WHINE # 77

MUCH MORE ON ITALIAN WINES

WINE TASTING IN ITALY:  Wine is produced in all regions of Italy, and as the world’s largest exporter of wines, there are countless wines to try.   Naturally when one thinks of wine tasting one thinks of visiting vineyards and sampling there.  However, in Italy an alternative is to drop in at one the hundreds of Enotecas.  An Enoteca is a wine shop that features local wines, and in particular wines from some of the smaller vineyards.  Each Enoteca has a tasting room, and if you purchase even one bottle the tasting fee is waived.  Many Enotecas also have food, and a wonderful way to have lunch is to order food and taste different wines with the foods. 

If you prefer to taste wine at a winery, that is also possible.  However, wineries in Italy tend to be closed at lunchtime and one should check ahead before driving any distance to a particular winery.  Because a small winery’s products are available at the nearby Enotecas, the winery may not even bother having a retail outlet.

In a November trip to Italy Betty and I wanted to visit a couple of regions of southern Italy that are not high on North American tourists’ bucket lists.  First we visited Abruzzo and had several tastings of that regions famous wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.  The highlight of our holiday, however, was travelling to Basilicata (instep of the boot) where we were seeking the perfect bottle of Aglianico.  As I have written in previous blogs, Aglianico is perhaps the best wine of Italy, and most Aglianicos come from Basilicata.  The very best comes from the base of Mount Vulture (thus the name Aglianico del Vulture.)  This wine, rich in both acid and tannin, is one of my very favorite wines.  We were not disappointed in the wines we found, both at the vineyards and in the Enotecas.

As an aside, Basilicata is a great region to visit and I can’t recommend too much a stop at the ancient city of Matera.  Here people lived in caves for 9,000 years (more-or-less right up until 1952).  We, in fact, rented a suite in a cave hotel and spent three nights there.  We spent our days exploring the area and ate all our meals in cave restaurants and had one of the best lunches ever in an Enoteca set deep in an ancient cistern.  By the way, Aglianica also comes from Campania and from Puglia, but the bulk is from Basilicata.

ITALY VERSUS THE WORLD:  During the Christmas holiday season we usually host a wine-tasting.  We invite a number of friends to blind-taste a series of wines.  Following our November Italian wine tasting we chose as this year’s theme “Italy versus the World”.

Sparkling wines made up our first flight.  The Italian wine was a LaMarca Prosecco from Veneto.  Pitted against this inexpensive wine was a Duval-LeRoy Champagne Brut Reserve, and a Benjamin Bridge Brut Reserve from Nova Scotia.  Guests tasted the three wines in random order and in some cases re-tasted one or more of them.

For those interested in bargains, the Prosecco was the clear choice of 11 tasters; five tasters chose the moderately priced Nova Scotian wine, and only four chose the much more expensive Champagne.

I should like to note, however, that the Prosecco was quite a bit lighter in both colour and alcohol content than either of the other two.  This would make it an “easier drinking” wine and that perhaps explains the choice of the majority.

For the second flight I wanted to try a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, so I chose an Opimian Founders’ Choice 2013.  As Montepulicaino is an acidic wine I chose a New World acidic wine (a Zinfandel--Cline Ancient Vines 2013) as a comparison.  Here the Italian wine was not a winner, losing 12-9 to the wine from California.   I think most guests found the two wines quite similar and the choice was not easy.

Finally, for flight three I had to choose an Aglianico; a 2006 Falerno Del Massico from Campania.  As Aglianico is high in tannins I pitted this wine against one of my very favorite Malbecs, a 2013 Trapiche Gran Medalla.  Thus, I was asking my guests to compare two of my most loved wines.

Although close, the Aglianico was preferred by 12 tasters, with 8 tasters liking the Malbec.   One taster was simply unable to decide.

In sum the Italian wines won two out of the three competitions.  If you tend to avoid Italian wines, perhaps because of bad experiences with cheap Chiantis or even cheaper Valpolicellas, then perhaps it’s time for you to try some of the other Italian wines; in particular reds from the South or sparkling wines from the North.

GLASS SIZES:  A recent British study indicates that wine glass sizes have been gradually increasing for hundreds of years, but particularly since 1990.  Also, the study shows that drinkers will go for a second glass more quickly when drinking the same amount of wine from a large glass as opposed to from a small glass.

My take on that is that the wine actually tastes better from a large glass, as the large glass gives off more aroma.  Thus the wine goes down quicker and easier and a refill seems more urgent.