Dinner- "Zeppolis (Italian)"

Dinner- "Zeppolis (Italian)"

Picture of the outside of Zeppolis as we walk in for the wine dinner

Every other week Zeppolis Italian restaurant in Blacksburg, VA provides a wine dinner specially prepared for the students of John Boyer's Geography 4054 class. This week the dinner featured all Italian wines paired with traditional Italian cuisine. We were served nine wines in total, four whites and five reds. The host would poor each wine individually, not always providing you with the name, which allowed us to compare the wines directly and guess which ones were which.

The first wine we tasted was Fossi Bianco which was a white table wine. It was $6.99 a bottle and contained 11.5% alcohol. The nose was very sweet with hints of apple and citrus. This was an extremely easy wine to drink as it exploded with a strong fruit flavor. The apple from the nose carried to the taste as it left a very crisp and clean finish. I also tried this wine with some of the cold pasta salad, but I didn't seem to experience a change in taste. Based on the notes provided this wine is an excellent price and is great for large gatherings.

The next wine was a La Fiera 2010 Pino Grigio Alto Adige. The price was $14.99 per bottle and it contained 14% alcohol. This was a "decent year, as well as a decent vineyard" according to our hosts. The nose of the wine was very fruity and smelled strongly of apples.

The taste exhibited the same features as a strong apple taste was present. I didn't taste the peach as mentioned in the notes provided to us. The finish lingered for a couple seconds with a little bitter taste. I tried this wine with the garden salad and balsamic dressing. The food complemented the wine very nicely and actually helped bring out even more taste.

The bottles/labels of the wines served at the dinner.

The third wine featured was a 2010 Nals Magried Pinot Grigio Alto Adige. It was $14.99 a bottle and contained 14% alcohol. The nose had a little lemon or zest smell to it, but wasn't too strong. The lemon flavor seemed to be apparent in the taste as well and was complemented by a very crisp and fresh feel. The finish was supposed to be "thick and slightly oily," but i failed to notice that. I tried this with a cracker and light cheese, which was a good compliment.

The last white wine we tried was a 2011 Lodali Moscato D'Asti. It was a sparkling wine that was 5.5% alcohol and $12.99 a bottle. This wine is often well paired with deserts containing fruits. The nose smelled of many different fruits, such as peaches, apples and even a little cantaloupe. The taste exemplified a sparkling cider with a hint of alcohol. The finish was very cool and refreshing. I tried this wine with some of the garden salad which probably wasn't the best food pairing, as it would have been better with something sweet.

The food featured garden salad, pasta and multiple breads with cheese.

The first red wine of the dinner was a Luca Primitivo del Salento Puglia. This was a wine that is from the most eastern part of Italy, was $8.99 a bottle and contained 13% alcohol. This is also considered the "father of Zinfandel." The nose of this wine was not one of my favorites as it came through with smells like perfume or nail polish remover. After tasting the wine, I could taste burnt toast and a little bit of spice. After having the wine with some marinara sauce, the taste of the wine drastically improved.

The next red wine was a 2010 SUD Primitivo Puglia. This wine came in at $11.99 a bottle and contained 13.5% alcohol. This was a much darker red that smelled of a very strong vanilla. The taste was more of the same. I might not have been able to get the smell out of my mind and couldn't quite pick up the "plush fruit and herb." I tried this wine with pasta and meat sauce, but this failed to change my perception of its taste.

The third red wine was a Morli Neri 2009 Chianti DOCG. It sells for $9.99 a bottle and contains 12.5% alcohol. The nose of the wine was very strong as you could smell it immediately after being poured. It came through with a sense of blackberry and raspberry. The taste was more of a dried fruit taste and met the criteria set forth in the notes of a "jam" like taste. This taste was intensified when I tried it with pasta and meat sauce.

The next wine was a 2010 Bibi Graetz Casamata Toscana. This wine is also known as a "super

Seen here with Ben and our new friends Colin and Chris (front).

tuscan," made with a chianti style grape for the American palate. The wine is $12.99 a bottle and contains 12% alcohol. The nose of this wine came through with a strong dirt like smell and what almost reminded me of a wet dog. The taste was very rich and left what I would say was a tar like taste in my mouth. I had this wine with some bread dipped in red sauce, which proved to be a nice combination.

The last wine of the evening was a 2009 Lodali Nebbiolo D'Alba Sant Ambrogrio. This was the most expensive wine of the evening coming in at $17.99 a bottle and containing 13.5% alcohol. This was a much lighter color compared to the other reds we had tasted. The wine was aged for 12 months in oak barrels and this showed in both the nose and taste. The oak smell from the nose lingered and may have affected the taste of the wine, which came through with heavy wood tastes. I was also able to pick up on some hints of black licorice as mentioned in the notes provided to us. This wine may have had the largest affect on the food I tasted that night. After taking a sip of this wine and pairing it with some garlic bread it immediately amplified the garlic taste from the bread and also made the wines finish linger for even longer.

As you can tell it was a very good wine dinner.