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Seminar 4: Prosciutto di Parma and the Wines of Emilia Romagna In every region in Italy, there are specialty food products as well as the wines produced.  So of course the ideal way to taste wines is paired with one of these local products.  For the most recent wine seminar from the North American Sommelier Association, the wines of Emilia Romagna were paired with Prosciutto di Parma. Yum! Emilia Romagna is known for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati and Bugatti; it is home to the world’s oldest university in Bologna and is the cultural and political link between the North and the South.  Emilia Romagna is also known for Parmigiano Reggiano, Balsamic Vinegar from Modena, Prosciutto di Parma and Lambrusco. 9156522724_4832a7c93f  
The Tre Bicchieri World Tour came to San Francisco to showcase the 2012 Tre Bicchieri winners, the top-rated Italian wines of the past year.  Organized by Gambero Rosso, which began in 1986, more than 20,000 wines were tasted by the panels, who awarded one, two, or three "Bicchieri" (or "glasses") to wines of exceptional character and quality.  This year every style of Italian wine and every region was represented among the 375 that received the highest rating of Tre Bicchieri (three glasses). As I typically organize events of this kind, I rarely have the opportunity to spend the entire afternoon tasting and learning and not running around keeping everything organized.  Walking into a room with more than 130 producers (and 300+ wines) can be rather overwhelming.  Where do you start?  Should you taste by varietal?  by region?  all whites and then reds?  By the time you figure out how you are going to approach the tasting, you have lost valuable tasting time.  Luckily, I had the great pleasure to taste the wines alongside Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson, wine educator and author of books such as Great Wine Made Simple. Andrea recommends jumping back and forth between varietals, styles and regions so that your palate doesn't get fatigued quickly.  With her guidance, we tasted through more than half the tasting in just over two hours.
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