Eating at a Wine Festival

In the beginning of April I made a work trip to Italy's (and maybe one of Europe's) biggest wine conventions, VinItaly, in Verona. I was there with a coworker, Nicola, who's the author of wine and food guides to Southern Italy, and we went to do research for a tour we're creating at work. I was a bit apprehensive at the beginning, since I was required to wear a business suit and I was dreading potential business-y meetings. Luckily, Nicola regards his profession as a call for enjoyment, and that's what we did.

On the first day of the festival he took me to the biodynamic wine division, which was located about 20 minutes by car from the main center (apparently due to tension between the two different types of producers). Biodynamic, as Nicola explained it, is a method of production without chemicals or any kind of environmentally-destructive interference. That even means no machinery! The wine tastes different, too - with all of the different kinds I tasted, there was an actual fruity flavor, and most of the wines weren't the typical white or red colors that we're used to. The best part of the wine tasting area was that all visitors were given a wineglass to wear in a little pouch that was slung around the neck. (Mine is now hanging in my room in Bologna as a badge of pride.)



Nicola pointed out to me that biodynamic wine producers are a rare breed, as their calling requires them to be involved in production around the clock. And it was clear that these were interesting characters, many of whom did not appear to spend much time with normal society. But even stranger were the organic cheesemakers, who had a separate tasting room before dinner. You can see a small example of the insane spread, below. Cheese galore, and it was incredible. The cheesemakers bustled around, manhandling crusty wheels of cheese and wearing their wool hats indoors (for the duration of the evening).



Cheese eating was followed by a five course dinner, the photographs of which follow below. One of the perks of the dinner was that the half-drunk wine bottles from the festival were left out so that diners could keep drinking their favorite wines as they ate. I was seated with a group of wine and food aficionados; this is our table BEFORE dinner started. Nicola and his comrades actually hid some of the most sought-after bottles under the table so that they could drink without being harassed by other wine lovers.

This is the first appetizer: a cake made of Adriatic bluefish and "crunchy" sardines.


Second appetizer: veal loaf with seasonal vegetables. The stringy dark green stuff must've been found in a forest somewhere, and it was the best part.


Third course, the "primo", which is usually pasta-related. This was rolls of pasta stuffed with Abruzzese black pig, juniper ricotta and wild asparagus. The black pig is a specialty (the meat itself isn't black, of course), but slight disappointments were the ricotta (which didn't taste anything like juniper, whatever that must be like) and the asparagus (which was mostly ground up into a sauce).


"Secondo", or meat course. Veal cheek cooked in Montepulciano wine and glazed onion. The meat was really good, but I'm generally sort of freaked out by eating cheek meat, because there are always strange gummy bits in it that remind me too much of my own cheeks.


Dessert, "sweet pizza", which was a mix of chocolate cake, amaretto paste, and some kind of cream. At this point I'd had enough biodynamic wine that I forgot about my photo project and started eating before I took a photo. I then tried to put my "pizza" back together. It's a bit of a patchy job.


The dinner was followed by one of the most bizarre and unique performances I have ever witnessed in my life. A group of Georgian winemakers were the celebrities of the gala dinner, as they had traveled thousands of miles by van to attend the festival (apparently biodynamic winemaking is a big thing in Georgia). About three-quarters through the dinner, strange and interesting sounds started to emanate from the Georgians' table. We were soon informed by the host that polyphonic singing is a UNESCO Heritage-protected patrimony of Georgia. Who knew? The mustachioed,7-foot tall (including the women) Georgians proceeded to give us a concert of polyphonic music, which I cannot describe accurately except to say that it's sung without words.

Speaking of life-changing experiences (as the Georgian polyphonic singing clearly was), I recently attended an alter-ego themed party. My friend Natasha and I decided to dress up as men (my idea, probably somehow related to the fact that I feel out of sorts in Italian gender dynamics) and we had a terrific time. Suspenders are an amazing invention; so much better than a belt! And I learned how to tie my tie from the internet, which I am infinitely proud of.



As for the alter-ego theme, it's unclear what some of the other partygoers interpreted themselves as. Though it was interesting, regardless.