Wine Tasting

Today, instead of learning about wine in a classroom, we had a Wine Tasting class in a bar called Ketumbar, located in the late night club district known as Testaccio. We met our professor, a writer for Gamboro Rosso (famous Italian food critique), as well as the staff of the restaurant. We were treated to a hands-on lecture about the process of wine tasting and how to have an educated drinking experience. Our professor had a us try 4 different types of wine: 2 were white wines. 1 from northern Italy which is a much whiter color and then 1 from southern Italy which is a darker white color (more yellow) because of the climate, a chianti, and a delicious dessert wine. They were tasty but my favorite was the dessert wine which tasted almost like sweet syrup. We learned all about the different steps in the tasting process. From sight, to smell to the taste, it was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. He was whipping out very unusual smells and tastes to describe our wines such as leather, animals, fur, vegetables, etc. I couldn't taste any animals in my wine, but somehow I don't think I'm missing out. On Friday we're going to a vineyard and getting a tour. I still am not the biggest fan of wine, but the taste is growing on me. By the end of my program I hope to love wine, every kind of flavor!


Tonight, I met my friend Rob who I have grown up with for dinner at Tony's. He goes to Indiana but is studying in Rome as well. My friend Kim joined us and we had a lovely Italian dinner. Tony's is known to serve cheap good American style Italian food: aka Chicken Parmesan and Vodka Sauce Pasta. I was lame and just stuck with my normal pasta with tomato sauce, but Kim and Rob got Chicken Parmesan. Kim and I also split a side of spinach that had a strong garlic taste, but yet still so delicious! The food was great! The service was even better! They made just about everything at a descent price. You could walk out full and satisfied without spending over 20 euros. The staff speaks a little bit of English, are very friendly and the meals are prepared quickly which is a nice change. It was great to see Rob and we plan to hang with him and the kids on his program more! He even paid for our dinner! After dinner we got some drinks at a bar and met up with the kids on his program at Abbey Theater. We had a great dinner and a perfect night out. Plan to do it more often!