History is Wines Best Pairing

The Wine: Pasqua Passimento Romeo & Juliet Rosso
The Place: Hidden Track Bottle Shop   Follow on Facebook
The Location: 111 W Monroe St #120, Phoenix, AZ 85003

By: Craig Dziadowicz “I pair my wine with wine”

I am not sure what I want to be when I grow up, but I can tell you one thing for sure – I want it to revolve around wine.  In fact, I can tell you where the exact spot was when I had that lightbulb moment and realized I should try to make a living in the wine industry.  Before that, I’d already had a wine rack in my college dorm and at one point was a history major.  If you think about it, the wine you drink is captured history in a bottle (or a box, keg, can, etc.), so I was off to a good start.  Twenty years later, I have my own history of wine timeline that has led me into many different wine industry experiences.

Quick and brief, here are some of my “Industry” experiences:

1. Bartender
2. Wine Shop Employee
3. Wine Bar GM/Owner
4. Wine Distributor Rep and Manager
5. Wine Broker
6. Winery Sales Rep
7. Wine Consultant
8. Wine Shop Owner

Alright, enough about me and more about this agricultural product that ferments into amazing!

Production of wine can be traced back over 8000 years.  That is just a couple years before social media was able to report on the latest bottle of wine your neighbor had over the weekend.  Also, wine may have hit the world stage a bit before the wheel was invented.  Religions have been formed around wine and formed to keep wine out (Boooo!).  Wine has been used as currency, in celebration, in honor, and in memory.

There is so much to know about wine, but this knowledge does not need to be complex or intimidating.  The most import thing anyone needs to know about wine is… If you like it, you like it!  And if you like it, drink it. If you don’t like it, try something else.

I will try my best to lead my readers down a path of opportunity.  I will write about current wine trends, industry news, wine regions of the world, and wine gossip!  Well maybe not so much wine gossip, but I had to throw that out there instead of mentioning the Kardashians to get your attention.

So to give you a taste of more to come here is a little feature on a wine experience I had recently.

Familia Pasqua Passimento Rosso IGT (90 plus year old family producer from Italy)

This wine is a red blend that comes from the romantic region of Veneto, Italy.  In fact, it is so romantic that the label is a replica of the famed “Juliet” wall in the city center of Verona, Italy.  The wine was just as romantic and intense; however, tragedy set in when the bottle was empty!

Go out and find a bottle of this wine (Hidden Track Bottle Shop in Downtown Phoenix has it) and take it home.  Wait for an evening that falls upon you with a smile and a relaxed state of mind.  Grab the bottle, open it and pour a glass for you and that special someone in your life.  Take a moment and close your eyes and imagine yourself walking down a cobblestone street in Italy (even if you haven’t been, let your imagination take you there).  Listen for the beautiful language of the city to fill your ear.  Keep smiling. Placing yourself in a memory or a social moment to be enjoyed and shared with others is what the grape is about.

Pasqua Passimento Romeo & Juliet Rosso is a blend of Merlot, Corvina, and Coratina.  Don’t worry, Italy has many more varietals you have never heard of… or never hear of!  What makes this wine very different is that when the grapes (Merlot, Corvina, and Coratina) are harvested the winery dries the grapes for 30-45 days.  This process allows for water in the grapes to evaporate.  Almost 30% of the grape volume is evaporated.  This leaves a higher concentration of natural sugars.  So it’s kind of like, get out of my way water, I need to be turned into alcohol.  (Sugar is what gets converted into alcohol.) This is also a similar process for the Noble Amarone style wines that come from the same region.  Both methods are distinctly unique and leave a slight raisoned note on your palette.  And since this wine is not called an Amarone, you won’t have to pay Amarone prices…

This wine is deep ruby red in color with aromas of red berries and hints of spice.  On the palette, the tannins are velvety with a soft finish.

And yet another tie into history: This wine was the Bell of the Ball…  The Han to the Solo… of the 2016 Urban Wine Walk in Phoenix.  Pat & Waldo’s offered it as an option to sample, and Hidden Track Bottle Shop took more orders for this item than any other wine from the event.

Try a bottle….  This wine can be found in a few great restaurants and wine shops around Phoenix, such as CoR Tapas and Wine (Midtown Phx), Pat & Waldo’s (Downtown Phx), Pomo Pizza (Downtown Phx), and for purchase at Hidden Track Bottle Shop (Downtown Phx).

Craig Dziadowicz “I pair my wine with wine”

Broker, Consultant, Owner Hidden Track Bottle Shop