We are hosting a tasting with Alice Massaria of Bottega 1900, tasting extra virgin olive oils, biodynamic balsamicos, cheeses and beautiful Sicilian wines, highlighting the biodiversity that Italy has to offer.

It will be held on the 17th of March, from 6pm, and will be an amazing deep dive into some of the best produce that Italy has to offer. Extra virgin olive oil you will want to drink from the cup, cheeses that will make your mouthes salivate, balsamic vinegar like you've never seen before and wines that will carry into your dreams and make you a better person.

Alice and Enea have attempted something different, when it comes to sourcing and sharing the beautiful and varied foods of Italy. Initially out of a passion but then for great potential opportunities, they were attracted by the many nuances that Italy and its history, as well as the influence the people who have inhabited the Belpaese have had over time, on food habits and traditions over the centuries.

In Italy, there are over 500 types of olives suitable for extra virgin olive oil making! The producers they represent are of other times, niche, committed to doing things right with tradition and passion together with new techniques and innovation that allow them to enhance the territory with its unique scents and flavors.

Over the course of the evening they will be sharing extra virgin olive oils and biodynamically produced balsamicos that they simply love and wish for people to love as much as they do. We will be pairing these with cheeses, bread and a range of regional wines (like the wonderful COS of Sicily) to show how these can be integrated into your cooking and eating lives.

If you love cooking, eating well and the pursuit of knowledge, then this is the tasting for you.

A Bit More About Bottega 1900

Bottega 1900 was born from the idea of creating an organic Italian old style grocery shop online, where people could find the best of the best artisan products Italy has to offer. Alice and Enea's vision with Bottega 1900 was for their son to see the principles and traditions that were ingrained by their Italian families, which include, but not limited to, eating habits and using genuinely made products for personal care. Enea’s family is from the south of Italy while Alice’s family is from the north. They grew up loving good food and appreciate good produce genuinely grown and/or raised (organic), simple dishes, balanced diet where vegetal proteins and fats are preferred rather than animal ones.

Bottega 1900 collaborate with small, family run, likeminded producers that share the same principles as ours at Native Drops. They only use local produce to make/transform/create their final products. Most of the producers own the land and fruits they use but if not, they collaborate with local growers who work the land organically and at times also biodynamically. These people care for real about what they do, they have a clear vision and for nothing they compromise their quality. Their integrity is admirable and even if most times the way they do things is harder, more expensive and produces way less quantity, pays off in the impeccable quality of their products.

Their website can be found here: https://www.bottega1900.com.au/