Buon Viaggo: A Tour of Italy
Last week, our well-traveled Assistant Manager Stephen hosted a Tour of Italy dinner and wine tasting based on his recent adventures in Italy. We had an amazing turnout, with a little over 20 guests filling up our back room to enjoy an evening of culinary indulgence!
As the group enjoyed their first beverage – Borgo Magredo Prosecco – Stephen shared his international travel tips, including the best times to visit Italy. Going in the spring? Expect a bit of rain. Summer is typically busy, as it’s a popular vacation time. Love wine? Experience the fall harvest! And of course, you can’t pass up the skiing when you visit in winter.
Stephen then moved on to explaining the geography of Italy, which is very important when considering the country is one of the most popular wine growing regions in the world, and the 4th largest producer. The various climates and soils of Italy allow for a wide variety of grapes to be grown. Tuscany has your Chianti. Find your favorite white wines in the northeast. And look out for Sicily! This area is up and coming in the wine world.
All of this wine talk wouldn’t be complete without some Italian food, so guests were served Antipasti Carmine’s alan Rolatini along with samples of two white wines – Torre Rosazza Savignon and Umani Ronchi “Casal di Serra”.
Stephen then moved on to serving House and Caesar salads, which were paired with a rose wine – Rivera Pungirosa, and a lighter red – Vignamaggio Chiati Classico. And for the main course? Bolognese, Pasta Carcio, Chicken Parmigiana and Veal Pazzo with two full-bodied red wines – Giacosa Fratelli Barbaresco and Michelle Castellani “Colli Christi”. Delizioso!
Finally, the evening concluded with dessert and a sweet Moscato – Marenco “Pineto”. Lots of food, lots of wine. Now that’s what we call a Tour of Italy.
Want to attend the next Tour of Italy? Stay tuned for future dates by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And be sure to check our online calendar for more upcoming events!
***Wine buying tip: All the wines listed above are available at any liquor store in Colorado. If we have access to it, so does anyone purchasing in the state. The rare exception is a wine so hard to get your hands on, it winds up being purchased by restaurants exclusively. Wherever you shop for wine can get these for you. They may ask you to purchase a case if they don’t carry it. If so, don’t be afraid to ask for 10-15% off which is the standard discount on case purchases.
