RECENT SOCIETY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

NOVEMBER 20 WINE-TASTING DRAWS BIG CROWD

During a beautiful crisp fall day, 90 members and friends turned out for the AMHS annual wine-tasting and luncheon which once again proved to be an outstanding success, with 10 winemakers participating. It was one of our best turnouts for this popular annual event.

Much credit must go especially to Jim Gearing, who organized the winemakers’ participation. And we owe thanks to Sergio Fresco who arranged for a delicious lunch catered by the always-popular Three Brothers Restaurant. So, many thanks, too, to Mario Repole of Three Brothers.

Before the luncheon got underway, we held a short business meeting. Ennio DiTullio, representing the Society’s nominating committee, introduced the slate of candidates to replace outgoing board members Rocco Caniglia and Sergio Fresco. Elected by acclamation were new board members Jeff Clark, Helen Free and Albert Paolantonio. We thank the outgoing board members for their generous service and welcome the new board members.

This year, as you may have noticed, we decided to forgo the usual porchetta for a couple of reasons. For one thing, there are still issues with using the Casa Italiana kitchen, and also, our goto guy for the porchetta, Joe Novello, had just returned from a month-long Adriatic cruise and so he continued his time of relaxation a little bit longer. However, from the comments we received afterwards, the luncheon was enjoyed by everyone, with a delicious menu consisting of orecchiette with broccoli rabe in garlic and olive oil, sausage and peppers, rice salad, bread and dessert.

There were many varieties of wines to taste this year, made by Osvaldo Barsi, Carlo Clinton, Stefano DiGirolamo, Jack Grimaldi, Jaison Harris, Joe Ruzzi, Darrin Sobin, John Paul Maye, and Wayne Witowski,

Before the wine-tasting got underway, AMHS President Emeritus Lucio D’Andrea introduced Tom Savage, a wine importer who is very knowledgeable about the wines of Abruzzo and Molise and who gave us a fascinating talk about those wines but also about his travels to the regions to explore the potential of these wonderful wines. Although everyone knows about the famous Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, he said there are many other wines which are underappreciated. He added that in Molise in a few years, sparkling wines, which are so popular nowadays, are expected to come onto the market. Tom also told us fascinating details of his trip to Abruzzo around the time of the August earthquake, and he said he was actually in Rome when one of the quakes struck and he could see the chandeliers swinging. As he pointed out, if sales of these wonderful wines can be increased through publicity and marketing, that would be a much-needed boost to the economies of these regions.

So for a couple of hours, we enjoyed good food and wine, got some good information, and enjoyed socializing with our families and friends. What better way to spend a nice fall afternoon?

We would like to thank the many people who contributed to the success of this event, and also all those volunteers who pitched in to do the setting up of the room and the serving of the food. And last but not least, we would like to thank the donors of the raffle prizes and all those who bought tickets for the raffle which brought in $163 for our scholarship fund.