Grape Wine Journey

Venetian Gold, sounds so glamorous, it’s not the precious metal, but an Italian sparkling wine in a glittering golden bottle from the Bottega winery of Italy.

When guests walked into the Hennessy Room of the Conrad Hotel, we were all greeted with a glass of the Venetian Gold in a beautiful champagne flute.

It was amazing to see the display of all the wine bottles, quite different from most of the wine dinners.  I thought the wine owner must care about the presentation of the wine as much as the wine itself.

While admiring the bottles, we were welcomed by the lively Italian owner Sandro Bottega.  He was full of energy, very expressive, and yes the one word that best describe him – passionate.  He told us excitedly that he was the wine maker and also the designer of all the beautiful wine bottles.

Sandro introduced the Prosecco to all the guests; he described the sparkling wine as genuine and simple, same as Italians.  It was a light and fruity sparkling wine, could be served as aperitif or enjoy with the meal.  It was genuine because it showed the true characteristic of the grape – Prosecco.

The second course was served with the Vino Del Poeti Prosecco DOC, a more aromatic sparkling wine.  The food pairing was Cannaroli Risotto al Prosecco.  The Risotto was Sandro’s recipe prepared with Prosecco. It was delicious and must try it at home again. He made it all sound so simple to prepare.

The third sparkling wine was a Moscato, very fruity and light in alcohol.  The wine was dedicated to woman and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Cancer Society. We were all admiring the rose petal on the bottle, very feminine indeed.

Throughout the dinner, I was sitting next to Sandro, and it was quite amusing to watch him chatting with the manager constantly, making sure the wines were served at the right moment, with the right glass, at the right temperature.  The easy going persona had more substance beyond – a sense of perfection.

It was truly an Italian wine dinner, as Sandro described,” Italy is a nation of love.”  It was a love of their wines, a love on the presentation of wines, and a love on the details!