Vino and a View

Ciao Tutti!

Thursday was a great day for the winery.  After the last class students piled (literally, all 60 of us) onto the local bus and headed outside of Bergamo for a day at a local vineyard and winery.  It was located in Sconza, just past the Bergamo border in the foothills of the Alps.  After quite a hike up the hill, we finally made it to the top, only to be greeted by breathtaking views of the city below.  We were at a local friend's home, where his family started the winery many years ago.  The company is called Biava and 

creates some of the best regional wine in the Lombardy area.  The owner was kind enough to give us a personal tour of the vineyards as well as the drying and fermentation rooms.  It was quite a different experience than Columbia's wineries! 

After the tour we learned the art of wine tasting.  We sampled four different wines, two were table wines that the company sold, the other were special types found no where else.  After swirling, sniffing, and sipping, students started to pick out their favorites.  Biava is known for their "Yellow Wine".  It is a true yellow color, with a sweet taste.  This wine is what they use for church services in Bergamo.  The next "special" wine was a red with a slight pepper taste--this is their most famous (and expensive, up to 80 euros!) bottle of win

e.  It was delicious, unlike anything we had every tasted.  To compliment the great wine we had a large spread of food, full of pizza, sandwiches, cheese, pasta, and chips, all the Italian favorites.  

We stayed at the winery well into the night, admiring the view and the great vino.  This was a great way to truly indulge in the culture we have come to love.  A number of Italian students joined us, as well as one of our American professors.  Everyone had a great time and it was a nice break in the middle of a busy week.