Dining with Bacchus

The last few years have been, well, tough. No wine or food events and no traveling.

But that has been changing in the last year and things have been opening up and are happening again for most people. However, we have been tentative at best, particularly when it comes to crowds. Recently we were invited to attend the Dining with Bacchus dinner, Wednesday, November 16th at Il Fornaio in San Jose, California thanks to the -

ITA - Italian Trade Agency is the Governmental agency that supports the business development of our companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy.

Also thanks to Colangelo and Partners for the invite.

With over 540 officially recognized native wine grape varieties, Italy can boast an extensive wine grape biodiversity, and being the only country in the world to produce wine in every single region, it offers one of the most diverse tasting profile panoramas, adapting to multiple culinary traditions. With the Dining with Bacchus series, the ITA aims to educate trade, media, and industry key players on Italian wines and their adaptability to various culinary pairings, embracing yet debunking the myth that “what grows together, goes together”.

It was a wonderful journey of tastes and textures. From the first sip and taste it was apparent we were in for a treat. A small confession, that white Italian

wines have generally been missed in our love of Italian wines. Not deliberately but just a reality. This night we tasted a number we have never had the pleasure of before. WOW! Have we been missing out! We started of with a Terra Costantino de Aetna Etna Bianco DOC 2019. A beautiful blend of 80% Carricante, 15% CatarrattBo, and 5% Minnella. A Vulcanico Falanghina 2021, a Falanghina Basilicata IGT Paternoster, Basilicata, 2021, and a Alto Ridge DOC Cantina Tramin Pino Blanco 2018. These were paired with a Carpaccio di Pesce Spada (smoked swordfish with orange dressing and pistacchio di bronte dop), a Burrata co Pomadorini (imported burrata served over roasted tomatoes and micro arugula), and an Octopus salad

(grilled octopus with potatoes, celery, cipolla rossa di tropea Calabria IGP red onions, and lemon vinaigrette).

What an incredibly impressive experience. Sipping and tasting all the possible combinations was amazing and delicious. This was just the first quarter of what was to come. See the list to the right. One of the most amazing things besides the delicious food and wine is how inexpensive these wines were. You can somewhat replicate this by visiting Il Fornaio and ordering the wines to pair with the dishes you select.

One of the things we loved about our Italy adventure ten years ago was the amazingly affordable meals and house wines that were just so delicious.

Cheers,