Wine and Opera… what comes to your mind? For me, the first word I think of is ‘passion’. So when I was given the opportunity to enjoy Opera while dining at Vancouver’s finest Italian eatery Cioppino’s and enjoying the prestigious wines of Allegrini Estates in Italy, I said yes obviously!
If you are not familiar with Allegrini, they are located in Valpolicella, an area of Italy which is east of Venice. They have been in the wine business since the 16^th century and are recognized as one of the top Italian wine producers in the world. An estate passed down through the generations. And you can easily tell through the elegance of the wines why they have the reputation they do.

Our evening was set up like this…after each wine was introduced by Robin Shay, the engaging Export Director of Allegrini Winery, his wife Meghan, a Mezzo-soprano Italian opera singer performed a song to introduce us to the personality of each wine before we began each course. What an amazing way to experience a wine. Here are each of the wines paired with each dish and the opera piece to match…

You’ll find the rest of this article  on my other passion project website: Cork Affairs ! Enjoy!