Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
With several very animated wine tasting events in its pocket, Taste of Belgium Restaurant in the Palm Beach Plaza Mall had a waiting list for its Italian wine tasting. Held on Friday, May 17, sixty people gathered to sample the juice of some of Italy’s wonderful grapes. Wine lover and connoisseur Kavey Yarzagaray of the Aruba Trading Company (ATC) accompanied the tasting event, which started off with a sparkling wine, a Lunetta Prosecco and hors d’oeuvre of toasted Waldkorn bread topped with goat cheese and honey. The fresh, crisp Prosecco went down well with the sweetness of the honey and the structure and taste of the goat cheese, creating a lovely pairing.
The second wine was a Santa Cristina Campogrande Orvieto Classico DOC, which was treated to spicy shrimp pasta; both were lovely, although the shrimp pasta was a little bit too hot to handle to the taste of some of the guests. The Orvieto got high marks for its delicate aromas and fruity aftertaste. The next wine was a dry, lively Cavit Pinot Grigio, the most popular Pinot Grigio in the world. It was accompanied by sweet fruit compote in Hpnotiq Sauce, which brought out the fruity notes of this wine: very unusual indeed!
And then it was time for the red wines. As the noise level went up a few notches, the Cavit Pinot Noir was poured: silky, medium-bodied it shook the palate awake with its red berry and cherry notes. This wine deserved a tasty morsel with a distinct flavor: for instance a smoked salmon crouton. As time flew by and the conversations grew even louder, the Santa Cristina Toscana IGT filled the glasses: beautiful ruby red and filled with fruity notes, it went fantastically well with the home smoked beef skewer with a berry sauce.
“All the Italian wines poured tonight, had one thing in common,’’ told Mr. Yarzagaray afterwards: they have not aged in oak barrels, but in stainless steel, giving them their specific characteristics.
The Italian wine tasting evening at Taste of Belgium Restaurant was a lot of fun.
