Est! Est!! Est!!!

There is another nice Italian white from the Montefiascone region which is called Est! Est!! Est!!!

There is a story behind this name. Around the year 1000 or so (if I recall correctly) a bishop which was going to Rome for his nomination sent a scouting party in front of him to find the taverns where the best wines were being served. The agreement was that the scouts would mark "Est" of the door of the selected tavers (est being IS in latin, presumably for "this is good", or "this is it"). The story goes that when the scouts got to Montefiascone, they liked so much the wine being served in the local tavern that in their enthousiasm they wrote "Est! Est!! Est!!!" on the door!

The wine is a very nice, light, fruty and somewhat sparkly white wine, excellent as an aperitif in the summer.