I was lucky enough to be in Rome at just the right time. Last weekend, some great friends, Erica and Hande decided to organize a “Franciacorta night” among friends. And some of my favorite Rome expat bloggers were there, too.
The locale? vino roma on the lungotevere, along the Tiber river just above the Castel Sant’Angelo, where Hande and her husband, who are both sommeliers, run wine tastings and other events.
The star of the evening? Franciacorta, a sparkling wine that comes from Lombardy, in the region where I live. Franciacorta has a DOCG status, controlled designation of origin guaranteed, which means only wine using grapes from the Franciacorta area can be called so. I can’t articulate all of its qualities (ask Hande about them), but I definitely appreciate its crisp bubbliness, and it’s one of my favorite things to drink. So I was more than ready to concentrate on the theme for the evening.
We all brought a bottle each of Franciacorta to share. When we arrived, we went up to the roof with everyone to enjoy a crisp glass of Franciacorta and bottles #1, 2, 3, and 4.
Where else can you get a view of Rome like this?
St. Peter’s in the distance – the view is only marred by yet another crane hovering above it (cranes a very normal sight in Milan)
The sunset washed everything with a golden glow, and I set about taking pictures of all the people present.
Our lovely hosts, Hande and Theodor – aren’t they cute together? :)
We came back downstairs to pop bottles #5, 6, 7, and 8.
This cheese not only aesthetically pleased me, but I couldn’t stop nibbling at it – formaggio con mirto – cheese with myrtle berries, the same berries when distilled that become the Sardinian liquer mirto.
A perfect aperitivo, Franciacorta accompanied by a 5-grain zucchini and pesto salad that I whipped up in my friend’s kitchen, a summer eggplant salad, and lots and lots of cheese and pizza bianca (and yes, I made sure to get a fresh piece at Roscioli.
Souvenirs from the event – wine corks and vino roma brochures. Corks from bottles #9 and 10 went right on top.
Bottles #11 and 12. And the pièce de résistance, the roasted porchetta head! After the body slices were devoured, the head was set up and cracked up by none other than Ms. Katie Parla, who made quick work of getting to the good parts.
I definitely recommend checking out vino roma if you’re headed to Rome. They do wine tasting, wine & cheese lunch, Rome food tours, and sparkling wine events, too!
vino roma: Drink wine. Not too much. Mainly Italian.
http://www.vinoroma.com/
To see other pictures from our evening, check Un’Americana a Roma’s round-up.
Hello Ms. AdventuresinItaly ~
sorry I get so involved in your emails, but have never noticed a personal name for you. I cannot believe I was in Rome in June and I could have perhaps met you. I am a corporate flight attendant/chef onboard and travel extensively. I was in Rome 3 days, London 3 days, back to states, home a day and off to Beijing for 5 days. I am home now and totally exhausted! But all good.
I have travel to Italy many times, but in Venice, Milan, Catania … always hoping to make it to Rome. Finally got there and was able to do a private tour of Vatican and dinner near Trevi Fountain and really look forward to future trip there. I travel more to Asia routinely than Europe. A jet just left for Barcelona Tuesday, but my wings were tired. One of these days we will meet. I love your recipes/ ideas / insight. Very inspiring!
@Sheree – my name is Sara :) You should definitely ping me if you’re out and about – I don’t get to Rome as often as I’d like but there’s always something going on every weekend. Since you get to Milan (where I live) make sure you ping me if you head here, too!
Ciao Sara,
Your photos of the event are lovely.
I’m so glad we were able to see each other. I have to get back to Milano soon.
x
A
@nyc – after the party there’s the after party :) I guess we’ll never know how much English those bartenders really understood :)
Gorgeous photos! Exactly how many bottles of wine did you finish off? ;-)
I heard from some local bloggers about this evening which sounded amazing but their description could not do the evening justice without seeing these photos. Really beautiful shots- I must say. Sounds like it was one delicious night to be sure.
oh I just love these photos…beautiful as always!