Summer Gatherings and Italian Sparkling Wines
Bienvenuta Estate is Welcome Summer in Italian. After spending a month in Sardinia previously, and teaching English while learning Italian, I also picked up a love of wine. As an Italian gal, I can personally attest to how important wine and meals are. For every meal, every gathering, every party, there is a wine. For every wine, there is a meal, an experience, a lifestyle.
We love our wines and we love them for a reason. It’s a sip all day kind of thing yet in the most lavish way. You might start with this Rose all day and understand that switching meals, does not mean switching wines. Summer gatherings pair perfectly with Italian sparkling wines.
My Sicilian family often packs up for the beach and Italian sparkling wine is part of the take-a-long meal. Truly a glass of sparkling wine on the beach is like a gem found against the perfect background.
Italian families have a tradition of wine with their meals. Meals are savored, not rushed. Often each course has a different wine. For our family, summer gatherings include Italian sparkling wines, dark wines and of course white as well! Simply, sophisticated and the sparkling wine pairs with it all! When there is a bounty of food, and each bite more delicious than the last, make sure to pair it with Italian Sparkling Wines. ~ Salud!
Our Italian gatherings no matter the season always offer wines that pair with the foods served. More often than not, my Italian household offers multiple wines for everyone’s sipping pleasure. What I have learned is that there are wines for every meal and for every reason.
With summer in full swing, and as a wine enthusiast, who loves lighter wines in the summer, I thought I would share just a bit of my Italian Sparkling wine love with each of you. After all, sharing is best and wine sipping is better. Enjoy & Cheers!
When we got married, rather than going on a regular beach trip, we traveled to Italy to be with our families. We spent 3 weeks there, a little time with each and we ate and drank and loved it all. It is amazing how many wines there are, but one truly caught our attention, Italian Sparkling Wine, it is like no other we have drank.
What is so special about an Italian Sparkling wine is that most are consistently light and refreshing. Therefore, I want to share my love of wine with you. As an Italian gal, married to an Italian Guy, both of which have immigrant parents and grandparents, I do know a little bit about wine!
Summer Holidays, Big Families and All That Jazz
We have quickly approached our summer holidays, well-celebrated vacation weekends! Before you light those outdoor fireplaces, and before the guests arrive, do be sure to stock those outdoor refrigerators with Italian sparkling wines.
Our big Italian family has bottles (bottiglie) filled on every table. We use old decanters, iced tea pitchers, corked bottles, whatever we have. Our tables are blessed with bountiful meals, extended families, Cugini (Cousins)
Summer is about good times, and delectable, easy foods. From grilling to pasta, sparkling wines are the perfect companion. Create fabulous dishes like bits of gnocchi floating around a tower of fresh parmesan with lemon zest and Parmesano Reggiano.
Sometimes it is all about the presentation that goes with the gathering, so use fresh herbs to decorate cakes, and then allow your wine glasses to cozy up to the cake as decor around. Truly, pairings are not just about taste but about the elegance of presentation as well!
Brunch is about to be served, atop vividly decorated tables, with ornate flower arrangements, charcuterie trays, and fresh fruits. I mean who does not love charcuterie trays and delectable wines? Pairing is important but it is more about light and refreshing when at a summer party!
His Family
Our heritage is strong, and our travels to Italy ripe with culture and history. My husbands family lives in Spigno, Saturnia, and they have a large farm. Multiple items are produced at their farms like fresh burrata and mozzarella, to mention just a few.
What we learned is when it rolls around to meal time, everything stops and yet the truest celebration of food begins. From an appetizer (which we thought was the meal) to multiple courses afterward, it is food and wine that allow us to unwind.
From cheese to meats, to bread, to local vegetarian dishes (Eggplant Parm) etc, we eat like kings. After the meal, it is back to work. Wines pour freely from the bottle and wine glasses are always full!
Your chilled wine glasses sit welcoming the first round pour of your sparkling wine being held in the host’s hand. Then you wonder, what is an Italian luxury sparkling wine and will it pair with the foods you are about to welcome into your belly?
What Is An Italian Sparkling Wine?
My Aunts’ homes in both Sicily and one in Messina kept us traveling. As we ventured and adventured we also tasted different wines. In both locations, we sipped on ‘Rosé wines with grilled foods and it paired perfectly. The part I loved the best is the grills they used were indoor grills, small appliances and they prepared sausage (grilled) and beef.
Nothing has ever compared to those moments. We sipped wine in the kitchen and prepared grilled meats. It is different from what we eat here and is forever in my mind! Cheese pairings led us to different sparkling wines and fruits and the food just kept coming. I heart Italy and my family there! 
Rosato!
Lovely Italian sparkling wines compliment all grilled foods. Have you ever seen ‘Rosato’ wine when you are shopping? In fact, Rosato is a style of Italian ‘Rosé wine. The elegance of the Rosato sparkling wines is their ability to pair with all the foods you serve.
FACT: Sparkling wine is the fastest growing category within wines for the 4th year running. Perhaps they could be touted an everyday luxury without the price tag of a champagne!
Rosato! Rosé all day
Just as an example of Italian luxury sparkling wine, allow me to use Rosé. For every party, for every occasion, for every gathering, get ready for bright, crisp and refreshing tastes with every sip. We make sure our wine refrigerator is stocked with Rose because our guests love a light wine for sipping while dipping their crackers into spreads etc.
Light wine can be sipped day long without creating that feel awful stomach situation. Light, sip by sip and a few glasses over a few hours is how we pour! Of course we I might mention we do not drink and drive, and we are often with friends or have friends that just stay! (that is how we party!)
Traditional, Italian wine offers both heritage and authenticity. Behind each bottle of wine are timeless techniques for artisanal winemaking and farming, plain and simple. Resulting in sparkling wines.
Experience the unforgettable combination of grilled foods and Rosé all day, in a chilled tall glass or your favorite hand-blown wine stemware.
Poolside
Behold empty glasses, as they are about to embark on a chill journey of tart red fruits, offering vivid colors and savory flavors. As you wrap your hands around the glass filled with Rosato, the sparkle may be in your eye as well as your glass!
Rosato is vibrant by day at those day-long brunches that turn into evening grilled meals on the patio. The taste is remarkable, refreshing and dare I say, “craveable?” It is true because what the eye captures as aesthetically pleasing to see the palate will find vibrant as well.
Summer
Luxury is as luxury does. Is your summer luxury sleeping in or is it having amazing al fresco dining experiences on your patio? Maybe your love for entertaining guests is your lavish way to show off your transformation of basic everyday foods into a work of art?
If you want to elevate dining under the stars just add sparkling wine! Summer al fresco dining pairs perfectly with Italian sparkling wines. In fact, pairing wines with the perfect menu is easy!
The authenticity of gatherings happens through foods and beverages served. Truth be told, anyone can toss a beer into a cooler for a party. However, those hosts that share the party sentiment of “‘it’s summer and the night is young” serve Italian sparkling wines. Their elegance meets the spirit of the season. Italian sparkling wines are luxuriating.
Lavishly celebrate how summer gatherings pair perfectly with Italian sparkling wines and ‘Salud’ all of your guests!
