This is my book pitch.  I hope it gets you all interested in my story. 

Meet Dino, one pazzo (crazy in Italian) California dog and journey with him across the Atlantic Ocean to Le Marche, Italy where this story unfolds. Join Dino as he narrates his humans' twenty-year love affair with Italy, their numerous Italian adventures, and their hunt for the perfect old stone farmhouse to call home. At times pure dog, but often so much more, Dino recounts the tale of his folks' trials and tribulations living in a land where their language skills were never adequate and their misconceptions about the country proved, at times, to be disastrous. On this madcap Italian pilgrimage, Dino is besieged by the Mom character who thinks she knows best, bewildered by the absurdities of the English language and human behavior, but totally secure in his often irreverent opinions about life and humankind. Dino's story is a laugh-out-loud romp through the country of pasta and pizza told with a dash of wit, a splash of sarcasm, and an overabundance of poetic license.


Well, what do you think, friends?  I sure hope it's a winner.  My second book: I Bark Therefore I Am: Dog Days In California will be out in early 2022.  Must keep the Mom character busy or she will go nuts.  Actually, I think she is already a little nuts, but I'm okay with that.  If she wasn't nuts, I probably wouldn't have my little sister, Mia.  Oh, many of you didn't know anything about that.  Well, Mia joined my family in late May.  She was so very tiny and curly.  You see she is half poodle and mixed with both Australian Shepherd and Yorkshire Terrier.  Mom think she has a lot of terrier traits, unfortunately.  But I do love to play with her which was the purpose of getting her anyway since I have not had one trip to the dog park.  I'm still rather confused about that because in my mind the whole purpose of moving back to California was to go to the dog park.  I'm still, obviously, confused by what motivates my people.  Mia is now seven-months old and she is a little terrorist.  Fortunately for me, that means I'm now the good dog in the family. 

Mom and Dad are rather disappointed that getting me a playmate didn't stop my barking.  Now they have two barking dogs who just sit there looking at each other and barking as loud as possible.  Mia has one of those very loud and sharp barks, so when she barks it is even worse than me.  I don't think my folks will ever be able to take her anywhere.  Well, if this pandemic ever goes away, we will see. 

I hope all of my friends are safe and well.  We miss all of you. 

Love from Dino, the Author and his humans

I have been back in the USA for over a year now, a year filled with many changes, challenges, and rewards.  Since returning here we have lived in three different locations, I have had two different jobs (well, actually they were both with the same company but one was as a consultant and now as an employee) and a third coming in the near future.  I have had a close encounter with the US health care system.  And, on the rewarding side, I have been able to spend time with my son and his family and to get to know my two young grandsons.  All, in all, my husband and I have made the decision that at this point in our lives, it is important to return to the US.

Of course, a decision to abandon our Italian life is filled with sadness and regrets.  We are sad to be leaving our very dear friends and the Italian life style.  I really miss Masimilliano's sparkling verdicchio as well as a number of other wines; Italian lessons with Cristina;  our young friends from Osimo; weekly dinners at Alessia's country house, Vittoria Il Graditempo in Rosora; and dinners at Graziella's.  I regret that we did not have the opportunity to do more traveling both within Italy and throughout Europe.  But that, I think, is my only regret.  Living five years in Italy was an amazing experience and one to be savored for a life time.  And there will always be vacations to return to friends and favorite places. 

Unfortunately, now that we have made the decision to return to the US as our primary place of residence, it is time to sell our beautiful old stone farmhouse in Le Marche.  It took us five years to find the house of our dreams.  Once we closed on the house, it took several months to restore it and furnish it to be just what we wanted.  Then there was planting the olive trees and fruit trees.  It was a labor of love.

The house is perched on a hill with panoramic views of hill towns, olive groves, vineyards, and the Apennini mountains.  It is in a very tranquil position but not isolated.   Francis Mayes said in one of her more recent books that if she were buying a home in Italy now, she would buy in Le Marche.  It is truly Italy in one region.  For me, it is one of the most beautiful parts of Italy.

Here is my tribute in photos to Casa Luca.  It is now on the market for $450,000 US dollars.  It is available fully furnished.  If you have any interest in a beautiful home in Le Marche near Jesi, you can get in touch with me by responding to my blog or by writing to me directly at mareechurch@gmail.com.

For now, I will just have to enjoy my Italian wine drinking in California.  Sigh! 

If you are visiting Le Marche,  you might be interested in these services
Le Marche wine tours (available in English):  http://www.marcosway.it/
A beautiful country house and restaurant set in the heart of Verdicchio country:   http://www.vittoria-ilgraditempo.it/

After a walk with my dog, Luca, through the beautiful park at I Due Roccoli and a breakfast overlooking the lake, it was off to taste more Franciacorta.  On this our second day of tasting, I wanted to start with the Barone Pizzini winery.  Founded in 1870, Barone Pizzini is one of the oldest wineries in the Franciacorta DOGC area, and it was the first to produce Franciacorta from organically grown grapes.  I first became aware of this winery during a visit to their cantina in Le Marche where we tasted an excellent sparkling verdicchio, also an organic wine. 

After finding the address for the winery on Google, Jim entered it into the GPS, and we were off.  Our experience with GPS in Italy has not been very reliable.  I vividly remember one night several years ago when the GPS suddenly morphed into HAL from 2001 a Space Odyssey.  It was after a beautiful dinner in the hill town of Cingoli in Le Marche, and we were heading back to the little country house we were renting.  Once outside of the Cingoli city limits, the GPS became overbearing, demanding in a sultry female voice, "turn left, turn left, turn left".  I wanted to turn off the obviously demented machine, but Jim kept following until we reached a precipice and were directed to drive off the cliff.  Generally, after this experience, I am our navigator directing each turn with map in hand and an eye on the road signs.  Unfortunately, we had no detailed maps of the area around Lake Iseo, and Jim, being more comfortable in general with technology than I am, wanted to try our new GPS.  After all, this newer model was theoretically, at least, more reliable than the one we had nearly 10 years ago. 
With some trepidation, we headed off to find Barone Pizzini.  We made our way through two of the multitude of tunnels surrounding the lake, and skirted through a few small villages until we arrived at a two lane road through the vineyards.  Amazingly, we actually arrived at the winery with no problem.  And by the time we had parked our Alfa in the winery parking lot, the sun, hidden by clouds for most of the morning, suddenly appeared.

As we entered the cantina with Luca in tow, we were greeted by one of the employees.  I was prepared to be told that our dog was not welcome in the cantina, but surprisingly, there was not a comment uttered about our furry companion.  (It should be noted, however, that not all wineries in this area are dog friendly.) We were ushered to the bar and asked which wines we wanted to taste.  I, of course, said the sparkling wines.  On this day, they were offering three of their sparkling wines to taste:  Animante which is a Brut, Saten which is a blanc de blanc, and Bagnadore, a Dosage Zero Riserva. 

Next on our tasting roster was the 2011 Saten Franciacorta, a blanc di blanc, made of 100% Chardonnay.  This is a more refined, longer aged wine spending 6 months in stainless steel with a portion in barrique followed by 30 to 40 months in the bottle.  The perlage of the Saten was more mellow, as is typical of this style of Franciacorta.  The bit of oak aging added more character and a smoothness to the wine while not inhibiting a balanced minerality and notes of citrus.  This is a wine to accompany pastas with white sauces, risotto, fish, and poultry.

Our final tasting was the Bagnadore Non Dosato Riserva, 2008, a wine made in small quantities and only in select years.  In 2008, Barone Pizzini made only 1,326 cases of the Bagnadore.  This wine, is made from an interesting combination of grapes with 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Nero. It is aged for six months in stainless steel and barrique followed by 60 to 70 months in the bottle on the yeasts.  This is a single vineyard wine which does not incorporate a liqueur d' expedition after the disgorgement.  In the glass, Bagnadore was straw yellow with a refined perlage.  The nose was pastry and ripe stone fruits.  In the mouth, the wine was soft, well rounded, with a complexity of flavor most notably apple, baked bread and a bit of lemon.  I imagine serving this to friends with baked salmon or a white fish, fettuccini alfredo, or even an involtini of chicken. Wine Enthusiast has awarded this wine 93 points. 

We made our purchases, said good bye to the staff and the group of elderly women who had finished a tour and were giving Luca lots of attention, and returned to our car for a second winery visit.  We had put the address for the Montenisa winery into the GPS before leaving the hotel, and now, more confident in the machine, we headed out.  I wanted to visit this winery because I had enjoyed one of their wines in a hotel near Lake Garda back in April.  As we drove the narrow road through vineyards and small villages, we eventually spotted a small sign next to a gate.  Unfortunately, the gate was closed.  As the GPS did not say we were there yet, we continued down the road looking for an entrance.  But we never found another sign or gate to the winery.  I was disappointed as we turned around, but since there are so many wineries around, I was confident we would find another one on our way back toward Iseo. 

By  now, the noon hour was approaching, and I was getting desperate to find another cantina.  Finally, I spotted a beautiful gate up on the hill, and I knew we had found a major winery.  At the next round about (these circles are very convenient for the perpetually lost) we turned around and made the turn leading to Ca del Bosco.  Ca del Bosco is on every list of must visit wineries in Franciacorta.  It had also made it to my list. I had tried to contact them a week before our trip to arrange a time for a tasting, but I never had a response.  So, now, unannounced we took the turn off, entered the imposing gates, drove up the very long driveway, and found ourselves in the parking lot for Ca del Bosco.  Walking around the side of the building, we were greeted by a beautiful, park-like setting replete with rolling grassland, statuary, and wooden bridges spanning a large pond.  Luca was immediately happy and decided it was time to rest in the grass.  Jim and I were busy taking photos of the impressive cantina and setting.  Finally, we convinced Luca that it was time to enter the building, and he reluctantly followed us through the doors. 

Inside the facility, a receptionist greeted us.  When I asked if we could taste the wine, he said that it is only possible to taste the wine if you book a tour in advance - the cost of which is 30 or more euro, and dogs are not allowed on the tour.  So, obviously, this was a problem for us.  He assured us, however, that we were welcome to enjoy the grounds and visit the shop to buy some wine.  Well, needless to say, I immediately equated this encounter with the commercialization of the wine business in Napa California, but this was not the norm in Italy.  Being summarily dismissed, I was obviously beyond frustrated when we exited the Ca del Bosco winery.  But,  I decided to overcome my indignation and taste a bottle of their wine at dinner. 

That evening, in a little restaurant in Iseo, we ordered the Ca del Bosco Brut Cuvee Prestige.  Ca del Bosco first made this Franciacorta in 2007, and today they make approximately 20,000 bottles per year.  It is a blend of 75% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Bianco, and 15% Pinot Nero.  The wine initially is fermented in stainless steel tanks and an additional  20 to 30% of a reserve wine is added prior to the second fermentation to give the wine a distinctive character.  The second fermentation in the bottle generally  averages 25 months.  As our waitress poured the wine into the glass, I noticed that it was a somewhat richer golden color than most of the Franciacorta we had sampled.  The perlage was fine and energetic.  The scent was of bread crust and almond with a more subtle underlying scent of citrus fruits.  On the palate, the wine was complex with notes of pastry, apple, honey and almond.  I found the wine to be more yeasty than many of the other Franciacorta we had tasted reminiscent of many Champagnes - which is of course what the area is striving for.   Wine Enthusiast has given this wine 90 points and Robert Parker has bestowed 91 points.   For me, the wine was good, but definitely not my favorite Franciacorta of the trip.  Hum, is my opinion colored by my experience at the winery?

For more information about the Barone Pizzini winery, visit their website at http://www.baronepizzini.it/en/

For more information about Ca del Bosco, visit them at http://www.cadelbosco.com/en/

Check back next week for the final day of the Franciacorta Tour: Bellavista and Solive.

Franciacorta?  Today this sparkling wine is not a household name, but it should be.  To cognoscenti  Franciacorta is known as the Champagne of Italy.  Produced in an area around Lake Iseo about one hour from Milan, Franciacorta is a sparkling wine bottle aged in the classic method and made from a combination of grapes most significantly chardonnay usually combined with pinot bianco and maybe pinot nero depending on the style of Franciacorta produced.  Unlike champagne, however, which has a 300 year plus history, the first sparkling wine to be called Franciacorta was produced less than 60 years ago.  Today, the Franciacorta brand is designated DOCG and consists of approximately 5,400 acres of vines with 100 producers.  Compared to the Champagne region of France with approximately 19,000 producers and 80,000 acres of vines, it remains a boutique vintage.  But, it is one of Italy's premier sparkling wines, and any blog claiming to write about the sparkling wines of Italy would be remiss without a discussion of Franciacorta.  With this in mind, I had been planning a visit to the region for several months.  Finally, the day of the trip arrived, and on that Tuesday morning, my husband, Jim, and I commenced the 5 hour drive to Lake Iseo with one goal in mind -- to discover the wines of Franciacorta. 

If weather is an omen, then Bacchus was on our side as we began our journey beneath aquamarine skies dotted with hundreds of cotton candy clouds.  I sat in the back seat of our Alfa with our dog Luca, just watching the heavens roll by and imagining cherubs floating on those clouds just like in the painting by Michelangelo.  This thought triggered my memory of a Mark Twain quote, so apropos on a day like this, "The Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo."

The miles passed by as we traversed the A 14 to the A 22 and finally the A4 toward Milan, and everything was going according to plan.  But then we encountered the second tunnel on the outskirts of Iseo.  That is where we missed our exit and ended up high  above the lake in a little village on a narrow, snakelike road with a sheer drop on the right hand side.  After five hours of driving, this was not the place Jim wanted to be, but he cautiously navigated the road through several additional villages down toward the lake.  And, eventually he found the road to our hotel, I Due Roccoli.  The hotel, positioned high up another road characterized by numerous switchbacks, was set in an idyllic spot on nearly 25 acres of land.  And after the drive, Jim and I both wanted nothing more than to sit around and enjoy the park like setting.

But we had work to do.  The week prior I had scheduled a tasting at the Luigi Massussi winery.  So after dropping our bags off in our room, and enjoying a complimentary glass of Franciacorta, we once again climbed into the car and set off down the windy road to taste Massussi Franciacorta.

 I had picked the Massussi winery as our first stop not because it is one of the better known wineries in the area, but solely because it was located on the same road as the hotel.  At the outset, I knew that Massussi was a very small producer offering only a brut and a saten, but my goal was to seek out a variety of producers not only the most well known and biggest. 

We arrived at the winery at 5:00 p.m.  just in time for our appointment and were met by Luigi Massussi's mother who informed us that her son was on his way having been detained in the vineyard.   While we waited, we took time to admire the panoramic view of Lake Iseo from high up on the hill where the cantina is located. 

Then Mrs. Massussi showed us around to the back of the property to see the olive grove and some of their newly planted vines.  Today, she explained, the winery, which began operation in 1985, produces only about 6,000 bottles of wine per year.  It is the smallest of the Franciacorta consortium wineries, and also the one at the highest elevation at over 1,300 feet.  Massussi is in the process of converting its wine making operation to organic production methods and, over the next few years, will increase production to 20,000 bottles.

As he opened two bottles of Franciacorta, I asked Luigi about his wine making history.  He told me he learned to make wine from his father, and like many of this younger generation of Italian winemakers, his passion for wine and experience in the cellar began at a very young age. 

We started the tasting with the Massussi 2010 DOCG Brut Cuvee Del Lago, a wine that has been awarded 90 points by the Varonelli wine guide.  (This is one of the oldest and best known of the wine guides in Italy.)  The 2010 Brut Cuvee Del Lago is a limited edition wine with only 5,000 bottles made, and each bottle is numbered. ( The bottles we brought home are numbered 2,074 and 2095.)  This Massussi Brut is made in the style of Millesimato in which all of the grapes are from the same harvest year.  Franciacorta producers generally use a different, but similar, combination of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Nero in their brut, with Chardonnay always predominant.  At Massussi, the wine is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Bianco and Pinot Nero.  It has been fermented in the bottle for at least 36 months.  As Luigi poured the wine into the glass, I noticed the pale yellow color, lighter than most champagnes, and the persistent and active perlage.  The nose had subtle hints of bread crusts, vanilla and citrus.  In the mouth, the wine is soft and dry with some mineral highlights, almonds, and citrus.  As I took my third sip of the wine, I looked at Jim with that look that says, "YUM, what a find". 

While in both of the Massussi wines a small percentage of the grapes are aged in French barrique (15% in the brut), this adds to the roundness of the wine and does not overpower the nose or the flavor.  For me, this is a definite plus because after my California days of drinking very oak intense chardonnay, I am not interested in drinking wines that taste and smell of wood rather than the fruit. 

A few minutes later, we were saying good bye to Luigi.  Walking back to our car, I thought back on this tasting experience, and concluded that one day Massussi will be making everyone's list of great wineries in Franciacorta.  I turned to Jim and commented that I felt certain this visit would be one of my favorites since it was all about the family, their dedication to a passion, and a dream of making a superior sparkling wine.  And you can't beat a visit with an enthusiastic Italian Mama.  You can learn more about the Massussi winery on line at massussifranciacorta.it.

Back  at the hotel, we enjoyed a brief respite prior to dinner.  The food at I  Due Rocolli was so exquisitely presented that I just had to include a few photos below.  The only drawback to a beautiful meal was my poor choice of wine.  I selected a Cavalleri Blanc di Blanc.  Unfortunately, for my taste, it had too much barrique, and it tasted like a headache in a glass.  So, I requested a second glass of the house Franciacorta from Conti Ducco.  It was a beautiful wine with a good balance of acidity and it paired well with both the risotto and the Faraona.  

Our adventures in Franciacorta were off to a great start.  The next day we headed back out on La Strada del Franciacorta in search of Barone Pizzini and Ca' del Bosco.  Check back next week for day 2 of Discovering Franciacorta.  

After days of intense heat and cloudless skies, finally there was a break in the weather.  And it came just in time because on this pleasantly cool Friday evening, we would be having our aperitivo at the Colonnara winery along with representatives from the Slow Food movement, wine journalists, and a number of sommeliers .  The event, sponsored  by Slow Food, was a special tasting of select vintages of methodo classico sparkling wines from Colonnara.  When I read the lineup of wines, there was not a moment's hesitation, no contemplation, just an instantaneous desire to be there.  And that is how my husband, Jim, and I found ourselves navigating the windy road to Cupramontana to spend an evening at the winery.  Being a fan of the Colonnara methodo classico wines, I was sure that this evening would not disappoint, and, of course, it was beyond expectations, inspirational, educational, and for me quite challenging to the three relevant senses.

As the 30 participants took their seats, I looked around and realized that I was suffering from a bout of  intimidation.  Here I was surrounded by a group of serious looking wine professionals ready to experience the wines. I had every intention of being just as serious, so I wiped the smile off of my face, got out the note pad to take down insights, and mentally walked myself through a little wine tasting 101 exercise - no physical activity required except bending the elbow.  And then, I waited expectantly for the first pour. 

There was no shot to signal the start, no popping of the cork with a sword, just that sudden quiet that periodically descends upon a crowd followed by the sound of the Colonnara Cuvee Tradition pouring into the glass.  This first wine was the only wine on the tasting line up produced by the charmat method.   It was kind of the amuse bouche to tempt the palate.  Cuvee Tradition is the first sparkling wine that Colonnara made back in 1970.  To call it a charmat (martinotti in Italian) does not do it justice, for it is a longer aged wine that takes on some of the characteristics of a methodo classico.  In the glass the color is straw yellow with an active and fine perlage.  When I inhale this wine I think of summer stone fruits and almonds, and I think about a spring day with the scent of acacia flowers.  In the mouth, the wine is delicate and fresh with a finish of almond.  I like to keep several bottles on hand to celebrate every occasion like dinner time, beautiful sunsets, or just because it's Tuesday. 

Next began the vertical tasting of Ubaldo Rosi Brut Methodo Classico Riserva vintages 2008, 2006, 2005, and 2002.  Ubaldo Rosi is Colonnara's award winning methodo classico made from the Verdicchio grape. It is aged on the lees for 60 months. Ubaldo Rosi has been named the third best sparkling wine in Italy and the best south of the Po river.  While it continues to garner accolades from the wine press, my friend Marty upon opening the bottle of 2008 that he took home to CA after his visit here summed up the experience clearly and succinctly, "It was excellent.  An incredible value."  Although I had tasted the 2008 vintage on several occasions, I was very curious to experience it in comparison to the same wine aged for longer periods of time.  So, here are my reflections upon these exceptional wines.

Ubaldo Rosi, 2008 is a wine for special occasions, such as today when we are celebrating the birth of our second grandson.  But, it is affordable and can be the star of any dinner.  I love the beautiful straw yellow color and the nose of caramelized sugar and almond with an underlying potential of bread crust.  The nose maintains a bit of freshness and perhaps a bit of the sweetness of fruit.  It has none of the woodiness of many champagnes.  In the glass the perlage is quite active and persistent, but in the mouth the wine is incredibly soft and smooth.  As I took a sip, I turned to Jim and asked, "So what do you taste?"  He replied, " something out of the ordinary.  I taste quality."  I remember once asking that question of our friend, Michele, a broker of wines from France and Italy,  when we were drinking a prosecco.  His reply, "sombrero".  I must admit that I was stunned by the answer and confused.  What did that mean?  Well, as I taste more wines and begin to see them as more than a party in a pretty glass with a stem, I am starting to understand this.  Think about those English classes where you learned about connotation.  With that context in mind, I thought about how I would sum up Ubaldo Rosi 2008 in one word.  My answer,  "Michelangelo" - artistry in a glass.  So, I wonder can any of the older wines top this experience?

I am so enthralled with the 2008 that I am still sniffing and tasting as the Ubaldo Rosi 2006 is poured into the second glass.  I sit and watch it for a while as I continue to explore the nuance of the 2008.  What I notice is that the straw yellow color has taken on the slight greenish tint often associated with the verdicchio grape.  Finally, I pick up the glass and inhale.  There is more subtlety in the nose.  I try to discern what it is I am smelling and inhale again.  As I do this I hear someone say panettone, and I think, yes.  That is a good way to describe it.   On the palate, there is more complexity.  It is a somewhat more mature and refined wine than the 2008.  And while it has lost a little of the freshness of the 2008, that is not a bad thing because it makes up for it in depth of character.
The Ubaldo Rosi 2005 was a very interesting wine that probably created more comment at my table than any of the others.  In the glass it looked quite similar to the 2006 with a light straw yellow color with a slight green highlight.  As I sipped it, I heard comments that it had an unusual nose, not as open as the previous wines.   Quite a discussion ensued trying to discern that the unique element of the nose was, but, alas, there was never a resolution of this question.  For my part, I thought this vintage had more of the bread crust and almond scents, but the bouquet was much more subtle than the 2008.  On the palate it had a very well balanced acidity and smoothness.  By the end of the evening, it was clear that the 2005 had divided the participants.  Some thought this was the top of the Ubaldo Rosi selections; others rated it at or near the bottom.  For me, after tasting these three very similar wines, my senses were on overload, and it was getting very difficult to distinguish one from the other, particularly as the differences were becoming more subtle. 

The final tasting of the Ubaldo Rosi vintages was the 2002.  This wine had taken on a more golden color than the prior vintages.  In the glass it looked more like a champagne. When I lifted the glass to breathe in the bouquet, I raised my eyebrows in surprise.  I sniffed again to make sure of what I was smelling.  And on my third inhale, I said cheese.  "But which cheese is it," asked the gentleman across the table?  At first I thought it might be a very, very subtle Gorgonzola scent.  But, he shook his head as he inhaled deeply.  And after a few minutes he looked up at me and said, "crusts of brie".  Now this was a person with a very refined nose, and I was impressed.  He identified the perfect descriptor.  While the nose was quite unusual, the palate was not.  It was more complex with a very lingering finish, but it still exhibited qualities of the verdicchio grape - almond, honey with an overlay of bread crust. 

While I asked others what was their favorite of the Ubaldo Rosi wines, I find it very difficult to pick one.  They were all similar and distinct at the same time.  I truly appreciated the freshness of the 2008 which emitted a more fruity nose than the other vintages.  But I also appreciated the increasingly greater complexity of the wines over time.  I would gladly call every one Michelangelo. 

Following the four Ubaldo Rosi vintages, it was time to taste a 1993 Luigi Ghislieri, a second methodo classico made by the Colonnara winery bottle aged for no less than 30 months.  This is the wine that I coveted as it was presented to the top of the class at the sommelier graduation (see my prior post of July 5, 2015).  Looking at the bottle, I am not certain that I have ever had a wine that is over twenty years old before.  So, now I am looking for a context to relate this wine to.  1993 was the year that my son turned 11, I was working on the 27th floor of an office building in Oakland, CA, we had 2 dogs, 4 cats, 28 rabbits, and boarded two horses who lived on our hillside.  And, I was just discovering Bon Jovi.  My drink of choice was some inexpensive California champagne.  As I think back to these events, I am more appreciative of how long this wine has been in the bottle.  And I wonder if I rub that bottle three times what magic will pour out.  Well, I was soon to learn that rubbing the bottle was not a prerequisite to unleashing the magic of this vintage.  In the glass, the color was as soft and straw yellow as the younger Ubaldo Rosi wines.  And, the perlage danced the tango as the fine bubbles rose in the glass.  The wine has maintained its very characteristic nose of almonds, fruits, and a freshness I was surprised to find  in a wine of this age.  On the palate it was soft, complex, and beautiful with some notes of licorice  on the finish.  I never expected a 20 year old wine to maintain so much of the character of a much younger wine while acquiring additional structure and balance.  This wine gave me a totally different view of older wines and a much greater appreciation for the effects of aging.  Oh, if we could all age with this much grace and elegance.  So, I asked myself, what one word would describe this wine.  Venice, I think, because after the first taste, I have the same feeling that I had on that first trip to Venice 15 years ago - awe, amazement, amore. 

When the tasting concluded, I asked our friend, Giovanni, a delegate of FISAR, the Federation of Italian Hotel and Restaurant Sommeliers, what his favorite wines were.  Without hesitation, he told me the Ubaldo Rosi 2005 and the Luigi Ghislieri 1993.  I found his response interesting as the 2005 Ubaldo Rosi was the wine that sparked the most controversy.  So in spite of all of the attempts to provide structure and standardization to the rating of wines, there is no way to standardize taste.  The old saying, "that's why there is chocolate and vanilla" still applies. 

I stepped outside and the rain started.  Not an auspicious beginning to a night promising fine food and wine under the stars, but even this unexpected change in the weather did not dampen my spirit.  Tonight we were headed off to a Sommelier dinner sponsored by FISAR (Federazioni Italiana Sommelier Albergatori e Ristorantori) the Italian Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Sommeliers.  Our destination was Villa Marchese del Grillo, a four star Relais hotel and restaurant sitting on a hill surrounded by the Apennine mountains.  The villa was built in the 18th century by the Marchese Onofrio del Grillo, whose life was remembered in an Italian film of the same name in the 1980s.  My  husband Jim and I had been invited to this event by our friends Cristina and Massmiliano.  The methodo classico, Luigi Ghislieri, from Massmiliano's cantina, Colonnara, would be one of the featured wines of the evening. 

I was excited about attending this event and saw it as an opportunity to discover the answer to one of life's great questions:  "What wines do sommeliers drink when they go out for dinner?"  Okay, it is not up there with the meaning of life, the universe and everything, but I was curious to see what wines would be served and how they would be paired with the foods. 

As we exited the super strada, the rain stopped and ahead of us, on a hill sat the villa Marchese del Grillo crowned by the sun's rays.  Walking from the parking lot, I could see the front of the villa graced by an expansive veranda.  There, on the veranda, the tables were set with four wine glasses at each place setting leaving no doubt that this was a dinner for wine lovers. 

And when the event did commence, it started not with a bang but a POP!!   How else should a sommelier event begin but with the popping of a cork with a stroke of a short sword.  Well, actually I had never seen this done before and it was rather a surprise, but it had the desired effect giving an official beginning to the event and the pouring of the sparkling wine. 

Below is a recounting of the food and wine pairings from the event with tasting notes.

Up first, hors d'ourves  and a Peruzzi Brut methodo classico, dosage zero.  The Peruzzi family has been producing sparkling wine in Le Marche from the Verdicchio grape since 1988, and biological wines since 2002.   The Peruzzi Brut is a limited production organic wine with approximately 5,000 bottles made per year.  It is bottle aged for a minimum of 3 years.  This wine is made without the liqueur d'exposition (the added sugar after the disgorgement).  In the glass, the color is a pale yellow and the perlage is happy.  This was an interesting organic wine that did not have the typical nose and palate of a verdicchio.  For me, it was lacking the almond and honey sweetness and was more dry with a more spare palate.    I have decided that one day soon I will go to visit the winery to try this again as I had mixed feelings about the wine. 

The second offering was a Tortino of Asparagus paired with one of my favorite sparkling wines, Colonnara's Luigi Ghislieri methodo classico Brut.  What can I say that I have not already said about this wine.  YUM!!!  (Read the posts below on the Sboccatura and the Visit to the Colonnara winery for more info.)

The primi was a beautiful pasta with a sauce of goose accompanied by Vallerosa-Bonci's  San Michele, 2012, a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, D.O.C. Superiore.  San Michele is a single vineyard wine from the San Michele area of the Jesi D.O.C.  which sits about 400 meters above sea level.  In the glass the wine had a deeper golden hue than many verdicchio wines.   I found this wine to be very interesting as it went through a transformation the longer it sat in the glass.  We think of red wines as needing to breathe, but this white wine from the verdicchio grape, only got better over time in the glass.  The nose started out very floral with the scent of acacia dominating other sweet aromas like peach and a little anise.  But after the wine sat for a while, the mineral notes came through more strongly and it smelled of the sea.  In the mouth the wine, was soft, but carried a depth atypical of many verdicchio wines.  It made me think of California wines but without the heavy oak flavor.

Now that the dessert had been served, it was time to get down to the business of the evening.  I did not really know there was a business component; however, it made sense.  It was a sommelier dinner after all and it was time for the conferring of diplomas and the tastevin on the graduating class of 2015.  What is a tastevin?  You know, that shallow, faceted silver cup that sommeliers often wear around their necks and the graduates proudly display in the photo below.  The tastevin (French for taste wine) was not originally designed for sommeliers.  It was originally used by winemakers for tasting in candle-lit cellars because the tastevin could reflect whatever light was there making it easier to judge the color and clarity of a wine.  

As the photo so clearly demonstrates, the graduating class was a diverse group - young, old, men, women, all sharing one thing in common - a passion for wine.  Massmiliano, the President of the Colonnara winery, presented a magnum of Luigi Ghislieri 1993 to the top performer in the class.  Oh, the green goddess of envy raised her ugly head .  But, my curiosity about this 20 plus year old wine will have a chance to be sated next week at a Slow Foods tasting of a number of older vintage Colonnara methodo classico wines: Ubaldo Rossi and Luigi Ghislieri.  (More on this in an upcoming blog.)

Finally, the graduation ceremony, complete with a commencement speaker, concluded; photos were taken; and the class began to disperse.  (Of note, Jim says this was the best graduation ceremony he has ever attended.  I guess I would have to agree with him.  After all, it was the first I have ever attended where not only was wine served, but it was a focus of the event.) But before Jim and I depart, we have been invited to tour the Marchese del Grillo's renowned  wine cellar with Cristina and Massimiliano.  The beautiful vaulted cellar housed an amazing collection of wines some dating from the 19th century.  I tried to take some photos, but with the exception of the one below, they all look like they were taken by someone who had a little too much wine.  Hum, I can't imagine how that happened.

On the ride home, I looked back on the evening wishing that I had taken some photos of the beautiful food.  I guess it will just have to live on in memory until Jim and I return to the Marchese del Grillo.  Until then, I will remember this evening as one of the most memorable meals I have ever had in Italy- delicious, beautifully presented, and perfectly paired with wines. 

For more information on the wineries whose wine was served at this dinner, you can visit their websites with the links below:

The Peruzzi Website:  http://www.spumantebio-peruzzi.it/

The Colonnara Website:  http://www.colonnara.it/en/

The Vallerosa Bonci Website:  http://www.vallerosa-bonci.com/

The Silvano Strologo website:  http://www.vinorossoconero.com/

The Moncaro website:  http://www.moncaro.com/en/