Greater City Providence

CBC Wine Tasting Series Continues

wine tasting

CBC Winetasting | Photo by M.Coolidge

Though it might be a little cooler out now and the days may be getting a little shorter, the Community Boating Center Boathouse at India Point Park is still open! Thursday, September 17 at 7pm there will be another CBC Wine Tasting Challenge, and this time we’re going with

Bold Barolo.

Barolo is a section of Piedmont, Italy, southwest of Alba. While wine in Italy is timeless, Barolo came about in the 1800s when the Marchesa Giulietta Colbert Falletti started making wine out of Nebbiolo grapes.

Nowadays, there are 3,000 acres of Nebbiolo producers in the towns of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Cherasco, Diano d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Novello, Roddi, and Serralunga d’Alba. The standard grape used in Barolo is still nebbiolo. Of the towns in the area, the “left” hills have compact soil and produce long lasting wines. The “right” hills have softer soil, making a wine that should be drunk more quickly. Both vineyards are regulated – Barolo vineyards can only grow around 3200k of grape/acre. The Piedmont area of Italy in general is ripe with history – ancient castles, legends of feuds and loves, beautiful hills and valleys. This is a great area to go both wine touring and vacationing.

Barolo alcoholic content is set at 13%. There are two grades of Barolo: * Standard Barolo, aged two years in the barrel, one in the bottle. * Riserva Barolo, aged three years in the barrel, one in the bottle. Barolo wines are typically a deep red. Their flavor is thick and complex. Some are flowery – violets, roses. Others are fruit, licorice, or oaky. Barolo should be drunk at 60F and can age for 5-10 years.

If you’ve never joined us before, it goes like this:

  • Your team (of up to 3 people) brings 3 bottles of the same Barolo
  • … and you each bring a suggested $10 donation for CBC
  • We serve 2 of your bottles (blindly) and put the 3rd one in the prize pool.
  • You vote on your favorite (remember, you can’t see the labels)
  • If your wine gets voted as favorite, you win all the 3rd bottles.
  • The more people that come, the bigger the prize pool!

For the rest of the details, check out the CBC event page. Remember, you can now get to the boathouse via the Gano St exit off of I-195.

See you there!

Matthew Coolidge

Matthew Coolidge is co-founder of Greater City Providence. In addition to the occasional blog post about cycling, sailing, or urban rant, he works as an Electrical Engineer, often traveling to major cities and ports around the globe, or simply Warwick.

2 comments

  • I have to say, I really, really like the format of your tasting. Doesn’t everyone simply vote for their own? Do they forget what it tastes like? Yes, I’m assuming they are bringing bottles they are familiar with.

  • I challenge you to try and vote for your own wine! We bag all the wines so you can’t visually identify them. Usually we have about 20 bottles on the table so there are a lot of flavors to experience.

    Hope you can make it!

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