Vino e Formaggio at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees

Fabulous wine, fabulous cheese, fabulous armagnac, all at a wine and cheese tasting at the fabulous, five-star, Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees in Stresa. Organized by AIS, which is the Association of Italian Sommeliers, and sponsored by SOPEXA, marketers for the French wine and food industry, this event was attended mostly by restaurateurs, with the motive of educating themselves as to proper pairings of French wines and cheeses. I wasn’t there for professional reasons; I will freely admit I was only there for the wine. And the cheese. And the scrumptious lunch buffet served during the pause in this all-day event. And although this course was taught in Italian, that wasn’t the difficult part for me. The difficult part was staying awake after the lunch buffet in order to taste the six different armagnacs. That was hard.

The wine selections were a Pinot Gris Les Argiles Blanches, from Alsace, a Marsannay 2004 Domaine Mec Camuzet di Vosne Romanee, from Bourgogne, and a Gewurtztraminer Vendanges Tardives 2005, from Alsace. And the cheeses, just to make you drool, were Chevre Crottin de Chavignol, Brie de Meaux, Camembert, Reblochon, Comte’, Munster, Fourme d’Ambert, and Roquefort.

AIS sponsors many wine events in the area. They offer an opportunity to experience fine wines that many of us wouldn’t have the chance to taste otherwise. However, AIS events are held in Italian. For those who like to attend a wine tasting in English, or who would like to host a private wine tasting, there are many opportunities to do so. I’ll write about some in separate posts. Clicking on wine on the sidebar will show you all of the relevant posts.

Wouldn't you love for this to be the suitcase you needed for work everyday?

For a taste of other AIS events throughout Italy visit their main Web site. The site is only available in Italian.
http://www.sommelier.it/default.asp
For those interested, SOPEXA's Web site: http://www.sopexa.com/english/partenaire/index.html This one's in English.