Yumminess from Fatted Calf in Hayes Valley

This week for wine Wednesday I took a field trip to Napa to stay with friends who are total wine geeks. We are talking major accreditation to their names, an utterly impressive collection of wine and oh they also happen to be really into food. Bonus! They know I am studying Italy so the plan was to drink some Italian wines and make some Italian food, relax and chat. We had such a good time and I couldn’t have been happier to get a good nights sleep away from city sirens and The Stomper (our heavy footed upstairs neighbor, it’s out of control). Sadly, Mother Earth had other plans and we were all jolted awake at 3:00 in the morning to the violent shaking of a 6.0 earthquake. Luckily, nobody was hurt and my friends were totally prepared but the damage was enough to warrant immediate attention. It was a pretty bummer way to end what was otherwise a lovely evening full of what we like to call many “teachable moments”. To honor the good part of the night before the earth started shaking I’ve included some pictures and super helpful links below.

First up is Falanghina, a white wine grown in Campania in Southern Italy. The aromas are of blood orange or bitter orange but the taste is more delicate with apples or pear and spicy mineral notes. This bottle ranges from $12-$15 and was a delightful glass to sip as we enjoyed some charcuterie.

Next, to start their anniversary celebration early, we opened an 1989 Barolo. Sidenote: these are the type of people you want to be, unafraid to open a bottle and celebrate the smallest of occasions. I watched how to decant a really old bottle using a flashlight and decanter (check out a video in the link on decanting below) but after we took one sniff we knew immediately it was corked. CORKED! A 1989 Barolo! I was devastated, my friends however were not, they brushed it off and went out to grab another bottle. This time we grabbed a Barolo from 2001. Mother LOVIN CORKED!!! I can’t even make this stuff up. I was losing it, but my friends remained cool, calm and collected and simply opened a Rosso di Montelcino (which I forgot to take a pic of) and we sipped away in memory of the fallen soldiers. To make sure we take something from these (devastating) corked bottles I have included the links below from Wine Folly.

Click the questions to get more information on each topic…teachable moments people!
*How long should you cellar a wine?

*Do you know how to decant and why you should? Make sure to check out the video at the end.

*Screw caps vs cork. Wishing those bottles would have been screw caps!

1989 Barolo CORKED!

2001 Barolo CORKED! AGAIN!

Homemade meatballs

Peppers from a neighbors garden stuffed with veggies and quinoa