What the best wines to serve with Italian food are all depends upon what Italian food we’re talking about.  There is no one authentic Italian cuisine, only a myriad of regional cuisines and specialty dishes that slide down easily with a seemingly endless array of local wines.  To accompany the artfully prepared risottos and complex sauces of Northern Italy’s Piedmont, the region’s “Three B’s” (Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera) immediately come to mind.  Producers such as Seghesio, Silvio Grasso, and Querciola provide memorable accompaniments to Piedmont’s celebrated cuisine.  And if fish or fowl make their appearance at a Piedmontese table, the region’s elegant dry white wines offer incomparable quality and value, especially Malaibale di Canale’s Roero Arneis and Massone’s crystalline Gavi.  And to accompany Florentine Steak or one of Tuscany’s signature bean dishes, there is no better wine to serve than Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Richer than Chianti Classico and fresher and more food friendly than Brunello di Montalcino it’s hard to beat Vino Nobile at table, especially if the wine happens to be an elegant Vino Nobile from Caterina Dei.  Moving south, how could anyone pass up a bottle of Greco or Fiano di Avellino from Caggiano or Colli di Lapio while sojourning along the Amalfi Coast to enjoy with some of the world’s most spectacular seafood?  The hinterlands of this spellbinding coast also harbor the ancient Aglianico varietal that pairs perfectly with the region’s lamb and hearty stews.  Vesevo and Molettieri are two producers to count on for exceptional Aglianico.  We shouldn’t overlook Sicily and the far south as sources of affordable treasures either.  Cellaro’s Nero d’Avola pairs splendidly with pizza, pasta, and the heady tomato and garlic laden dishes of Italy’s Deep South.  And these wines just begin the conversation.

Prost!
Don

photo credit: lennox_mcdough via photopin cc

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, and then there’s more Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  And yeah, there’s the occasional Riesling or Viognier to take a break from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  But isn’t there more to fine white wine than the hegemony of the usual triumvirate?  And what are some other great white wines?  The world’s full of fine white wines that don’t receive the attention they deserve.  For starters, how about Falanghina?  Don’t try to pronounce it.  Even in Italian, the name Falanghina (an indigenous grape variety of Italy’s Campania) doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.  Bright, fruity, soft, seductive, yet dry and refreshing, a growing number of first class Campanian producers are sending Falanghina our way.  Try it!  The same can be said for Greco and Fiano di Avellino, two super premium grape varieties from Italy’s alluring Amalfi Coast.

Greco and Fiano di Avellino are truly beautiful white wines that drink well alone and with food, especially seafood.  Verdicchio is another crowd pleasing white wine from Italy that is now better than ever.  Gruner Veltliner, Austria’s iconic white grape variety, also deserves to be better known.  It makes a wonderful aperitif, and it pairs beautifully with Asian and Fusion cuisines.  Gewurztraminer is another unsung hero.  It’s one of the few white wines that can hold up to heat and heady Asian stir fries as well as rich pâtés and smoked meats.  Gewurztraminer is never outclassed by the food, and it can be enjoyed as an aperitif or in place of dessert.  And these grapes are just a few of the great white varietals that abound.  So, why not really step outside of the Chardonnay/Sauvignon box?

A votre santé
Don Lahey

For more than a century Zinfandel has run the gamut in California from boom to bust and back.  Brought to fore during California’s Gold Rush, the hills of Amador County still yield plenty of  the luscious, spicy, often chameleon-like grape we call Zinfandel.  Zinfandel is widely believed to be descended from Primitivo, a European varietal now cultivated in Italy, which happens to be identical in DNA to the ancient Croatian varietal Crljenak Kaštelanski.  This DNA match up confirms Zinfandel as one of the oldest continuously cultivated grape varieties in the world.  Yet, it wasn’t until Zinfandel traveled to America that it found its true home – California.  Although the first definitive California plantings of Zinfandel took place just prior to the middle of the 19^th century, it didn’t take long for Zinfandel to gain favor in America, first with the 49’ers and then with the waves of Italian immigrants who made their way west.

Today, Zinfandel is widely acknowledged as America’s Heritage wine with more than 50,000 acres under cultivation, nearly all of it in California.  Although most important grape varieties have their reference points in Europe, Zinfandel bills itself as an American success story, and its history reads as the classic rags to riches tale. What has no doubt made Zinfandel so popular in America is the grape’s ability to adapt to different climates and treatments.  Zinfandel is a grape capable of producing rich intense red wines of more than 15% alcohol as well as light fruity “blush” wines.  What more can one ask for?  How about a glass and a bottle of Terra d’Oro’s 2010 Amador County Zin?

Salud!
Don Lahey