Quick Review: Cantele Primitivo 2001

Italy, Salento, Cantele Primitivo 2011
++ // Smooth // Blueberry jam, Petrol // Blueberries, Blueberry jam,Nutmeg, Black pepper // Med-full

We're liking Primitivo more and more. It's juicy, fruity, and luscious on the tongue. The fruit makes it taste "sweet," although it's technically not so sweet in terms of Residual Sugars.

What Does a Wine Label Mean by DOC?

Like France, Italy has attempted to codify their most renowned and historic wine regions, to protect the brand. "Denominazione di Origine Controllata" translates as "Controlled Designation of Origin", and denotes a wine from a specific region, created in a traditional style from specific varietals or blends. There are over 300 recognized regions, and they make up the most recognizable Italian wines:

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Barbera d'Asti
Dolchetto d'Asti
Marsala
Orvieto
Prosecco
Soave
Valpolicella 
Kalterersee
Bolgheri
Langhe

 

This doesn't necessarily speak to quality though, mostly focusing on historic wine producing regions. DOCG or  "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita" or "Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin" is only handed out to a few very specific regions, and is supposed to indicate higher quality traditional wines. A few more recognizable names:

Barolo
Chianti 
Aglianico del Taburno
Soave Superiore
Barbaresco

Did You Know?... About Tuscan Wines

Tuscany is a region in the middle of Italy, famous for Florence and some of the great wines of Italy.

Chianti: Maybe the most famous wine of Italy,with the old image of the squat bottle wrapped in a wicker basket. Those days, not much was expected from the quality of Chianti, but a loosening of the DOC rules in the 1990s has given winemakers a chance to really show the strength of the Sangiovese grape that goes into that wine. It has a strong cherry flavor, but can end up with a balance of acidity and tannins that can give it equal hints of flowers and leather.

Montepulciano: Another red grape with a bolder flavor, rich in apple and plum notes.

Brunello: The big wine of the region, known for aggressive flavors that often need years of aging to mellow.

Vernaccia, Verdicchio, etc: The white wines of the region can be beautiful, with richness and herb notes, but according to many, it's difficult to discern the difference between the grapes.

Super Tuscans: Some winemakers wanted to deviate from the stringent rules of traditional Chianti. The name was an attempt by winemakers to create a new brand that would allow them to work in their own style. The "style" included everything from minor varations on Chianti to wines closer to a Bordeaux Blend.

Tuscany Wine with Winter Soup

Learning about Italian wines in a cold New York winter was difficult. While they make some amazingly big and bold reds, the whites we found seemed to be more light and delicate. Of course, if paired correctly, even a lighter wine can make for a great meal.

Soup. Bread. Hearty vegetables. That's how we eat to survive the cold. In this case, the soup was turnips, pureed with avocado and garbanzo beans. The beans and turnips gave it an earthy flavor with a hint of sweetness from the turnips, while the avocado gave the soup some rich creaminess. Topped with some brussels sprouts fried with bacon, and served with some fresh, hot bread, we were looking at a flavorful meal. But the despite the significant flavors of the dish, we thought the fruitiness of a red might clash with the sweet flavors of the turnips and brussels sprouts.

Montenidoli is situated in an old wine growing region in the hills of Tuscany, in the shadow of San Gimignano. The site was abandoned in the World Wars, but revitalized in the 1960s by the current owners. They specialize in regional grapes, and we picked up their "Vernaccia di San Gimignano", labeled as a "dry white wine". We had never tried the Vernaccia grape before, but we made an assumption that a dry white would give us some of the more grassy notes that might work well with the dinner. In this case, we were wrong, but it worked out in our favor. The wine was floral on the nose, but had a mixture of citrus and fruit backed with a salty minerality that matched the earthy flavors of the meal.

What did we learn about Italian wine this time around? That it can be unexpected, and quite amazing. We definitely have incentive to keep exploring.

What Italian Varietals are Grown in the United States?

Exploring United States-grown Italian varietals requires some effort, but once you start looking, you find them everywhere. California's varying climates and vast production leads the way, with thousands of acres of Italian varietals under production. Barbera and Tocai Friulano are not uncommon there. Pinot Gris, the French version of Pinot Grigio, can be found all over the United States, as can Sangiovese, the grape used in Chianti. Other U.S. regions experiment with  varietals like Montepulciano, Aglianico, and even more esoteric grapes. It's fun to try something "different" from a favorite winemaker, especially from large producers known for their Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Merlot. You might have to do some digging, however, to find these grapes in your local wine store. Some might argue that Italian grapes should stay in Italy, where they are meant to be grown. If we went with that premise, though, we wouldn't have wine regions in this country: all of our wine grapes were imported at one point or another.

Italian Wines from The United States

Our focus on local wines means we haven't had any real opportunity to explore Italian wines. Even Italian grapes are hard to come by if you focus on local, because few New World producers grow them. Yet, they are out there. When we decided to try a case of Italian wines, we did manage to find a few bottles that met both our criteria - Local and Italian.

Channing Daughters in Long Island, NY is one of the few wineries on the East Coast of the US working with Italian varietals. Maybe the warming influence of the ocean along the coastline is close enough to the sea breezes of the Italian climate, because Channing Daughters is experimenting with a handful of Italian grapes.

The first wine we tried was their Ramato. Made from the Pinto Grigio grape, the wine is made in a traditional Friulian style, where the white grapes are fermented on the skins, like an "Orange" wine. On the nose, it was an aromatic wine with bright and vibrant floral and fruit notes, but was more bitter, reminiscent of dried fruits and flowers in taste. Despite the fact that this was a white grape, the dried flavors worked well with a meaty lamb pasta: the fattiness of the lamb blunted some of the more bitter flavors.

On the other hand, their Ribiolla Gialla was bright on both the nose and tongue. Another orange wine in the style of the Friuli region, this grape had a lot of aggressive citrus flavors, orange both in color and flavor. Unfortunately, our pairing it with a meal of breaded chicken served with a pomegranate sauce resulted in the wine totally overpowering the dinner. We were hoping for something a little more herbal, but the sharp flavors of orange and orange rind buried the simple flavor of the chicken. We're confident, though, that this wine is meant to be consumed with food.

In the end, the bottles were a great reminder of why its worthwhile to keep an eye out for something a little different. We got a chance to support a great local winery, and learn about some new wine varietals at the same time.

Quick Review: Erste+Neue Pinot Bianco 2012

Italy, Alto Adige, Erste+Neue Pinot Bianco 2012
+ // Crisp // Peach, Mineral // Tart apple, Underripe peach, Vanilla // Light

A bright wine, very mouthwatering.

Did You Know?... About the Wine Regions of Italy

Quick Review: Erste+Neue Leuchtenburg 2012

Italy, Alto Adige, South Tyrol, Erste+Neue Leuchtenburg 2012
+ // Fruity // Fresh plum // Poached peach, Pear,  Graphite, Oak // Light

A good sipping wine. Big flavor, but doesn't linger on the palate.
This is the "Schiava" grape.

What To Expect from Italian Wine?

We might not know all there is to know about Italian wines, but when we think of the food culture that surrounds them, the image of boisterous family meals springs to mind. While our personal expectation for a French wine is to be nuanced and refined, we think of Italian wines as bold and aggressive.

Apparently, we were not completely off base in our assumptions. Barolos from the best producers are powerful, flavor-filled wines that can retain a punch after decades of aging. Many of the whites are bracingly acidic, even in the warm Mediterranean climate. But in the North, as the seaside gives way to the foothills of the Alps, Italy is a very different place for wine.

In our exploration of Italian wine, we picked up a few bottles from the Alto Adige region. The first bottle we tried was something unexpected, a red more in line with the cold climate wines we know. Then, two bottles from the same producer gave us a chance to learn a little bit more. A light bodied red, full of big and bold fruit flavors with an undertone of minerality...but still "light bodied." The white wine was not such a surprise: a bright and mouth watering wine with delicate flavors.

It seems that, while we thought we had a general idea of what to expect, we learned there can be a wide range of wine styles within even a small countries borders.

Quick Review: Tenute Rubino Primitivo 2009

Italy, Salento, Tenute Rubino, Primitivo 2009
++ // Fruity // Earthy, Raspberry // Cherry, Blackberry, Tanin // Medium

Think: "Italian Zinfandel"

Did You Know?... About Italian Varietals

Italy has a wine culture all its own. Many of its grapes can only be found here:

Whites

Moscato: A white grape, used to make a sweet sparkling wine.
Fruliano: The main white wine of the Fruili region, with delicate flavors.
Trebbiano: Blended with Garganega to make Soave wine, this is one of the most widely planted grapes in the world.
Verdicchio: An aggressively acidic white wine made in the Marche region near Rome.

Reds

Aglianico: A big, "rustic" wine from the Campania region
Barbera: Easier to grow than Nebbiolo, it produces a lighter wine.
Nebbiolo: The grape used in Barolo wines, probably the most renowned Italian grape.
Primitivo: The ancestor of Zinfandel.
Sangiovese: Used to make the well known Chianti wine.

Quick Review: San Pietro Schiava 2012

Italy, Alto Aidge, San Pietro Schiava 2012
+ // Fruity // Cherry, Oak, Orange, Forest floor // Orange rind, Blackberry, Cranberry, Prune // Medium

Learning New Varietals with Schiava

It is difficult to learn everything there is to know about wine. There are varietals that show up only in certain countries or regions. This seems particularly true of Italy. As we explore Italian wines, we come across grapes we have seen nowhere else. A recommendation for "something we might not have seen before" from Union Square Wines led us to the Schiava grape.

Trying a new varietal can be a difficult experience to quantify. Without a base of knowledge, how are you to know if the wine tastes the way it is "supposed to"? Our answer would be, don't worry about that. If you have to compare it to something, compare it to other wines you might know, and see what you can learn.

The bottle of Schiava was something unique. We thought it might be comparable to a cool climate Pinot Noir, but throw in citrus flavors to go along with the light red fruits and earthiness. This one bottle was enough to pique our interest to try more in the Schiava family.

Wine Cheat Sheet: Nero D'Avola

Quick Review: Ceuso Scurati Nero D'Avola 2011

Italy, Sicili, Ceuso Scurati Nero D'Avola 2011
+ // Fruity-Earthy // Barnyard, Ethenol, Mulling Spices // Chocolate, Candy Apple // Medium

This one had the higher alcohol content and bigger "mouth feel" from its counterpart that we sampled.

Quick Review: Tenuta Ididini Nero D'Avola 2012

Italy, Sicili, Tenuta Ibidini Nero D'Avola 2012
+ // Fruity-Smooth // Cherry, Spice // Cherry, Bitter Chocolate // Light

This was the lighter, more drinkable wine from the two Nero D'Avola wines we sampled. It had lighter alcohol content and was a year younger than its counterpart.

Learning About Wines with Nero D'Avola

Last year at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, we were reminded that we still don't know a lot about Italian wines. Even when we focus on New World wines, we tend to focus on France and other regions that grow the varietals we've come to know and love. Italian wines seem, well, Greek to us. So for the New Year, we made a resolution to try to learn a bit more about Italian wines.

To help in our education, we ventured to Union Square Wines in Manhattan. With a series of excited recommendations from their staff, we selected 12 bottles to round out a case of wine, all the while making plans for how we wanted to explore them. We had a lot of ground to cover: Italy has a tremendous wine industry, and we selected a bunch of different wines to kick off this exploration. We decided to at least start by comparing two wines, the same varietal from the same region.

Two bottles of Nero D'Avola from Sicili, what could we learn? Both were fruity, with cherry flavors similar to Pinot Noir. One was a deep color, almost purple, while the other was so light that it was almost transparent. Both wines had a bitter, earthy edge, like a hint of unsweetened baking cocoa. One lost some of that bitterness as it opened up, while the other seemed to intensify. The lighter wine seemed a bit more drinkable, while the heavier wine had some aggressive alcohol that gave a bit of a punch.

The similarities might give us a general idea about Nero D'Avola, but a sample size of two isn't really enough to go on. Yet, the differences that give us a chance to learn. Other than different winemakers, the only difference was the vintage and a higher alcohol content in one, so we had a ton of questions (and thankfully the internet could provide answers to some):
-Was the harvest one year warmer, leading to riper grapes?
 -The 2011 season was warm throughout the year.
 -2012 was another warm year, with some late rains that helped the harvest.
-Why the higher alcohol content?
-Does one of the vineyards have older vines?
 -The vineyards for the lighter wine are young.
-How long do the winemakers let their wines age in the barrel before bottling?
 -The lighter wine was aged in steel barrels for 6 months.
 -The heavier wine was aged for 8 months in cement vats with a glass lining.

There is still a lot for us to learn, obviously, but for now we know that we enjoyed these two wines in different ways and for different reasons.

Did You Know?... About the Alto Adige Region of Italy

Alto Adige is a region in northern Italy in the Alps, on the border with Germany and Switzerland. The wines of the region have as much in common with German wines as Italian, stretching from the warm Mediterranean to the cool foothills of the Alps. The Gewurztraminer grape is originally from the village of Tramin in Alto Adige.

Quick Review: Two Italian Reds

We sampled two red wines at the 2013 NYC Wine & Food Festival Pairing Seminar.

2010 Layer Cake Primitivo
/ // Fruity // Black cherry, clove // Pruned cherries, purple flower (lavender?) // Medium

Anthony Giglio suggested the lavender. I wasn't sold, but I also couldn't say there wasn't lavender in there...and as we always argue, if someone thinks it, it is right! Layer Cake is a U.S. wine producer but, for this Primitivo, they source grapes from Puglia.

2005 Tormaresca Negroamaro Masseria Maime
++ // Spicy // Honey, coffee, black fruit, strawberry // black fruit, pepper, tannin // Medium-full

My favorite of the day's offering, best served with food. The grape here is Negroamaro.

The two reds, side by side.