In terms of the OP question, for me nothing beats visiting the area (in this case Piemonte), tasting the wines, talking with the winemakers, seeing the wineries, walking around the vineyards, drinking aged bottles of those wines at evening meals … with a little planning I find in a good day of three or four visits and a dinner, I can learn as much as in a month at home, reading and pulling various bottles …
Still working on it. Slowly, region by region, then begin again because everything has changed.
Yeah, Greg…exactly true.
I’m getting ready to go back and revisit my old stomping grounds, Valpolicella/Bardolino/Soave/Verdecchio,
stuff I’d abandoned long ago…just to see what’s new these days. Good grief…maybe even revisit Chianti…gawd forbid. ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
Tom
Tom
Do try and fit Gini (Monforte d’Alpone) in for Soave. I was very impressed, especially the Contrade Salvarenza (sp?)
Also Roccolo Grassi in Mezzane di Sotto for stunning Valpolicella, but also impressing with Amarone, Soave and Recioti di Soave and Valpolicella. One of those wineries where a somewhat serious demeanor hints at the same level of seriousness about the wines. They were mumbling about ‘not the best land’ for their soave, yet many good producers with more prestigious sites would be happy with the results of their efforts.
One lesser known producer a short way from Mezzane di Sotto also worth a callout, (Marco) Mosconi, whose wines were decent and fairly priced, but we particularly liked the 2007 recioto di soave. Well the bottle we bought was opened last week and it was a real stunner.
Regards
Ian
I love this. I’m studying D’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy, and I appreciate both his obvious rigor and his recognition of the variability of all things Italian wine. For all the scientific emphasis, his book doesn’t read like a rule-book, but rather a modern primer on a world of wine that will continue to live on no matter how many people know it or not. In an odd way, that means Italian wine is for everybody, not just the experts.
For me, I agree that a love of acid will make the transition easier. Food, etc. But I would recommend that you drink widely, rather than focusing too intently on one region just yet. Take in the diversity, see if something strikes you. For instance, I feel like Barbera and Dolcetto, not Nebbiolo, brought me into the fold of Piemontese wine–not because they’re “better” (far from it), but because they’re both easily approachable and still quite fascinating. Same with Verdicchio, Frapatto, etc. etc. and so on. Find something that strikes you, then begin to focus. Think about where you come down on the equations of acid and fruit, contemplation and pleasure.
Perhaps this is a recipe not so much for knowledge as it is for satisfaction. If so, fair enough. But I hope it helps.
Lot of great observations. I fell in love with Italy for two reasons, one I’m obsessive and enjoyed the challenge that it presented, and two because I have always preferred tarter, more brazen wines and Italy satisfied that. I friend of mine said he likes Italian wine because it can feel like you have to burn calories to drink it, I don’t think thats always true, but I love the sentiment.
Italy presents a few challenges, as someone said, the country as a whole does not ‘make sense’ very often, regions are fiercely independent, rules are made to be broken, and even the structure of those rules varies from region to region. I think the mistake many might make, is to try and start with the most expensive, or highest rated wines and then try and understand Italy from the top down, the country doesn’t lend itself to that sort of approach.
History: Long wine history, but in modern times the history of Italian wine ain’t much more than a hundred years old, so the clearly delineated hierarchy that exists in Burgundy and Bordeaux are rarely found here. They say Cannubi has been well regarded as a cru since the 18th century, but that is a rare exception to the rule. Outside of Piedmont, there is little to guide you and it can feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall, and that’s because Italians are still discovering. How many wineries have only in this generation stopped selling grapes to coops and started making their own wine? I see that narrative constantly.
Food/Regionality: Many Italian wines are still very very much connected to their regional roots, where they were a dinner table wine. Yes high $$$ Super Tuscans can be designed to appeal to the international cult-cab drinking crowd, but most wine is best enjoyed with the food of the region to really ‘get’ it. Amarone with Risotto and Tallegio, Nebbiolo with truffled pasta, Brunello with a wild boar salumi, Verdicchio d’Abruzzo and fritto misto, Cannonau di Sardinia and lamb or pecorino, a Primitivo with hot peppers and sausage, these wines sing when you have them in their context, and likely suffer when judged in a formal blind tasting panel.
My favorites to try right now: Aglianico from Elena Fucci, or an older bottle of Mastroberardino, Barbaresco from newer producers like Ca’ Nova (inexpensive way to try several great crus!), Friulian whites (the quality of the Sauvignon Blanc, Friulano, and Picolit are just outstanding right now!) A Sartarelli Verdicchio Balciana (with fried seafood!).
I very much agree with your steer Randall. It can take a taste of a wine to spark an interest in a region (or just the grape). In addition wine enthusiasts seem too often to want to establish some sort of hierarchy of ‘greatness’ e.g. Barolo is better than Barbera del Monferrato, Vajra is better than Borgogno etc… In vino veritas - it’s what you like in the glass that counts, not the prestige of the label adorning the bottle. Many a non Italian will instinctively order a Barolo or Barbaresco for a modest lunchtime meal, when Barbera or Dolcetto might be better match for what they are eating.
Also appreciate Rory’s comments and the Ca’ Nova recommendation is a good one IMO for anyone seeking value in the region. We visited them ~ 4 years ago, and their’s is a charmingly sprawling / slightly ram shackled collection of buildings, yet a very friendly welcome and tasting, plus the wines very impressive for the modest price (~€20 for single vineyard Barbaresco). Friuli is a region I’ve really not ‘got’ yet, in truth I’m never quite sure what to expect, with some being very much into orange wines, others not. Sardinia too is a region I’ve yet to discover, though a visit there is something that is in the back of my mind.
Nice posts from Ian, Randall and Rory. I appreciate the suggestions and regional directions, some of which I have already initiated. Loved the wines, both the renown whites and the under appreciated reds in Friuli after spending a week in the region. Then moved on for another week in Piedmont and fell in love with the whites as well as the Barberas and Dolcettos when I had appointments with many top producers to explore their Nebbiolos.
Thanks for the inputs.
I think it was just a comment on Italy being diverse, complicated but rewarding. Not about importance. I guess if you want more incite you can write to Rick Steves?
Again, I’m just repeating what professional travelers, when asked about travel, said about Italy. I suspect they get a lot of questions like “if you had to pick one country that is… etc, etc.” and responded. As a wine corollary, Italy isn’t my favorite, that’s France, but Italy has a dizzying array of grapes, regions and producers and I suspect it would take quite a lot of study to truly master it. That was all that was intended.
Sometimes the need for people to make a statement about “best” or “most important” strikes me as very amusing. No one said most important. Let’s not reduce everything to numerical scores.
Not having a go at you at all Michael, but I definitely view these people saying “to truly be a great traveler you have to manage Italy” as worse than merely saying “Italy is the greatest place to visit”. It’s the implication that you aren’t worthy if you aren’t a regular visitor to Italy.
FWIW I do travel regularly to Italy, but I would never come out with such elitist nonsense. Likewise, the forumites on Slow Europe (the resurrection of Slowtrav) do not say anything of the sort, despite having a heavy bias towards Italy.
I’m happy to say Italy is my favourite country to visit. That’s as far as it should go.
Regards
Ian
I was told early in my wine education that if you take any three towns in Italy within about 30-40 miles of each other and go back in their history, you can find a point where any two of the cities were at war with the third. Each city is its own entity, and wine is considered a big part of that identity. It’s social, not commercial, so they couldn’t care less if you could ‘make sense of it’ or not. The wine’s are harder to learn, but what you learn has so much more meaning attached to it.
Same as for French wine, one region/sub-region at a time. It’s not harder, just different.
So true.
My favorite anecdote along these lines involves the palio in Alba. Nearby Asti – Alba’s historical rival – had held its now-famous palio horse race since the 1300s. In the 20th Century, the Albese responded by creating their own race – a donkey palio. A sardonic poke in the eye of their rival – and utterly brilliant.
The Modenese and the Bolognese go at it in a similar way and, more famously, the Florentines and the Siennese.
There is also Lucca vs. Pisa, a half hour apart. When I returned to NY from a visit to Lucca in the 90s, I crossed paths at a dinner party with an architect who, I learned, was from Lucca.
When I told her I’d just been there, she asked me if I knew the history. Yes, I said, Lucca had always been its own state (dukedom, or whatever), and was never part of the surrounding Tuscany until modern times.
“Yes,” she replied. “We only came under the thumb of Pisa for about 50 years in the 1300s. And it still stings.”
Italian wine is impossible to “know” as you can always learn things.
I thought I knew a fair amount about Piemonte yet on a recent trip to Italy I had a new wine made from a grape I had never heard of (uvalino). Uceline | Cascina Castlet
I can empathize. We’re still talking about the peasant revolt of 1809 and printing stamps about it, but if you get some of the old folk going they’ll recount how it all started with the peasant revolt of 1525. Damn Princebishopric.
Really good post.
Since Florence is a regular stop for many, here are two recommendations for out of the way places:
Todo Modo: It’s a bookstore. But in back there’s a small bar that serves fabulous under-the-radar wines from all over Italy. Just about guaranteed that you will have something you’ve never had before and it will be delicious. Oh, and maybe 6 euros for a glass. Insider place.
Enoteca All Sosta Dei Papi: Specialty is Tuscan wine they bottle from large casks and sell for 2-4 euros a bottle, but they have a full selection. You can’t miss it as their will be throngs of young Italians gathered around it. Get there early if you want a seat. Go later for the street party. This place epitomizes wine’s continuing place among young Florentines. There’s a great craft beer bar about 100 feet away that draws about a tenth of the crowd.
Easy, I just ask Bob!
RT
Wine and spirits noted a podcast on Italian wine. Appropriately called Italian Wine Podcast. Might be an easy way to start to learn about the region.
Just as an addendum here: if you’d like exhibit a for combining passion for Italian wine with an analytic sensibility, read d’Agata’s entry on Fiano in his book on Native Grapes, 285-288. Lovely.