Chris Gasbarro's wine shop in Seekonk

On Thursday, 24 April I returned to Chris Gasbarro's wine store in Seekonk.

When Mr. Gasbarro heard about my recent experience in trying to purchase a case of wine and the problem that ensued, he contacted me straightaway. He wanted to let me know that they had restructured their discount policy to try and rectify the confusion. He asked that I come by to check out the new system.

So I did.

In fact my wife and I decided to kill two birds with one stone, as it were: we went to Gasbarro's in Seekonk to check out the new pricing system and for one of their regular wine tastings, this one happened to be a tasting of Iberian peninsula wines, an area that we know little about but were keen to discover.

First the discounting system. They give 10% off of a case but only of those wines carrying a blank orange sticker (admittedly a very large selection of wines). Prior to using the orange stickers there was really no way of the customer being sure which wines were discounted and which were not. Mr.Gasbarro informed me that the system was still under evaluation and that they planned to upgrade their software to provide more clarity and ease of use for his staff as well.

Second the wine tasting. The shop has two large rooms on the second level, both with commanding views of the store and what seems to be a literal sea of wine bottles..

Anyway, the two surprises for us that evening were, in a nutshell, experiencing some fantastic wines from Spain (the Portugese selections left us unimpressed) and meeting Frank Carpano, Sr.

Not long after we climbed the stairs to the tasting rooms and walked inside, Chris Gasbarro introduced Susie and I to Frank, an octogenarian with a real nose for wine. Frank was a Tuscan by birth but had come to the US as a little boy and while becoming a success in New York city found time to develop his wine palate. And we were the beneficiaries of it that evening.

What inspired us right off was that we could speak with him in Italian -- which we did for much of the evening -- and we came to rely on his nose as we went from table to table, chatting about the particular qualities of this wine or that one. And of course straying off into conversations about Italy -- his family is from Lucca, my God Lucca! -- among other things.

After the tasting, which is free I might add, and very well organized and laid out with food and ample water, we spent a little time choosing a few wines to purchase. We were both impressed with the Albarino varietal of white wines from northwestern Spain (Galicia) and so choose several different producers of that particular grape.

A wonderful way to close out the week and begin a celebration on my completing the 60th year of life. And better things were yet to come.