1) Lucciao Umbria IGT 2002 Pieve del Vescovo, Corciano, Perugia, UMBRIA -
40% Cabernet, 40% Merlot. Average cost at an Italian store: Euro 23. My score: 86/100
Painting: Assunzione di Maria - Il Perugino, Chiesa di Santa Maria, Corciano, Perugia, UMBRIA

2) Sedime di Marco Capitoni Orcia DOC 2002 - Pienza, Siena, TOSCANA -
85% Sangiovese. Average cost at an Italian store: Euro 13. My score: 86/100
Painting: Sant'Agostino nello Studio, Botticelli, Chiesa di Ognisanti, Firenze, TOSCANA

3) Chianti Rufina Riserva DOCG 2001 - Frascole - Dicomano, Firenze, TOSCANA
My score: 81/100
Painting: Il Ritorno di Giuditta a Betulia, Botticelli, Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze, TOSCANA

4) Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG 2001 - Icario - Montepulciano, Siena, TOSCANA
85% Sangiovese, 15% Prugnolo Gentile. My score: 86/100
Painting: Nascita di Venere, Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze, TOSCANA

5) Ceppeto Chianti Classico DOCG 2001 Riserva - Mannucci Droandi- Mercatale Val d'Arno, Arezzo, TOSCANA
90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot.
Painting: La Calunnia, Botticelli, Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze, TOSCANA

6) D'Ovidio IGT Toscana 2001 - San Luciano, Monte San Savino, Arezzo, TOSCANA
80% Sangiovese, 20% Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, 10% Cabernet. Average cost at an Italian store: Euro 25. My score 86/100.
Painting: Madonna col Bambino e un Angelo, Botticelli, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

7) Frabusco IGT Umbria 2001 - Tenuta Corini, Montegabbione, Terni, UMBRIA
33% Sangiovese, 33% Cabernet, 33% Montepulciano. My score 82/100
Painting: Miracolo della Fanciulla, Il Perugino, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, UMBRIA

8) Ugolino Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG 2000 - Terre de' Trinci, Foligno, Perugia, UMBRIA
Sagrantino 100%. Average cost at an Italian store: Euro 20. My score: 87/100
Painting: Presepe, Il Perugino, Museo di San Francesco, Montefalco, UMBRIA

6 pm - 7.30 pm
From Bibenda: an exclusive vertical of Cervaro della Sala.

Speakers: the "father" of Cervaro: the wine maker Renzo Cottarella.
This is a true tasting for wine lovers. A vertical tasting is a tasting of different years of the same wine. Each one of us has dreamt about having a vertical of a great wine. And Cervaro della Sala is an excellent white from the Castello della Sala estate (now property of Piero Antinori) located in Sala, a small town in Umbria. Now I am seated at my spot, I have 7 glasses in front of me plus the water… ehi…this means that I am going to have 7 different years of Cervaro! I can't wait…. Made out of a blend of Chardonnay (80%) and Grechetto (20%), Cervaro della Sala is certainly one of the few Italian whites that can hold a vertical…meaning that can age very well!
The native "Grechetto" variety guarantees to the Chardonnay the necessary support for aging. Fermentation is in oak barriques. Malolactic also occurs in barriques. As main feature, Cervaro is very elegant, robust. It presents a flowery bouquet, citrus (for the youngest ones), pineapple and it develops with time, an impressive complexity of spices, buttery notes, vanilla, nuts. It is vane to say that will last forever in your mouth. Renzo Cottarella said that each year is different than another.
The price of the 2001 is about Euro 30 at an Italian store. Here in Canada the 2001 is sold for $53.

I did not take notes on this one. I wanted to be able to meditate in full without distractions. And so it was… I kept meditating for hours after this!

And it is with this "once-in-a-life-time" event that I concluded my 3-day extravaganza.
I was exhausted, overwhelmed, extremely satisfied.

Years tasted:
1) 2002
2) 2001
3) 1999
4) 1997
5) 1995
6) 1993
7) 1990