ಓಪನ್ ಡೇ Meregalli

Meregalli Open Day in a nutshell

What I tasted
Over 50 wines, mostly French.
What I drank
Just Champagne, it was too early to think about drinking anything else without a meal.
What was new
The South African Morgenster Cabernet & Cab Franc blend, quite nice, well rounded, with nicely balanced tannins.
What was old but good
Champagne and mortadella, as Italians say, “la morta sua”.
Kind of like mixing the rich with the poor on your palate.
What I liked
3 Champagnes, 1 Prosecco, 2 Cabs from Chile & South Africa, Barrua a blend of 85% Carignano - 10% Cabernet S. - 5% Merlot from Sardegna, and 2 Bordeaux’s.
What I learned
That after tasting 40 wines, even if you spit, you palate is done.
What I wish I didn’t taste
Those 2 Gewurztraminer’s! They were utterly terrible, no comment on the name.
What I learned
Wines are a never- ending discovery.
Personal observation
The FISAR sommeliers were very professional and nice.

Monza is a nice little town just outside of Milan. We went up there for Meregalli Day. Meregalli is one of our wine brokers that we buy from for our Vineria. They have been in the wine business since 1856.
We started off the morning in the cellar with the bubbly. The Champagne was all nice, I love Champagne, so it’s rare that I will not like it. My favorites were Pierre Gimonnet & Fils “Fleuron” Brut 1er cru, Bollinger Grande Annèe, and Ayala Brut Vintage.
I also enjoyed the Barons de Rothschild Blanc de Blanc, Bollinger Rosè, Contratto Pas Dosè Franciacorta, Nino Franco Grave di Stecca Prosecco, and I don’t care for spumante, but the Contratto Asti de Miranda made from 100% Moscato d’Asti, was quite special.
That was the bubbly, nice start, then it was time for some food. Mortadella is hands down one of my least favorite cold cuts, but I have to say, paired with Champagne is a great combo. It’s kind of like mixing the rich with the poor.

Blog VI, Wine and Pizza

One of the first rules you learn, in the final course of the sommelier studies, is that regional dishes go with regional wine.
So, the most internationally famous Italian dish, pizza, from Naples, would go with a local wine from its region Campania.
But which one you ask? And why wine, when the majority of people always order beer. Well actually in the sommelier course we learned that beer isn’t the best match. The classic pizza margarita, or any pizza rossa, (with tomato sauce), is quite high in acidity. Acidity doesn’t need to be paired with beer. It’s refreshing, but it has never been my favorite beverage with a meal.
We went to the pizzeria Nuovi Sapori, (New Tastes) in Rivotorto near Assisi, which is run by a group from Naples, last week for the first time.
On their wine menu, they have only white wine. I guess because they also specialize in fish, or because it’s easier to store, or maybe because they think it goes best with their cuisine. I’ll ask next time.
So we ordered our pizzas, Graziano ordered a Napoli, which is the pizza margarita with anchovies and olives added. I ordered the Dada, which was a pizza bianca (no tomato sauce), mozzarella, grana (chunks of parmesan cheese) speck and arugula. They were both excellent by the way, almost as good as my favorite pizza in Perugia, The Mediterranean.
We drank a really nice Falanghina, from the noteworthy winery, Di Majo Norante. I love saying Falanghina.
The Falanghina grape is an indigenous grape and white wine of Southern Italy. This winery is actually in the region of Molise, which is one of the smallest regions in Italy, next to Campania.
I usually prefer indigenous wines, because Italy has so many to offer. You could almost taste a different wine, each time, to become familiar with all of them. Just think, if you had the resources, you could drink a different varietal every week, for a year, and still not have tasted, all of Italy’s over 300 indigenous varietals! That’s one of the luxuries of living is Italy.
Back to the piazza, I found the Falanghina to be an excellent paring. The best part, no headache the morning after! White wines, drunk in abundance, tend to give me headaches.
I can’t wait till the next time we go, in which I would like to try the Greco di Tufo.