Shrimp specifically.
Italian wines are not my greatest strength. It’s nearly summer and the brown shrimp are in season. What are your favorite Italian whites? I’d love to hear recommendations for daily drinkers as well as higher end bottles.
I don’t know if it’s the best, but lately I’m partial to the dry whites from Cinque Terre which I discovered about 4 years ago when we traveled. They’re light bodied, lemony and with some minerality. They were terrific with their regional fresh seafood-based dishes.
Other than that, falanghina from the south were also good, especially with seafood-based pasta dishes.
Greco di Tufo or Fiano di Avellino, not in the sense that they are similar or interchangeable. They play in different ways with seafood, but it’s worth trying both. Also because they’re worth trying for their own sake.
Same region as Falanghina suggested above, but more “serious” wines.
I like both vermentino and friulano with seafood
I just had a Fiano at an Italian Restaurant with lots of assorted seafood appetizers including everything from Calamari Fra Diavolo to fried shrimp to crab meat served like the inside of a great crab cake. It went very well. There was enough acidity for it to be sharp and light fruityness to avoid overpowering the food.
PS - my opinions are never humble.
we’ve been drinking through some 2013 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie, which is absolutely superb with seafood. Everything you’d want in a wine for this purpose and reasonably priced too. But Gavi di Gavi, Soave classico . . . so many great value whites from Italy will serve.
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Another vote for vermentino.
I also love Pigato from Liguria (Riviera) with seafood - I’ve heard varying opinions as to whether Pigato is Vermentino or just a close relative.
But the Colle Stefano Verdicchio di Matelica is probably my perennial favorite value Italian white.
maybe not a bad idea to look at a winelist from ani italian seafood palace?
I’m a big fan of the wines from Liguria as well - I even love the local Cinque Terre Co-op whites - they really do have to be of the freshest quality though - the younger the better -
But frankly, the list would stretch for a couple pages on Italian whites for Seafood - my other personal fav is RIBOLLA GIALLA -
And just about anything from Collio or Alto Adige -
It’s hard to think of Italian whites that aren’t good with seafood. I’m not really thinking of one at first pass.
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Scott, I think it also depends on how you are preparing and serving the shrimp. Grill, boil, warm, chilled, sauce, etc. I’m all over the Arneis and Pigato suggestions. The richer the dish, however, the more I would lean toward Greco, Fiano, or even Verdicchio. From Sicily, I really like the Donnafugata Anthilia with shellfish.
Can’t claim much breadth of experience, but when asked that same question, the wine director at Il San Lorenzo in Rome chose the Valentini, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. It was a fine choice, but I still tend to think a good Gravner is hard to beat with shellfish. He hated orange wines, by the way, with seafood. Thinks they overpower the dishes.
Yeah, Verdicchio is a very good idea I forgot
I love Soave. Inama, Pieropan, Tamellini and Ca Rugate are my favorites, both normale and cuvees.
I’m with Ramon and Gilberto in post 2 and 3. I love Cinque Terre whites, as well as the Fiano, Falanghina, Greco family from Southern Italy. I’ll add Coda di Volpe as well.
+1 here. There are SO many options. Plus preparation is often more important than they type of seafood.
That said, I drink Abbazia di Novacella Kerner quite regularly. It’s aromatic, refreshing (crisp), mineral, and just plain delicious.
+1, anticipating Italian seafood preparation. Sardinian whites if planned dish is cleaner/fresher.
Valentini Trebbiano