Traveling through Italy in 126 Sips
By Mario Bermeo Jr.
Eleven regions and 126 sips later, my opinion on Italian wines has changed forever. Italian wines have always been a mystery to me, whether it was the names of the vineyards, their regions or sometimes the taste—there was always a cloud of mystery surrounding them. All of this changed last night at a “Slow Wine” Italian wine Tasting. Slow Wine provides a new perspective to Italian wines and vineyards, focusing on quality, price, environmental sustainability and of course, taste. Slow Wine has taken each of these criteria into consideration for each of their wine tasting events, which was effectively seen last night. This marked their 3rd Italian wine tasting in New York City—one that finally uncovered the veil of mystery and answered much of my curiosities about Italian wines.
I have always been intrigued by Italian wines, but unfortunately have not had the opportunity to branch out my curiosity. Although I had lived in Rome for half a year, I constantly found myself drinking the local wines of Lazio, or at the mercy of the sommelier or server. Even here in New York City, I found myself in a monotonous relationship with Barolo’s and Montepulciano’s and a never ending circle of placing Italian wines in a stereotypical category that were good, but never had that affect that Spanish wines had on me. Yesterday was an eye opener and unintentionally a palate awakening to the dormant side of Italian wines. The event was well organized, and filled with a few unexpected surprises. My brother in-law accompanied me to this tasting—having worked in fine Italian kitchens for a good part of his culinary career; he too had a curiosity to explore more of Italian wines.
This was not our first wine tasting, so we knew we had to space out our time and palate and of course take small sips. We have a pretty good system that has been effective in the past and has let us not overwhelm our palates throughout the tasting. Our system is simple: start with effervescent being either champagne, spumante’s, prosecco’s or cava’s, then move to the whites, followed by the roses and finally the reds; young to gran reserve. Although this method does take a bit more time, I have found it to be effective as your palate does tend to tire out. Each tasting offers a booklet of the event and the wines featured, but Slow Wine added something unique—categorizing each winery into three sections. The first category was depicted by a snail which meant these wineries exemplified “Slow Wine “identity in their values and offers a good value for the money. The second symbol was a bottle and this meant that the wines from these wineries presented and excellent average in quality and taste. Last but not least was a “coin” symbol—awarded to the wineries whose bottles were a good value for the money. Even though the “coin” and “snail” symbol had characteristics of being good value for the money, the snail exemplified values of sustainability, a better quality in sensory note, and identity. The wineries were not only broken down into symbols but into categories of: slow wine, great wines, and everyday wines-making it easier to navigate through the tasting.
As my brother in-law and I navigated through the sparkling wines first, we found a few that had noticeable flavor profiles like the –Moscato D’Asti Canelli form L’Armangia vineyard located in Piedmont; but nothing was as memorable as the Prosecco from Zardetto winery. The “Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Zeta Dry” was hands down the best Prosecco in the tasting; made of 100% Glera grapes, it had a subtle yet sweet profile hiding behind citrus notes—which has become my new Prosecco of choice. Ideal with seafood and even young chesses this Prosecco not only tastes great, but it hides itself behind a beautiful black bottle with its iconic orange “Z” slashed across.
We moved to the whites and began our tasting with some young wines, many similar in taste; young, citrus, most using the same grapes and the majority manufactured and age in steal barrels- there were just a few that really caught my attention and broke out of the pack. When it comes to white wines, I like a wine that is unique, something that could be enjoyed by itself or paired with a dish, and if anything, a white wine that breaks the norm and could even be paired with meats. First looks are important starting from the label and the color it presents in your glass, as could be said by the “Refosco At” from Aquila del Torre winery. The Refosco was indeed unique, with a smooth flavor profile and an after taste that lingered in your palate making you want more- its label was also witty with a faceless young child and a corkscrew as a nose, remarking Pinocchio. This winery also introduced me to a new taste of Riesling- as unlike German Rieslings with sweet characteristics; this one had a more denounced taste of acid paired with a light sweetness of berries. As I questioned the sommelier, why this wine was indifferent to all other Rieslings? He mentioned that since the vineyard is located close to Slovenian territory, the soil gives it a different feel then those grown in Germany-not only did I try something very close to a Slovenian wine, but my faith in Rieslings was totally restored. Once viewed as a sweet wine, this Italian version of this Riesling totally gives a new life to a once stereotypical wine.
Once our tour through Italian white wines can do an end, it was time for the main event-the Reds. As mentioned before, my knowledge of Italian reds was limited to: merlots, cabernet sauvignon, barbera, and montepulciano’s. After this tasting, an undiscovered world of: sangiovese, pecorino, maceration, nebbiolo’s, pinot nero, and sagrantino grapes gave view to the realization that I really missed out while living in Italy. We began our journey through the region of Piedmont with wines that were both young and had hints of berries in their aftertaste. We tried wines from Cascina La Ghersa winery all 2012 vintage and each one with a slight different berry note-a great way to begin our red tastings.
Next up was the region of Lazio-after Tuscany, the only region I knew by hard, and a region I dearly love. We came across the Trappolini winery, and were we in for a surprise. The wine we had here was from the Grechetto grape-young, warm, and with an unusual hint of bitter chocolate at its back note. I have come to the conclusion that this wine, this incredible surprise, was the realization of the great wines to come. Following this surprise of a wine, we stayed in the region of Piedmont and tried another great red-this one was from Castello di Neive winery, it had a smooth oak finish which was surprising since the owner explained to us that it had only aged in oak for just two months. Not only did we have the privilege of experiencing this wine, but meet the winemaker and owner-who explained the tedious process of this peculiar vintage.
We kept onward with our drinking journey; there were some memorable sips, and some that were sub-par, some fell short of expectation, while others such as a winery from Sicily quenched our thirst and brought new life to our almost exhausting palate. The wines from the winery of “Planeta” was able to restore our palate’s with an array of complex yet warm flavors-vanilla, berries, and wood where the main culprits who gave us new life. Specifically the 2009 Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico Dorilli-blend of frappato, and nero d’Avola brought us satisfaction and a nice glass of wine while we waited in line for some eats.
The food featured at the event was not your stereotypical pasta and tomato sauce or meatballs- it was although: slow roasted Porchetta, freshly carved Parmesano, blue cheese infused with red wine, and freshly pressed mini Panini’s. The food was sponsored by: Eataly, Slow Food New York City, Edible Manhattan, Monini olive oils, and L’albero lei Gelati. The break before we made our last strides in completing our tasting was perfect. The Porceta was spot on, the freshly baked bread soaked in Monini’s olive oil was enticing and won our attention, but in my opinion- the small amount of wine infused blue cheese was one of the best things I have eaten this year. I am a sucker for cheese’s and one of my favorite is a wine infused goats milk cheese from Spain- which is smooth, soft but not too soft, and has a great color “more of Spanish cheese’s another time”, but this Italian cheese made my list of favorites.
As I went back to have some more cheese, and personally asked the chef if he’d let me take a picture, we looked onward to the last tables and wondered if it could get better-I will tell you now, by the end of the tasting I found what I was looking for. While we traveled through the last tables, we found them to be nothing out of the ordinary as the previous surprises. Have we had too much? Was our palate simply overwhelmed? I was worried that the best had come and gone-my concern was lifted as we reached the last two tables: one from Piedmont and the last from Tuscany.
The Piedmont winery of Marchesi di Gresy offered three vintages-all made from the same grape of “nebbiolo” but each one as different as day and night. We began with the 2009 Barbaresco Martinenga- a nice surprise to be tasted with an array of flavors featuring oak and beautiful finish. The second wine had way to much oak, so I will not mention it, but the last one was one to remember-a 2009 Barbaresco Camp Gros categorized as a “fine bottle” truly gave justice to its hype. This wine did not only have the right amount of oak, but it was robust, and filled your nose with a delicate array of oak and fruit, the taste remains in your palate asking you to have some more.
As we walked to the last table, we pondered if this last wine could top the last one we had. The region was Tuscany, the winery-Podere il Carnasciale, and the wine a 2009 Caberlot. Sitting on the table was a Magnum bottle, all alone with no other winery next to it, a one man show with an unpretentious feel to it. The glass was poured, and the taste still lingers in my mind-aged oak paved the round to the senses, a round tasting feeling of the wine opening up as you sipped it and a smooth finish was the perfect way to finish our tasting. Finally I found what I was looking for-a wine that separated itself by look, taste, color and overall experience.
As we began to walk out with an exhausted palate and surreal respect to Italian wines, I couldn’t help but notice how over two hours ago I did not think much of Italian wines. It was at the third table, that the thought of reconsidering my position in Italian wines started to creep into my head. After 126 sips, the was simple-Italian wines are mysterious, filled with unique notions, and like the young French wines of now-a-day- are putting up a fight.
Eleven regions and 126 sips later, my opinion on Italian wines has changed forever. Italian wines have always been a mystery to me, whether it was the names of the vineyards, their regions or sometimes the taste—there was always a cloud of mystery surrounding them. All of this changed last night at a “Slow Wine” Italian wine Tasting. Slow Wine provides a new perspective to Italian wines and vineyards, focusing on quality, price, environmental sustainability and of course, taste. Slow Wine has taken each of these criteria into consideration for each of their wine tasting events, which was effectively seen last night. This marked their 3rd Italian wine tasting in New York City—one that finally uncovered the veil of mystery and answered much of my curiosities about Italian wines.
I have always been intrigued by Italian wines, but unfortunately have not had the opportunity to branch out my curiosity. Although I had lived in Rome for half a year, I constantly found myself drinking the local wines of Lazio, or at the mercy of the sommelier or server. Even here in New York City, I found myself in a monotonous relationship with Barolo’s and Montepulciano’s and a never ending circle of placing Italian wines in a stereotypical category that were good, but never had that affect that Spanish wines had on me. Yesterday was an eye opener and unintentionally a palate awakening to the dormant side of Italian wines. The event was well organized, and filled with a few unexpected surprises. My brother in-law accompanied me to this tasting—having worked in fine Italian kitchens for a good part of his culinary career; he too had a curiosity to explore more of Italian wines.
This was not our first wine tasting, so we knew we had to space out our time and palate and of course take small sips. We have a pretty good system that has been effective in the past and has let us not overwhelm our palates throughout the tasting. Our system is simple: start with effervescent being either champagne, spumante’s, prosecco’s or cava’s, then move to the whites, followed by the roses and finally the reds; young to gran reserve. Although this method does take a bit more time, I have found it to be effective as your palate does tend to tire out. Each tasting offers a booklet of the event and the wines featured, but Slow Wine added something unique—categorizing each winery into three sections. The first category was depicted by a snail which meant these wineries exemplified “Slow Wine “identity in their values and offers a good value for the money. The second symbol was a bottle and this meant that the wines from these wineries presented and excellent average in quality and taste. Last but not least was a “coin” symbol—awarded to the wineries whose bottles were a good value for the money. Even though the “coin” and “snail” symbol had characteristics of being good value for the money, the snail exemplified values of sustainability, a better quality in sensory note, and identity. The wineries were not only broken down into symbols but into categories of: slow wine, great wines, and everyday wines-making it easier to navigate through the tasting.
As my brother in-law and I navigated through the sparkling wines first, we found a few that had noticeable flavor profiles like the –Moscato D’Asti Canelli form L’Armangia vineyard located in Piedmont; but nothing was as memorable as the Prosecco from Zardetto winery. The “Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Zeta Dry” was hands down the best Prosecco in the tasting; made of 100% Glera grapes, it had a subtle yet sweet profile hiding behind citrus notes—which has become my new Prosecco of choice. Ideal with seafood and even young chesses this Prosecco not only tastes great, but it hides itself behind a beautiful black bottle with its iconic orange “Z” slashed across.
We moved to the whites and began our tasting with some young wines, many similar in taste; young, citrus, most using the same grapes and the majority manufactured and age in steal barrels- there were just a few that really caught my attention and broke out of the pack. When it comes to white wines, I like a wine that is unique, something that could be enjoyed by itself or paired with a dish, and if anything, a white wine that breaks the norm and could even be paired with meats. First looks are important starting from the label and the color it presents in your glass, as could be said by the “Refosco At” from Aquila del Torre winery. The Refosco was indeed unique, with a smooth flavor profile and an after taste that lingered in your palate making you want more- its label was also witty with a faceless young child and a corkscrew as a nose, remarking Pinocchio. This winery also introduced me to a new taste of Riesling- as unlike German Rieslings with sweet characteristics; this one had a more denounced taste of acid paired with a light sweetness of berries. As I questioned the sommelier, why this wine was indifferent to all other Rieslings? He mentioned that since the vineyard is located close to Slovenian territory, the soil gives it a different feel then those grown in Germany-not only did I try something very close to a Slovenian wine, but my faith in Rieslings was totally restored. Once viewed as a sweet wine, this Italian version of this Riesling totally gives a new life to a once stereotypical wine.
Once our tour through Italian white wines can do an end, it was time for the main event-the Reds. As mentioned before, my knowledge of Italian reds was limited to: merlots, cabernet sauvignon, barbera, and montepulciano’s. After this tasting, an undiscovered world of: sangiovese, pecorino, maceration, nebbiolo’s, pinot nero, and sagrantino grapes gave view to the realization that I really missed out while living in Italy. We began our journey through the region of Piedmont with wines that were both young and had hints of berries in their aftertaste. We tried wines from Cascina La Ghersa winery all 2012 vintage and each one with a slight different berry note-a great way to begin our red tastings.
Next up was the region of Lazio-after Tuscany, the only region I knew by hard, and a region I dearly love. We came across the Trappolini winery, and were we in for a surprise. The wine we had here was from the Grechetto grape-young, warm, and with an unusual hint of bitter chocolate at its back note. I have come to the conclusion that this wine, this incredible surprise, was the realization of the great wines to come. Following this surprise of a wine, we stayed in the region of Piedmont and tried another great red-this one was from Castello di Neive winery, it had a smooth oak finish which was surprising since the owner explained to us that it had only aged in oak for just two months. Not only did we have the privilege of experiencing this wine, but meet the winemaker and owner-who explained the tedious process of this peculiar vintage.
We kept onward with our drinking journey; there were some memorable sips, and some that were sub-par, some fell short of expectation, while others such as a winery from Sicily quenched our thirst and brought new life to our almost exhausting palate. The wines from the winery of “Planeta” was able to restore our palate’s with an array of complex yet warm flavors-vanilla, berries, and wood where the main culprits who gave us new life. Specifically the 2009 Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Classico Dorilli-blend of frappato, and nero d’Avola brought us satisfaction and a nice glass of wine while we waited in line for some eats.
The food featured at the event was not your stereotypical pasta and tomato sauce or meatballs- it was although: slow roasted Porchetta, freshly carved Parmesano, blue cheese infused with red wine, and freshly pressed mini Panini’s. The food was sponsored by: Eataly, Slow Food New York City, Edible Manhattan, Monini olive oils, and L’albero lei Gelati. The break before we made our last strides in completing our tasting was perfect. The Porceta was spot on, the freshly baked bread soaked in Monini’s olive oil was enticing and won our attention, but in my opinion- the small amount of wine infused blue cheese was one of the best things I have eaten this year. I am a sucker for cheese’s and one of my favorite is a wine infused goats milk cheese from Spain- which is smooth, soft but not too soft, and has a great color “more of Spanish cheese’s another time”, but this Italian cheese made my list of favorites.
As I went back to have some more cheese, and personally asked the chef if he’d let me take a picture, we looked onward to the last tables and wondered if it could get better-I will tell you now, by the end of the tasting I found what I was looking for. While we traveled through the last tables, we found them to be nothing out of the ordinary as the previous surprises. Have we had too much? Was our palate simply overwhelmed? I was worried that the best had come and gone-my concern was lifted as we reached the last two tables: one from Piedmont and the last from Tuscany.
The Piedmont winery of Marchesi di Gresy offered three vintages-all made from the same grape of “nebbiolo” but each one as different as day and night. We began with the 2009 Barbaresco Martinenga- a nice surprise to be tasted with an array of flavors featuring oak and beautiful finish. The second wine had way to much oak, so I will not mention it, but the last one was one to remember-a 2009 Barbaresco Camp Gros categorized as a “fine bottle” truly gave justice to its hype. This wine did not only have the right amount of oak, but it was robust, and filled your nose with a delicate array of oak and fruit, the taste remains in your palate asking you to have some more.
As we walked to the last table, we pondered if this last wine could top the last one we had. The region was Tuscany, the winery-Podere il Carnasciale, and the wine a 2009 Caberlot. Sitting on the table was a Magnum bottle, all alone with no other winery next to it, a one man show with an unpretentious feel to it. The glass was poured, and the taste still lingers in my mind-aged oak paved the round to the senses, a round tasting feeling of the wine opening up as you sipped it and a smooth finish was the perfect way to finish our tasting. Finally I found what I was looking for-a wine that separated itself by look, taste, color and overall experience.
As we began to walk out with an exhausted palate and surreal respect to Italian wines, I couldn’t help but notice how over two hours ago I did not think much of Italian wines. It was at the third table, that the thought of reconsidering my position in Italian wines started to creep into my head. After 126 sips, the was simple-Italian wines are mysterious, filled with unique notions, and like the young French wines of now-a-day- are putting up a fight.
