Consigli DiVini -

Tiramisu has been mentioned on this blog a few times before – but only in passing. But I now believe it is time to get to grips with this fine fine dessert (oooh, I’m salivating already. I’m hopeless, aren’t I?)

If you like creamy desserts, coffee, and more importantly, Italian wine, then Tiramisu will definitely take you there. It’s comfort food for wine lovers. Rich, creamy, indulgent. It’s the kind of dessert that you have to enjoy guilt-free or else it’s just not worth having it at all, because it’s that good.

So what is Tiramisu, then?

Well it’s:

…a thin layer of sponge cake generously soaked in Italian espresso, rum and Marsala wine, covered with a thick layer of whipped Mascarpone cheese, cocoa, sugar and eggs, finished off with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Culinary poetry in motion. Yum!

(n.b: the sponge cake is often called ‘lady fingers’)

Marsala wine is made in the Sicilian town of the same name and is produced from a combination of white and dark red grapes. This rich wine has a yellowish-brown colour with a taste that tends to vary from sweet to dry. Commonly used as a dessert wine, it’s perfect for Tiramisu.

Now, there’s a whole manner of speculation over exactly where this genius of a dessert originated from. Some people say Tiramisu originated from as far back as the 1800s, while others say it was born in the 1970s (in a Treviso restaurant called ‘Le Beccherie’).

Whatever the history may be, one day, someone somewhere went into a kitchen and came up with a marvellous idea for a dessert that has made the bellies of a lot of people all over the world very happy. Very VERY happy.

Tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian. Indeed!

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The city of Montefiascone is located in the Viterbo province in Lazio, Central Italy. Its name is derived from the word ‘Mons Faliscorum’ which means ‘Mountain of the Falisci’ (the Falisci were an ancient tribe of Italians).

Montefiascone’s most famous wine is the Est!, Est!!, Est!!! di Montefiascone and is produced from a combination of Trebbiano grapes, Malvasia grapes and Roscetto grapes. The wine comes out pale yellow, and is light and fruity on the palate.

Est!, Est!!, Est!!! di Montefiascone wine has a very interesting history. In the year 1100, there was an entourage travelling to Rome for the coronation of King Henry V. Amongst them was the nobleman and wine lover, Johan Defuk. Defuk sent his assistant, Martino, a day ahead of him – his task was to taste the wines in the inns on Defuk’s behalf so that when he arrived, he would have a choice of good quality wines to feast on.

If Martino found good wine, he’d mark the inn door with the word ‘Est!’ meaning ‘good wine is here!’ If he marked the door with ‘Est!, Est!!’, it meant the wine was excellent. When he reached the town of Montefiascone and tasted their wine, he wrote ‘Est!, Est!!, Est!!!’

Johan Defuk took the young man up on his triple recommendation and loved the wine so much that he stayed there for 3 days and upon his return from Rome, remained in Montefiascone for the rest of his days. His love of wine was great for it is said that he died from drinking too much of it. He is buried in the local church of San Flavanio, forever close to the wine that he loved. Every year, a barrel of wine is poured over his tomb in his honour.

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So I’ve been checking out the website of the other wine event I mentioned previous posts ago on the off-chance that I might be able to attend it (that’s if I’m not away on holiday on a secluded beach being served copious amounts of Chardonnay and fish by a very tall and fine waiter with super-super white teeth and glowing skin. Ah, one can but dream!)

Anyway, ahem, the event in question - The Wine Show - is coming up in October (23^rd-26^th, to be precise). I know we’re in June, but October really isn’t that far away especially if you live in a fast-paced environment.

It looks like it’s gonna be fab AND EVERYONE’S INVITED so I won’t have the same problem I had with the other wine event at the Excel Centre that I later discovered was only open to people in the wine-trade business. Grrrr. (again, it wasn’t really their fault, but still…)

At The Wine Show, there’ll be wine walks, tasting sessions, a wine market, and other things going on. One I’m really really looking forward to in particular is a part wine-education, part-theatre event called ‘Around the Wine World’ involving a host of wine experts. I’m curious as I’ve never seen wine & education mixed together before.

The site hasn’t published the list of exhibitors yet, but I’m sure Italian wine makers will be there (and if not, I will complain profusely. Watch me!).

Tickets
The show has a bit of an initially-confusing ticketing system (well, it was to me). Thursday is straight-forward as it’s a preview evening in which you pay £25. However, if you go on a Friday, it’s £10 for entry before 5pm and £16 thereafter. On Saturday or Sunday, it’s £10 before 2pm and £16 after 2pm. They’re currently running a special offer if you buy more than one ticket in advance (not for Thursday, though).

Ciao!

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I’ve just found a web site called The Italian Wine Society. Though it’s based in the UK, they source a variety of quality wines from many Italian wine regions like Sicily, Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardia.

You can search for a whole range of wines on their site – Red, Rose, White and Sparkling – including Chianti, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Nero.

Of particular interest are their ‘mixed case’ package offers which include 12 bottles of different wines per case. They have 13 types of these offers. For instance, for the Italian-wine novice, they have an ‘Introduction to Italy’ offer consisting of 12 different bottles of ‘carefully chosen’ wines. And for the connoisseur, they offer a ‘Fine Wine Collection’ case – a collection of 12 top-quality wines from some of the most revered wine makers Italy has to offer.

They have other interestingly-titled packages like ‘Central Fantasy’ which is a selection of wines from the Central part of Italy (for e.g., Chianti Classico, and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico); selected wines from North-western Italy called ‘North West Treasures’ (Barolo, Asti Spumante); and hand-picked wines for celebrations called the ‘Party Selection’ (Merlot, Trebbiano, Chardonnay).

(Some of these packages include a bottle of virgin olive oil for one of the 12 bottles. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yes! Food! The virgin olive oil would be a wonderful encouragement to step in the kitchen and rustle up some good old home-made Italian food to go with the wine).

The Italian Wine Society also has a list of the wine producers they do business with. You can click on a specific producer’s name to find out what wines they make and make a purchase if you like.

All in all, the society has a range of prices to suit your pocket, from the affordable ‘Easy Value’ wines to the more expensive wines.

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Thought I’d find out more about the wine tour in London that I mentioned in a previous post – Vinopolis: City of Wine – as I’d like to go there this month. Also, it might be useful for any wine lovers out there intent on visiting London (or those who live there).

London’s Vinopolis offers much more than wine tours - it also hosts wine tasting sessions, as well as cooking sessions using wine and produce from the nearby Borough market (considered to be the oldest market in London).

The Vinopolis wine tour is open 5 days a week and is close to other tourist attractions like Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tate Modern and Southwark Cathedral, so you could really make a day (or two!) of it.

Also, since Vinopolis doesn’t open ‘til 12noon (11am on Saturdays), maybe you could browse Borough market first, grab a breakfast in one of the cafes there.

On their website, they have a panoramic view of part of the area you’ll be touring which I think is great for giving you a taste (excuse the pun!) of what it’ll actually be like when you arrive.

They offer self-guided and guided tours which include a variety of elements depending on the tour package you choose. Some of the elements include ‘How to Taste Wine’ which is a 20-min wine-tasting session, a ‘Blind Wine Challenge’ in which you get to taste 5 different wines blindly and answer questions on them; and ‘Premium Wines’ where you get to taste a wide variety of some of the finest wines.

They have 4 tour packages ranging from £19.50 to £32.50 per person. Included in every tour are 5 wine vouchers so you can choose from over 200 wines available, the ‘How to Taste Wine’ session, a tasting notebook, and a sample of a gin-based cocktail called ‘Bombay Sapphire’.

This is the perfect outing for every wine lover - it’s great that there’s a permanent place like this in London rather than a passing event.

I think it’s time to go and count my pennies – Vinopolis, here I come!

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Imagine: you’ve got your favourite bottle of Italian wine, getting ready to curl up on the sofa with a generous portion of tiramisu. You’ve worked hard all day and god knows you deserve the treat.

You’ve opened more wine bottles in your lifetime than you’ve opened doors – you’re a pro – you can open a wine bottle in your sleep. This particular wine cork doesn’t care how much experience you have, it’s not budging. Try as much as you can, it’s determined to have its own way.

Eventually, being the pro that you are, you manage to tease the cork out a slow and careful inch at a time. It looks like everything’s going to be just fine and you can settle down to the relaxed evening that you planned.

Half way through coaxing the cork out, and without warning, the cork breaks. You promised yourself you wouldn’t swear on weekdays, and so you don’t.

What do you do now? Give up and throw it in the bin? Scream into a pillow? Take it out on the tiramisu?

No. This is what you do:

- Carefully and completely untwist the corkscrew from the cork, then try twisting the screw back in again to a level where you feel you’ve gotten a good grip. Pull the cork out slowly and gently. Try this a couple of times.

- If the above doesn’t work, then try pushing the whole cork downwards through the bottle. You might not be able to get it out, but you may be able to push it down until the cork is in the wine.

- If that works, then it’s more than likely you’ll have bits of the cork floating about in the wine. To filter those bits out, try pouring the wine through a coffee filter or cheesecloth.

Enjoy!

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Fancy some Italian wine along with some cheese? Not sure what to try?

Well, I’ll start with one word: experiment.

Why?

Because everyone’s taste buds are different to some degree. Cheese and wine combinations that work for you might not work for the next person. You might feel that Barolo wine tastes ghastly with Stilton cheese and want to spit it out immediately. The next person might think it tastes gorgeous and immediately go for seconds. Both experiences are just as valid. The key is to experiment and find out which combinations work for YOU.

Cheese & wine pairings is about the combined taste of sweetness and saltiness on the palate. It is said that white wine generally tends to go better with cheese than red wine as the tannins in red wine make the taste of cheese too intense. However, this isn’t always the case and there are some red wines that go perfectly with some cheeses. As mentioned before, try it out for yourself and make your own decision.

Here are some combinations you can try out – find out how it tastes for you:

Try some fresh mozzarella cheese with a light red wine such as Valpolicella or a chilled glass of white wine like Chardonnay.

You can also try Chardonnay with a chunk of mild cheddar cheese or Parmesan or some creamy Gruyere cheese. Cheddar and Parmesan can also go well with Chianti or Montepulciano wine, so try that too and see if you like the combination.

And while you’re trying the Gruyere cheese with the Chardonnay, also try it with a glass of white Pinot Grigio (try Pinot with Camembert cheese too).

Maybe you’ll adore the taste of Brie cheese coupled with red Barbera wine and never look back!

Experiment. Enjoy. Savour.

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Continuing on from the gift ideas suggested in the previous post (did you try any of them, by the way?), here are 4 more for you to sink your teeth into!

The following are very simple ideas, but the wine lover in your life will love you for being so thoughtful.

IDEA 4: Corkscrews…

Yes. The humble corkscrew. As essential as it is to have one, many wine lovers have been known to misplace theirs on a regular basis. The solution? Buy them 5 or 6 corkscrews and place them in strategic places all over the house – beneath the coffee table, beside the computer, on the pile of magazines, hanging behind the kitchen door, etc. That way, they will never have to look for a corkscrew again. I know this method works because it’s the strategy I use with my pens. I haven’t had to look for a pen in a good while!

(p.s: Obviously, corkscrews are sharper, so be careful where you place them.)

IDEA 5: Wine vouchers…

Why not buy them a handful of wine vouchers? There are several wine stores that sell these.

IDEA 6: Magazine Subscriptions /Books…

You could buy them a year’s subscription to a wine magazine (or two!). Or buy them a book. There’s one called ‘The Wine Bible’ which you could buy from Amazon, or you could get them ‘Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopaedia’. To be even more specific, you could buy them ‘The Italian Wine Guide: The Definitive Guide to Touring, Sourcing and Tasting’ – it would be quite a useful book for them to read if you plan on treating them to Idea 7 below!

IDEA 7:

The Not-As-Simple, But-So-Worthwhile Idea is…

…take them on a wine-tasting holiday in Italy!!!

Do read previous posts written here about wine-tasting holidays in Umbria, Sardinia, Piedmont, Sicily and Tuscany to give you an idea of how magical it can be!

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So you have a friend, relative or partner who’s completely head-over-heels in love with Italian wine – it’s all they ever talk about. This person happens to be a really nice human being too. So you think: I know what - I’m going to get them a present, because they’re lovely and they deserve it.

Allow me to suggest the following ideas.

IDEA 1: Organise a surprise wine-tasting party for them. Invite their closest friends and family, get everyone to bring along a bottle of their favourite Italian wine, have nibbles laid out – olives, bread, cheese, dips, etc. It’ll be like a birthday, but not! Who said you have to wait ‘til someone’s birthday to celebrate who they are, anyway!

p.s.: If you REALLY want to surprise them, organise two wine-tasting parties! Just when they couldn’t thank you enough for being so thoughtful in setting up one unexpected party for them last week, what you should now do is set up another one the following weekend! Now that’s a surprise within a surprise if ever I did hear one, and the look on their face, once they realise, is sure to be priceless!

IDEA 2: If they love a nice bit of cheese with their Italian wine, why not take them to a farmers’ market one Sunday morning and treat them to what they’d like? You could also prepare a surprise picnic and hide it in the boot of the car before you leave for the market. Then when you’ve bought the cheese, drive them to a secluded spot and whip out the picnic basket!

IDEA 3: Don’t shy away from taking the simple and practical route either. Here’s an example: how many wine glasses has the wine lover in your life broken in the past year? Be the one to replace it for them. They’re bound to appreciate the gesture, especially as playing it safe by drinking wine from a plastic cup is certainly not an option!

Part 2 coming soon…

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Following the initial elation and subsequent disappointment of not being able to attend last week’s international wine fair, I’m on the hunt for a wine event that EVERYBODY is allowed to attend.

I was crushed, I tell you, crushed on finding out that only traders could attend that festival (p.s. you had to show some sort of identification to prove you were involved in the wine trade. I have none. I’m just a simple old blogger).

In reading my previous post about it, you could tell I was looking forward to it, no? For a split second, I did consider still making an appearance to see if they’d let me in, but being turned away would have been too embarrassing (like a celebrity being refused entry to a club).

So I’m looking for another one. Let’s see what’s on, shall we?

1) Great!, I’ve just found something! It’s a wine tour called ‘Vinopolis: City of Wine’. Looks interesting. Involves a tour (of the building) exploring wines from different regions around the world from ‘the vineyards of England’ to ‘the Chianti region of Italy’. Must investigate further, but so far, so good.

2) Yay!, there’s a wine event coming up in October. Hope I can make this one as I may be travelling around that time. It’s a 4-day event called ‘The Wine Show’. It mentions ‘15,000 wine enthusiasts and 75 exhibitors’ which sounds pretty lively. It’ll include wine talks, wine tasting (goes without saying!), and the opportunity to buy wine from small producers. I must check if there’ll be any Italian wine there. There’s bound to be.

This time round, I’m going to read the admission requirements for these 2 events THOROUGHLY.

It would be great to attend at least one wine event this summer.

Ciao!

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