First Weekend Excursion: Vino

Wine Cellar at Vini Principe Pallavicini

Italian: Vino

English: Wine

This past Saturday, our school hosted an excursion to Principe Pallavicini Vineyards, which is located in the region of Italy called: Latium, which is in between Colonna and Frascati. The tour of the vineyard included an explanation of the history of the vineyard, and viewing of the historic wine cellar, and run through of the modern style of wine making. In addition we had a wine tasting that emphasized not only how to drink wine, but also to taste, and drink wine with. After the tasting, our group ventured to Lake Albano where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at a restaurant called Da Agnese, which is famous for Porchetta, and an afternoon on the lake.

Kate and Mac waiting in Piazza della Republicca 

We awoke in the early hours of the morning to take public transportation to Piazza della Republicca, to catch the bus for the excursion. Piazza della Republicca is a bus stop away from Termini Train Station, and the area is absolutely gorgeous. We boarded the bus at 8:30 on the dot, and drove the hour long ride to the vineyard. 

Vini Principe Pallavicini: Underground in the Old Wine Cellar

Our tour guide, Mauro De Angelis, one of the vineyards agronomists who is responsible for making all of the changes to the land of the vineyards, delivered an impressive overview of the very detailed history of the lands in which the vineyard is built on. The vineyard is located right outside the border of Rome. Many noble families owned this vast land, and constantly competed with one another for power, which was showcased through their wealth. The Pallavicini, being one of these noble families, were responsible for electing Pope Clement IX.

The Pallavicini family has owned this land since 1670. The noble family is still heavily invested in their winery, but rely on Mauro, and a few other qualified wine specialists, to maintain their vineyards. The winery exports 50% of their wine internationally. This winery in particular specializes in Frascati, which is the white wine we were fortunate to try during our tasting.

The underground wine cellar beholds a quick view of how wine used to be made. Mauro instructed us to touch the walls of cellar. To the touch, it felt cold and soft, just like clay. He pointed out various pieces of architecture and markings which showed evidence of Grecian and Roman styles. In particular there was a marble slate built into the wall that still had the original carvings still in tact. Mauro explained that the old marble doorway, which had carvings of grapes and scripture, shows how serious wine making was even centuries ago (emphasis on the fact that the old structure had a marble doorway).

Modern Machinery; Grapes and Vines; Me, Kate and Mac in front of the lavish Vineyard (Photo Credit Mac Witmer)

One of the modern facilities where they make wine is equipped with state of the art "wine" technology. Mauro explained how the vineyard implements green-technology, and actually reuses grapes that are left over from the wine-making process. No grapes go to waste in the process! About 25% of the vineyards' wine is aged in barrels. Mauro made a point to explain that although this technique provides great flavor, and tradition, he also told us that a lot of wineries abuse this method in order to provide more oak flavor in their wine. I was impressed by the tour of this part of the grounds, and I felt comfortable knowing that this business is implementing eco-friendly techniques, and is noble with their product and reputation.

Wine Tasting: Frascati-White Wine and Rubillo-Red Wine

After the extensive tour, we drove back to the central location and tasted two wines. A white wine called: Frascatti and a red wine called: Rubillo. During the tasting, Mauro explained the concept of how when you taste wine, it is very different from simply drinking it. When you taste, you're tasting for obviously flavor, but you should notice the smell and variation from when you first start drinking your glass, to the end of it. 

I thought we were very fortunate to have such an elaborate overview of the wines produced at Pallavicini. The red Rubillo we drank is also one of 4,000 bottles they make a year, out of 600,000. We were tasting quality product. This was my first every wine tasting, and I thought it was a great insight into the culture of Italian drink and cuisine. 

Da Agnese: Panne; Antipasto; Spaghetti All'Amatriciana; Italian Crumble with Nutella

After the wine tasting, we took a windy bus ride to Castel Gandolfo, where Da Agnese is located. According to one of the coordinators on our trip, he detailed how Da Agnese is a very popular restaurant in this vacation town. Many locals, and Romans, will drive to Lake Albano, in particular to dine at Da Agnese. Surprisingly, it was a great place to host such a large group of students.

The food was fantastic and quite filling. We were all starving and immediately dived into the brown paper wrapped bread. Soon, we were given plates upon plates of wonderful antipasto dishes. It was hard to photograph them all, since I was so hungry. I personally dined on mozzarella, a variety of cured meats, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, porchetta, variety of cheeses and spicy olives. Obviously, I had a sampling of each of these, but all were delicious except for their porchetta. Even though it's their "specialty,"I actually didn't care for the porchetta, I found it to dry and bland. Everything else, in particular the olives, were well seasoned, which made me quite satisfied since I feel slightly deprived of spicy food here.

Pasta was the main dish. I choose Spaghetti All'Amatricana. All'Amatriciana is a class italian sauce that is made with dried pork cheek, pecorino cheese, and tomato. The sauce was spicy and flavorful, so far this has been my favorite pasta dish this entire trip. 

Lastly, for dessert we had the option of panna cotta or an Italian crumble. I've had panna cotta quite a few times back in the States, and was inclined to get the crumble, mainly because I had no idea what "Italian crumble," was. I was disappointed with my choice. The plate was essentially filled with pudding, had some sort of flakes scattered throughout, and drizzles of nutella. It wasn't bad, but I ended up leaving most of it on the plate. 

My friends and I concluded that it was a complete, and satisfying meal. 

Lake Albano; Pope's Summer Home and Observatory

This past Saturday was one of the coolest days we have experienced here in Rome this entire trip. It's amazing, after being close to 100 degrees F for days, that the one day we go to the lake it is completely overcast. Needless to say, it was still beautiful and pleasant weather to walk around in. Kate and Mac fancied a dip with their feet, and reported that the water was actually, really warm! 

Castel Gandolfo, not only is the home to Lake Albano, but also the Pope's summer residence, as photographed above. We were told that the church also has it's own observatory, which is in the yellow building on the top of the hill. 

Overall, it was a great weekend excursion, and I feel very lucky to be apart of this program and partake in such organized activities. It's amazing how much is possible to pack in a day here, especially in this city. Today, being Sunday, was an extremely mellow day in Rome, or Italy in general. The majority of shops and restaurants are closed. We experienced an almost full day of rain, and decided it's the break in the weather (fingers crossed)! In a few days I'll be experiencing my first Midterm in Italian, which will take up most of my time studying for seeing as we just started learning Italian! But, there are other things I have in store for this blog, such as my roommate Mac's birthday, and hopefully an excursion to a cheese farm this weekend. Ciao!