Slow Food Italian Wine Tasting

When we first started WineSmarts, I would go to all the big tastings down at Fort Mason. At first, these were really fun, but after a while, I got a bit overwhelmed fighting the thousands of people to get a sip and chat with the wine makers. But I have been wanting to further develop my understanding of the Italian wine biz, and was pleased to get a ticket to Slow Food's 2nd Annual Golden Glass Italian Wine Tasting from my friend Dava of Noise 13, who was on the board. Much to my surprise, I found myself having a delightful time with a more manageable number of wineries who all were able to chat about the wines.

The event featured some of my favorite folks in the Italian food & wine biz: Claudio Villani, formerly of Incanto (one of my favorite Noe Valley spots), now the wine director at Bartolotta Restaurant, Wynn Resort Las Vegas who was super helpful to us in developing WinePassport: Italy and Shelly Lindgren of A-16 (despite being in the Marina, one of my favorite restaurants in the City). We were not only able to sample food from those great places, but were also able to taste delightful creations from Chez Panisse and Fresca Italia, an importer of some wonderful cheeses and other speciality food from Italy.

But what was particularly wonderful, were all the wineries who were there -- it was like a brief visit to Italy, but in our own backyard. Many of the winemakers flew out from Italy for the event, and you could tell by their classic fashion (most notably some 1940's style wide, short neckties which must be all the rage in Italy these days, and a guy with some awesome bright orange jeans). Many of these folks didn't speak much English, yet rattled on about their wines entirely in Italian. I only understood a bit, but my friend Eric understood a lot and I had my advance copy WinePassport: Italy, which came in super handy with the great maps and guides to the grapes of and wines of Italy.

All in all, un giorno bello. I can't wait to take my WinePassport and my real passport and travel around Italy tasting wine!