With my Italian heritage, bocce is in my blood. As for bowling, I can barely even hold a bowling ball let alone throw it! I’m so afraid that when I pull the bowling ball back that it will run loose out of my hand and hit someone! Or even worse, when I throw it forward, it won’t release from my fingers and I’ll go sailing down the slippery bowling alley. True story. Ha! So for me, it's always bocce.
I grew up playing bocce in our backyard. Thanks to my Italian grandparents bocce became the sport of choice for us during family reunions and backyard barbecues. In fact, I think my first Italian word I learned was pallino! My dad was a stickler for rules and regulations. He would carry his measuring tape whenever we played. Never trust a person with a measuring tape. Ever. Ha! I learned a lot of Italian while playing bocce. But some of the Italian words and hand motions that I learned should NOT be spoken in public. Mamma mia!
I recently planned an event on Treasure Island where bocce and wine tasting were the main activities. I think they make quite a fashionably fun pairing. The venue was at Vie Winery as well as next door at winery, Sol Rouge. Both wineries actually grow grapes in the North Coast of California and ship them to this huge warehouse on Treasure Island to make their wines. Then if you drive down the road a bit there are wine tasting rooms that you can have catered or serve your own picnic fare. And best of all, this cute place has two outside bocce courts with the Bay Bridge as the backdrop.
At the event, guests tasted wine in the Sol Rouge Winery, which offers more premium wines. I visited the wineries ahead of time to do a little wine tasting research of my own and chose a select number of fine wines for the group. The MourVédre (moor-vay-druh) was astounding but the Cabernet Franc reminded me most of my trip to some boutique wineries in Mendoza, Argentina, a region where many acres of this major black grape varieties have been planted since 2003. Fun fact: Cab Franc was born in the Loire Valley, France where I studied abroad!
Bravo to the staff at Vie and Sol wineries for going above and beyond to accommodate each and every guest. I highly recommend hosting a bocce and wine tasting party for some fun, laughter and joy! Capisce? (ca-pee-shay)
Another place to play bocce is at a restaurant in San Francisco called, Stock in Trade. Their motto, “Brunch, Bocce-Ball and Bottomless Bubbles!” What a colorful motto! It’s a small, narrow indoor bocce court but still loads of fun. Don’t forget your measuring tape and your sense of humor.
And should you choose bowling over bocce, I recommend trying Lucky Strike in San Francisco. It’s a great spot to have a party with food and beverages and also a place to bowl!
If you need some help with planning a bocce, bowling or wine tasting party, I can dream big for you but break it down into small manageable steps. Just ask!
P.S. I’m fun to work with. ;)
As my Dad always said, “Viva il Bocce”
