Educational luncheon with Banfi wines

[wondersofwine]

My final event of the 2003 Triangle Wine Experience (didn't attend the auction this year) was a luncheon at Claudio's Restaurant in Raleigh. Sharon McCarthy, a Banfi representative talked about Italian wine nomenclature and regulations and the wines we were tasting--three whites and six reds. The educational part was followed with a lunch of Caesar salad, penne and lasagne pasta dishes, baked chicken pieces, and cheesecake. The wines that stood out for me (all reds) were the 1999 Chianti Classico Riserva, DOGC, Banfi; the 1998 Tavernelle Cabernet Sauvignon Sant' Antimo, DOC, Castello Banfi (single vineyard); the 1998 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, DOC, Sartori; and the Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui, DOCG, Banfi (a red sparkling wine). We also had a red blend, the 1999 Cum Laude which received 91 points in The Wine News. I liked it okay until I tried the Amarone but it seemed too rough in comparison once I tried the Amarone. Cherries were still distinct in the Amarone and it had a little of a ruby port quality to it.
I liked the Chianti best with the pasta dishes. Amarone is usually a hit with me and I liked the offering from Sartori but have had other Amarones I like better. The Tavernelle was nice--but again I have had better cabernets. It was interesting that it seemed to leave a slight foam on the glass and was a very dark color. The red sparkler, Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui from La Rosa Vineyard, was a hit with the women. One man at my table likened it to cherry cola but I found it much more enjoyable than that. It had some raspberry/strawberry going on there and at only 7.5% alcohol and a cost of about $22 a bottle, might be a good date wine or surprise for the wife if presented at dessert time. It is also suggested by Banfi as an accompaniment to chocolate (I would suggest chocolate covered raspberries or strawberries).
A good educational session on Italian nomenclature. grape/region/grape and region, etc. I.G.T., DOC, DOCG plus vocabulary words that mean sweet (Dolcetto), bitter (amaro) meaning of Valpolicella (valley of many wine cellars) etc.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 02-24-2003).]

[ShortWiner]

Val-poli-cella! Cool! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

yep short winer: val (valley) poli (many) cella (what else???)

The lovely thing about many languages is how they condense complete thoughts into one word, and English keeps rambling on...

[Kcwhippet]

Foodie,

Have you seen how German condenses complete thoughts into single words? Those words are longer than the original thought. Years ago I was in Germany and saw the MacDonalds tag line "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, onions on a sesame seed bun" on a billboard. In German, it was easily twice as long as it was in English. I wish I'd taken a picture.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 02-25-2003).]

[ShortWiner]

Hey, come on, we've got "antidisestablishmentarianism" [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

and that word from Mary Poppins--supercalifragilisticexpealidocious (sure I spelt it wrong!)

[Drew]

otorhinolaryngological (22 letters)
immunoelectrophoretically (25 letters)
psychophysicotherapeutics (25 letters)
thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters)
pneumoencephalographically (26 letters)
radioimmunoelectrophoresis (26 letters)
psychoneuroendocrinological (27 letters)
hepaticocholangiogastrostomy (28 letters)
spectrophotofluorometrically (28 letters)
floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)

You knew I had to....

Drew

[wondersofwine]

Slightly off topic: At a ski week in Garmisch, Germany I was reading the English translation of a pep talk for new skiers. It said: "By the third day of your ski week you may encounter a dead look but if you push past the dead look you will begin to really enjoy skiing." (It was supposed to be reach a "deadlock" but I think the "dead look" was more accurate in my case. However, I pushed past the dead look or deadlock and as it said, began to really enjoy skiing. Even earned a bronze medal in the Beginners II slalom. (It wasn't pretty the way I maneuvered that slalom course but it was good for a medal).

[scimmiatinit]

Dolcetto means sweet but it's not !

Some say it comes from Piedmont dialect "dusset" that means bitter because of his bitter (sometimes) aftertaste...

..other say according to sweet grapes at harvest time

Ciao
Fabio

[wondersofwine]

Yeah, Drew, but what do they mean?