Note - Wayne and Shirley - our two buddies down the street are also trailing spice (plural of trailing spouse). They just came home from two weeks in Italy. Here is Shirley's story from the trip.
Picture 1 - Shirley and Wayne at TLH Airport.
Picture 2 - Salvador is third from left - his wife in on the far left - on the right is Wayne and Shirley.
Best Wine-Tasting in Italy!
Best Wine-Tasting in Italy!
Shirley Wiegand can be reached at jtjb@mac.com.
My husband and I recently spent several weeks in Italy, staying in a Tuscan villa most of the time. During the day we visited small towns in the area, sampling local cuisine and tasting local wines. One day we happened upon Panzano, a one-street village on a hilltop. We stopped to poke around. Over a small shop we noticed a sign, “Accademia del Buon Gusto” – academy of good taste. We’re both professors, so we were intrigued. We stopped, peeked in, and then my husband headed up the hill for the lovely old church at the end of the street. I ventured a few more steps in. There I was met by an enthusiastic store owner, Salvadore.
“Come in!” he said in English with a strong Italian accent. “Buon Giorno!” Before I could say anything, he asked, “Will you taste wine?” He grabbed lovely crystal wine glasses off a shelf, pinging them together to show me he wasn’t kidding around. This was serious crystal. He insisted I pull my husband back into the store – hmmmmm, this would be a job, since his drink of choice is beer, not wine. But Salvadore had a most charming way of convincing me that he had wine we’d both like; after all, he showed me, he had already pulled three glasses off the shelf: one for me, one for my husband, and, of course, one for Salvadore!
So my husband reluctantly ambled down the hill and into the store – and then stayed an hour or more. Salvadore knows wine; and he loves to teach; and, as he says jovially, “I’m Crazy!! Crazy about wine!” He let us taste anything we wanted. He asked what we liked and found a wine to suit us. We tasted red. We tasted white. And when we couldn’t drink any more wine, he had us taste olive oils – he knows a heck of a lot about those, too, and taught me the best way to truly taste the differences. And then we moved on to limoncino – and grappa. And along the way we noticed some lovely small paintings in the shop, cartoons really, featuring wine. They’re painted by a friend of his, and they’re for sale.
All the while Salvadore amused us with his stories and jokes mixed with years of wine knowledge and experience. End result: we learned way more than we had the entire trip, all in this one small shop. And we supplied our villa with great wine, olive oil and limoncino.
And this impressed us most: Though we used our credit card for the liquid purchases, Salvadore could accept only cash for the four paintings we bought. We didn’t have enough with us. So what did Salvadore do? He had his wife, the store cashier, wrap up the paintings and send them home with us. We had mentioned we’d bring our friends back the following week, so he said, “You can pay then.” Amazed???? We were. We had about $150 worth of paintings and he trusted us to pay him the following week.
Salvadore is undoubtedly one of the most charming people you’ll ever meet, and, wow, does he know wine. When we returned the following week with friends, they considered it the highlight of their trip. If you’re in Tuscany, please stop in Panzano and give Salvadore and his wife a big Italian hug for us! Arrivederchi!
My husband and I recently spent several weeks in Italy, staying in a Tuscan villa most of the time. During the day we visited small towns in the area, sampling local cuisine and tasting local wines. One day we happened upon Panzano, a one-street village on a hilltop. We stopped to poke around. Over a small shop we noticed a sign, “Accademia del Buon Gusto” – academy of good taste. We’re both professors, so we were intrigued. We stopped, peeked in, and then my husband headed up the hill for the lovely old church at the end of the street. I ventured a few more steps in. There I was met by an enthusiastic store owner, Salvadore.
“Come in!” he said in English with a strong Italian accent. “Buon Giorno!” Before I could say anything, he asked, “Will you taste wine?” He grabbed lovely crystal wine glasses off a shelf, pinging them together to show me he wasn’t kidding around. This was serious crystal. He insisted I pull my husband back into the store – hmmmmm, this would be a job, since his drink of choice is beer, not wine. But Salvadore had a most charming way of convincing me that he had wine we’d both like; after all, he showed me, he had already pulled three glasses off the shelf: one for me, one for my husband, and, of course, one for Salvadore!
So my husband reluctantly ambled down the hill and into the store – and then stayed an hour or more. Salvadore knows wine; and he loves to teach; and, as he says jovially, “I’m Crazy!! Crazy about wine!” He let us taste anything we wanted. He asked what we liked and found a wine to suit us. We tasted red. We tasted white. And when we couldn’t drink any more wine, he had us taste olive oils – he knows a heck of a lot about those, too, and taught me the best way to truly taste the differences. And then we moved on to limoncino – and grappa. And along the way we noticed some lovely small paintings in the shop, cartoons really, featuring wine. They’re painted by a friend of his, and they’re for sale.
All the while Salvadore amused us with his stories and jokes mixed with years of wine knowledge and experience. End result: we learned way more than we had the entire trip, all in this one small shop. And we supplied our villa with great wine, olive oil and limoncino.
And this impressed us most: Though we used our credit card for the liquid purchases, Salvadore could accept only cash for the four paintings we bought. We didn’t have enough with us. So what did Salvadore do? He had his wife, the store cashier, wrap up the paintings and send them home with us. We had mentioned we’d bring our friends back the following week, so he said, “You can pay then.” Amazed???? We were. We had about $150 worth of paintings and he trusted us to pay him the following week.
Salvadore is undoubtedly one of the most charming people you’ll ever meet, and, wow, does he know wine. When we returned the following week with friends, they considered it the highlight of their trip. If you’re in Tuscany, please stop in Panzano and give Salvadore and his wife a big Italian hug for us! Arrivederchi!
2 comments:
It is more properly called limoncello. The best is made in Campania. But it is good stuff anywhere it is made.
PS The proper spelling is arrivederci, a common form of farewell, till we meet again!
Italy is a great place - all 20 regioni (Italian spelling)
Ciao!
Stephano had some delicious limoncello in his store~too bad we did not bump into you a week earlier! We spent over two hours, twice, with this wonderful man and his charming wife, learning about every wine in the territory!
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