Degustazione Vini (Wine Tasting!)

Last night I partook in an activity much associated with Italy... wine tasting! We headed over to a little osteria in old Ferrara at 8 pm and sat and ate and didn't leave until 2 am! It was organized and payed for by our program directors and the wine theme for the Evening was Sicily. Apparently, Sicily has a climate quite comparable to California and perfect for producing wine. But until the last 20 years they never really developed the quality wine industry that they have the potential for...lucky for us, now they do! Sommelier Nicola took us through the brief history of wine production and explained how to taste wine to appreciate it with a more trained mind than to just drink it!
First, Appearance. Look at the color of the wine, if it is a white wine, the darker and cloudier the color, the longer it has aged. The opposite is true of red wines which as they age get lighter in color. Next one must look at how quickly the wine settles down after swishing the glass, quicker is better... it shows that the wine is going to have a softer taste on the palate. Like every other aspect of life in Italy, appearance played a big role in lasts night's festivities. From the presentation of the dishes to the pressed white shirt and apron of the cute waiter to everyone dressing up for the occasion. There are many a girl in my program who very deeply identify with Italy's love of image... don't worry, I played my part, I actually showered!
Second, the Bouquet. There are three things to think about when smelling your wine. 1, is it a 'delicate' smell, does it smell appetizing. I know this sounds kind of like a given, but is still important! 2, how long does the aroma stay in your memory, chances are, the more complicated the flavors and the more flavors there are, the longer it will stay with a person. 3, what are the things that you smell. This is slightly subjective, some people will smell different things than others, this idea is true in the taste as well. There are also three things that effect the smell and taste of a wine and they are, what grapes are used and how they are grown, The fermentation process of the wine, and lastly the aging process. As is true with everywhere I go in Italy, there were many a interesting smell in the 'bouquet' of the evening. Sitting next to me was the program avocatto (lawyer) who every once in a while would move and I would get a lovely whiff of BO... then to counter act that the crazy, obnoxious, flirty lady across from him sent out a overly perfumed odor. There was the musty smell of broccoli in the air, one of old socks from the weird cheeses we got in course number 5, not to mention the smell of fish... course 2 was a wild, tasty assortment of shellfish on toasted bread. Plus the building we were housed in has this really comforting smell of old, used, polished wood. That alone is enough to overstimulate the nose without adding trying to identify smells in wines on top of it!
Third, Taste! As with smell, taste can be very subjective. One wine we had last night, a chardonnay reminded me of peaches and white flowers, very fruity, another, a nero d'Avola merlot had the tastes of preserved currents, cinnamon, and a touch of licorice... The one thing that the sommelier did tell us was that the longer the after taste, the better the quality of wine. I tell you, the game of describe that taste is very fun!!
I had a six course meal last night and seven different wines... unfortunately there were many a person in attendance that had too much to drink, and it would have been easy to do! There was SO much wine, but our director had explained at the beginning of the evening that it was a bit of a marathon and not to drink to much of the whites in the beginning because the heavy reds came at the end and could hit you hard if you'd already had plenty to drink. So those of us with a head on our shoulders did absolutely fine! (No, the obnoxious random woman across-ish from me did not so much follow this advice which made her even more obnoxious!!!!) I probably never again will have a 6 hour meal, nor do I necessarily want to, it was so long! But as you can see I learned a lot and I'm definitely glad I got to do it!