Read this on the dalluva.com website: Olio Nuovo: Olive oil at its best

“Come quickly, the rains will arrive on Sunday,” explains Lidia with a sense of urgency in her voice. “We are harvesting the last olives and will complete the pressing in the next few days.”

And so goes the rush of the olive harvest in late-Autumn all across Italy. After lovingly pruning the trees in late winter, then fretting about frost and bugs and drought through spring and summer, families come together in a rush to harvest their treasured olives at just the right moment in November, and hopefully before the winter rains set in.

Failing to collect and press the olives in time can lead to poor harvests and little oil to go around to the family member for the year’s eating and cooking needs – a disaster by Italian standards.

Sustenance and tradition.

The Italians treat their olive trees like cherished members of the family.  Olive trees grow slowly and live a very long time – some trees in Puglia date back 800 years – and their place in the rhythmic cycle of Italian life is respected and celebrated.

In Italy the olive trees that you grow up with on the family farm were likely planted 10-20 generations before your time.

Family farms stretching from northern Tuscany & Liguria south to Sicily tend small groves of olive trees with the goal of pressing and bottling enough oil for the family. Italians traditionally use olive oil throughout the year, with small families using up to a liter of oil every week. Nearly everyone knows someone who has oil pressed from family-owned olive trees, and each year’s harvest is shared amongst the extended family members. Some family farms sell their olive oil if they have enough left over.

“So you say you want some oil.”

Each Winter I’ve been able to coax my Tuscan friend Arnaldo to sell me a few bottles of his prized family oil – just enough for my family’s needs. It’s mid-November and we’re catching up on life over a glass of Barolo at Pane e Vino in Cortona when I make my request.

“This year I’d like to import oil for my friends back home,” I say, leading into my request. Arnaldo has a serious look on his face. He knows where I’m going with this.

“This year we’ve suffered a terrible drought, and the olive harvest will be small.” That’s Arnaldo’s gentle way of telling me that he won’t be parting with his oil. There simply won’t be enough to go around.

“Go see Lidia and Roberta. They have wonderful oil, enough to sell to you a few hundred liters if you need it.”

The making of a
green elixir.

“The first pressing lets us taste the true essence of this year’s olives,” Lidia explains as we walk her olive grove on this chilly but dry November day. She’s talking about olio nuovo, or new oil – freshly pressed olive oil that is a rich, verdant green and tastes of, well, olives as they were meant to taste.

We Americans have been raised on bland, tasteless, yellow olive oil that is mass produced and likely years old. Unlike wine that can benefit from a little aging, olive oil deteriorates with age – the sooner you use it, the better it tastes and the healthier it is for you.

Lidia Castellucci and Roberta Giaccherini manage a family-owned farm named Buccelletti in the verdant Chio Valley just outside of Cortona in Tuscany. Nestled amongst the grapes and sunflowers and corn are olive groves that are hundreds of years old and lovingly tended by the locals.

Harvesting from
500+ trees.

When you’re harvesting from hundreds of trees like Lidia and Roberta do, picking by hand is not a practical option. Instead, harvest is done with what looks like a pitchfork at the end of a gas-powered, 8-foot long handle. Pickers slip the tines of the pitchfork high up into the limbs of the olive tree, fire up the engine and the tines rapidly (but gently) vibrate the limbs and knock the olives loose.

As a result, olives fly everywhere, landing on the ground where they’re caught in fine nets spread under the olive trees.

Once on the ground, pickers do a quick sort of the olives to remove fruit not worthy of oil, gather up the net and collect the olives into bins. Leaves and small twigs are removed prior to pressing.

Pressing the olives.

“It takes us weeks to harvest all of the olives, and we watch the weather like a hawk,” says Lidia . “Olives can mildew quickly when rained on, so it’s critical that we harvest while it’s dry and get the olives to the press every day.”

Pressing olive oil is serious business in Italy, and not just anyone can do it. Locals take their olives to a community olive press called a Frantoio where they wait their turn to have their olives pressed.

If you’re a local small family with a modest olive harvest, you simply drop off your olives at the nearby Frantoio Cooperative in exchange for an agreed upon number of kilos of olive oil (oddly, olive oil production is measured in kilos of oil and not liters).

The oil you get is a mélange from all of the other local small producers – very good extra virgin oil of high quality, but definitely not from “your olives.” This is the most economical way of turning your olives into olive oil.

Family farms with a large olive harvest take their olives to a private Frantoio where they get a batched pressing of just their olives. This is the only sure way to turn your olives into your oil. This is how Buccelletti turns their olives into Olivolo – their fresh-pressed, organic extra-virgin olive oil named after the local dialect for the Moraiolo olives grown on their farm.

Ancient methods meet modern methods.

Once upon a time, olives used to be pressed with huge, weighty granite wheels turned round-and-round by a beast of burden, and the resulting olive paste was placed on straw mats and pressed with a large, hand-turned vise. As the mash was pressed, oil and water collected in a pool where it was left to settle as the oil floated to the top over a period of days.

It’s all wonderfully romantic, but not so practical in today’s hurry-up-and-press-it world. These days, some of the romantic past is preserved, but more practical equipment is used to get the job done.

Once the olives are pressed by the stone wheels and turned into an oil-laden paste, this olive mash is layered onto special mats that are stacked 20+ high on a spindle, then rolled over to a hydraulic press for pressing.

Here’s where the magic takes place: The stack of olive mash is gently (but strongly) pressed to release the oil and water, which drip down the sides of the stack into a collection pool.

This emulsion of oil and water from the olives is then gently pumped over to a centrifuge where the oil is separated from the water.

The result is a vibrant green, dense oil that tastes purely of organic olives. This is truly how nature intended it.

Bottling purity for health.

Once pressed, Lidia and Roberta bottle their organic olive oil unfiltered, and that makes all the difference in taste and health. The bright green new oil has an intense fruitiness with artichoke and grassy notes, and the classic Tuscan pepperiness on the finish.

Italians believe that freshly pressed and unfiltered olive oil is also wonderfully healthful and reduces the risk of illness – and that’s one of the reasons why many enjoy olive oil on a daily basis.  Taste and health go well together.

Visiting Buccelletti.

Lidia and Roberta are very busy women – in addition to the olive harvest, they produce some interesting local wines as well as manage an agriturismo with a collection of casali rental homes sprinkled throughout the Val di Chio and just 9 miles from bella Cortona.

They are happy to greet you at their place in the hamlet of Santa Cristina for a tasting of this year’s olive oil, or a degustazione (sampling) of their wines.

Finding them: Buccelletti is located about an hour south of Florence and just outside the medieval town of Castiglion Fiorentino, right off SR71 at Via Santa Cristina, 16, Castiglion Fiorentino (AR) 52043.  It’s usually best to make a reservation if you’re planning a visit, which is easy to do: you can reach Lidia and Roberta by phone at +39.0575.650.179, or by E-mail at info@agricolabuccelletti.it.

Buying Olivolo
extra-virgin olive oil.

After tasting many Tuscan estate-grown oils this past fall, I chose the superb Buccelletti Olivolo to be our first olive oil we have ever imported.

Even though the Tuscan harvest was one-half of normal due to the drought this past year, I’ve been able to secure a limited number of 500 ml bottles of Olivolo for fans of fresh pressed, extra-virgin olive oils.

Many olive oils from Italy are imported by boat and get baked in the tropic sun as the shipping container progresses through the Panama Canal to the west coast of the US. Not ours. We’ve flown over our bottles of Olivolo to ensure their integrity, and our oil is direct from Lidia and Roberta’s cantina.

If you’d like to taste extra-virgin olive oil as it was meant to be, you can find Olivolo in the Dall’Uva Store. Drizzle it on crusty bread, sprinkle it over fresh spring salad greens, or pour a thin stream on a grilled-rare steak. Buon appetito!

– Michael

The post Olio Nuovo: Olive oil at its best appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: 399 Reasons to Drink Italian Wine in 2013

3 Glasses.

That’s the grand award bestowed upon some of Italy’s best wines, as judged by the tasting team at renowned Gambero Rosso.  Welcome to the Tre Bicchieri 2013 award season

It’s a difficult and meticulous process tasting over 20,000 Italian wines from thousands of producers, narrowing it down to just a handful (well, 399 to be exact).

Each October, Gambero Rosso publicly releases their closely-guarded “secret list” of the best wines of the coming New Year, all to great fanfare.

We’ve pulled together a handy guide to the Tre Bicchieri 2013 winners, sorted 3 ways that will help you more easily find these noteworthy wines in local and online wine shops.

Print this out and take it with you the next time you go searching for new and interesting Italian wines.

Download our handy summary guide.

Download our 32 page portable guide to the 2013 Tre Bicchieri winners. Print it out. Share with friends.

Buy the 2013 edition of Vini d’Italia.

Order your own copy of the Italian Edition of Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia 2013.

The Tre Bicchieri 2013 Winners of Gambero Rosso:

The post 399 Reasons to Drink Italian Wine in 2013 appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: Bringing Wine Home from Italy

Ever wonder how to safely and legally bring home prized wines from your trip to Italy?  It’s easy – if you know a few helpful tricks.  Our vino road warrior and Sommelier Michael Horne shares his secrets.

Hmm…  That’s a lot of wine

“We’ve bought all this wine, how are we going to get it all home?”  Barbara says with exasperation in her voice.  “I can’t drink it all here!”  I look at the 2 cases of wine she’s pointing to, stacked in lovely wine boxes in the corner of the room.  Brunello, Chianti, Supertuscan – nice wines that cost her a pretty penny.

“Well, you could drink it all here, but you’d spend most of your vacation pretty sauced up,” I say.  She’s not amused.

I’m at my favorite B&B in Siena, sitting at the family table sharing a modest Italian breakfast with first-time travelers.  Barbara and husband Jim just spent their week exploring and tasting their way through Chianti and Montalcino.  They couldn’t resist picking up bottles along the way, and now they have 24 little problems to deal with.

Relax – you can get your loved ones home

One of the great Italian travel experiences is visiting passionate Italian winemakers and tasting their latest vintages.  You haven’t experienced Italy until you’ve tasted her wines.  There’s nothing like exploring the aromas and flavors and nuances of Italian wines, exactly as the winemaker had intended – and the best place to do that is in the winemaker’s cantina.

I meet many Americans traveling in Italy who have fallen in love with a bottle of vino that they experienced with a grand meal at a romantic osteria.  They simply must bring some home with them.  They don’t always think about exactly how they’ll get it home, hoping that Google will help them figure it out.

With a little bit of forethought and effort, you can bring home a few bottles to a few cases of Italian wine, safely and cheaply.  All you need to do is 1) pack it safely, 2) decide how you want to ship it, and 3) clear customs on arrival in the States.

Follow my recommendations here and you’ll soon be enjoying your prized wines at home while reminiscing about your grand trip to bella Italia.

1.  Pack your vino well

Whether you’re planning to have your wine shipped to your home, or check your wine with your luggage on the flight home, you’ll need to ensure it’s packed safely.  Nothing ruins the end of a vacation quite like discovering broken bottles of your prized vino in your luggage – and only having red wine-stained clothes to show for it.

There are only 2 decent options for packing your wine for a long journey:  Wine shipper boxes and “bottle sleeves.”

Option 1: Wine shipper boxes

When I bring wine samples home with me from my Italian winery visits, I pick up boxes specifically designed to ship wine, check them with my luggage, and relax in peace knowing my bottles are super safe in the cargo hold.

Wine shippers are specially designed, heavy duty cardboard boxes with either Styrofoam or cardboard inserts designed to hold individual bottles of wine (or olive oil, or grappa, or…) safely and separately from each other.  The #1 goal is to keep the bottles from hitting each other and breaking in transit.

You can buy wine shippers while in Italy, particularly in wine production areas and in most major cities like Milan, Florence and Rome.  Businesses that specialize in shipping are the best places to look, and I often purchase 6-pack and 12-pack shippers at Mail Boxes Etc. (called “MBE” in Italy).

Wine shipper boxes are relatively cheap – about €10 to €20 per box, depending upon the size.  Don’t cheap-out on your wine shipper or the tape you use to seal it, it’s an inexpensive insurance policy for your prized bottles of wine.

Locating an MBE office for wine shippers

You can find MBE office locations on the mbe.it website (the American MBE website is worthless for finding MBE offices in Italy).  Be sure to check the hours of operations, as many of the MBE offices are not open on Saturdays, and none are open on Sundays.  I suggest you pick up your wine shippers before you buy your wine.  Most MBE offices speak at least some English.

Important! Businesses come and go, so make sure the MBE office you plan to visit is still in business and you know their hours of operation before you go. When in doubt, call or email them.

Option 2: Wine sleeves

Only have a bottle or two and want to slip them into your suitcase?  You can do it for checked luggage, but you’re rolling the dice with your clothes – and something I generally avoid.

Most airlines frown upon (or outright ban) checking bottles of wine in your suitcase.  If it breaks in transit, it may stain other travelers’ suitcases and create liability problems for them – and you.

If you still want to go through with it, there is a pretty nifty product on the market that pads your bottle and will (allegedly) absorb any spilled wine if the bottle breaks – thereby saving your clothing from a red bath.  Hopefully.

These specially designed wine sleeves have many names, but the most reputable is called the Wine Diaper (I know, I know – it’s a ridiculous name).  They’re about $4 each in packs of 3, and are reusable, re-sealable and biodegradable.  Just drop your bottle in the “diaper,” seal the top and slip it someplace safe in the middle of your suitcase – then pray to Bacchus that it makes it home safely.

There are other similar products out there, including Jet Bag and Wine Skin – but Wine Diaper seems to have the best reputation.

If you go this route, be sure to place the bottle away from the edges of the suitcase, ideally wrapped in sweaters or jeans, and away from other hard objects.

You should buy Wine Diapers on Amazon.com or other online sources before you head to Italy, as it’s tough to find them there.

2.  Decide on how to ship your vino

Okay, you’ve properly packed your wine and now it’s time to send it on its way home.

To me, the choice of how best to ship your wine is a simple matter.  Unless you like paying lots of money for dubious shipping methods with common carriers, just check your wine as luggage at the airport when you check in for your flight home.

Option 1: Shipping your wine as checked luggage

When I have just a few cases of wine with me from tasting visits, I box them up in a wine shipper and check them with my luggage at the departure airport.

It’s a painless process, but there are few key things to keep in mind:

• All carriers will allow you to check wine if it’s packed safely in a wine shipper.  You must use shipping boxes made specifically for shipping wine – see my recommendations above.
• Pack your wine in advance. If you show up at the airline check-in counter with wine bottles in their original boxes, you will have 3 choices:  1) go find a wine shipper and box it up properly (and likely miss your flight), 2) abandon your wine at the airport, or 3) start drinking.
• Check in early, at least 2 hours prior to your flight.  Give yourself extra time to deal with long lines, security checks, etc.  Many airports will want to x-ray your wine shipper while you wait.  Don’t push your luck with check-in times.  Note: The security procedures at Rome’s Fiumicino (FCO) airport are long and laborious – give yourself extra time.
• Some airlines charge an excess baggage fee – anywhere from $50-100 per wine shipper.  United lets me check 3 “bags” for free – my suitcase and 2 cases of wine. Perfect. If you have more than 6 bottles of wine, use 12-bottle shippers instead of multiple 6-bottle shippers – it’s cheaper.

Once you’ve checked-in your wine shipper boxes with your luggage, you can relax knowing that your vino is safe and sound and on it’s way home.

Option 2: Using FedEx, UPS or DHL to fly it home

Some shipping companies in Italy, including some Mail Boxes Etc. offices, will offer to ship your wine home for you, saving you all the trouble of boxing up your wine, checking it with the airline, paying any excess baggage fees, and dealing with US Customs on arrival.  Don’t believe them.

If you are not a properly licensed wine importer (like me), you simply cannot ship wine home from Italy yourself.  Most carriers, like UPS, DHL and FedEx, strictly forbid it, and in most cases it’s illegal and a felony in a few states.

So how do they do it?  Well, they take possession of your wine, box it up, and declare it as something other than wine.  For example, they will often declare your bottles of wine as “olive oil” – thereby flying under the radar of the common carrier and US Customs.  Yep, that’s illegal alright, but it does happen regularly.

If you go this route (and I don’t recommend it), expect to pay $200-400 per 12-bottle case to ship to your home.  Just drop the wine off at the shipper, pay them the fat fee, and hope that your wine makes it safely to your home.  If it doesn’t, you have no recourse and you’ll lose your wine, the shipping fee, and you may have a nice US Customs fine to pay as well.

If you only have a case or two of wine with you, I recommend that you go the checked-luggage route described above.  It’s cheaper, safer, and keeps you within the law.

Option 3: Use a licensed importer to ship it for you

One legal option for having wine shipped to your US address is through a licensed importer – though how doable this is depends upon which US state you live in.

If you have a decent number of bottles, say 2+ cases from a favorite winery, it may be worthwhile to explore using the winery’s US importer to bring it over for you.  They may even have your favorite wine in-stock in the States, and can direct you to where you can buy it back home.  Just ask the winery, but don’t be surprised if they can’t help you – it’s a pretty big hassle for them.

I get occasional requests to help wine lovers fly a limited number of cases of special wines back to the states.  If this is of interest to you, contact me.

3. Clear your vino with US Customs

So you’ve checked your wine with your luggage and you’re on your way home.  When you arrive at the first US port of entry, you have to go through Immigration and clear your wine with US Customs.  Lots of people worry about this step, but it’s very easy and ridiculously cheap to clear your wine.

Simply check the “Yes” box on your US Customs Form where it asks if you are “bringing food,” and tell the Customs officer that you have wine. They’re going to ask anyway, so tell them exactly how many bottles you have.

Don’t try to be sneaky about it, or they may seize your wine and have a party with it in the back room.  (Ok, just kidding about the party, but not about them seizing your wine).

When talking to the Customs officer, keep your story simple:  if you’re asked about your wine, simply say “I’m bringing wine home for my own personal consumption.”  Don’t say something foolish like “I’m going to sell some to my buddies.”  Remember, as an individual you can bring wine into the US only for your own personal consumption – you can’t sell it.  That’s my job.  Generally, the less you say, the better – keep it simple.

This probably goes without saying, but be wary about trying to bring home illegal meats like wild boar sausage or other forbidden imports with your legitimate wine purchase – You may lose everything if they think you’re trying to be sneaky, and run the risk of being tagged in the system as a known trafficker in contraband.

What about paying the duty and taxes?  Technically, you should pay an alcohol duty and excise tax on wine you bring into the US, but don’t fret – it’s about 21 cents/bottle for most wine (sparkling wines are about 67 cents/bottle).  If you’re bringing in hard liquor like grappa, the duty is higher – about $2/bottle for 80 proof alcohol.  For all alcohol, your first 1 liter is free of duty and tax.

In all of the times I’ve brought cases of wine back with me from Italy, I have been asked to pay the duty exactly once, and that was only for some Quintarelli Amarone wine worth several thousand dollars.  Usually they just wave me through, and odds are they’ll do the same with you.

Now sit back and enjoy your vino

Your prized Italian wine is a wonderful memory-in-a-bottle, a snapshot of your time in Italy that you can pour in a glass and share with loved ones.

Reminisce about exploring the narrow streets of a quaint Tuscan hill town, a quiet meal of wine and antipasti in a tiny osteria filled only with locals.

Toast to the future and your next trip to bella Italia.

Cin cin!
– Michael

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“Wine Tasting” and “Salumi” photos copyright and courtesy of Andrew Barrow

The post Bringing Wine Home from Italy appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: The Best Regional Wines of Northern Italy

Welcome to our second episode of the Dall’Uva “Tasting Notes” Podcast!

Today’s Podcast is the first in a 3-part series where Sommelier Michael Horne unlocks the secret to selecting good Vino Italiano, with an opinionated (but thoughtful) tour of the most popular  Italian regional wines, from top to bottom along the Italian peninsula.

Pour a glass of vino, kick back and join us for today’s Podcast, and be sure to subscribe to our Wine Journal for Michael’s latest recommendations in Italian wine, food and travel.

Tasting Notes Podcast:
The Best Regional Wines of Northern Italy

Episode: 2
Host: Michael Horne
Target Audience: Curious – Enthusiast – Wine Geek
Duration: 8 minutes
Subscribe on iTunes:  click here to visit Dall’Uva on iTunes
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LISTEN NOW:  click the red Play button below

Note: Add your own comments to this podcast by clicking on the timeline of the audio track above, or leave your comments in the Comment Section below.

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Transcript of this Tasting Notes Podcast

Ciao, this is Michael Horne and welcome to Dall’Uva Tasting Notes. I’m your personal Sommelier for today, and in each episode we serve up some interesting stories, news and recommendations on Italian wines, food and travel.

Today we’re exploring the most popular Italian wine making regions and the grape varietals grown there.

I’ll give you some of my current vino recommendations that you can pick up at your local wine shop or online, wines that really show off what the popular wine-making regions can do.

Since there are so many great wine making regions in Italy, I’m going to break this into a 3-part series. In Part 1 we’re going to explore the Northern Italian wine making regions.  In Part 2 we explore Central Italy, and in Part 3 we’ll cover the South.

In each Part, I’ll tell you about 3 distinctive Italian regional wines that you can easily find in wine shops and restaurants.

This is a pretty opinionated list, and I’m sure some of you listening may know of other wines that you love and think should be included here. If you want to share your recommendations with other listeners, please do — just leave them in the comment section below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages

Don’t worry about writing all of this down, you can find a transcript of this podcast in our Wine Journal blog on dalluva.com, with links to where you can locate the wines and references I mention here.

OK, let’s jump right in with the wines of Northern Italy.

Wines of Northern Italy

Barolo Wines

Hands down, the most respected and elegant wines of Italy are in the Northwest corner, near France, in the region of Piemonte. Here you will find powerful red wines from the town and appellation of Barolo.

Barolo wines are classed as DOCG (what does DOCG mean?), and are made from the Nebbiolo grape. Each Barolo wine produced in the area has characteristics and nuances that are unique to the vineyard soils, the micro-climate and the winemaker, but most show very pleasant scents of tar and roses, with herbs and violets, raspberry and tobacco on the nose and palate as they age. Some of these wines can be tannic monsters when they’re young, so you’ll find most Barolo wines are best after some aging, even 7-10 years or more before they start to really come into their own.  If you’re building a wine collection, the classic wines of Barolo are great candidates for long term aging.

There are also many "new school" producers making Barolo in a more international style, most of which don’t require as much aging and can be enjoyed younger. Some of the best Barolo producers can also be the most expensive wines in Italy.

The classic, old-school producers like Angelo Gaja, Bruno Giacosa, and Giacomo Conterno are a couple of the real biggies.  Of the new school Barolo producers, Scavino, Cerretto, and Silvio Grasso are making some blockbuster wines that you can start enjoying 5 years off the vine.

If you’re just starting to explore Barolo wines, you can check out some smaller producers that are putting out some fantastic wines at very reasonable prices. One of my favorites is Fratelli Seghesio, (sorry, they don’t have a website) where brothers Aldo and Riccardo produce their more modern-styled Barolo La Villa. The 2007 La Villa is a great vintage to explore, and it’s running about 40 to 50 bucks on the street today — it’s really an outstanding value for what you get in the glass.

Check out our Wine Journal blog on dalluva.com for links to where you can find and buy Seghesio La Villa online.

Where to find Seghesio Barolo La Villa 2007 online:

• Saratoga Wine Exchange (New York)
• Wine Exchange (California)

Barbaresco Wines

There are other wines produced from the Nebbiolo grape in Piemonte, like Barbaresco and Gattinara — both are more reasonably priced than most Barolo wines.

There are some excellent Barbaresco wines at fair prices being produced by a local Cooperative of Barbaresco producers in the town of Barbaresco. They produce a number of wines under the label of Produttori del Barbaresco, with most of them running 25 to 50 bucks, and you can’t wrong with their base Barbaresco DOCG wine — I like the 2006, but if you can find any vintage from 2003 through 2007, you won’t be disappointed.  They’re probably going to run you somewhere between $25 and $35.

If you’re willing to spend a few more bucks, check out my current favorite, the 2005 vintage of their Montestefano Riserva, one of several highly localized bottlings that they produce each year from specific vineyards around the town of Barbaresco. You could spend months exploring all of the Produttori wines and vintages, without breaking the bank.

Where to find Produttori del Barbaresco wines online:

• Pastaworks (Oregon)
  • NB: Peter & Kevin de Garmo at Pastaworks are huge fans of the Produttori wines and are well connected to the Cooperativo – I buy my personal stash of Barbaresco wines from them.
• Zachy’s Wines (New York City)

Pinot Grigio Wines

OK, let’s move over towards Venice, near the border with Slovenia where you’ll find another big Italy favorite, the Pinot Grigio wines produced in the region of Friuli Venezia-Giulia. I’m willing to bet that if you’ve had an Italian Pinot Grigio, it’s probably been from Friuli. These wines are hugely popular in the States, and I have to admit that most Italian Pinot Grigio wines haven’t really impressed me — until I discovered the wines of Russiz Superiore.

Russiz produces wines in the DOC zone of Collio Goriziano, or what is usually nicknamed "Collio." The Collio DOC zone is best known for in purezza wines, meaning wines made purely (100%) from a single grape varietal.

Russiz makes over a dozen wines, and many of them are quite nice, but I recommend that you check out their Pinot Grigio 2009.  This wine really shows off what the Collio region can do with the Pinot Grigio grape, and is probably one of the best examples of Italian Pinot Grigio wine that you’re going to find.

Take a sniff of this wine and you will find young red apples, bosc pears and carnation flowers, they just immediately hit you. When you take a sip, all of that fruit and floral notes come through, plus you’ll find honeydew melon and tart lime that is quite pleasant for enjoying with lighter food fare.

You can find the Russiz Pinot Grigio 2009 in the stores for about 20 to 25 bucks a bottle, and I have placed some links on the website so you can find it online.

Where to find Russiz Pinot Grigio 2009 online:

• Fine Wine House (California)
• MacArthur Beverages (DC)
• K&L Wines (California)

One thing you should know about Italian Pinot Grigio wines — these wines are really meant to be drank young.

With very few exceptions, you should be looking for wines produced within the last 2 or 3 years, and most of these wines really peak in the first year after release. If you find an older Pinot Grigio in the store or restaurant, say one that’s 3 to 5 years old, I suggest you skip it and keep looking for the latest release.

Podcast Wrap-Up

Okay, that’s it for Part 1 of our 3-part series on Italy’s best regional wines.  I encourage you to head to your local wine shop and pick up a bottle or two of the Barolo, Barbaresco and Pinot Grigio wines I’ve recommended, and start exploring the scents and flavors of Italy’s most popular wines.

In our next episode of Dall’Uva Tasting Notes, I’ll take you on a tour of the most popular wines from Central Italy.  We’ll explore the wines from Tuscan hilltowns, and I’ll give you some wine recommendations for Brunello, Vino Nobile, and good ol’ Chianti Classico.

I’m Michael Horne with Dall’Uva, and thanks for listening.

Ciao!

Like what you’re hearing and reading?

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest on Italian wines, food and travel.

And don’t forget to Subscribe to this Wine Journal Newsletter
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The post The Best Regional Wines of Northern Italy appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: Tonight’s Vino: Savignola Paolina Chianti Classico Riserva 2005

Here’s a quick review of a Chianti Classico worthy of your dinner table.  I’ll post these short tasting notes as I run across interesting wines from time to time.  Be sure to subscribe for the latest updates.  — Michael

Savignola Paolina
Chianti Classico Riserva 2005 | $20

It was serendipity when I ran across this little gem at Pastaworks in Portland while shopping for the evening’s meal. I plan to visit Savignola Paolina next week in Chianti, and I’ve been curious about this tiny producer of artisanal wines.  Ludovica Fabbri and her husband Antonio produce a tiny amount of artisanal wine from their high-elevation vineyards deep in the Chianti mountains.

With just 7,000 bottles of Chianti Classico Riserva produced in a typical year, it’s unusual to find this older vintage (as of this writing, the Riserva 2008 has just been released). No matter, you can find a few bottles of Ludovica’s wines hiding out in wine shops and online for not much money.

What you’ll taste

Violets, raspberries and a handful of red currants hit you as you breathe in this Sangiovese classic. This is an aromatic wine, and it follows through on the palate with black cherry, pipe tobacco, and some tartness of rhubarb.

There’s a hint of smoke on the finish, and a very distinctive and pleasant minerality of crushed gravel (go with me on this).  Some Chianti wines tend to be a bit thin, but this is medium- to full-bodied with the characteristic acidity you expect in a Sangiovese wine.  Two thumbs up.

What’s in the bottle

90% Sangiovese and 10% Colorino di Toscana.  Colorino is a native Italian varietal often used in Chianti blends.

What to eat with this

Chianti Classico has tried-and-true pairings with game meats, grilled steaks (think Bistecca Fiorentina grilled rare over hot coals), sausages, pasta with bolognese ragu — anything with a little fat in it will pair well.

How much and
where to find it

Savignola Paolina is a tiny producer, so you’ll have to hunt a bit for this one.  There are a few Riserva 2005 bottles still around in wine shops and online for $20-30, but if you can’t find it, pick up a bottle of Ludovica’s other vintages. Her 2006 Riserva also shows well, and the 2008 should arrive in stores soon. If you can’t find a Riserva, check out her Chianti Classico normale — you’ll get the baby brother vino for $5-10 cheaper.

I bought this bottle for about $22 from Pastaworks at City Market in northwest Portland; Call and see if they can get you a few bottles, their number is 503.221.3002.

You can also find their wine online using wine-searcher or vinopedia.

Visiting them

Savignola Paolina will let you taste their latest vintage and take a few bottles home with you at their cantina in Chianti, just book an appointment for a tasting visit.  Contact them at +39.055.854.6036, or email them at info@savignolapaolina.it.

Cantina address

They’re just south of the Chianti wine town Greve in Chianti, located at Via Petriolo 58, Greve in Chianti, Italy.

Website

Ludovica has a nice website at savignolapaolina.it with decent English explanations of their wines, the vineyards and the history of this interesting producer.

What’s on your dinner table tonight?  Are you a fan of Chianti?  Have any other vino recommendations?  Share your favorites by commenting below.

The post Tonight’s Vino: Savignola Paolina Chianti Classico Riserva 2005 appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: What Are GREEN Wines? Infographic

Whatever you call them — biodynamic wines, natural wines, extreme wines – they’re being produced in growing numbers by progressive wine producers everywhere.

Vino biodinamico and vino naturale is booming in Italy, and for good reason:  Wine drinkers are increasingly interested in producers that use green methods of production.  Don’t confuse today’s green wines with the undrinkable organic wines of years ago, these are truly fantastic vini.

This was really driven home for me on my recent trip to Sicilia where Etna wine producers like Ciro Biondi and Giuseppe Russo at Girolamo Russo have completely embraced green wine making.  For them and hundreds of other Italian producers, it’s all about conveying the true essence of the fruit and the terroir.  Cool.

So what exactly does GREEN mean?

The folks at wine.com pulled together a pretty cool Infographic on green wine production that does a great job of describing the process and making the terms understandable.

Enjoy the following compliments of wine.com, and help me get the word out on natural wines – please Like and Share this post so your friends can learn more about this exciting trend.

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Cool Infographic?  Share it!

I’m on a mission to help wine lovers understand vino naturale and connect them with the great Italian wine producers who have embraced these noble methods.

Help me spread the word and please Like and Share this post.

Ciao!
Michael

The post What Are GREEN Wines? Infographic appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: Survey: What’s your Italian Travel Style?

Many of our fans love Italian travel, and we’re often asked for recommendations on wine-tasting venues, the best time of year to visit the wine-making regions, and which regional food & wine sagra and festa are the must-see Italian festivals.

I’ve traveled to Bella Italia over a hundred times since I first visited this passionate country back in 1995, and I am never shy to offer my frank opinions on the Best of Italy from a wine, food and cultural perspective.  All of this has me thinking:  Maybe we should create a community forum for fellow lovers of all-things-Italian who want to explore and share their favorite experiences on the road in Italy.

“What a great idea!”  he says.  The only question is, what do people really want in a gastro-oenological (food and wine) travel forum?  Surely there are websites that specialize in Italian travel – the folks at slowtravel talk have a pretty good forum for general travel questions, and it’s inhabited by many talented travel professionals – but not necessarily wine buffs and foodies.

What could we offer that would be interesting enough to stimulate a community of fellow travelers to share their best travel tips, tricks and recommendations?

How do you like to travel?

This is where you come in.  We want to better understand how you plan out your travel, where you like to go, and what you like to do when you’re on the road.

To help us better understand what you and your fellow wine-loving travelers enjoy, we’ve pulled together a simple Survey.  Hearing directly from you will help us plan out a useful and engaging Forum.

Even if you haven’t been to Italy yet, go ahead and complete our Survey – it will help us understand what sounds interesting to you.  And if you’re not careful, you might just get bitten by the Italian travel bug.

Take the Survey!  Win Vino Italiano!

You’ll find our easy Survey below.  It only takes 2 minutes to fill out, and we’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts

Just to make it interesting, we’re going to raffle off a copy of our favorite reference on Italian wines, Vino Italiano by Joe Bastianich and David Lynch.  Just scroll down and answer the questions below by 1 May 2012, and you just might win…

You can also take our Survey by clicking here.

The post Survey: What’s your Italian Travel Style? appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: VdT, IGT, DOC, DOCG… What the Heck? Italian Wine Classifications Demystified

Welcome to our first episode of the Dall’Uva “Tasting Notes” Podcast!  Michael kicks it off by demystifying Italian wine classifications, helping you understand where your wine budget is best spent when you’re shopping for your next bottle of Italy’s finest wines

Pour yourself a glass of Vino Italiano, pull up an easy chair, and join us for today’s Tasting Notes Podcast.

Tasting Notes Podcast:
VdT, IGT, DOC, DOCG… What the Heck?
Italian Wine Classifications Demystified

Episode:  1
Host:  Michael Horne, CS
Audience:  Curious – Enthusiast – Wine Geek
Duration:  about 9 minutes
Download & Share:  click here to download this podcast

LISTEN NOW:  Click the red Play button below

Note:  Add your own comments to this Podcast by clicking on the timeline of the audio track above, or leave your comments in the Comments Section below.

Transcript of this Tasting Notes Podcast:

Ciao, this is Michael Horne and welcome to the inaugural podcast of Dall’Uva Tasting Notes. I’m your personal Sommelier for today, and in each episode we’ll serve up some interesting stories, news and recommendations on Italian wines, food and travel.

Today we’re diving right in with an introduction to how the Italians classify their wines. I’ll help you understand the difference between these confusing classifications, and where your wine budget is best spent when you’re shopping for your next bottle of Vino Italiano.

In our next Podcast, I’ll take you on a tour of the Italian wine making regions from top to bottom, helping you learn the most popular regional wines and grape varietals grown there.  I’ll give you a few wine recommendations you can pick up at your local wine shop or online that really show off what the popular wine making regions can do.  Armed with the information in these 2 Podcasts, you’ll be able to pick some of Italy’s finest wines with confidence.

Don’t worry about writing all of this down, you can find a transcript of this podcast in our Wine Journal Blog on dalluva.com, with links to where you can find the wines and references I mention here.

OK, let’s get started.

Confuzione?  You’re not alone.

Time for a quick poll: Raise your hand if you’re confused by Italian wine names. Do you know where Chianti comes from? What’s the main grape varietal in Chianti Classico? Maybe you already know that it’s Sangiovese, but what about Amarone, one of my all time favorite Italian wines? Not so easy, and awfully confusing.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most wine lovers I talk to find Italian wine names and styles confusing. Unlike most American and new world wines, Italian wines are typically named after a region, just like French wines. For the most popular wines you’re going to be drinking, the names often tell you something about the origins of the grapes and how they’re produced.

You have to do a little more research into the wines of a region if you want to know the grape varietal, but after a bit you’ll become more familiar with them and you’ll just know the grapes associated with a regional wine, like Sangiovese in Chianti and Nebbiolo grapes in Barolo.

Before we get into the most popular wines of Italy, let’s talk about how the Italians classify their wines. Following the lead of the French, back in 1963, a group of Italian winemakers got together to find a way to raise the quality standards for Italian wines, and classify regional wines according to local wine making traditions. Their goal was to give you, the wine drinker, a way to gauge the quality of a wine and determine if it was made in a consistent style and quality. The result is a 4-class system of wine rankings.

VdT classification

The first, and lowest quality standard, is VdT, which stands for Vino da Tavola, or Table Wine. Wines marked with a VdT on the label tells you they’re made in Italy, and that’s about it.

There aren’t many interesting VdT wines here in the States, as these wines are pretty much for consumption in the local region where they’re produced. If you’ve ever taken a holiday in Italy and had some of the house wine in a local trattoria or osteria, you’ve likely tasted a Vino da Tavola wine.

IGT classification

One step up from the VdT wines is the IGT classification, which stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica — and from how it sounds, you can kinda figure out that an IGT-classed wine is "typical" of a particular geography or local region. Most IGT wines are simple, made from grapes grown locally and intended to be drank young. You’ll find many IGT wines from Tuscany that are made from Sangiovese, a grape with a long history in the region. So, think of them as a table wine — cheap and decent for everyday drinking with pasta and pizza, but not something that’s going to knock your socks off.  Now, there are some exceptions to this, and the best example are Super Tuscan wines that sound fabulous, and many are, but most are still classed at the IGT level.  I’ll save Super Tuscan wines for another podcast, all you need to know right now is that most IGT wines are basic, regional wines, something I affectionately call "Pizza Wash."

OK, now let’s get into the more interesting Italian wine classifications. There are two that you’re going to run into regularly at your local wine shop and restaurants, and this is where you’re going to spend most of you vino dollars.

DOC classification

First up is DOC, or Denominazione di Origine Controllata — boy that’s a mouthful, most folks in the industry just call it DOC. The key word here is Controllata, meaning that a wine marked DOC is produced in a specific, well-defined region in Italy, according to defined wine making rules that are designed to preserve local traditions. If you’ve ever had an Italian Pinot Grigio from the Friuli region, or a glass of Prosecco, it was likely a DOC wine.

It all sounds wonderful, except that there are literally hundreds of DOC appellations in Italy, each quite unique in their rules, so the DOC classification hasn’t done a lot to reduce confusion. One thing you can generally count on is that a DOC wine will convey a regional wine making style with specific grapes, and that the quality of the wine tends to be higher than IGT wines. As a result, the wines tend to be more expensive than IGT wines, but most are still pretty affordable.

DOCG classification

This brings us to the highest wine classification in Italy, called DOCG, where the "G" stands for Garantita — a wine that is guaranteed to follow stringent wine making rules (the full name is Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) . It’s here where you will find some of Italy’s top wines — and sometimes at top prices.  If you love Barolo, Brunello, or Chianti Classico wines, they’re all from DOCG appellations.

So what makes a DOCG wine so special? Compared to DOC wines, most DOCG rules reduce the allowable yield of grapes to produce the wine, require longer aging periods, and most importantly, a DOCG wine has to pass an analysis and a tasting by government-licensed personnel before being bottled.

And then, to prevent a wine producer from fiddling with their wine after the official analysis and tasting is completed, DOCG wine bottles are sealed with a numbered governmental stamp across the cork. The stamp is your guarantee that the Barolo or Brunello or Chianti Classico you paid dearly for was produced with strict adherence to local wine making rules.

That said, it’s not a guarantee that it’s a great wine, and you’ll find that there are some pretty unimpressive DOCG wines out there. In fact, you may find many DOC wines that you prefer over DOCG wines. You just have to get out there and start tasting to find what you like.

So those are the four Italian wine classifications – Let me summarize them for you:

• VdT wines are basic, local table wines – cheap, but pretty simple.  You find these mostly in local trattorias and osterias in Italy, and not so much here in the States.
• IGT are wines from specific geographic areas and can be pretty nice for everyday drinking;
• DOC wines are made in well defined regions and according to specific wine making rules intended to preserve local traditions; and the highest class is,
• DOCG, which includes most of Italy’s top wines and gives you a "guarantee" a wine is made to a very high standard in selected Italian regions. Most of the interesting wines you’ll enjoy are either DOC or DOCG.

OK, I think I may have you in geeky information overload, so I have some homework for you:  Take a trip to your local wine shop that has a decent selection of Italian wines, and look at the labels.  All Italian wine producers will label their wines with one of the above 4 classifications, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Look for an IGT wine, and compare the label and packaging to that of a DOCG wine – DOCG is a prestigious classification, and the wine producers will often invest in a heavier bottle and nicer label.  Check out the pricing difference – IGT wines are typically pretty cheap (unless it’s a magical SuperTuscan – set that aside for another day).  DOCG?  Not so cheap.

Podcast Wrap-Up

Alright, that’s it for this episode of the Dall’Uva Tasting Notes.  In our next Podcast, I’ll take you on a tour of the most popular wines of Italy, from top to bottom of the Italian boot.  With what you’ve learned here about Italian Wine Classifications, you’ll be well prepared to shop for Italian wines with confidence.

I’m Michael Horne with Dall’Uva, and thanks for listening.

Ciao!

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The post VdT, IGT, DOC, DOCG… What the Heck? Italian Wine Classifications Demystified appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: 2012 Picks: *51* Top Italian Wines for Under $20

Michael starts the New Year off with his go-to list of the best Italian wines of 2012 for under 20 bucks.  This is the first in a series of posts on Italian wines awarded the prestigious 3 Bicchieri (three glasses) rating by Gambero Rosso for 2012.

Keep this list handy and bookmark it for future reference, and don’t forget to Like us!

Italy’s best wines on the cheap.

Looking for great Italian wines for under 20 bucks?  There’s no need to spend $50+ to find a great bottle of wine if you’re willing to get off the beaten path and try some smaller producers in regions outside of the classic biggies of Barolo, Chianti, and Brunello.

Most Americans are looking for good wine value these days, shunning the expensive stuff and focusing on wines under $20.  The good news is that for Italian wine lovers, there’s an emerging sweet spot for delicious and interesting Italian wines in the $14 to $20 range.

Gambero Rosso, the Italian foodie club, recently released their annual Vini d’Italia wine reference guidebook (and the translated-to-English version Italian Wines in mid-2012).  Their trusted panel of Vino Italiano experts tasted over 20,000 wines from 2,350 producers (yes, that many) and awarded just 375 wines with their prestigious 3 bicchieri (“three glasses”) rating for 2012.

What do many of these lucky Italian wine producers do when they find out their wines have won a 3 bicchieri rating?  Well, they raise their prices, of course!  Unfortunately, this puts many of these stellar wines out of reach of most lovers of Vino Italiano.

Here’s the good news: not all of the winning Italian wine producers instantly raise their prices, and there are many delicious 3 bicchieri wines that stay around the $20 price point (“sotto €15” as they say in the guidebook).  For 2012, there are exactly *51* of these 3 bicchieri winners that are well within reach of Italian wine lovers like us.

Over 50 remarkable vini you’ve gotta try.

I’ve listed below all 51 of the 3 bicchieri winners of 2012 that go for $20 or less, organized by region with a link to wine-searcher.com so you can find them online.  Here are a few highlights (and personal favorites):

• For Chianti fans, Tenuta di Lilliano outside of Castellina in Chianti makes a top quality Chianti Classico 2009 for just $16 (only $14 by the case at Saratoga Wine Exchange).  This Chianti is a great value, check it out.
• The fresh, bright fruit in the Soave Classico Monte Alto 2009 by Ca’ Rugate (just west of Verona in Montecchia di Crosara) goes great with fish and fowl.  It’s a little tougher to find,  but worth the hunt (a wee bit higher at $22 as of this writing from Zachy’s).  Ca’ Rugate makes some great wines at reasonable prices, and this gem is no exception.
• How about a little Lambrusco?  Forget that super sweet, headache-inducing plonk you drank in the 80’s (ok, that was me) and try this fantastic Lambrusco Vecchia Modena Premium 2010 by the proud folks at Chiarli 1860 in the outskirts of Modena.  This little gem has wonderful, rich fruit with floral and spicy notes on the nose and palate – and only $14 a bottle at the Ultimate Wineshop.

Finding these 3 bicchieri winning wines.

Importers come and go, and some of these celebrated wines are produced in small quantities, but you should still be able to find many of them online or in shops that carry a decent selection of Italian wines.  Here are a couple of ways you can hunt down these search-worthy wines:

• Ask your local wine shop if they can get it in from the distributor or importer.  Your wine shop may not be familiar with some of these producers, and they’ll have to do some research – but if they want your business, they’ll put in the effort.
• Check wine-searcher.com, which is probably the most comprehensive search engine for wine globally.  I’ve enabled wine-searcher.com search links below to get you started, but since retailers often do not list full (proper) wine names on their websites, you’ll have to play around with the search phrase to find all retailers that carry it.
  • Example: searching for Ca’ Rugate Soave Classico Monte Alto 2009 only turns up 1 retailer (Zachy’s), but searching for Rugate Soave Monte Alto 2009 turns up 2 retailers.  To find the most options (and best prices) when searching on wine-searcher.com, use the fewest words necessary such as the producer name (Rugate), the wine name (Soave Monte Alto), and the year (2009).
  • Consider the Pro Version: If you’re like me and buy a lot of wine online, I highly recommend subscribing to the Pro Version of wine-searcher.com.  It’s $39 a year and lists 2 to 3 times more retailers than the standard (free) version – well worth the money.
• If you have trouble finding a wine, leave a comment below and I’ll try and help you find it.  If you really want to try a wine listed and it’s not imported into the US yet, I may be able to place a special order for you straight from the wine producer’s cantina.

And the winners are…

Here’s the Gambero Rosso Vini d’Italia 2012 list of 3 Bicchieri winners that retail for under $20 (“sotto €15”).

If you’d like to get your very own personal copy of the Vini d’Italia 2012 Guidebook,
click here to contact me.

Note: The wines are listed by region, from North to South, with the producer name in bold followed by the full official wine name.

Survey:
What’s your 2012 New Years resolution on vino?

It’s that time of year – did you make a New Year’s resolution about your vino drinking?  Looking to move your wine habits to a better neighborhood, so to speak?  Check out what others are doing for 2012 in our Facebook survey on New Year wine drinking resolutions.

Don’t forget to Like Us on Facebook if you’re a fellow Italian Wine Lover.

Ciao!
Michael

The post 2012 Picks: *51* Top Italian Wines for Under $20 appeared first on Dall'Uva.

Read this on the dalluva.com website: 3 Italian Wines Perfect for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and many of you have been asking for wine recommendations for this glorious, all-American feast.  I tend to lean toward Italian wine selections for Thanksgiving, as they can be the perfect companion for a long evening of classic autumn food fare.

With most Thanksgiving meals being a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures, you can set aside classic food-wine pairing logic and just focus on selecting a couple of tried-and-true Italian wines that you and your guests will happily sip through the meal – and long into the evening.

Here are 3 of my favorite wines from Italy that fill the bill – a light sparkling white for early sipping, and a white & a red for the main course.  These are not big, heavy fruit bombs that compete with the flavors of your Thanksgiving meal – save those for Christmas, if you must.  I focus here on light- to medium-body wines, a bit lower in alcohol, that perfectly compliment the many diverse side dishes served on Turkey day.

All of these wines are under 25 bucks, and you can probably find them (or similar styles) at your local wine shop.  Buy local if you can, but if you can’t find them, you can order these wines online for quick delivery.  I’ve listed some reputable online retailers to save you time.

And now, on to my Thanksgiving picks.

Cooking with Wine:  Saracco Moscato d’Asti 2010

When I say “cooking with wine,” I’m talking about wine that goes in the cook, not in the food – and a light Moscato d’Asti is the perfect kitchen companion while you’re busy preparing the feast.   Have your guests over early and serve them this excellent Moscato, and no doubt they’ll help you with the prep.

The 2010 vintage of Paolo Saracco’s Moscato d’Asti elegantly shows off the aromas and perfumes of Moscato Canelli grapes.  The nose and palate shine with bosc pears, tart green apple, ripe peaches, and light spices – all with a pleasantly light fizziness, and low alcohol (5.5%) so you don’t become tipsy before dinner.  Most Moscato d’Asti wines like this one are off-dry, meaning not sweet but not bone dry.  Paolo’s Moscato creation is perfect as an aperitivo while cooking and sipping before the main meal.

Where to buy Saracco Moscato d’Asti 2010

Moscato d’Asti is meant to be drunk young and fresh, and that means you should buy the most recent vintage available – as of this writing, that’s the 2010 vintage.  Vintages more than a couple of years old go downhill pretty quickly.

Check with your local wine shop to see if they have it, or can get it in.  I’ve listed a few reputable retailers here that are known for fast shipping service.

Wine Recommendation: Saracco Moscato d’Asti 2010
Wine Origin:  Azienda Agricola Saracco, in Castiglione Tinella, Piemonte
Wine Style:  White, off-dry, lightly sparkling, alcohol 5.5% (yes, that low)
Grape Varietal:  100% Moscato Bianco Canelli
Wine Ratings: Antonio Galloni (Parker) gives 90 points, Gambero Rosso gives 2+ bicchieri

Online Retailers:

• K&L Wine Merchants (CA):  $14
• J.J. Buckley (CA):  $13
• Empire Wine (NY):  $14
• Wine.com (USA):  $16

A Suave Dinner Selection:  Pra Soave Classico 2009

Pra is one of my favorite Valpolicella & Soave producers, and I’m not alone – Graziano Pra’ regularly wins high praise from Antonio Galloni of Robert Parker, Gambero Rosso, Slow Food and the rest of the respected Italian wine press.

During my last wine-hunting trip to Tuscany, my Sommelier buddy Arnaldo Rossi of Pane e Vino in Cortona turned me onto the 2009 vintage of the Pra Soave Classico.  This aromatic white gushes with ripe yellow apple, crisp Bartlett pear, pleasant minerality, and a long pleasant finish – perfect for a Thanksgiving tacchino (turkey) dinner.  Buy extra bottles as your guests will adore this clean, crisp wine from the Veneto.

Where to buy Pra Soave Classico 2009

Soave Classico is another Italian white wine that likes to be drunk young – go for the 2009 vintage if possible, as I find it’s perfectly balanced now (November 2011).  It’s drinkable into 2012, so don’t be shy about stocking up – you’ll want to have bottles of this white around.  If you can’t find the 2009, the 2010 is also quite good, and it’s coming onto the market now.

Wine Recommendation: Pra Soave Classico 2009
Wine Origin: Azienda Agricola Pra, in Monteforte d’Alpone (Verona), Veneto
Wine Style: White, dry, alcohol 13%
Grape Varietal:  100% Garganega
Wine Ratings: Antonio Galloni (Parker) gives 90 points, Gambero Rosso gives 2 bicchieri

Online Retailers:

• NapaCabs (CA):  $13
• Bella Vino (FL):  $15
• Wine Exchange (CA) (2010 vintage):  $13

The Big Production:  Produttori del Barbaresco 2006

Every Thanksgiving, I pull from the cellar several bottles of my favorite wines produced by the Cooperative of local Producers in the Piemonte town of Barbaresco.  Over 50 local grape growers pool their effort and resources to produce a number of exceptional wines under the label of Produttori del Barbaresco.  Most of the wines run 25 to 50 bucks, a little high for my Thanksgiving budget of $25, but you’ll love their wines and how they complement your Thanksgiving meal.  I suggest you go with their base Barbaresco DOCG wine – I recommend the 2006, but if you can find any vintage from 2003 through 2007, you won’t be disappointed.

The 2006 Produttori Barbaresco has rich, ripe dark cherry and blackberry fruits, fennel, and subtle scents of leather and saffron – all combining in a pleasing harmony of flavors.  The wine has some depth and concentration, but it’s won’t overpower your main dishes.  It’s sure to astonish and please the red wine lovers at your Thanksgiving dinner.

If you’re willing to spend a few more bucks, check out the 2004 vintage of their Rio Sordo Riserva, one of several highly localized bottlings produced in selected years from specific vineyards around Barbaresco. You could spend months exploring all of the Produttori wines and vintages released, without breaking the bank.

Where to buy Produttori del Barbaresco 2006

There are many Produttori wines available, and it shouldn’t be difficult to find them at a reputable local wine shop.  Stick to their base Barbaresco wine, and ideally the 2006 vintage.  If you can’t find 2006, any of the Produttori del Barbaresco wines from 2003 to 2007 will work wonderfully.  If 2008 is all you can find, I’d skip it and find another Barbaresco producer with a 2006 or 2007 vintage.

Wine Recommendation: Produttori del Barbaresco 2006
Wine Origin: Produttori del Barbaresco, in Barbaresco, Piemonte
Wine Style: Red, dry, alcohol 13.5%
Grape Varietal: 100% Nebbiolo
Wine Ratings: Antonio Galloni (Parker) gives 92 points, Gambero Rosso gives 2 bicchieri

Online Retailers:

• Empire Wine (NY):  $27
• Vinopolis (OR):  $28
• Wine Exchange (CA): $28
• Grand Vin Wine Merchants (WA):  $26

Care to Share your Favorites?

These 3 selections are sure to be crowd pleasers for Thanksgiving, or anytime you’re serving fowl for dinner – but surely you have some recommendations of your own.  Share your wine picks in the comment section below, or feel free to ask a question or two.

Ciao!
Michael

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