VinItaly Trip 5/6/2008

    I recently returned from Verona, where I attended Vinitaly for five days. Vinitaly is one of the largest wine shows in the world featuring approximately 4,400 wineries and about 100,000 different Italian wines. The show is located in an industrial complex spread out over eighteen different warehouses. Each warehouse is dedicated to a particular region of Italy, making it easier to navigate. Unfortunately, in typical Italian fashion, some wineries are not in the right warehouse. Thirty years ago, when the show started, they had prime locations by the main doors. Now they refuse to give them up, you know how stubborn Italians can be. This makes it almost impossible to track down certain wineries.
    The first time I attended Vinitaly I spent the first day walking around and gawking like a kid seeing New York City for the first time. I know a thing or two about wine, especially Italian wine, but as I walked around that first day I didn't recognize any of the wines on display. It was a little scary. As you get over the initial shock of your ineptitude, you start to notice some wineries that you are familiar with such as Ruffino, Cecchi, Banfi, Sassicaia, Altesino, Taurino, Folonari, Allegrini, etc.
    The key to enjoying Vinitaly is to plan ahead of time what you want to taste and make appointments. This will usually guarantee you a tasting with the winemaker or owner. Nothing compares to the passion you feel when you taste with the people responsible for making the wine. It always just seems to taste better. Make sure to space out all the tasting so you don't kill your palette too early in the day. Even when you spit all your wine, you only have 100 to 150 tastes a day in you. It's funny seeing all the people walking around with black tongues and stained teeth from tasting so much wine.
    Most of the wineries will have bread, salami, Parmesan cheese or prosciutto to nosh on while you taste. My love for salami and Parmesan cheese is my downfall, because by the end of the day I've consumed so much salt from the cured meats and cheese that there isn't enough water in a lake to quench my thirst. Nothing quenches your thirst after a day of tasting wine like an ice-cold draught beer. Typically, we would meet up with several winemakers and owners around 5:00 pm for our daily ritual of "who's turn it was to buy the beers". Of course in our typical Italian macho style, we usually fought over the check.
    Most people by now would head home for a nap, or even call it an evening. This is not the case at Vin Italy. The major wineries in the region typically host some sort of food and wine gala or extravaganza each evening. With tens of thousands of people exiting at the same time, everyone floods the taxi stands or tries to locate a bus that will take them to that evening's event. Three to six hours later, after consuming an unlimited supply of Italian fare and incredible wines, I was ready to go back to my hotel and rest up for the next day.
    I usually attend Vinitaly with my doctor, who happens to be a personal friend and lover of Italian wine, but this year I went with my son, Jason, and my brother, Chris. There were a lot of comments circulating the restaurants about the Varano boys going to Italy together. We had such a great time enjoying each other's company and tasting one amazing wine after another. People sometimes ask me, "Why do you go to Italy so often?" I guess the answer is, "I love the Italian food, wine, culture and people."