Quick, schnell, andare, no no no – pronto, somebody pinch me!! I believe I may have just died and gone to heaven. No, i havent just run into George Clooney in Como (although a friend of a friend did) and agreed to enter the realm of marriage bliss – manana mañana. Instead, I have just returned from Spello where we had a feast at the Enoteca Properzio – the most famous wine bar in Umbria. I can now definitely verify this claim. Eight generations of sommeliers and harvesting Umbrian grapes from the vineyards between Spello and Assisi in my mind makes the Angelini Family experts within vitoculture world. The Intrepid group was treated to a guided seven-course meal matched with speciality Umbrian wines, olive oil and Modena balsamic vinegar; I was assured that the kilo joule fairy had waved her magic wand today. 

 

We began with some bruschetta covered in olive oil. ‘So what!’ I hear some of you thinking, ‘you can get olive oil for five bucks a pop down at the local BP service station..’ This was no ordinary olive oil my friends. Many years in the making, only 5000 bottles ever made (we marked the thousandth bottle), organically, biodynamically, sprititually, ecumenically, gramatically grown olive oil – it was THE olive oil. And matched with a light, fruity grechetto wine. Under the instruction and watchful eye of Roberto Angelini, we firstly swirled the wine to release the aromas, next we held the glass next to our hand to determine the colour. A bit more swirling, some deep inhaling over the wine glass and finally the first sip. Bliss. 

 

A few more varieties of bruschetta were then consumed with more wine before we moved onto a traditional Italian salad with Modena balsamic vinegar and our first experience of an Umbrian red wine. Definitely moving into my home territory now, however, a food/wine coma was starting to set in and the aviators were needed for a sneaky five minute power nap between courses. Mattia, our Intrepid tour leader, had some great ideas about setting up a similar Enoteca but with a room full of couches and beds where people can rest between courses – genius in my books. 

 

Nevertheless, we powered on and were treated to a platter filled with all of the different types of meats and cheeses you could imagine. Two cheeses were flavoured, the rest were for dipping lightly in acacia honey. I took a stab at which cheeses to dip into the honey, and while I think I may have got one mixed up, my inexperienced palate found the whole platter delightful. 

 

Desert was a simple affair of chocolate biscotti matched with a sweet desert wine and Italian espresso. Perfetto. The beauty of presenting guests with simple, traditional, Italian food that was bursting with flavour, and then combine it with rare, quality, regional wine was a winning combination. Naturally I had to roll onto the train and opted not to walk the 8km back to the hotel, a wise decision that was mentally justified by my stair running session this morning – all the ‘that girl is crazy’ looks from the Italian public  have to be worth something right?! 

 

Until next time,

Eat well, happy and in the moment,

 

Han (+ a few new kilos)