This weekend I did a lot. Friday, after a hellish day of work, I was craving nachos like you would not believe. We headed over to Hacienda Colorado in a near-by shopping center so that I could get some nachos, and Kira joined Raph and I for dinner. We also went to Yogurtland which I love. They have an oatmeal cookie flavor out right now that is delicious.
Saturday started out nicely. Raph gave me my birthday presents on Saturday morning because he couldn't wait to give them to me. He also planned some good surprises for the day.
First stop, the Italian Festival at Belmar. This was really fun. We did a wine tasting and got to see "Gli Sbandieratori" from Firenze (Florence). Raph had never seen the flag throwers before, so that was something fun and new for him to try out too.
Gli Sbadieratori are flag throwers who appear at festivals around the world and in Italy to represent and promote Florence. They are really cool to watch, and if you ever get a chance to see them in action I highly recommend it. Just in case you never get a chance to see them. Check out this video.
Then we went to our wine tasting of "Tuscan" wines, though the white they served was an Orvieto which we all know is from Umbria. Or at least I know. First up is just that. This is the Campogrande Orvieto from Santa Cristina. This was a fairly standard Orvieto with a nice taste balanced between the ripe citrus that is typical of this wine and also light floral notes. It finished with a clean citrus taste on palette. Name: Orvieto
Vineyard/Winery: Santa Cristina CampoGrande
Grape: 40% Procanico, 40% Grechetto, 15% Verdello
Vintage: 2010
Dominant notes: Lemon Zest, White Flowers, Fresh Citrus Finish
Would drink it again: Yes
Cost: N/A - from Wine Tasting
Next up we have the Santa Cristina Sangiovese. Sangiovese is a type of grape that is generally used for making Chianti. This wine is technically a Chianti, but because it isn't grown in the Chianti region, it can't be called as such. This wine was described as an intense bouquet of cherry and raspberry with hints of violet and tobacco. Unfortunately I found that this wine tasted mostly like tobacco and was so overpowering it really didn't make it possible for us to taste the other notes that were in its description.
Name: Sangiovese
Vineyard/Winery: Santa Cristina
Grape: 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2009
Dominant notes: Tobacco, Hints of Spice and Smoke, Slight Dark Fruits.
Would drink it again: Absolutely NOT
Cost: N/A - from Wine Tasting
Next up we have the two Chianti that were offered. I started to get over the taste of the tobacco after a few sips of water, but it really messed me up for a few minutes. We moved on the the Bella Sera Chianti. This is a pretty common bottle to find in most chain style or inexpensive Italian Restaurants.
It has a full taste of cherries and spices, a medium feel to the palate, with medium tannins and quite acidic. Overall this is a standard Chianti, but I'd probably choose a Gabbiano or Banfi bottle before I pick this up.
Name: Chianti
Vineyard/Winery: Bella Sera
Grape: 100% Sangiovese
Vintage: 2009
Dominant notes: Cherries, Spice, Vanilla, Tannins.
Would drink it again: If it was the only option.
Cost: N/A - from Wine Tasting
Last up for the wines we tasted was the Castello D'Albola Chianti Classico. This wine I found to be very interesting. The funniest part of it was that the first taste that you got on your palate was a piece of toast. It literally tasted like a piece of bread. After the bread flavor settled, then you could taste the other flavors, a slight hint of violet, and dry sweet fruits. It was definitely my favorite of the reds that we tasted this afternoon.
Name: Chianti
Vineyard/Winery: Castello d'Albola
Grape: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Cannaiolo
Vintage: 2009
Dominant notes: Toast, Violet, Sweet Fruit.
Would drink it again: Yes
Cost: N/A - from Wine Tasting
After the wine tasting we walked around and tried out a few other of the good eats that were available including Sicilian style Pizza, Italian Ice, and pastries from Dolce Sicilia Bakery. If you haven't tried out this bakery, I highly recommend it. The cookies and pastries were delicious and some of the most Italian tasting pastries I've had in the US. You would have thought we were in Boston, not Colorado. Very yummy. My favorite item, which I ate too fast to take a picture of was the pistachio cannolo (Yes with an O because I only ate one). The lady making them was filling them at the back of the tent, so the shells were perfectly crispy. Never wait to eat your connoli. They will get too soggy. I was a little sad that I missed out on the gelato, but I was too full to enjoy it.
It was a very fun filled day and I really enjoyed myself. It was really fun to get to see the different places around town to get some great Italian food and support some smaller family-owned companies. If you missed out on the Festival Italiano, be sure to look for it next September out at Belmar. They've been having this for a few years now, and there is live music, cooking demos, wine tastings, and bocce tournaments. It was great fun! Check it out!
Up tomorrow on the blog: Saturday's dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant in Colorado.
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