School Update

December 3, 2023

School was rather exciting this week, and I have a lot of studying to do, so I thought this week's post would be a quick update on my classes:

Our marketing class got to spend Tuesday afternoon in Eataly. We had lunch of local meats and bread, and of course a local sparkling red because “it’s not considered a meal in Italy if you don’t have any wine”.

On Wednesday, the Campari Group came into our class and told us about the plethora of techniques they use to promote the many brands under their Campari umbrella. They have their own Champagne, which we got to try at the end of class before we headed to our sensory analysis lab. I was thankful we had a good wine that morning, because I cannot say I was fond of any of the 20 wines we tasted that afternoon. Our lab focused on malolactic fermentation (which is the process of converting crisper malic acid into a softer, creamier lactic acid). I have nothing against malolactic fermentation—but we tried ten “good” wines and ten “bad” wines made with the method and I have never been so happy to spit out wine.

One of my favorite wine regions is Trentino-Alto Adige, and we got to spend Friday field-tripping there. It was a wet and foggy day, but the Dolomites are beautiful even when you can hardly see them. The first winery we went to was Mezzacorona – a cooperative winery responsible for over 1% of Italy’s wine production. It was incredible. The architecture was modern and lovely (the roof mimicked the vine training system used in the region), the technology was impressive (I had heard of many of the mechanisms they used but hadn’t seen them in person), and the wine was good too (duh)! We ate a local lunch of sandwiches, cheese, and charcuterie in one of the barrel rooms before heading to our next location: Foradori.

Foradori is a smaller, family-owned winery that makes low-intervention wine using biodynamic practices. Their wine is fermented in Amphoras (large clay vase-type things) and has months of skin contact (even the white wine, giving it more body and color). They have cows, pigs, chickens, and cats on the premises, and they have a fun focus on fermentation that goes beyond the wine. They sell seasonal fresh and pickled vegetables and make sourdough bread, which I hadn’t had since moving here so I was thrilled when they provided some during our tasting. I was in awe the whole time we were there. Nestled in the mountains, it was the most beautiful and homey winery I have ever been to.

I pinched myself a few times this week. How is this school? How is this life? I’m learning lots and I’m so so thankful!!

Cheers!!