Wine Openers

Another memory from the recent trip to Emilia Romagna as guests of the Convito di Romagna and the Consorzio Vini di Romagna:
We spent almost two hours one sunny morning chatting with Cristina Geminiani, winemaker and grand-daughter of the founder of Fattoria Zerbina near Faenza in Romagna.

After Cristina walks a group of visiting writers and importers around the wine cellar and answers about 200 questions, she offers us a taste of the 2006 Albana di Romagna Passito.
It’s the color of a lion’s mane and sweet, of course, but not cloying, with ample acidity and a nutty undertone to balance the high sugar level.
The label is an illustration of a chessboard under the name “Scacco Matto.”
One of the non-Italian speakers asks Cristina what it means and she laughs.
“It means ‘checkmate’ because everyone told us we wouldn’t be able to make a great passito from albana,” she said.
“They were wrong, so we named it this.”
A great story, made even greater when we got home and discovered the wine received Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso. Zerbina’s award was one of only 13 Tre Bicchieri given to the entire Emilia Romagna region.