Spanish Traditions in Barcelona

This past weekend I had an interesting trip to Barcelona. I saw beautiful sites like the Sagrada Familia Church, Guell Park, and the Picasso Museum. I also stayed in the first hostel where I did not feel safe.

But thankfully the Spanish have a tradition of drinking a sweet red wine called sangria. This wine is survived by the glass, quarter liter, half liter, and whole liter. As I sat around watching other diners, I found most ordered a liter for the table.

Sangria is made by putting some sugar, orange juice, and orange and peach slices into however much wine you choose. This is a recipe you should try at home because if the outcome is anything like what I tasted in Spain, you will not be disappointed.

Observations on Wine

When I came to Rome, I expected wine to flow freely. While wine is sold in grocery stores and at restaurants, it is not as inexpensive as I had one thought it would be. Italians generally sell wine by the bottle. While this is good for a couple, this makes drinking wine on your own a more expensive process. Wine does come by the glass, but just like at home, the price is much steeper. On a very strict budget, this makes drinking wine out very difficult.

I have not seen a pattern with wine glasses used by Italians. At home, my mom has her glass for red and a separate kind of glass for white and pretty much everything else in between. I was not sure if this was a world trend, or simply a US one. At one dinner, my group ordered bottles of red wine and bottles of white wine. Each person received the same style glass. Do you think this changes in more expensive restaurants? Maybe I will have to take myself out to dinner and find out.

History of Wine

It was the Greeks and Etruscans who first brought wine to Italy. They found the land produced excellent results. As the Romans began making their own wine its popularity greatly increased. In the beginning of the Christian era, wine was mixed with honey, spices, or salt water to create a number of different flavors. The Romans produced a wine with much higher alcohol content then we are used to today, so they often diluted it with water. It was the Romans who first stored wine in barrels to help improve its taste. For more information or to see where this information came from, visit http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/roman-history.asp.

Throughout my time in Rome, I have come to notice that Romans take their wine very seriously. Wine is often sold by the bottle in restaurants and Italians normally have one glass per meal. In the summer Italians tend to drink different wines. These wines are much lighter and are generally Pinot Grigios, Proseccos, Gavis, and Aneis'. If you would like to know more about these wines before ordering one, check out http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/summer-wines.asp.

One of my previous posts was discussed how helpful wine labels can be. If you know what each label is discussing, you will choose the best wine. To further understand these labels review this information http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/. Wines are sold based on a number of guidelines. If you are looking for a better wine, try one with a DOCG designation which is stricter than DOC. These designations indicate where the wine comes from, the content of alcohol, and yield of grapes per acre, and a number of other helpful tidbits of information. IGT designated wines are less strict than both DOC and DOCG. However, it is still worthwhile to try tavolo wines, which are not put to the test of these designations because the producers do not want to get involved with the government laws.

Becoming a Wine Connoisseur

In my first week in Rome, I have kept my eyes open to events related to wine. So far, I have seen a number of wine bars and even a huge wine forum. I am currently looking more into the event to check out if I can go. If you want to know more about it check out the website, http://www.vinoforum.it/ita/default.asp. And if your Italian skills aren't proficient enough to browse through the information, check out a website translator I found at http://www.freetranslation.com/.

I have also started doing some own wine tasting of my own. As a college student, I have had my fair share of Franzia thanks to its cheap price. But here in Rome the story is much different. Wine is sold in the supermarket which makes one stop shopping even more convenient. But more importantly, wine is very inexpensive. For around 3 euros, I could get 1.5 liters of Fanta or 1.5 liters of wine. While, I am sure this is not the best wine Rome has to offer, it is still a definite step up from Franzia.

So far I have tried a red wine and a pink wine. Currently, I do not enjoy dry wines and have stayed away from white. But as this is a learning experience, I will try one when I buy my next bottle.

The wine bottles are very interesting here and contain different information than at home. For instance, the percent alcohol by volume is listed, as well as the best temperature at which to serve the wine, and which foods to serve with each wine. This information will be very helpful to in learning more about each of the wines I try.

Vino!

When I think about all the things that make Rome an appealing city, one of the things on the top of the list is the unbelievable wine. While my young palate is still quite inexperienced, I still noticed the huge difference between the box of Franzia I have sitting back in my apartment at school and the 0.87 Euro boxed wine I tasted today.

While you may laugh at my lack of wine knowledge, I would like to take my time in Rome to explore this. What makes certain wines taste differently? And let me try out on of the few appropriate wine vocab terms I know and ask what makes each bouquet unique?

In writing a blog on the subject of wine, I think it is only fair to try as many different kinds as I can in my few shorts weeks here. Unfortunately, I will have to suffer through this, darn. A trip to Tuscany is in order to visit a fine Italian vineyard. Again, as difficult as this may be, I think I'll be able to squeeze it in. After all, how many times in my life will I legitimately be able to say, "When in Rome?"

And maybe I'll really be able to be wine savvy when this is over.