My mom informed me that my blogs were talking way too much
about food and drinking, and not enough about my cultural experiences or
recommendations. I read a few other blogs from girls in my program and got some
ideas from them, so in my next few entries I will try to include more history
and experiences as apposed to food and drinking, however this might be hard
when talking about a wine tasting!
Right after school on Friday almost everyone in the program
hustled to the bus station to venture off to Chianti, Italy: a small region of
Tuscany where some of the best wine in the world comes from. It looked has if
our bus had driven us right into a post card. The scenery of Tuscany is just as
every picture portrays it: perfect. We were met by our tour guide, Gino, who
welcomed us to the Castillo dei Verranzano (Verrazano means wild boar, and the
castle was named this because of the wild pigs that roam the land that they use
for their world renown salami and prosciutto). Giovanni, the man who’s castle
this was, was the man who discovered the New York Bay Area on April 17, 1524,
so they were much warmer to American’s than most of the Italians we’ve run
across.
We toured the massive underground stone cellars where they
produce the famous Chianti Classico. In this wine they use two grapes that have
been growing for thousands of years. Sangiovese is the grape of the Chianti
region. The wine is named Chianti to verify that the grapes came from this
region and that the wine wasn’t mixed with anything more than 10% of another
grape. The wine ferments in barrels made of 15,000 year old French oak, and there
are walls and walls of barrels that are all in use.
Along with the wine, the vineyard is known for their
Balsamic vinegar. The production process is so complicated it takes from 12-40
years to make. The vinegar is extremely expensive and pure so it is used very
sparingly.
After touring the castle grounds we headed into a room with
a wall of glass windows that looked out onto the rolling hillsides of Toscana
(Tuscany) for our wine tasting. We were taught how to properly hold a wine
glass (by the stem so our body temperature doesn’t transfer through the thin
glass), how to swirl the wine, and how to smell it. Right when we got there
Gino said, “Where there is food there is wine. Where there is wine there is
food” to explain that they use of all the flavors in the region when making the
wine. Cherries, rosemary, flowers,
and oak are just some of the flavors you can smell/taste. He explained that in
life if you take the time to smell the roses, and savor all of your sensory
intakes, you will be able to savor the wine fully and pick out each individual
flavor. He said, “The wine is never what you find in the glass, it’s everything
that surrounds it. It is our history, our heritage, our ancestry. This is our
wine, and our grapes, and our territory”. The whole thing was very poetic.
After the long demonstration, we finally got to taste the
wine. He taught us how to keep it in our pallet, and intake small breaths of
air to fully embody the wine. The first wine was bitter but delicious. After a
few sips, they presented us with slices of bread that had extra, extra virgin
olive oil (only a month old!) on it. After tasting the bread we had the wine
again, and it tasted totally different! This was to show us that wine and food
were created to compliment each other, remember: where there is food there is wine,
where there is wine there is food! We got to taste three different wines that
were paired with prosciutto, salami, and goat chesse, and finally a dessert
wine paired with biscotti.
Leaving the castle was incredibly hard for me. Chianti was
hands down the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to, and this experience was
hard to put into words. It was absolutely magical. So far, this is my favorite
thing I’ve experienced on my trip. I feel like I was able to live a dream for a
day.
Although all of my pictures are on facebook, I thought it would be fun to include some here as well!
