Photo credit: Janet Donovan
There had to be a really, really, really good reason why several hundred guests showed up for a party in the Gold Room of the Rayburn House Office building on a night when temperatures soared and thunderstorms threatened. There was: The National Italian American Foundation’s (NIAF) Wine-Off Tasting event held in cooperation with the new Italian American Congressional Staff Association (IACSA). Guests sipped on Prosecco and pondered jumping into the reflecting pool – a reasonable distance from the balcony – though not necessarily in that order.
More than 200 Congressional staff members, wine lovers and embassy staff rotated around the room to visit four tables serving American and Italian sparkling, red, white and dessert wines and voted for their favorite wines at each station. The wines served included Italian Prosecco by Zardetto; Italian Chianti imported by Ruffino; California Ravenswood Chardonnay; Italian San Pietro Alto Adige Pinot Grigio; Tabarrini Adarmando; Tabarrini Sagrantino; and Val Cerasa Etna Rosso 2008. The wines were donated by Rodman’s, a Friendship Heights’s grocery and wine store; Via Umbria, an Italian import store in Georgetown; and Italian wine importer RWK Imports LLC in Front Royal, Va.
“I worked on Capitol Hill for twelve years,” John Calvelli – Executive Vice President and Chair of the Government Affairs Committee for NIAF – told Hollywood on the Potomac, “and at that time, thanks to The Italian American Foundation (NIAF), we started an organization for Italian American staff. I left the hill and unfortunately it kind of fell apart; but thanks to a new group of young Italian Americans that decided to re-energize, they literally have created a new entity which is The Italian American Staff Association.”
John Calvelli with Geoff Browning
“Why is it important? I think as an Italian-American and especially as we move on to generation after generation from the immigrant experience,” Calvelli added, “we realize how important it is to kind of look back a bit and learn from our past so that we can be better in the present and in the future. To me, the values that were passed on as Italian Americans becomes so important and it is important that this generation not forget the sacrifices that were made by generations before, and also to learn about Italy today and the incredible role that Italy plays. So, we should be proud of who we are; we should be proud of being Americans; but we should also know a bit about who we are as Italians, not only in American Society, but in the global society.”
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