Saturday 26 October 2013

Domenico Clerico Barbera d'Alba Trevigne 2006 (Barbera 100%)


Dark ruby red with light red rims. The nose is dominated by baked fruits, a hint of licorice, blackberry and cassis. In the mouth, strong, sharp tannins with a little bit astringency. Full bodied. The after taste has a touch of vanilla and chocolate. One of my favorite regions, one of my favorite varieties... A very pleasant wine by a good producer, like the Villa Matilde Taurasi... These are serious stuff... Not available in Finland.

Tasted among some other wines during a blind tasting.

Villa Matilde Tenute Alta DOCG Taurasi 2008 (Aglianico 100%)



Dark ruby red with purple rims. A very fruity nose, red forest berries among jam-like baked fruits notes with a small touch of woodiness. Sweetish in the mouth, in the mid palate, there is a nice touch of clove. The tannins are harsh, a typical Italian rusticity there is. The strong fruity structure is made up by the tannin and a character. This full bodied wine had a nice, long final with a satisfaction smile on the consumer´s face... Not available in Finland.

Sunday 13 October 2013

Austrian Wine Tasting Helsinki 08.10.2013


Last Tuesday, I was exploring the Austrian wines in a very wide range for the Finnish scale in Restaurant Sipuli which is nearby the Uspenski Cathedral in the heart of Helsinki.
Few weeks ago, I received an e-mail signed by the names Marketing Manager Barbara Arbeithuber and the Marketing Assistant Petra Kotlan. I was grateful to them for inviting me but after the tasting when I got back home, I was not only grateful to them but also extremely impressed by the Austrian wines.

Austria in Finnish is "Itävalta" which literally means "East Power". Such a masculine naming right? But for their wines, no, with few exceptions, it is not working at all... Such elegant, chic, characteristic, charming wines Austria has that from the first sip to the last, they state a nice smile of satisfaction on the face. It is beautiful, it is feminine, it is charming, it is entertaining, it is intelligent, it is caring, it has, "personality".


During the tasting, I had the chance to taste indigenious varieties of Austria such as Grüner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and international varieties like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and more, as monocepage and coupage. The coupage wines were mostly good examples but some of them really resembled wines made of industrial/commercial concerns. But only some of them. After all, when I left the tasting, the only thing remaining in my mind was how great characteristics the wines had.

If you would like to know the producers and companies which attended to that event, here is the link for the booklet of Helsinki Tasting:

http://media.austrianwine.com/pindownload/pindownload.do;jsessionid=6FD3E8E56C39400B96C28C6D750E4CA9

Uspenski Cathetral on top of us "like a boss"


Geyerhof
Birgit Braunstein
I have visited the stands of several producers and I am totally surprised how producers can reflect themselves in their wines. There are "7 Elements of Uniqueness" attributed for Austrian wines and one of them is stated as "The People". That is not just a show of fancy words, that is true, totally true. I have met some of the representatives or producers of the wines and I felt the visions of the people at my palate. For example Birgit Braunstein. When I started to taste her wines while listening her kind voice and watching her warm and friendly eyes, I could see that, this stylish and kind person was "the mother of the wines". As much as she spoke and I taste, the wines became a part of her, or she became a part of them. There was a strong reflection/relation between. The same words I can really say for Ilse Maier of Geyerhof. Great wines, elegance, kindness, the warmth and care of a woman´s friendly eyes... She is definitely another "mother of wines". Geyerhof is also an Organic Wine producer, unfortunately, they are both not available in Finnish Monopoly yet.

Beautiful Design


Esterházy was another producer with great wines presented by the charismatic representative Susanne Janotka. The wines were very "Austrian" in sense of the significant character and elegance. But there is one more thing, that the great label designs. The bottle design is one of the most important reasons for the average consumer and Esterházy has great modern designs; it is not "new", it is "modern"( as everything "new" is called "modern" on these days, nonsense). Here 2 bottles to see, from the producer´s internet site www.esterhazy.at (Click on the pictures if you want to see bigger).


Among the producers that I had time to visit, H.u.M. Hofer, Winzer Krems, Umathum and Zantho are all very good producers for their price-quality ratio with great floral notes, cherry/berry aromas, high acidity with a satisfying minerality. Quite a lot of the producers do not have importers in Finland yet, so I hope in the near future, we can have a wider range of Austrian beauty.



Another Beauty
I left the tasting event with a smile on my face and some new visions with a deep understanding of how one can put his/her personality into the wine. I got a better vision of indigenous varieties too which made me very greedy for Austrian varieties like Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch. For sure I knew that Austria has big, crispy, delicious whites with high levels of acidity and minerality but I did not know that they had developed a very high level of quality for red wines, especially Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is such a variety that you might hate it if you taste a lil bit lower quality one and the PNs in Finland which are under 15€ are usually such examples of PN that can make one hate it. So, look for some Austrian one if you want to have an elegant Pinot Noir, if you do not have enough budget for a Gevrey-Chambertin. After all, I will spend more time in front of the Austrian stand in the monopoly stores. I suggest you the same! Thanks the AWMB again!

May your glass be filled with Austrian wine. Greetings.

















Thursday 10 October 2013

Austrian Wine Tasting in Helsinki by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board



2 days ago, last Tuesday, I have attended the Austrian Wine Tasting organized by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board in Restaurant Sipuli (Ravintola Sipuli) and I am totally impressed by the elegant, chic, characteristic, charismatic Austrian wine. Soon I will write about the tasting event and the wines I tried.

May your glass be filled with Austrian wine. Greetings.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Soundtrack to your glass of intelligent wine:

While a bottle of Brunello, which is unexpectedly feminine for an Italian, talks to me tonight, I salute the master Neruda matching wine and music at the same time:

"I like on the table,
when we´re speaking,
The light of a bottle
of intelligent wine."

Pablo Neruda

Matching Music:

The Cinematic Orchestra - The Awakening Of A Woman

While the wine goes through the mouth with music into the ear, the beauty of the night is there with its pure starkly nudity.

May your glass be filled with happiness. Greetings.

Friday 30 August 2013

Luigi Righetti Amarone Classico 2008



Light red at the rims and slightly brown in the midpoint. First nose has the hints of black pepper and quite fruity. Second nose has blackberry and blueberry and slightly woody. In the mouth, licorice and leather is accompanies by baked fruits like rose hip jam. It is not "the big Amarone" but still satisfying. The strong but integrated tannins are little bit astringent but no harm for the enjoyment. The nose reveals some vanillin in time. The final is moderate. It might be enjoyed alone or with cold cuts as well as spicy barbecues. 87.5/100 Not available in Finland yet.

Thursday 15 August 2013

Collina del Sole Amarone della Valpolicella 2009



Slightly transparent crimson. First nose earthy and has notes of licorice. Second nose dominated by licorice stronger and tar comes out in time. It is slightly fruity in the mouth, good high acidity, raspberry and blackberry aromas are accompanied by blueberry aroma. The leather sensed at the mid-palate is combining with spicy notes and tobacco insignificantly. Tannins are not that strong. This wine with moderate final should be decanted at least one hour before consumed. All in all it is still a nice wine to enjoy, even though you might not feel the expected iron fist in the velvet glove of an Amarone. It can match all kinds of red meat dishes, spicy casseroles and cold cuts. 87/100 Not available in Finland yet.

Sunday 21 July 2013

Whisky Tasting we held last week in Helsinki





If you start to get into the knowledge of wine, in time, I think it is inevitable to get into the knowledge of beer and finally, whisky. So me and my friend Eric, decided to set up a whisky tasting and got ready for the evening after a big barbecue lunch on Saturday last week.

We decided on a single malt tasting and choose three Scotch single malts from his big collection to taste with the fourth one which is brought by me (Singleton of Dufftown).






Then we started the tasting with our tulip glasses proper for whisky tasting. we first tried four Scotch and compared each other, then tried an Irish single malt "Connemara" and the Finnish whisky "Teerenpeli".

1- The Singleton of Dufftown 12 years, Speyside: Light amber color with a very fruity nose, dried fruits, caramel, honey, daisy flower. Fruitiness still exists in the mouth, lemon and berry-type of aromas. Vanillin with a floral touch during the long final. Rich but smooth, velvety. Better without adding water.

2- Lagavulin 16 years, Islay : Dark amber color, the nose is strongly dominated by smoke, then toast, smoked ham, wet wood. the attack phase is very strong in the mouth. Peat, little bit petrol, hay and salt strongly felt with a very very long final full of joy. Little bit of coffee is possible to get also.

3- Auchentoshan Three Wood, Lowland: This one has been aged in three different casks, Spanish Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Spanish Oloroso Sherry and American Bourbon finally. The color is dark bronze, fruity nose of lemon, orange, pear, apricot; in the mouth, vanillin and nutty aromas leaves the stage to bitter chocolate and toffee during the final. The body is weaker than Singleton but still a nice viscosity with sweet and fruity touches.

4- The Glenlivet 18 years, Speyside: Medium Amber color. Winey nose, cream; very sweet in the mouth, honey and butter notes,  little bit of vanillin. very easy drinking with a moderate final. The nose is quite extroverted.

Among the four Scotch single malts, with the strong smoke and petrol/tar aromas, Lagavulin had been totally different. Other three were quite fruity and Singleton of Dufftown was marching at the front among them with its thick viscosity, easy drinking and sweet fruitiness.

we had two more whiskies as I mentioned above and they were considered like the dessert after a big meal.





*Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whisky: Hay and floral nose, in the mouth, vanillin and caramel come to the stage with a touch of clove-kind of spiciness. Moderate final.

*Teerenpeli Single Malt 8 years: It might be funny for the Finns to read that, this is a very local product; that it has a porridge kind of smell at the nose. floral notes with buttery feeling and a reflection of the nose aromas in the mouth. Sweet-ish final is moderate and water changes it´s taste so much.


I am very much thankful for my friend for being with me to create this chance to taste and compare different whiskies and have a good occasion together.

By the way, interesting that together with sweet soft stone fruits like peaches, whisky goes well :)

May your glass be filled with happiness.


Little bit of Turkish wines

Exactly one month ago from today, I was in Istanbul and had a chance to taste some Turkish wines at the same time having a nice holiday, spiced with pepper spray and teargas by the Turkish police. The protests starting at Gezi Park against a despotic dictatorship-like government are now not only in Istanbul but in the whole country and the demand for real democracy and the need for feeling more like a human now take place in Istanbul streets. The police violently attacks people (not only protestors but any person they can see in the street) but the protestors seem like not leaving the place where they belong to. Turkey, seems like, more hopeful than anytime it seemed like before.

So, just one of the tens of reasons of that social explosion is the new alcohol regulations of the government, which mostly aims to finish the production of the beverages -like wine which contain alcohol- rather than protecting the public health. The wine producers in Turkey recently started to worry quite a lot because they are not anymore able to advertise their products, in any case. So I feel a bit lucky to taste some of the Turkish wines, as they might be the last ones in the world if Turkey continues like that.

I had a chance to watch the beautiful Princes Islands of Istanbul while having an amateur wine tasting. My hosts, who are two great women, were quite much into wine so a tasting with people who really take wine as a serious thing (as it is in nature) is always much more fun than tasting with people who do not care anything about wine but just the alcohol content in it.

My host and friend Hande with her mother and her cheeses :)

We had to taste 5 wines; a Turkish rose, a Turkish white and two Turkish reds with a French red too. I was mostly telling my hosts about wines during the tasting but I was still able to observe the wines and have some ideas as well as write some notes. What I saw again, as all the wine authorities say, was the great potential of local varieties in taste compared to international varieties. The local varieties always feels like close to an elegant, balanced wine while the international varieties sometimes feel like "forced to be a bottle of wine." Even though the wine quality is rising up in Turkey, it has been like that since a long time, as I had tasted several Turkish wines before. The taste, body and aromas are not showing that much typicity which might be a question of terroir, as the vineyards might be in too-warm areas in Turkey. This for sure does not mean that international varieties are not possible to grow in Turkey. But still, it really needs vision, time and experience in Turkey. Actually the French wine in that tasting (Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007) was a very good final and good example to prove how an average table wine should be.


With four Turkish and one French, the wines were:


1- Kavaklidere Selection Narince-Emir 2010: A coupage of two great local varieties. Straw yellow color with sour apple and lime aromas at the first nose with nutty and woody aromas coming after that. In the mouth liitle bit vanillin is felt during the elegant, easy drinking. Pleasant with a moderate acidity and moderate final.


2- Büyülübağ Iris Adakarasi 2010: Orange rims with a pink color. At the nose, surprisingly baked fruits, jam,  the acidity is satisfying (might be little bit higher), fruity and fresh at the mid-palate, moderate final. A good rose to enjoy cooler.


3- Doluca Antik Bogazkere-Shiraz 2011: This wine has been my favorite for the price/quality ratio long long time ago. The Turkish variety Bogazkere is blended with the beautiful Shiraz and created a fruity but structured wine to consume. It is a very average wine. But the price for that quality makes it very good. Color is almost purple with light crimson on the rims. The nose has blackberry and blueberry aromas with a hint of spiciness. Possible to get some cloves at the second nose. Nice, medium bodied an average table wine which is perfectly nostalgic to me.


4- Büyülübağ Vedat Milor Syrah Tempranillo Grenache 2011: This is from a series of wine which that producer created together with Turkish food&wine celebrity Vedat Milor and the series has his name. The reason they say that they wanted to create wines which have some level of quality with a reasonable price. But, what I can say, it is not balanced, it is a bit forced power to be wine I think.  Baked fruits and blackberry, little bit astringent, the tannins are strong but on the right way to be integrated, satisfying acidity with a moderate-long final. I think the strong body is overshading the joy of drinking. But that might make this wine match with strong meat stews or strong barbecued red meat, like lamb chops.


5- Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007: A classic for a good quality of daily consumption, At the nose rose, baked fruits, ripe pear; in the mouth blackberry, blueberry, cloves... Woody with integrated tannins with a full body. Final is long. A very good wine which sometimes I buy to enjoy, I haven't had 2007 before. There is also a tasting note here for 2009 recolte. 

All in all, Turkish wine industry has potential with a growing number of people who are interested in it. But the religious despotic government is ruling the country into a very scary way and that not might be only the end of wine industry in Turkey, but also the end of lots of political and social freedoms.

Still, for now, Turkey is hopeful, as its wines.

Monday 1 July 2013

Wine Tastings in Helsinki, you wanna be a part of it?

If you live in Finland and if you are interested in wine in a serious way, if you read about it, write and eager to do more regularly, if it is a big hobby for you or more than a hobby, send a mail to this mail address wineandfinland@gmail.com in order to be a part of our tasting group --->>> There will a be a tasting group of 5 or 6 people maximum, totally non-profit. The idea is to taste, learn and share more about this magical beverage, more than paying membership fees to tasting groups. So you will not pay any membership fee but just participate in the cost of the bottles to be bought, which everybody in the group will participate equally. So you will have the chance to meet people who already know about wine and you will have the chance to taste fine wines which you probably don't buy regularly from the Alko shops when you are alone, because of several reasons, such as high prices. Send a mail and learn more details if you are interested, anytime, any date. An average wine knowledge is required. If you do not know such basics like, for example, what the tears of wine mean, if you do not know where the color of wine comes from, what salinity is, what minerality is, if you are not familiar with wine terminology/aroma definitions and things like that, these tastings might be a bit hard for you in the beginning. But still, do not hesitate to contact, do not forget that, non of us is a MW,  so, contact and learn more, maybe you can still join and improve yourself in time ;)

Saturday 15 June 2013

Wine Tasting: Bodega Atamisque 30.05.13


About two weeks ago, there has been another tasting that I had attended in Helsinki. An Argentinean producer, Bodega Atamisque´s Director General Jean-Edouard de Rochebouët was in Helsinki for a tasting with wine writers and journalists and me, the humble wine blogger, had the chance to attend this event. It happened in the office of Red Bev OY. Mr. Rochebouët and the Red Bev team were extremely kind and we all tasted really good wines during the following hours.

Please check the winery webpage:

http://www.bodegaatamisque.com/

During the tasting, I had the chance to taste seven wines of Bodega Atamisque. As it is Argentina, the predominant variety was Malbec. But there were surprises also. 




We have started with a white, then three Malbecs came following each other, then a Pinot Noir monocepage and two blends made the final:

Serbal Viognier 2011
1- Serbal Viognier 2011: This elegant wine has a nose of floral notes, a hint of honey and it is very fresh. Quite jammy and satisfying with a moderate finish. The altitude of the vineyard is more than 1000 meters so this means a 2-3 degrees of lower temperature, which makes the area proper for that white variety.

2- Serbal Malbec 2012: The nose shows a typicity for Malbec, black fruits and strong tannins in the mouth. Decantation might be better before drinking. 

3- Catalpa Malbec 2010: Very elegant nose and mid-palate. Blackberry and blueberry notes. Aged in French Oak, a very nice example of Malbec wine. Reminds me the Cahors Malbecs.

4- Atamisque Malbec 2009: A bit sweeter than previous wines, softer aromas; cassis, raspberry, medium bodied, good price-quality ratio, considering the estimated price.
Catalpa Malbec 2010

5- Serbal Assemblage 2012: Slightly tobacco at the nose, full-body with a high acidity, interesting, complex, it has it´s own character. Minerality, spices and fruity notes are coming out following each other one by one. Might be more elegant after decanting.

6- Catalpa Pinor Noir 2011: Claret, slight earthy notes at the nose, very soft and easy to drink, strong acidity with a long final. Spicy notes come out in time.

7- Atamisque Assemblage 2008: Nose is dominated by black fruits. Strong tannins but integrated, slightly astringent, good potential to age. 5 years old and very robust. Strong acidity with a long final.

Atamisque Assemblage 2008

During the tasting, there have been wine writers an journalists coming and going always and it has been definitely a busy day for Mr Rochebouët and the Red Bev Team. But I am sure everyone had a great time full of professional information and nice talk flavored by good wines. Frankly, the wines made me think that Argentina has a great potential not only for Malbec variety, but also several Bordeaux grapes and white varieties. Keep an eye on Bodega Atamisque and thanks Red Bev Team -Hadrien and Marina- a lot.

May your glass be filled with happiness. Greetings.

Sunday 26 May 2013

Pasta and Pizza: Despised Italian Cuisine


Trippa Alla Romana with a rich Parmesan topping
Unfortunately, there are so much people who think that pasta ("dough" in Italian) and pizza are the only expression of Italian cuisine. You can go to restaurants in Finland which claim that they are Italian restaurants, then in the menu, you can not see more than pasta and pizza and a few barbecue "things". But the real Italian cuisine, especially around the Italian capital city, there is a huge and old tradition of offal dishes like Trippa alla Romana - Roman style tripe- tripe cooked in olive oil and tomato sauce-, Animelle -Sweetbread-, Cervello-Brain-, etc. Now there would be some people with faces changing and making sounds like "uuagghh, I can never eat brain!" etc. and they can try to make an offal-eating-person feel humiliated with stupid reactions like "ohh, how can you eat brain? It is not meat agghhh, you are disgusting!"... Well, to eat the muscle meats like arms or legs of an animal and try to humiliate offal-eating-people at the same time is just very immoral and ignorant, according to me. What I had tasted, ate and loved since my childhood, the offal dishes, are the most delicious and interesting meat products. Those people are just afraid of the smooth texture of these meats, otherwise, offal dishes are also just protein and they are also some parts of an animal. To eat meat, or not to eat meat, that is the question. Also, those people who try to look like disgusted when I say that I like offal, are the people who have never tried to taste any offal dish in their life. So, if you have not tasted, for example, any apple before, how can you say that you hate eating apple?

Back to Italy, yeah, okay. So in Italy, if you go, I suggest you, of course, to try different kinds of pastas (=doughs). The pizza and pasta are served as a part of the starter idea in Italy, right after antipasti, if you skip antipasti and do not feel so hungry, anyway, just order a pasta dish and share with your friend, for example Amatriciana or Carbonara to taste the real one (of course not in a tourist restaurant, I will write about some restaurant reviews in this blog too). I call it "real" because in Finland, for example Carbonara is prepared with milk cream, which an Italian would never respect and eat, as Italians say. Unfortunately in Finland, lots of pasta dishes cooked with heavy creams in restaurants, which sometimes fit but mostly do not fit. A pasta with vegetables finished with a touch of cream and a drop of orange juice will be for sure delicious, as I had cooked when I was working as a cook. But our chef was cooking Carbonara also with cream, which actually should be prepared with egg yolks. To prepare a certain dish, there are basic elements that you can not change, if you change those elements, the dish is not that dish anymore, so a Carbonara sauce with cream and without egg yolks is not Carbonara anymore... Honesty, according to me, is the most important thing also in the kitchen, as it is in any part of life.
See how blonde the Carbonara is... Egg yolks!!!

This is one portion of Amatriciana which is shared in two plates, you can always ask for a second plate to share your food in good Italian restaurants where not the tourists but the locals eat

Then you should order a traditional dish like Trippa alla Romana-Tripe in tomato sauce- or beautiful soft pane-cooked brain pieces or sweetbreads, or Coda alla Vaccinara- Oxtail stew with vegetables, etc. to deeply understand the culture of traditional Italian dining. You can see a beautiful woman eating tripe or an Italian gentleman eating oxtail who is not using fork&knife but using his fingers, as it should be done with no shame. Because these people protect and internalize their culinary culture, it is not something to be ashamed for them as it should not be. So what I want to come up with, eating with fingers is an issue for the tourists. Use your fingers if you order a dish that should be eaten by hands, like Oxtail. If you try to eat oxtail with fork&knife, first of all, you will fail, that oxtail is full of bone and you will not be able to get the meat between the bones. Second of all, it is very rude and stupid looking, to try to show a "fake politeness". It would look very rude to eat a steak with fingers, so it is proper and polite to use fork&knife. So just the opposite way, for eating a piece of delicious oxtail, do not use fork&knife, the proper and polite way is, using the hands. That would be pizza too, do not feel embarrassed of eating pizza by using hand, you will see Italians eating around, using their hands and licking the oil on the fingers. This is the fun about dining! Also the Italian wines are some other master piece to talk about of course, a nice glass of Italian red will beat the strength of tomato sauce of your meal for sure. Or if you dont feel like wine, Italians make great beers. I have always liked the Italian wines, but I did not know that they can make great beers too.
Oxtail -Coda Alla Vaccinara-



















How to eat Oxtail ;)

Oh, forgot to say, do not skip to try the seasonal dishes, like artichokes, fried zucchini flowers, or the classic snacks like suppli, arancini, porchetta etc. Ahhhh porchetta... The whole pork body with herbs inside, roasted on fire... Dont know what to say... Art of living...

Porchetta...
Porchetta cutting/preparing, you can find random Porchetta shops while rolling around or go into markets and ask if they have

Porchetta... Great snack. Cheap, tasty and easy lunch in Italy
Deep fried "Jewish Style" Artichoke, fried Zucchini flowers, Suppli

Zucchini Flowers, a delicacy in several Mediterranean countries
Suppli, pane-fried rice balls with tomato sauce and cheese
Different supplis
Costoluto -Beefsteak- Tomatoes a must taste in Italy
Artichokes :)
Deep fried Brain

Left Fork:The curves of the Brain - Right Fork: A piece of Sweetbread

66cl, the size that beer should be :)

Size of a pizza (see the fork), this was 6€ and it was possible to taste the freshness of all the ingredients

What about the restaurants and prices? I suggest no one to sit instantly in an unknown restaurant looking to a monument, for example, some restaurants facing through Pantheon in Rome. They are almost all tourist traps and just in the street behind, you can find the same dishes for half price. A pasta might cost between 10-15€ at those places, which is extremely expensive for Italy! Unfortunately the pasta dishes might cost between 13-25€ in Finland, this is the Finnish scale, but the pasta is a part of starter idea there and big portions of delicious pastas might cost between 3-7€ in Italy in a normal restaurant. If you do not believe how cheap it is, I had taken photos of some Menus, you can see down here. The main dishes might cost 5-12€ and the wines are extremely cheap, a bottle would be opened starting about 8€. So it is possible to find a very good quality wine to be opened for about 15-20€ in the wine list. Also, half size bottles are sold in the menus so you do not need to order a big bottle of wine if you do not feel like drinking the whole. The beer prices are 2-4€. Big size beer bottles are not 50cl, they are 66cl so one bottle is very enough for a couple. So, you can go to a restaurant, let`s say a group of 4, so you might leave after dining with a cost of 20-35€ per person including starter, main dish, dessert and a bottle, or, 2 bottles of wine for the whole group. I know, it sounds impossible for the Finnish point of view, but if you really know which restaurant you are going, it is very likely possible, as I experienced several times.

Check the prices, Menu of a very historical Pizzeria in Napoli
Check the prices, Menu of a Restaurant in my favorite Roman district Trastevere


It is also another problem how not to be overcharged in Italy. I experienced and refused to pay a lot of times. It had happened as bills like added extra dish or dessert, or extra drink you had never ordered etc. Do not hesitate to resist against the bill and even be ready for a stressful argument. Dont worry about being polite, as it is extremely rude to cheat the customer in a restaurant. Also cover, service and table occupation fees are some other Italian things, it is stupid to pay cover-mostly the salt on the table- to pay service- if I want to feel like leaving tips, I can, do not charge me for it- to pay table occupation-where I will put my plate and eat my meal if I dont have a table-. But there are Italian restaurants which are not charging all of these or even non of these. I will write some restaurant reviews soon, but if you are already looking for a restaurant name to eat in Rome, then try Cul De Sac.

More posts about the topic will be coming...