Another year comes to a wrap. It has been a great year of wine from around the world with of course our love for Italian wines. Time to say goodbye to 2018 and welcome 2019 with open arms, open minds and an open glass. As I continue to take you on our journey around Italy I also plan to show some highlights from other wine regions outside of Italy to broaden our horizons. I'd appreciate if you could take this quick survey so that I can hear from my readers and find out what you'd like to read more about in 2019.
Here are the top 5 Italian wine blogs of 2018. I hope they were your favorites too!
Thank you all for your support and sharing your passion for Italian wine. Happy New Year and Buon Anno! As always I love to hear from my readers so please leave comments or send me an email at any time! Share with your friends too!
This month our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group is
exploring verdicchio from all over Italy.
One of the areas I am most familiar with when it comes to verdicchio is
the region of Le Marche, which is located in central Italy. Le Marche has a long coastline along the
Adriatic and touches 5 other regions to its west including Emilia Romagna to
the north, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio to the west and Abruzzo to the south.
When considering verdicchio from Le Marche wine region there
are 2 main wines to consider. Those from
Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica.
I have previously wrote a comparison of
the two verdicchio some time back that you can read more about. You’ll also find this grape in the wines of
the Veneto, specifically those of Soave where its known as trebbiano di
soave. There it is used as a blending
grape with garganega lending it’s high acidity characteristic.
Tenuta di
Tavignano is located in the town of Cingoli in the Ancona province. Set up on a south-eastern sloping hill
overlooking the Jesi valley the winery is surrounded by mountains including the
Appenines and Mount San Vicino. You’ll
find the vineyards of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi located on the northern
side of the Misa river. The Jesi were an
ancient tribe that resided on the castelli, or castles, situated on top of the
hillsides as Tenuta di Tavignano is.
The history of the winery goes back to the 70’s when it was
purchased by Stefano Aymerich and his wife Beatrice Lucangeli, a descendant of
nobility in the Marche region.They didn’t
begin to start thoughts of making wine until the 90’s when they revamped the
estate and planted grape varietals.Their goal was to become a producer of top quality verdicchio.Today the winery is managed by Stefano’s
niece, Ondine de la Feld on 30 hectacres of vineyards.The winery since 2015 has also been working
towards being organic.
Ondine de la Feld (left) & Stefano Aymerich (right)
All their grapes are hand harvested and whites are softly
pressed at low fermentation temperatures.I had a bottle of their 2014 Tenuta di Tavignano Villa Torre Verdicchio dei
Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore that I opened this week.I wish I had time to prepare something with
it, but it was a very enjoyable wine all on its own.I know everyone is all about wine pairings,
but I thoroughly enjoy having wine solo before any pairings are involved
anyways.
2014 Tenuta di
Tavignano Villa Torre Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore
Color: brilliantly crystal, straw color with a tinge of green,
almost clear.
Nose: Grassy, citrus, grapefruit.
Palette: A crisp, dry white wine with a nice balance of
fruit, lemon citrus backed with solid acidity, good sapidity and minerals.
ABV 13% SRP $11
Pairing: Due to its proximity to the sea I can definitely see this wine pairing well with seafood dishes.
It saddens me that so many people are out there drinking
cheap pinot grigio when they can get such fantastic white wines like this
verdicchio for such great values, but don’t have the knowledge of what a
verdicchio is. Hopefully we help break
some of that here on Vino Travels.
Is it just me or
did the holidays arrive very fast this year? I can't believe next
week is Thanksgiving! I wanted to pull together many of our bloggers
that participate in our monthly Italian Food, Wine & Travel group
(#ItalianFWT) and get their tips on some food and wine pairings that
they suggest or may be enjoying themselves over the holidays. Enjoy!
Who doesn't love
the holidays. Every year it takes me a bit to figure out what I want
to open for each holiday since there are so many wonderful options.
Thanksgiving can be a tricky holiday as there are so many
accompaniments to the main turkey dish that it's important to find
something versatile. My suggestion if you're a white wine lover are
any of the white wines from lugana
that I recently wrote about. If you choose the red path I recently
tasted the 2012 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore Ripassa that I truly
enjoyed. I've always enjoyed an Amarone or Valpolicella of some sort
during Thanksgiving.
At less than $20 a
bottle, Masi Campofiorin falls squarely in the "affordable,
everyday" price range. And though it's not a splurge wine, I
love bringing it to dinners at friends' houses throughout the holiday
season...beginning with Thanksgiving.
Made through a
similar double fermentation process - that was patented by Masi - the
wine doesn't fit squarely into the traditional Ripasso process. But
it does exhibit the traditional Ripasso characteristics and flavor
profile. It's lush and complex with soft tannins so it's
food-friendly and a great match with hearty, wintery dishes. If i'm
pouring it at home, it's usually alongside Risotto all'Amarone.
Michele
recommends a “primo” or first dish of tagliatelle bolognese with
a “secondo” or second dish of bistecca fiorentina and Brunello.
There is also the option in honor of the tragic earthquakes, bucatini
amatriciana.
I love the idea of
taking traditional Italian favorites and giving them an American
twist. For example one year I made Thanksgiving arancini. First I prepared a simple mashed
sweet potato with some browned butter and sage for the filling. Then
I cooked some short-grain brown rice risotto-style, using the
reserved sweet potato water as my broth. The result looked a lot like
Sicilian street food but it sure tasted like Thanksgiving!
Verdicchio is one of the most famous
wines of Le Marche region. It’s a white wine and its name reminds
the green color - ‘verde’ in Italian language. There are 2
Verdicchio wines: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di
Matelica. You can drink Verdicchio with a starter or a main course.
It depends on the ageing. I suggest you to buy a bottle of Verdicchio
di Matelica for your Thanksgiving meal to help people hit by the
earthquake few weeks ago. They’ll really appreciate it.
This Thanksgiving I'm looking for sparkly, fresh and zesty wine to share with my family and friends.Trentodoc Metodo Classico from Rotari is on our menu this year! I'm looking forward to the freshness of these sparkling wines with our meal and, frankly, all weekend. The spirit of the Dolamites gets me excited for winter and the upcoming Christmas holiday, and these wines will kick off the season.
When we think of
drinking Italian wine how do we not think about Italian food and what
we can pair with it. After all, they say “what grows together
goes together”. I attended a wine and cheese pairing event hosted
by Gordon's Wine & Spirits in Waltham and the event was led by
local wine, cheese and food expert, Adam Centamore.
Myself & Adam Centamore
Adam is of
Sicilian heritage and holds a Masters in Gastronomy. He also
authored his first book that was published in September 2015 called
“Tasting Wine & Cheese: An Insider's Guide to Mastering thePrinciples of Pairing”. In addition to his academic background he
has worked in the industry managing the well-known cheese specialty
shop, Formaggio's Kitchen, and currently is a wine purveyor at the
wine shop, Bin Ends, in addition to teaching wine and food lovers
like myself.
Adam's passion was
evident through his presentation of the wine and cheese pairings of
the night with his relaxed, easy going, comical personality that took
the snobbery out of understanding food and wine. The first tasting
of the night was a wine from the Alto Adige region of Italy. This
region is tucked in the north eastern part of Italy. The wine
selection was from the known producer, St. Michael-Eppan and was
their 2014 Pinot Grigio. Personally, I found this pinot grigio to be
too light bodied for my personal preference, but the cheese pairing
went together well with it. Adam chose a tronchetto al capra. This
is a 100% goats cheese from the north western region of Piedmont.
The cheese was topped with sicilian oranges in syrup. Yum!
Even though that
was the only Italian wine and cheese pairing of the night I found
Adam's book to provide a number of great suggestions to pair with a
variety of Italian wines. You'll find sparkling wines including
moscato, lambrusco and prosecco. For white wines Adam features the
grapes pinot grigio, trebbiano and verdicchio. Categorized under the
red wines you'll discover grapes including barbera, frappato,
nebbiolo and sangiovese. Lastly, for those that love dessert wines,
you'll find brachetto and vin santo. Are some of these grapes new to
you? It's a perfect way to start learning about them and double the
enjoyment by seeking out the cheese accompaniments. I've enjoyed a
lot of pleasures with these pairings and by playing around with these
tastings it helps demonstrate how an Italian wine can change by
sampling it alone and how the nuances change when combined with the
right suggestion.
I would like to
provide a wine and cheese sample in each of the different styles of
wine mentioned above with recommended cheeses from Adam's book to
give you a feel for some of the regional delights from a variety of
regions within Italy.
Sparkling Wine – Prosecco
Prosecco is the
top imported sparkling wine from Italy hailing from the Veneto region
and it's a wine made up of the glera grape. Prosecco comes in
different styles from sweeter versions to dry styles. Adam
recommends a a hard, sharper cheese like parmigiano reggiano from the
Lombardy region which is opposite the softness in the bubbles of the
prosecco, but put them together and watch the changes unfold.
White wine – Verdicchio
Verdicchio is a
white grape primarily found in the Marche region in central Italy
that typically has higher acidity and citrus characteristics. Adam
recommends cheese with “semi-firm texture and nutty flavors” and
suggests a cow's cheese from the way northwestern part of Italy in
the Aosta Valley.
Red wine – Frappato
This grape
originates on the island of Sicily and produces lighter bodied style
red wines, but you may find it blended with other grapes of the
island. Adams recommends a delightful pairing with ricotta salata,
which is a sheep's milk from Sicily. His suggestion is to cut
strawberries topped with sugar and a splash of frappato, refrigerate
overnight and then add on top of the ricotta salata. Sounds like a
combination to die for.
Dessert wine – Vin Santo
The wine enjoyed
after many Tuscany dinners, vin santo, is a blend of dried trebbiano
and malvasia grapes that are then aged in oak barrels. I've always
enjoyed the typical dessert of Tuscany, which is vin santo with
biscotti, but Adam recommends ricotta topped with citrus blossom
honey where the honey compliments the flavors of the wine and the
citrus blossom draws out the vanilla of the oak in the vin santo.
Can we say a perfect ending?
These are all just
samples, but shows you how much fun you can have experimenting with
Italian grapes from all over Italy and finding some Italian cheeses
for pure satisfaction.
*I receive a small proceed of any books purchased through this link. It not only supports Adam in providing his expertise and knowledge, but myself in continuing to operate this website at no cost to my readers. It's greatly appreciated!
You can find my monthly column, Italy Uncorked,
in the Bostoniano magazine, Boston's Italian American voice where
you'll find this and many other articles.
The Marche wine region in Italy is one of the regions I've
discovered the least due to the lack of accessibility of wines.
Studying for this Italian wine exam has really opened my eyes to the
world of Italian wines even further and has made it so much more
exciting with the boat loads of information I have to share with you.
I've had people ask me “Don't you ever run out of material to
write about?” It's hard for me not to laugh as I'll never run out
of material to share with you with the amount of grapes and wineries
all throughout Italy that are dying for us to explore them.
Garofoli winery compliments of www.garofolivini.it
At a recent tasting I sampled a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
Classico Superior from the Garofoli winery of the Marche region. The
Garofoli winery is run by brothers Gianfranco and Carlo and the 5th
generation to the Garofoli winery, their children Beatrice, Gianluca
and Caterina. Many of the missions and goals of the wineries
that I've become acquainted with is to always introduce modern
technologies in winemaking by trying to stay true to the traditions
of the winemaking held within the family for years or even centuries.
This philosophy is true also of the Garofoli family.
The Garofoli family ~ Compliments of www.garofolivini.it
The Garofoli winery, that began in 1871, is a large producer
averaging about 2 million bottles annually that sources grapes from
their 4 vineyard sites as well as grape growers they have partnered
with for years that provide them with grapes for their production.
Garofoli vineyards ~ Compliments of www.garofolivini.it
There are two DOCG's of the Marche wine region producing
Verdicchio wines: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva and the
Verdicchio di Matelica. The reason why the wine I'm sharing
with you today isn't a DOCG is because it's specifically not a
riserva. There are some differences between the verdicchio
wines produced in both of these areas.
Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi
Rounder and softer
More approachable
Longer aged
Close to the sea
Verdicchio di Matelica
About 1/10 the size of Castelli di Jesi
Sharper and higher acidity
Rich in minerals due to an ancient sea bed
Found in the inland valley on the slopes of the Apennines The 2012 Garofoli Macrina Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico
Superiore I sampled is vinified in one of the 2 Garofoli locations,
Serra de' Conti, but aged in their winery at Castelfidardo. The
Verdicchio grapes from the classico DOC area of Jesi come from their
vineyard site, Cupo delle Lame in the comune of Montecarotto.
This wine was bright and fresh. On the palate it's florally with
ripe exotic fruit along with apples and peaches combined with
minerality. It's a medium bodied wine.
What wineries have you discovered from this region or any favorite
wines you'd like to share?
We're finally covering the wines of the
Marche wine region located in central Italy. The Marche region borders
the Adriatic Sea with Tuscany and Umbria to the west, Abruzzo to the
south and Emilia-Romagna to the north. The climate is Mediterranean
with hot summers and cool winters. The Marche region is mainly hilly
and mountaineous with rivers and gulleys flow through the plains.
Because of this climate and the majority of vineyards located on
hills with a great sunlight exposure they are ideal conditions for
growing great wines.
Cantine
Fontezoppa is named after an ancient spring that flowed where the
winery stands today. The winery's vineyards lie in both the
Serrapatrona and Civitanova areas in the Marche wine region.
Verdicchio grape cluster
Verdicchio The particular wine today is made of
the verdicchio grape, which is primarily found in the Marche region.
The name verdicchio comes from the word verde, meaning green, which
relates to the color of these grapes that have a tinge of green in them. Verdicchio di Matelica DOC vs. DOCG The
wine today is a DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata)
wine designation, but within the Marche wine region there is a DOCG
(Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita) from
Verdicchio di Matelica. The biggest difference between these two
designations is that the DOCG is a Riserva. This DOCG came about in
2009. For the DOC wines they require at least 85% of the verdicchio
grape and are allowed to also blend trebbiano and malvasia grapes.
The wine I'm featuring today is the
2013 Fontezoppa Verdicchio di Matelica DOC made from 100% verdicchio.
Aged in stainless steel it's straw yellow in color this wine has
aromas of white peaches, almonds with strong minerality of wet stone.
On the palate again is the presence of lots of minerality and peach.
It's a smooth medium bodied with with persistent acidity. It
retails at about $12.
Get out there and try a different white
wine and experience the Marche wine region for yourself.
