Nomadic Adventures

Tuesday, January 27th

What better to do on a Tuesday afternoon after the second day of classes? Wine tasting! 

About 30 minutes east of Verona a beautiful winery, Cantina di Soave, can be found up on a hill. As we arrived we soon started the tour and walked around where wine was kept. It was entertaining to learn about what kinds of wine stay longer than others and based on the wine the kind of temperature it must be kept under. 

According to our guide, Cantina di Soave was founded in 1898 and its reputation follows today. The vineyard is famous for its use of the area's native growth of the garganega grape to produce their wine. Cantina di Soave is known mostly for their white wines but offer a wide selection of red wines as well as sparkling wine. As we continue our tour we learned about how weather conditions may affect production of certain wines and sometimes have to throw away years of production because of the weather. 

After walking through the establishment we got to sit down and actually try the famous wines! We were offered four different wines. Apparently, it is proper to smell the wine with the glass on the table and locate yourself on top of the glass rather than move the glass towards your face. If you really want to blend in with the italian way of drinking wine then hold the glass by either its lower stem or simply hold the glass by its base. Also, to determine the amount of alcohol a wine has you should swirl the glass slowly enough to raise it within the glass. The content can be measured by the time interval it takes for the wine to return to the bottom of the glass and the ridges around the inside of the glass. 

The first wine we had was white and slightly too sweet for my personal taste but regardless it was very tasteful. Next was a light red which for me was one of my favorites that I could possibly drink a glass of every day! One glass a day keeps the doctor away, right? My least favorite came up next which was another red but a little darker and stronger than the previous one. To me, it tasted no different than a regular cabernet so it was not too special. The last one was definitely one to remember! It is a type of wine called Amarone. It was very strong and definitely something you could enjoy two or three times a year with the right meal. 

Once finished there was the option to buy the wine in the shop which was located across from the room. Everyone took some time and looked and picked out what they wanted. Afterwards, we walked across the street for dinner which was set and waitin for us. The location and set up of the room was absolutely stunning. As I sat down and noticed there were four forks placed around my plate I then knew it was going to be a rather long meal including four courses, one per fork. First we were served a light pasta with duck on top. Next was a cheezy and delightful risotto that I could not possibly finish even if I wanted to. The main course included steam pork, potatoes, and peas. Finally, dessert consisted of gelato combined with a small fruit cake along with a extremely sweet white wine which I was not a fan of. 

All in all, Cantina di Soave and dinner was a complete success and definitely worth the 30 minute drive! The night ended with, how I've always heard; "barriga llena, corazon contento"!