Just 3 words: Italian, desserts, and wine

I know you are all enjoying the Italian cuisine in Torino!

Did you know when you come to Convention 2014, you can keep that Italian Party going?! At the Italy Pavilion at Epcot!

Gee ... am I in Venice or Florida?????

I have that wonky kind of love for the way Disney mangles everything

And when I turn around ......

I'm suddenly I'm in Florence!

With its own little Disney trashcan - just like the original would have!

And in this little spot of Italy in Florida is the Tutto Italia ristorante and Tutto Gusto wine cellar.

But I was there for a special reason: The Food and Wine Festival Event: Italian Desserts and Wine matching!

OH YES!!

Ushered into room ... yeah yeah .... 50 ish people ... yada yada ... a couple of welcome speeches ... LET'S GET TO THE FOOD!

So we were all seated and presented with this array of shiny glassware and cutlery:

Four desserts and four matching Italian dessert wines! Pancreatic heaven!

The wines all came from the same winery: Batasiolo. All dessert wines - an Asti, Moscato, Moscato Rose and Sparkling Red. They were quite sweet, and it was explained to us that the sweetness is due to less fermination of the sugars, and so the wines had a lower alcohol content. They were also just slightly bubbly or 'frizzante'

Now I know nothing about Batasiolo - from my scant Google research they seem to range from the excellent down to the average everyday. They seem to get average and above reviews

The first dessert up was Tiramisu. I love a good Tiramisu and this was very close to Delia Smith's recipe. How authentic is that!

All that chocolately, coffee, mascaponey goodness in a martini glass - YUM! 

Paired with an Asti - I polished it off quickly. Living up to it's name, Tiramisu always 'makes me happy'.

With my tastebuds just getting going, the next dessert was a cannoli

Fresh, fresh cannoli creaminess. I surrepticiously wiped the creamy filling through the chocolate sprinkles. I don't think anyone noticed.

This was the freshest crispest shell I had experienced in a long time. Had a smooth creamy filling that was studded with flecks of chocolate. Fantastic - and paired with a moscato. I love moscato. I am now having a moscato fling - I notice it on every menu and must have a glass! You know, moscato makes for the best Bellinis!

Onto dessert No. 3: Torta Di Ricotta Con Fragole al Limone.  All you gals currently in Italy: Do you remember what is 'Fragole'??

Yes! It's strawberries! Our first fruit for the session

And look - ripped off - only half the dessert! After giving us two full sized ones now this??  To be frank, someone had to pace my consumption for me - cause I wasn't doing it.

This was nice - well done, technically good etc. Just a little bland. The lemon flavour didn't really cut through. I ate it gratefully but mostly enjoyed the moscato rose with which it was served.

Batasiolo Moscato Rose

This was my favourite of the wines. More bubbly and depth of flavour and fruitiness, whilst still carrying that dessert wine sweetness. Why is this not available in Australia?? (someone please tell me that it is) Don't worry about the small amount in the glass - top ups were continuous.

By now the table was getting clearer - I was running out of glasses and cutlery and all they had left to serve was No. 4: Semifreddo Alla Nutella Con Cioccolato Amaro. No translation needed.

Oh look! More fruit!

Back to the dairy based, fibre free, full sized zone. THIS was my favourite dessert. Basically really upmarket chocolate ice cream. By this stage, the smooth coolness of the ice cream was refreshing and the rich sauce was a bit too much for me. Dessert No. 4 proved my killer.

I took one for the team, and just ate the important bits

.

This was paired with a Sparkling Red - an unidentified varietal. Unfortunately by now I was a bit too full to really appreciate the wine. I do remember that it was not as luscious as sparkling burgundy and seemed a bit like a half failed carbonation of  your average house red.  Perhaps this one is down at their "average" range of products.

In 2 hours I had consumed 3.5 full dairy based desserts and at least 2 glasses of wine. I was a tad buzzy and a tad porky and definitely very happy.

This was definitely 3 Mr Creasotes cause I was "stuffed" and

2 spoonfuls of sugar - because whilst delicious - it was not the most inventive, creative, diverse range of desserts they could have served. I bet there is better in Torino!.

 This special event was part of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival held from September to November every year. However, these desserts are available all year round at Tutto Italia ristorante. Only the Moscato and the Moscato Rose are available, and only at Tutto Italia.

Adjacent to the restaurant is the brand new Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar - which is looking very impressive (according to this review on Disney Food Blog). Have a look at both menus and plan your trip to Italy in Florida!