Tag Archives: wine tastings

Calici di Stelle: Taste WInes as San Lorenzo’s Stars Fall

wine_moon.jpgThe Wine Tourism Movement of Italy and the Associazione Italian Sommeliers, or AIS, is holding an outdoor wine event this Monday, August 10, from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. You’ll taste a variety of unusual whites, reds and dessert wines from the Tre Venezie (many of them native varieties), and if the weather holds, should offer a festive, relaxing opportunity to explore and expand your Italian wine palate. (There will be a entrance fee of €5 or €10, if I can obtain it I’ll post it here.)

calicedistelleThis is the Venice version of the Calici di Stelle events being held in cortili, piazze and historic centers all around Italy on August 10 (some on the 9th), La Notte di San Lorenzo. The stars that fall on that night represent tears shed for the saint…somehow they end up in our glasses. : ) In any case, if you’re not in Venice, check to see if there’s a local Calici di Stelle wine event near you.

This one will be held in the Piazza Ferretto in Venezia Mestre (see map link below). To reach it from Piazzale Roma (about 20 minutes), take bus number 7 (which runs more frequently), or that for Mirano, or Treviso. Tell the driver your destination and he’ll let you know the correct stop. To return, take nighttime (notturno) bus number 1. Alternatively, it’s about a 10-minute walk from the Mestre train station.

Here‘s the map.

Tchin-tchin!

MestreP01.jpg

Wine/moon photo © Svetlana Suvorina | Dreamstime.com

Nebbiolo on parade: High Piedmont wines at the Monaco

risotto-al-castelmagno_feb08_2.JPG.jpeg If you’re a wine enthusiast here enjoying the post-Carnevale off-season, you’re in luck: a tasting of the grand wines of the Alto Piemonte will be held at the Hotel Monaco on Sunday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

These wines are some of the most austere and renowned in Italy: DOCs of Boca, Bramaterra, Colline Novaresi, Coste della Sesia, Fara, Lessona, Sizzano, and more (the two horizontal tastings of the DOCGs Gattinara and Ghemme are by reservation only). And since in Italy you never drink without eating, you also be able to pair your tastings with prodotti tipici, and even a variety of risotti prepared throughout the day by the cooks of the Gran Maestri del Risotto.

  • Le Eccellenze dell’Alto Piemonte a Venezia
  • Hotel Monaco
  • Sunday, March 15
  • 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • €10

Presented by the Conzorzio Tutela Nebbioli Alto Piemonte and AIS Veneto.

A side note: the tasting will be held in the famous sala del Ridotto, the state-run casino where masked Venetian nobles gambled their remaining fortunes in the declining days of the Republic. Visit the paintings of chronicler Gabriele Bella in the Querini Stampalia for this and other representative scenes of Venice past.

Photo credit: Riso Zaccaria