Nothing is better than a nice glass of wine after a delicious meal. I personally prefer Italian wines and that’s why 18 Reason’s Italian Reds for Fall with Oliver McCrum caught my eye.

I spent much of my 20s and early 30s waiting tables in Italian restaurants so I definitely developed a knowledge of Italian wine making. Yet, despite years of attending wine tastings and classes I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of this complex and varied wine making region, which is one of the oldest in the world.

There are over 2000 indigenous grape varietals in Italy’s 20 wine making regions making it a dense topic to jump in to. Luckily, this tasting has narrowed it down to a seasonal theme, pairing only Italian wines that go great with Fall cuisine. Featured wines include: Petit Rouge and Fumin from the Vallee d’Aoste, a region located in the Northwestern part of Italy that shares borders with Switzerland and France; Lagrein from the Alto Adige, an autonomous region located in Northern Italy that speaks predominately German; Aglianico and Piedirosso/Tintore di Tramonti from Campania, a culturally rich region in Southern Italy that boasts Naples as its capital city and Nerello Mascalese/Nerello Capuccio and Frappato/Nero d’Avola from the island of Sicily. Your host for the evening will be Oliver McCrume of Oliver McCrume Wines, one of the predominate Italian wine importers in the Bay Area. So, you know you’ll be learning from someone that really knows his stuff.
Read More…