Day 15- Wine Tasting

Day 15

On Wednesday, our group took a wine trip to central Tuscany. I, myself and not a wine guru, and tend not to like wine. However, I thought, "when in Tuscany (Rome)." The wine tasting and tour took place at a 15th Century castle where were were able to tour the wine cellars and the castle grounds. The castle has been producing wine since its founding, but only recently have started to produce wine for profit. Previously the family that lived in the castle primarily produced wine for their family and friends. After the tour we sat out in the garden and patios and just breathed in the fresh Italian air as we looked at the rolling hills, vineyards, and castle grounds. It was so beautiful it nearly took my breath away. Sometimes I have to have a reality check, and realize I am living in a beautiful historic country! Things I see every day, I never see in the United States, it doesn't seem real.

The wine tasting look place in a large dining room within the castle. Our tour guide explained each wine and what you would eat with it. We were also given bread and olive oil, bruchetta, and salami and meat. I had a real "adult" moment when all my friends and I snacked and sipped on wine :) we felt so elegant and European! Nothing like the drinking activities at UW-Madison!

I took some notes during the wine tasting...here are some of the wines we tried. They are listed in order of my favorite to least favorite.

1. Classico: to be eaten with cheese
2. IGT: a smaller bottle but a heavier favor, it goes well with white meat
3. Classico Reserve: can be saved for 25 years, while the rest have to be drank in less than 10 years. This partners well with red meat.
4. Desert wine: which we ate with almond cookies!

Once the drinking activities concluded, my classmates and I made our way back to our coach buses (which we travel with everywhere). Surprisingly, when we reached our buses we saw that the whole back window was shattered and some of the winery workers were posting blue cardboard over the now-empty window. Incidentally, our driver parked near some tall and flexible trees and one fell onto the bus due to the high speed winds that day. We all had a good laugh, especially when my advisor Marco didn't even noticed until I asked him if he knew what happened! Then he freaked out, but everything turned out fine.

Overall, I am still learning to like wine, but this day trip was so amazing. I wish I could live in that castle, drink wine, eat cheese, and read in the courtyard; it would be like living in a fairy tale.