Skip to main content

Roma hosts its first in-person Winemaker Dinner

ROMA welcomed the new season with its first in-person winemaker dinner on Thursday night featuring the wines of Castello di Volpaia with special guest, winery owner and winemaker Federica Stianti. This is the first time since the shutdown in 2020 that Roma has had a visiting winemaker in-house for a wine dinner.

The evening began with a fresh Italian white wine chosen by wine director Jeremy Parzen as, unfortunately, the Maremma Vermentino produced by Volpaia was unavailable for the dinner. This aperitif wine was the greeting as guests arrived and were directed back to the private party room for this exclusive dinner. 

Parzen introduced Federica of the famed Chianti Classico winery which is located in the heart of the region and she introduced the dinner guests to the beauty of her home through her family's wines. Several attendees had been on Roma's Zoom wine dinner hosted during the shutdown in 2020 and had fond memories of virtually traveling Italy with Roma from their homes and several had previously "met" Federica on-line at the Volpaia virtual dinner. 

Federica and Parzen discussed the high elevations of the Volpaia vineyards which sit at about 1300 feet above sea level making them some of the highest in Tuscany, the sandstone soils, the family's choice to organically produce, and how this special terroir is reflected in the elegance found in these celebrated "mountain wines".

Although this dinner is over, guests were assured that more events are being planned. Parzen shared that Nebbiolo Fest is up next on Thursday, March 24. Other ongoing wine tasting opportunities at Roma include the ongoing virtual takeout wine dinners and the Free Wine Tastings with Jeremy on Tuesdays which pair well with a dinner reservation. This writer is looking forward to attending more of these more intimate in-person wine dinners. 

Follow Roma to stay in the know for their many wine centric events. 

The classic Tuscan seafood stew at Roma.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Winemaker, Andrés Sánchez of Alcance

I was invited to a media and trade tasting lunch at Backstreet Cafe with Andrés Sánchez, the winemaker for Alcance, a Jackson Family winery. As guests arrived, we were greeted with a glass of lightly chilled Alcance Chardonnay 2016, a perfect start for a hot summer day in Houston. This rich and elegant Chardonnay is grown on granitic soils in a coastal mountain vineyard in the Valle de Itata. Despite my multiple wine classes, this was a growing area with which I was not familiar. This vineyard is located between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean about 12 miles from the coast which as Sánchez pointed out adds a nice sea influence to the wine. The Chardonnay was pleasantly fresh with light citrus notes and a touch of butterscotch with a distinct saline mineralty throughout the slightly creamy finish.  A mixed appetizer platter with Gulf Coast Beignets, duck spring rolss, asparagus and zuchini flatbread, and lump crab cakes on red pepper beurre blanc were br...

Darioush Wine Tasting at Pappas Grill

I went to a  Darioush wine tasting last Friday. What a delight! I found every bottle we tasted to be exceptional. Darioush is well-known for their Bordeaux styled wines so I was already familiar with both the Darioush "Signature" and the Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. They are both highly rated and consistently good. The Caravan is the lower priced of the two and is something that I keep in stock at home. The wines in the line up for the evening were all from Napa Valley and included: 2008 Signature Viognier, 2005 Signature Chardonnay, 2005 Signature Merlot, 2007 Signature Shiraz, 2007 Estate Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon, and both the 2006 & 2007 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 was opened by mistake which was a bonus to all who were present. The Viognier varietal has been hit and miss for me at tastings in the past but this offering was an absolute stand out. It was very fragrant with floral notes of jasmine and or...

"The Zen of Zin" Tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks

On Friday evening, my husband and I attended the Zinfandel wine tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks. My husband gets totally pumped up for any and all things Zinfandel but what I found really intriguing in the line up of wines were the aged offerings. Brent Sloan, managing partner at Houston's premier wine storage facility Nos Caves Vin, had provided Fleming's with four 18 year old bottlings and one 17 year old bottling from his collection of some of his favorites. I found this interesting because 1. I don't believe that I have ever had an 18 year old Zinfandel before this evening and 2. From various wine classes, I had always heard that at best Zinfandel had very limited aging ability. So, I was definitely excited to give these wines a taste. There were also an additional five younger Zinfandel wines that are some of Fleming's best sellers. The entire tasting line up for the evening included: 2009 Orin Swift Saldo - California 2007 Schulz "Lampyridae...