An Empty Wineglass on Valentine’s Day {but first: Barolo}

“I like on the table, when we’re speaking, the light of a bottle of intelligent wine.”
― Pablo Neruda

This weekend welcomes Valentine’s Day. There are philosophical camps regarding February 14: The Lovers and The Haters.

You can guess what The Lovers are doing…

The Haters have a point: certain Valentine happenings are annoying. They are. I understand. But…I think the lovers might be having more fun. So here’s what I’m thinking… give your lover the gift of an empty wineglass this weekend.

In fact, be sure the glass is covered in olive-oily fingerprints. Top that with a coating of red lipstick on the rim. On the side, include an empty wine bottle and an already-pulled cork. Don’t bother with wrapping, let all that go…we all know that the gift is what is inside.

The romance comes from the memories, the shared conversation and relaxed laughs that lead to the empty glass, the empty bottle, the wrapped later hours. The toast to another shared day, another shared week, another Valentine’s Day together, another February together…be it with lovers, friends or family… the treasure of sharing a bottle of wine is priceless.

Let that diamond twinkle in her eye.

 The Memory

Here is where I gush a little…that picture above, well, it isn’t the greatest. But here is why: This photo was taken at delicate and adorable little wine bar in Santa Margherita Liguria in the Italian Riviera. I was there with my darling husband and two very wonderful friends. We’d had a gorgeous dinner (pesto gnocchi, prawns in olive oil, a platter full of artful pastries for dessert) after a priceless flâneur through Cinque Terre.

So this little place is very dark, snug, romantic. The four of us are sitting hip-to-hip on a cushioned bench along one wall of this little carved-from-stone piece of heaven. There is an itty-bitty round table, with a red table cloth and on it sits (this is my late-night-snack dream, folks) this plate of astonishing bites of cheese, crackers, antipasto, bread (you can see it, peeking there in the back of the picture). We nibble and chat while we wait for our wine, the wine in the picture, which is coming from a cellar somewhere off-site (probably the restaurant next door). The server comes back with this wine, four glasses and a decanter. There are about three other people in the place and they all work there, and so they start to polish our glasses while the server majestically opens the bottle. We nibble, listen to techno…enjoy the moment. After the glasses are perfectly polished, the server decants the wine drop-by-drop-by-drop while we watch — open-mouthed, impressed and ready — as the wine meets oxygen for the first time in years.

Then we finally get our grubby little hands on the wine, put fingerprints all over the glass and gobble it all up! We actually drink and eat this man’s masterpiece! And the winemaker, goodness-sake and bless-his-heart, this man or woman grew and packaged that beautiful wine perfectly and we just-like-that made it all disappear! To tell the truth, we made another bottle plus all those perfect little snacks vanish too.

Good thing we are The Lovers not The Haters.

 The Wine

Here’s the details on this bottle (because good thing, we didn’t drink the last of it):

Barolo “Cascina Ferrero” Docg

The wine comes from the estate of Tenuta Carretta is made of 100% Nebbiolo and spends at least 24 months in oak. It was delicious with the cheese platter. For more about the estate visit Tenuta Carretta’s website.  The grapes are grown on the estate’s 2.5 hectares of vines situated on the Cannubi hills in Barolo.

Map credit: Tenuta Carretta

 

Tenuta Carretta Winery

Località Carretta, 2
12040 Piobesi d’Alba (CN)

Tel: +39.0173.619119
Fax: +39.0173.619931
E-mail: info@tenutacarretta.it

For more visit: {Luxurious Italian Riviera: A Pic Tour}