceteras.
A handy phrase to know at an Italian wine tasting: “Anche io per favore” – “Me too please!” – which is exactly what you should say to your pour-er as he pours for someone standing next to you.
This was our first sip, with touches of spice and plenty of dark fruit. This wine is from Piedmont, the land of white truffles and delicious cheese, where they use more butter than oil. Hmm. That aforementioned layover in JFK is starting to sound a lot better.
I don’t get a lot of chances to drink Amarone. I remember being told by a slightly snooty clerk at a Vendome in the valley that Amarone was the kind of wine you bring to a dinner to be a bit show-off-y. I remember being turned off by that (wine is not a status thing to me, it’s a DELICIOUS thing to me), and also by the fact that I was constantly advised Amarones need a decanting. Well, I didn’t see any decanters at this tasting and this Amarone was delicious right out of the bottle. Lesson learned.
An Amarone from Verona. A big to-do on my drinking agenda is to learn more about Italy’s wine regions. A map might be in order?
This bottle literally leaped into my arms and demanded to come home with us, and how could I say no? According to Robert Parker this bottle will be good sometime between 2012-2024. 12 more years? We’ll certainly have jetpacks by then. Or alien overlords. They better keep their space tentacles off this dark dry cherry-rific quaff.
Pardon the lip stains on my glass. Take those unsightly smears as a sign that I greatly enjoyed myself. See you next time, amanti dei vigni!