i was secretly hoping that our shipment from the grand tour would be sending us back to italy…and my wish came true! not only are we going back to italy, BUT we are traveling to my favorite wine region and a place that is at the top of my travel bucket list – the piemonte region. to say that i was excited is a complete understatement as i literally jumped for joy around the house when we received the shipment. and while i really love the classics like barolo and barbaresco from this region, i am excited to try some of the wines that i may not be as familiar with from piedmont. i think this quote from dustin wilson, master sommelier, really sums up that whole idea for what this month’s journey will be…
“and there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the classics – which is why this month, i decided to mesh the two ideas: focus on a legendary region, yet zone in on more ‘off the beaten path’ selections. this month, we’re taking it back to the basics and returning to northern italy’s legendary piedmont region.”
and there was no better time to open our first bottle than while celebrating friendsmas last night. for this selection, we ended up picking the barbera in the shipment – a 2014 cascina fontana barbera. now barbera is also a favorite of ours, but sometimes gets overlooked especially when we have a choice between barbera and barolo. i don’t know what it is, but we can’t seem to pass it up. but are we glad we selected this wine for the evening. “tucked away in the barolo hills of langhe, cascina fontana has been producing wines from indigenous piemontese grape varieties for six generations.” you read that right…SIX?! and after reading through our materials, their barbera actually ages in both oak and cement which i learned allows for the wine to keep it’s acidity high. who knew?
now we decided to pair up our wine selection with our delicious italian pasta dishes – but it is also recommended to pair this wine with charcuterie (a favorite of ours), roasted meats and you guessed it…pasta with red sauce!
but, i am really starting to get so excited for the holidays, which also means that we are that much closer to visiting nyc AND finally getting to visit the verve wine storefront. but until then, we will continue our journey through the grand tour. interested in trying out the wine club? visit grandtourwine.com for more information.
until next time
xoxo
kpmoments 