Vannah tours an Italian Winery

I guess this blog was properly named because we did not intend to take her with us on every single excursion. However, that seems to be the deal now. Vannah has never had an issue with us leaving her at home in the US, but she doesn’t trust this place, I guess, and loses her freakin’ mind when we try to leave the apartment without her. So on Saturday, she hopped in the back of a taxi, and we traveled 30 minutes outside of Bologna to visit the Manaresi wine estate.

Bologna (and Italy in general, I think) is very dog-friendly. Dogs are allowed almost everywhere. So when I emailed Fabio, the owner of the winery, to see if Vannah would be welcome, he happily obliged. Fabio took us on a walk around his estate to show us the vineyard and explain the winemaking process. We learned a little about the history of the name and labels, fermentation and bottling, and then ended with an evening on the terrace tasting wines. We opted for the English tour, so the other guests (about 12 of us total) were mostly from the UK. We talked about how expensive college is in the US, the fact that the British can drink “the Yanks” under the table (in fact, there is a written warning of this given to US military members stationed there, funny but true), and they apologetically informed us that our reputation for cheese is, well, very bad. They call it “plastic cheese.” We didn’t disagree with any of it.

Back to the wine… Manaresi is named after the grandfather of Fabio’s wife, who originally owned the estate, albeit as an artist rather than a winemaker. He was a painter and etcher. The labels on the bottles pay homage to some of his works of art and have won graphic design awards of their own. Manaresi offers 4 whites and 4 reds. Our favorite: Pignoletto Classico Superiore. We bought four bottles, one of each white (sold at only 11 Euros each - take that, Napa Valley).

Finding a taxi home was not so easy. After many attempts, Fabio was able to secure one, and two groups shared it to return to Bologna. Since Fabio and his wife, Donatella, were headed to Bologna anyway, where they have an apartment, they graciously drove us home. Vannah was in the back (this car was a hatchback), with her head sticking over the backseat headrest next to us. Fabio shared information about a jazz festival with food trucks and wine happening near his estate at the end of July and offered to secure us tickets. So I guess Vannah will be seeing her friends again soon…