The first time I drank wine was at a house party in college. It was some cheap red blend from a nearby bodega, and it tasted horrible. Also gave me one of the worst hangovers I’ve ever had.
That was almost 15 years ago. Since then, I’ve learned to appreciate (and can now afford!) better wine. At one point, I learned that a rudimentary knowledge of wine could impress a date, and I always had a few good bottles lying around my apartment.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, the wine of choice for ambitious young men tends to be Napa Cabernets. It makes sense: there’s a lot of it around, the flavors are lush and bold, and owning a bottle gives the owner a certain cachet. It’s an easy way for a young man to make a statement: I’m ambitious, passionate, and adventurous.
But after a while, I moved into an apartment down the street from an Italian enoteca. And it’s there that I discovered Barolo.
The first time I tasted it, I thought to myself “now here’s a wine that tastes like the best parts of life all rolled into one.” The flavor was bold like the best Napa Cabs, but it was also smooth and refined, and had a unique edginess to it that I couldn’t quite describe. No wonder the Italians called it the “King of Wines” and “Wine of Kings.” I was hooked.
Any time the enoteca had barolo, I had to make my way in and have a glass. On days when I worked from home, I would wander past that enoteca hoping they were serving it by the glass. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that barolo can be hard to come by in the US. I started buying a few bottles from a local wine shop, and learned that it paired surprisingly well with some of my favorite dishes (Peking duck, Korean barbeque, Mediterranean roast lamb, veal and vension, and of course Piedmontese Italian cuisine). Eventually, I even visited the Barolo region and picked up a few bottles, and then a few more, and a lot more after that…
This blog is my effort to share my passion for this unique wine, and the culture that surrounds it. It’s been 5 years since I first discovered it, and I’m still exploring, learning about, and of course enjoying this Wine of Kings.