Did you watch the 1980 Italian comedy flick "The Taming of the Scoundrel"? The movie is Italian interpretation of Shakespeare's comedy "The Taming of the Shrew." It is a hilarious love story about the model from Milan who fell in love with a surly vigneron when she got stuck in a little Italian town on her way home. There's a famous seen in the film with the main character dancing in the barrel while pressing wine and competing with a mechanical press. Inspired by the movie we came up with the idea of the wine tasting for our club consequently named "The Taming of Piedmont."

Why Piedmont? We picked this region because it's the jewel of the Italian wine scene and the action in the movie takes place in a town next to Piedmont. We wanted to introduce our guests to classics as well as to some wines that are often overshadowed by Barolo and Barbaresco.

We started with classic white wine Gavi di Gavi Toledana 2016 - the refreshing Italian wine with very delicate aromas. For a few of our guests, Toledana was the favorite wine of the evening. Now it's lesser known wine than Pino Grigio. But did you know that Gavi was the number one white Italian wine long before the rise of Pinot Grigio in the 1990s?

The second wine was off the beaten path - Castello di Verduno Basadone Pellaverga 2016. This red wine is also made from Piedmont native lesser known grape Pellaverga Piccolo. To our surprise, Basadone was the most talked about wine of the event, and more people favored it over the star of the evening Barbaresco.

Next wine was another hidden side of Piedmont. The third wine Proprieta Sperina Uvaggio 2013 is a blend of Nebbiolo, Vespolina and Croatina grapes. What makes this wine special is the use of Vespolina - the grape often used in tiny quantities to compliment "big brother" Nebbiolo but seldom mentioned on the label.

The star of the evening was Barbaresco Il Brico 2011- the top of the line Barbaresco from Pio Cesare. Il Brico represents what wine lovers love about this region: the feminine side of Nebbiolo with a sophisticated palate and robust flavor profile. It has long aging potential and will improve a lot with age, but it already drinks nice in 2019.

You can always tell when Italians don't want the night to end.

Out comes grappa! Our last bottle of the evening had two words that Piedmont wine region loved for - Grappa di Nebbiolo da Barolo. Every one of our guests said that it was the best grappa they ever tasted. It was aromatic, smooth and delightful and can stand alongside fine cognacs.

This region has so many great wines that the biggest challenge of putting this event together was to decide what to exclude.

It was a fantastic tasting night, but by no means, we feel that Piedmont was tamed this evening. We can only try to tame its wines, and we sure will make another attempt in the future.

What is your experience with Piedmont wines? Do you have any suggestions for future tastings?