Red, my first taste of Italian wine.

Year 1996 in Rome, Italy that I sipped my first glass of wine.

It was a welcome dinner prepared by my Italian couple friends.  Carafe of wine was on the table served among with sumptuous Italian food.  Table wine was then poured in my glass.  I did not have idea of wine varietals and classification then.  I was just enjoying my moment.

Table wine or "Vino da Tavola" (VdT) is a classification under Italian Wine Classification system (similar to the U.S. appellation system) among with the following:
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
- Indicazione di Geografica Tipica (IGT) 

"Vino da Tavola" is the least among the aforementioned categories yet worth sipping my first glass.  Eureka! the beginning of my Roman lifetyle.  I was excited to taste this ancient drink of whom Greeks, Romans and other known civilizations like Egyptians and Arabs had long-enjoyed.  It was from the bible that I have known such during banquet - "The wedding at Cana".  Hmmm..., and now this drink was for real.

It was red wine!  Swirling the glass,  it was pretty good watching the natural red color.  My friend was glad seeing me busy observing my newly found drink.  He told me to let my nose also sense my wine and not just my tongue.  With excitement, I did sniff and sense the fruity-like smell of it.  Wow!

Ooops...not just wine, I remembered during that welcome dinner, but also the sumptuous food: from appetizer to first plate of lasagna up to the main course of roasted beef down to the dessert tiramisu.

Indeed, I had my buon appetito! And that was how I remembered my first Red wine.