Castllo Della Regine

While being from Chicago has made me immune to most snow, ice, wind, hail, and blizzards I did feel particually intriqued by the fact that I saw snow in Rome. The time frame varies by who you talk to but it has not snowed in Rome in at least a decade. Now this was not by any means a blizzard, but it sure closed down roads and delayed public transportion for quite awhile so we were of coarse late to the vineyard- I believe we have yet to ever leave on time for a trip. It will be a sad day when that happens.

Castello Della Regine is a vineyard located in the small town of Amelia, Italy that emcompasses around 300 acres of land. The vineyard has existed for around fifty years but was founded with strong italian traditions. In addition to producing several varities of wine it also makes olive oil. My intial reaction was that this area was pretty, but would be breathtaking in the spring, fall, or summer. Due to winter all the of branches and trees were barren and snow is not high up on my beauty list. When we got off the bus to see the areas where the grapes were grown, I wanted to venture out into the fields, but a gust of wind peppered with hail pretty much killed that idea.

We were greated by our guide, Guiseppe, who took us around the different growing areas as well as inside the fermentation areas. The grapes are destemmed before being crushed to make red wines. The skin is also removed before the crushing process to make white wine, and removed after a short period to make rose wine. The mixture is then put into a vat, where the size is inversely related to the quality of price of the wine. The best wines are aged in barrels for at least a year before being bottled.

We were lucky enough to get to sample some of the wine and even create a mixture of our. We chose a sweeter red mixed with a very dry red to create a strong tannin affect. After this adventure we got to enjoy lunch at a beautiful site at the vineyard.

While this day was cold and snowy, I was still able to see the beauty in the region and gain an appreciation of the vinification process. Guiseppe was very helpful and even sadly told us that he and his girlfriend had recently broken up. He also told us that if we invite him to a party, he will bring twelve bottles of wine. :-) I would have loved to have seen the area closer to summer or even the harvest season, but am still happy to have had the experience.