Dusseldorf with the Consorzio & Chiara...

After 10 hours of driving, 5-6 paninos, 2-3 packages of peanut M&Ms, a few naps and probably a few too many pee breaks due to yours truly...Chiara and I, along with Giovanni (see lower left photo - that's Giovanni) and Anna, from the Consorzio Tutela Vini Soave, arrived in Dusseldorf...the location of the ProWein tasting, one of the world’s leading trade fairs for the wine and spirits industry.

Quick change at our hotel and then we were back on the road heading towards Maastricht in Holland for dinner at Cafe Sjiek.

Cafe Sjiek is owned by Robin Berben, who happens to be quite a fan of Coffele wines. Robin is also a total gentleman, fiercely charming and funny as hell without trying in the least...You honestly couldn't find someone more suited to run this bustling, yet perfectly quaint neighborhood cafe/bistro.

Robin is also a man with whom Chiara and I spent a very entertaining evening during the last Vinitaly wine fair in Verona. Someone once told me that nothing good ever happens after 2am...this person obviously never spent the wee hours of the morning with Robin Berben, his brother-in-law Franz (and one of Chiara's distributors) and their friend Pete.

To see some pictures that really visually capture what "An evening in Maastricht" and dinner at Cafe Sjiek is like...definitely check out http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/694. Scroll down a bit and there is a picture of Robin as well.

The next day, after prepping and fully stocking the Consorzio stand with numerous bottles of Soave wines for ProWein, we met up with some of my friends from Germany for a few weissbiers. Great day for doing some outdoor bier drinking. Shockingly enough the photo of me kissing the little guy with the beard was taken before our afternoon bierfest.

Later that night, the Consorzio crew (including Arturo Stocchetti, the President of the Consorzio and owner of the Cantina di Castello winery) and my Dusseldorf crew had a tasty dinner at a new restaurant called "In Vino Veritas."

My friend Meike (beautiful blond with the cute little baby featured in one of the photos) appropriately chose this restaurant in honor of the occassion which brought us all to Dusseldorf - the ProWein fair.

By the end of our 3-4 hour dinner, Arturo (see middle photo on the right hand side) was chatting it up with the owner of the restaurant and we were treated to an enormous dessert plate of tiramisu, chocolate mousse and some other rich chocolatey concoction.

...and I wonder why I've gots a little more junk in the trunk.

- Zucca

A wild Saturday night in Soave & San Bonifacio...

2 Saturdays ago...

Chiara and my night started off with an aperitivo at our apartment (Coffele Soave Classico 2006 of course) with Stefano from Karezza and his girlfriend. Stefano is the fellow in the upper right photo using his pointer finger (or "his little friend" as he likes to call it) as a...well, finger puppet.

2nd stop...Enoteca Realda for a few glasses of Pra Soave Classico 2006. Realda is a new addition to Soave and owned by Roberto Anselmi, a wine producer in the region. His wines are not classified as "Soave DOC" but rather as "IGT Veneto". The interesting story behind this, as well as a more detailed description of Realda and the lovely ladies who work there (including Roberto's daughter Lisa) require the dedication of a separate post.

We were joined at Realda by a stellar crew of individuals including Chiara's cousin, 2 of his friends, Arianna (another "Fattore K" victim) Alberto & Giulia...and the hardcore crew from the Montefortiana (Matteo, his girlfriend Elena, Paolo and Elena).

Then it was off to Trattoria Dal Moro for dinner (picture in the upper left)...which is where I actually celebrated my 30th birthday and ate trippe for the first time (must admit, the stomach lining of a cow is pretty gosh darn tasty) and ucceli (roasted little game birds). Roberto from Karezza showed up just in time to head to our next stop...

...Bar Lazia in San Bonifacio (5 minute drive from Soave). If you are in the mood for a fabulous mojito, gin fizz or any other cocktail creation, Lazia is the place. Also has a cozy patio for partaking in some drinking outdoors and is one of the two locales where my bartender preferito works.

Final destination of the evening...Skylight Disco City in San Bonifacio. Don't really quite know how to describe this particular discotheque, which started out as a gay disco but definitely isn't purely a gay disco anymore. Word to the wise (gay or straight), if you are dancing with someone and they want to take you to "another room"...do not follow if you just want to explore the disco, are looking for a change of atmosphere, music, etc. Actually a word to the wise may not be required for those a tad bit less naive than yours truly.

btw...definitely try to strategically position yourself in the main room of Sky at around 3am to see the spectacular "shower show." Sorry, not providing any details. Have to experience it yourself.

Arrived at Sky around 1pm and after about 5 hours of dancing our bums off (see photos for reference)...we all went our separate ways to sleep our Sundays away.

- Zucca

A lazy Sunday in Castelcerino

Sunday brunch...Always though it couldn't get better than waking up on a Sunday morning, drinking some coffee out of my preferred coffee mug (which is roughly the size of a medium salad bowl) and going for a long walk to make room for a heaping plate of Eggs Benedict at the Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain, my choice brunch joint in my old neighborhood in Boston.

But that was before I spent a lazy Sunday in Castelcerino.

The Coffele vineyards, as well as the vineyards of a number of other Soave wine producers (such as Suavia, Filippi and Balestri Valda) are located in the hills of Castelcerino...as are a handful of wonderful bed & breakfasts or "agriturismi."

After a late morning walk around the hills with Chiara and Giorgio (a "Fattore K" victim, admitted eBay addict, absolute sweetheart and man who knows something, or more accurately a frightening amount of info on just about everything)...we ended up at Hosteria Cansignorio.

Alberto and Giulia joined us at this perfect spot for a long lunch on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately the picture in the upper left is the only one I have of the restaurant...but you can actually check out their website at: http://hostariacansignorio.com/sve/contatti.html

And after 3 hours, 2 bottles of wine, a plate of polenta with mushrooms, another with a mix of salumi, pasta with artichokes, a nice chat with the owner (Sirpa), dessert and coffee...

Well, actually...I think the look on Giorgio's face says it all. See photo in the upper right.

Okay...the pole may also have had something to do with that. And understandably so.

- Zucca

"Fattore K"...

I unfortunately did not get to spend as much time at the wine tasting in Verona the other weekend due to a last minute conflicting engagement.

So…this post is going to be dedicated to Karezza (or Carezza).

Now I do not want people to think I am writing about Karezza just to write about something…a kind of half-ass or sub-par posting.

I had been planning on dedicating at least one posting to Karezza. Actually, more than 1 may need to be devoted to this brilliant place, and specifically to the unbelievably interesting, fun and fantastic group of people I met over New Years.

Yes, Karezza is where Chiara and I spent an intimate and tranquil New Years Eve (and the first few hours of New Years Day)…with a crew of about 40 people.

Picture in the lower right is from New Years - in the middle is Alberto (Chiara's brother) with his classy lady Giulia on the left and Roberto (the first victim of an influenza that roughly 50-60% of the people from New Years ended up getting) on the right.

Some facts on Karezza:
1. Located in the Dolomites
2. Great place to ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, romp around in the snow…whatever your pleasure
3. Known for having one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy, Lago di Carezza
4. Location of the Grand Hotel Karezza (inaugurated on July 8, 1896). Winston Churchill regularly stayed in this hotel with his wife, as well as Agatha Christie
5. Agatha Christie actually set the plot for one of her novels here, The Big Four

Back to New Years…

The intriguing, wonderful and unique thing about the New Year’s Eve crew is that they all have been going to Karezza for the past 10, 15, 20+ years...to ski, eat a slightly unhealthy amount of speck (actually that may just have been me - btw, speck is a salt-and-cold-smoke cured ham, similar to proscuitto, but boned before curing and super tasty and originally from the region of Alto Adige/Sudtirol), partake in Apres Ski and more importantly, to take a breath, relax, laugh their asses off and just have a damn good time and forget about everything else...which you can’t help doing when you are in Karezza, especially with this particular group of people.

But I need to warn anyone planning on visiting Karezza about something...“Fattore K” or Factor K. You are bound to catch this after spending 2-3 days there. Nothing serious. It basically explains why everyone in Karezza is a bit off their rocker.

And once you have it…sorry, you’re stuck with it.

As you can tell from the photo above, Chiara is suffering from a terrible case.

And I don't think she would have it any other way.

- Zucca

Soave wines...

Time for some quick facts on Soave wines:
1. The Soave wine production zone is situated in the eastern part of the hills in the province of Verona

2. The zone includes part or all of the lands belonging to the municipalities of Soave, Monteforte, San Martino B.A., Lavagno, Mezzane, Caldiero, Colognola, Illasi, Cazzano, San Bonifacio, Roncà, Montecchia and S. Giovanni Ilarione

3. Garganega is the designation’s principal grape variety...with Trebbiano di Soave being another indigenous grape to the area

4. The specific classification of "Soave Classico” is reserved for those wines made from grapes harvested and vinified in the municipalities of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone (the oldest, original “classic” zone)

5. In order for a wine to be considered a "Soave" wine...it has to have at least 70% garganega grapes. The remaining percentage can be made up of any combination of Trebbiano di Soave, Pinot Bianco or Chardonnay

Ta da!!

- Zucca

“Il Soave incontra il mare e mette pace tra…Pisa e Livorno”

This translates to…”Soave meets the sea and makes peace between Pisa and Livorno”.

This was the theme of the wine tasting I went to last Friday in Pisa organized by the Consorzio di Tutela Vini del Soave (an organization that works on behalf of the Soave wine producers). Lucia Vesentini, the lovely lady in the photo with Chiara and I, actually works for the Consorzio…and is also the one to talk to if you find yourself in Verona jonesing to do a little tango or salsa dancing.

And yes, as you can see by the photo in the upper left, I did indeed get to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa (or "La Torre di Pisa")...which caused me to have another one of my “what a lucky girl am I” moments.

Actually manned the Coffele stand with Chiara, which entailed giving out tastings of 3 out of the 8 wines produced by her vineyards.

Love manning the Coffele stand...Always a good time and always end up with some interesting stories. Honestly, how many times does a girl get propositioned by an Italian boy looking for a woman to “milk his cows”? Okay...maybe more than one would expect.

It was the first and only time that I have positioned my lack of experience as a reason why I wasn’t qualified for or couldn’t possibly take on a particular position.

Okay. Back to the tasting in Pisa…

The 3 Coffele wines included:
1. Basic Soave Classico – 100% Garganega (grape variety) and aged in steel tanks
2. Ca’ Visco Soave Classico – 75% Garganega and 25% Trebbiano di Soave, also aged in steel tanks
3. Alzari Soave Classico – 100% Garganega and aged in large oak barrels, or “botte grande” for 14 months

There were 21 other Soave wine producers at the tasting…Links to their individual websites (where available) are listed on the left under “Hmm...Interesting.”

Going to another tasting in Verona with Chiara this Saturday. I’ll keep you posted on any additional propositions received.

Moo…

- Zucca

Montefortiana - the best race ever...

Participating in the 33rd Montefortiana confirmed my suspicion that they do just about everything better in Italy.

I have run numerous races that involved drinking a bunch of beers and eating afterwards (who doesn't love a "brew run"), but this was my first that involved drinking and eating during the race.

Needless to say, there wasn't much running involved...a bit difficult after your 4th or 5th vin brule! Which is basically what I am drinking in every picture from the Montefortiana.

Btw - the cute girl to my left in the photo in the upper right is Chiara, my roommate and consultant for just about everything.

Little lesson on vin brule:
Vin brule is basically a mulled wine (wine mixed with some spices)...usually red and served nice and warm. It is typically drunk in northern Italy, which fortunately enough for me is where I live. Actually a popular drink on the slopes for anyone planning a ski trip to Italy in the near future (vin brule or "vov con panna" are perfect after your first run - will explain vov at a later date).

In addition to pickling myself with vin brule...I ate some surprisingly tasty things during and after the race. Minestrone soup (see photo of the guy with the enormous ladle for reference), grilled chicken breast (which was unbelievable tasty) and tortellini.

It was my first experience crossing the finish line for a race completely full...and with a little bit of a buzz.

...and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

- Zucca