Foodies! What's the best in Rome?
 

Can any of you foodies out there tell me what the best possible olive oil, balsamic vinager and wine would be to bring back home to the states?

Best wine? from Italy? At what budget? to whose tastes?

Look for these: you will find literally hundreds of exdtraordinary labels - - Barolo, Montepulciano (perhaps especially Nobile) or Teroldego Rotaliano.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi

Add to Rex's wine list the 1997 Brunello. Look for Le Chiuse Brunello 1997 Riserva $115 in US.

Also look for 250ml bottle of Mancardi 21 balsamic vinegar about $75 in US

Olive oil is so tricky. Every region, every town, has their own and each is slightly different, some stronger, some lighter, some greener. Much depends on how you plan to use it. Will you be dipping bread in it? Dressing a salad? Using it over cooked vegetables? It's also a very personal thing--you particular sense of taste.

At a pizzeria in Verona the pizzaolo came out of the kitchen to give my companion and me two different olive oils, one for each of us based on the ingredients on our individual pizzas.

I'd recommend tasting the olive oil every chance you get--just pour a little on plain bread. Often there will be a bottle on the table. When you find what you like, ask the proprietor if the bottle is unlabeled.

Hi ellenem,

Do you have to ask the proprietor if the bottle is unlabled? Can't you just look at it yourself?

austine,
You should try in one of those deli-shop such as Castroni (Via Cola di Rienzo) or Volpetti (Via Marmorata,5 mins from Piramide Metro-station www.volpetti.com) .

What is the shelf life of olive oil?

I use olive oil for cooking fish and salad dressing. What types do you recommend that I bring home?

Balsamic vinegar is not a Roman thing. It comes from a town called Modena which is between Milan and Bologna.

Sure you can buy BV in Rome, but it's not an indiginous food product of Lazio (province in which Rome is located).