Saturday, June 14, 2008

Wine Tasting - Prosecco Region



My friend Linda and I once again headed out to Prosecco Region of Italy with an AF Spouse's Group bus trip. Very quickly I was reminded why I dislike group bus trips so much. It's just impossible to get a large group from one place to another in a short period of time. To be honest, my time is very valuable and I dislike endless wasted time away from my family.

The trip started off fine until we arrived at the first vineyard. We received a lovely tour and were given a wine glass and cute pouch to put it in which made our hands free for wine tasting. Great idea - I guess? Well after wine tasting the owner, who had not been the friendliest man, decides we should now all pay 5 euro for the glass/pouch. - Are you kidding me? - Number one plenty of wine was purchased and number 2 who wants just one wine glass anyway? I prefer to have a full set of nice glasses! I'm not one who collects beer or shot glasses so there was no interest in keeping the souvenir glass. I would rather buy another bottle of wine for 5 euro. So after much bickering between the owner and our tour guide and the owner's dramatic refusal to load the wine we'd already purchased on the bus until we paid for the glasses, our tour guide finally won the battle and we ended up keeping the pouch and glasses. What a trip! After it was all said and done our tour guide told us it was the principle she was fighting for not the glasses. Too funny! I really believe the Italians love the drama of it all. The sad part was that it ended up cutting into our lunch time and made us way off of schedule.

As for lunch, the restaurant was quaint and the food was just ok. What made lunch seem even longer was our lunch companions. Linda and I got stuck sitting with some serious lushes. They were downing the wine and the conversation became more and more bazaar. Linda and I just kept looking at each other in amazement from across the table. After lunch our next stop was another beautiful vineyard. This time the owner was very gracious, but the wine was not as good, and in the end we ended up staying way to long. In fact, the whole day seemed to be pretty tiring. I think the next time I decide to visit the Prosecco region it will just be me, a few friends, and a trusty map of the local vineyards. Ciao for Now!

No comments: