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Italy

I recently discovered this Montepulciano from Abruzzo, the mountainous region that runs along the Adriatic Sea in the central part of the country. Although I know similar wines, I had never tried Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Its distinctive brown bottle along with the $9.99 price caught my eye.

Gianni Masciarelli, who comes from a long line of winemakers, produces the wine. He started his winery in 1981, and since then he has amassed about 675 acres of vineyards on 13 estates in Abruzzo.

This estate-bottled wine comes from 100 percent Montepulciano grapes grown on seven of his estates; he keeps production per acre very low, which allows the grapes to mature and increases the intensity of flavors. Masciarelli produces about 500,000 bottles of this wine each year for domestic and international distribution.

The Montepulciano that I’ve been drinking in recent years is lighter than Masciarelli’s. That attests to the cuts he makes in crop yield. This wine is a very dark red, almost inky like a Shiraz. There’s not much light that shines through it, even on the edges of a wine glass.

The winemaker’s tasting notes suggest that its flavors are red berries, cherry, red currents, violets and a hint of tobacco. If I’d read the notes before I tasted the wine, I probably would have picked out all those flavors, too, just through the power of suggestion. I didn’t read them, but I did find the wine to be complex, with lots of layers of flavors. However, I’m pretty sure I didn’t pick up the taste of violets or a hint of tobacco.

I had the wine with a grilled, apple-wood-smoked turkey breast with a maple and garlic glaze. It was a prefect match. It also would go well with steak or other grilled meat and poultry.

This is a very rich and intense wine, that’s OK for sipping before or after a meal, but it’s terrific with food. Check it out for your next dinner party or evening meal. It’s a real bargain that steps beyond the everyday table wine and is worth showing off.



This dry red wine from Sardinia is not under $10, except when you find it on sale, which I did, and it was $8.99. It’s a terrific wine for a great price, even at $11.99.

One of the largest wine producers on the island, Sella & Mosca, makes Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva from 100 percent estate-grown Cannonau, the red wine grape that is widely planted on the island. Cannonau is Granacha in Spain and Grenache in France. The grape is generally considered to have its origin on the Iberian Peninsula, but seeds recently found in a number of places on Sardinia date back to 1200 B.C., which outdates the European verities and could mean that Cannonau is the oldest wine grape of the Mediterranean area.

Sella & Mosca has a reputation for producing quality wines, and the company puts Riserva only on the labels of its best vintages.

Sardinian wines have a reputation of being rough and high in alcohol content. I don’t think those wines are getting off the island or have much international distribution. Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva comes from the best region on the island for the grape. The wine is jammy with layers of rich fruit flavors. It has only 13.5 percent alcohol content, which is fairly typical for popular hearty wines sold in this country.

The wine is aged in oak for three years and can be stored for a decade or more, the winemaker says. I recommend just drinking it now, but it might be interesting to put back a bottle or two for the future.

Cannonau di Sardegna is widely available in the better wine shops.



One of the whites for summer worth considering is pinot grigio, particularly if you can find dry one with some character. Le Coste Pinot Grigio delle Venezie qualifies as one of the best choices I've found for the money. The wine has more flavor, color and complexity than the more ubiquitous watery pinot grigio populating grocery store shelves. It's more like a pinot gris from somewhere other than northeast Italy.

Pinot gris varies greatly depending on where it is grown, and in the Tre Venezie region of Italy where Le Coste is produced, pinot grigio most often is a simple and light, but crisp wine, according to Karen MacNeil in The Wine Bible.

However, Francesco Posenato, who makes Le Coste Pinot Grigio delle Venezie, is one of the small producers in the area who, MacNeil says, are making versions that are "so intense and dramatic, that they appear to be from a different grape." For example, instead of the more common light color, Le Coste is a remarkable straw yellow, and I picked up some light herb flavors, particularly when paired with grilled fish or appetizers.

I bought Le Coste Pinot Grigio at Norwich Wine and Spirits, and I also found it at the South Royalton Market for $8.99. If you don't find it elsewhere in Vermont, just ask your wine store to get it. The wine is not available in New Hampshire.



The importer Vinilandia of Maine produces Good Chianti and Pinot Grigio. The company’s founder Martin Kolk, an educator and financier who apparently made lots of money in aviation leasing, bought a vineyard in Tuscany in 1995 and got into the business of selling Italian wines in New England. Kolk hooked up with two distinguished Italian winemakers, Giuseppe Nicolis, who makes Good Pinot Grigio in Valpolicella and Marco Mazzarini, who makes Good Chianti from 100 percent Sangiovese in Tuscany. Both make other excellent, but more expensive, Italian wines and have received international recognition for their efforts.

Most Chianti is a blend of grapes, primarily of Sangiovese. I tried a bunch of less-expensive Chianti and found it to be watery, with an outstanding tannic character. Good Chianti is a dry but full-bodied, evenly balanced wine with flavors that remind me of last summer’s fresh blackberries. The wine also carries the most demanding government designation for quality in the Tuscan region, DOCG, which is usually reserved for wines that sell for around $20.

The Good Pinot Grigio has the same black-and-white label. It also sells for $9 and has a crisp, clean taste with dry citrus flavors. It, too, is better than many of the other Pinot Grigios under $10.



One of my favorite white Italian wines is Frascati, which is one of the oldest and most popular wines in the world.

Frascati was created 2,000 years ago and is called “the wine of popes and of the people,” according to the Fontana Candida Web site. The popes apparently would drink it daily and ordinary people would drink it on occasions coinciding with special Vatican events. One story is that during the papal elections of Innocente X in 1644 and Clement X in 1670, the wine would spout from fountains or gush from the marble nostrils of Marcus Aurelius’ horse or from those of the lions of Rome, to the amusement of the people who would rush with bottles and cups to joyfully drink it.

The wine is produced near the community of Frascati in the hills southeast of Rome in Italy’s Latium region.

I liked the Frascati made by Fontana Candida, one of Italy’s largest winemakers and the world’s largest producer of Frascati. The wine is a blend of three grapes and is dry with smooth but crisp flavors of fresh clover and honeysuckle. The wine also has a brilliant almost clear color. It sells at the New Hampshire Liquor Store for $7.99. There are other producers of Frascati available in the Upper Valley, and the prices range up to around $14. I haven’t tried the other, more expensive wines, so I’m not sure if they are better than the Fontana Candida or worth more money. It’s difficult to imagine.

Frascati is best with lightly flavored pasta, fish or fowl or just to enjoy with appetizers or a salad.



A reader suggested that I try another renowned Italian white, Orvieto, and I wasn’t disappointed. The wine comes from the area around the town of Orvieto in the southwestern part of Italy in the province of Umbria. The town sits on a hill and was an important artistic center during the Renaissance, which is evidenced by its beautiful Gothic cathedral. The wine is a blend, and the percentage and mixture of grapes vary from winemaker to winemaker. I tried and liked Orvieto Classico made by another large Italian producer, Ruffino. The wine is mostly Procanico and Grechetto grapes. It has a yellow, straw color and is dry with pear flavors. I had it with pan-seared tuna and asparagus. It was a good match.



Like many other Italian ancient wines, Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone, Secco comes with a legend. As the story goes, a 12th century German bishop heading to Rome sent his servants ahead to find the places with the best wines. They were to write Est (Latin for “it is”) on the outside wall of the establishments when they discovered great wine, according to the Wine Lover’s Companion.

When the servants wandered into the town of Montefiascone, they found a wine house and really liked the wine. To emphasize their find, they wrote Est! Est!! Est!!! on the wall. The bishop apparently agreed with the servants and stayed in Montefiascone the rest of his life. The wine is a blend of three grapes and generally is viewed as ordinary, and not “worth all the explanation points,” the book says.

It is very dry and has flavors of tart apples. It’s refreshing and is good with food and not bad for just drinking. Serve it with something light.



The Colosi red comes from Sicily’s inland southwestern vineyards and is made from 100 percent of one of the oldest and most popular grapes on the island, Nero D’Avola, which gives the wine an intense dark ruby red color. I found it to be full-bodied, fruity and rich, but not heavy like an Australian Shiraz. I had it with “Frogmore Stew” — a coastal South Carolina version of shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage boiled together in spicy, salted broth. The wine went well, and also holds up well with low and slow cooked smoky barbecue pork or chicken.

The white is made from two grapes grown along the southwest coast that are considered to be the best of the island’s offerings. The wine is 90 percent Inzolia, a grape that provides the wine with its light and fragrant taste and 10 percent of the fuller and spicier Catarratto that adds to the character.

The white Colosi is clean and fresh and great for just drinking on a warm night. It also has enough character that it went well with a lovely seafood risotto prepared with a wonderfully rich lobster stock.

Only the red Colosi is currently available in New Hampshire. It’s sold at the Hanover/Lebanon Co-Op in addition to the state stores around the area. It’s a little more difficult to find Colosi in Vermont, but both the red and the white are available at Chapman’s in Fairlee and at the Hunger Mountain Co-Op in Montpelier. The South Royalton Market also carries the white. Both also are available by the glass at Pane e Salute in Woodstock, Simon Pierce in Quechee and The Colatina Exit in Bradford. Calmont Distributors handles the wine in Vermont.

However, if you ask your local wine merchant to order Colosi, the distributor said he’d be glad to supply it. If you’re in Vermont, you’ll probably get a better deal, but even at $9.99, it’s a great buy.



If you like a good red wine to go with a well crafted, mildly flavored meal, I recommend the Sangiovese. I like Antinori Santa Cristina 2004 Toscana Sangiovese. It is are flavorful, dry, ruby red and $7.99 at area stores.

The wine is recommended on the label to go with meat or spicy pasta, but I don’t agree. Try something less competitive, such as a light soup or pasta with olive oil, a little garlic and fresh vegetables.



One of the most exciting inexpensive red Italian wines that I’ve found so far are those made from Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes that come from central Italy’s Abruzzo region. The wines shouldn’t be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which are made in Tuscany and named for the town of Montepulciano rather than the red grape. They’re quite different. There, too, is great variation in the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The wine is softer than Sangiovese and has more character. Some Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines are dry and others are sweeter, but I liked all that I tried, and the wines are surprisingly inexpensive.

The wine I liked best was a 2003 Il Casale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a terrific wine that I’ve found only at Norwich Wines and Spirits. It’s a great buy for $7.99, and another example of why it’s a good idea to buy wines from stores with knowledgeable proprietors. The store’s owner, Peter Rutledge, recommended this one, and it was a good pick. The wine is dry without being tannic and has clean grape flavors. Ask other area merchants to get it for you.

 

 

 

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