After having brunch with Ms. Yoga, we decided to go next door for her to see the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.  Shopping became fun, years ago when the Forum opened up and it created something new to be emulated in Vegas; theme shopping.  The skies could be controlled, the statutes of the Gods moved and talked, it was Disneyland for the adults, when they left the tables and decided to buy something, instead of giving it back at the tables. It is fun to be entertained and the show is always on in Vegas, and not only that, but the Gods were smiling down at me, because neither one of them bought anything.  I was also pleased to see that at least on the corner that we were, that we were not inundated with “hooker” advertising brochures.   We decided to go back to Bellagio, in case Ms. Yoga’s room became ready, and I tried to keep her clear from entering the enticing Petrossian Caviar Bar, but we did find a nice bar for people watching.

We started off our session of people watching with Famiglia Cielo dal 1908 Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC 2022.  The history of the Cielo family and wine began in 1908, when Giovanni Cielo purchased an estate in the heart of Veneto, between Vicenza and Verona, at the foothills of the Dolomites, overlooking the famed castles of Romeo and Juliet.  The second generation worked on making the label and wine consistent and to survive the war.  The third generation took the estate and created a national company.  The fourth generation took the wine international and eqpanded the production by opening up to the members of the Cantine dei Coll Berici, with more than a thousand winegrowers between Vicenza and Verona.  The wine is probably one of their larger productions, an easy drinking wine that was probably fermented and short aging in Stainless Steel tanks.  In 2017, the classification changed from delle Venezie IGT to either delle Venezie DOC or Trevenezie DOC.  This was a perfect afternoon wine to drink with its straw-yellow wine offering notes of white fruits, white florals and traces of beeswax.  On the palate, a light wine offering tones of white peaches, and a short finish.

This was followed by Il Borro Twentieth Vintage Toscana IGT 2018.  My second wine from this winery in a day, without being a tasting.  Il Borro is located in the Valdearno hills of Tuscany planted primarily with classic international varieties, as well as Sangiovese. The vineyard is forty-five hectares and was planted in 1997 on a combination of sandstone and sandy-clay soils.  The vineyard is 300-500 meters above sea level.  This is their flagship wine, and before any planting was done, they commissioned a geological study and the soils were considered best for classic international varieties.  This wine is a blend of fifty percent Merlot, thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen percent Syrah.  The fruit was manually harvested and Initial Fermentation was done inn Stainless Steel vats.  Then the wines were aged for eighteen months; the Merlot partly in large tonneau and the balance in oak barrels, while the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Syrah was aged in new and second use oak barrels.  The wines were then blended and finished in Stainless Steel for an additional six months.  A dark red to purple wine that offered notes of red fruit, florals, Sous-bois, cocoa, and tobacco.  On the palate a big, velvety wine with tones of raspberry, currants, and kirsch blended with soft tannins and finishing off with a good medium count of fruit, spices, and iron.